As the holidays approach, parents of picky eaters and problem feeders fret about what their children are going to eat at grandma’s Christmas dinner, or their aunt’s Thanksgiving feast, adding extra stress to the usual holiday craze. Fear not, below are 4 easy tips to help navigate holiday meals.
1. Give guests or hosts a heads-up
Have a script ready to use with all of your guests or the hosts who you’re going to have meals with. It can be as simple as “Justin is in feeding therapy right now. We are working on learning about new foods, and we are focusing on having positive experiences with new foods. So, at the dinner this week, he will have his safe foods on his plate, and we will not be pressuring him to interact with new foods.”
For people who are less understanding, blame it on your therapist or doctor! “Avery’s therapist is recommending that we don’t force him to interact with new foods and instead allow him to learn about new foods in a systematic way. So, we are going to bring his own safe foods to our dinner.”
2. Have safe foods and tools available
Bring your child’s safe foods with you if you are traveling, so they can put familiar foods on their plate. Bonus points if your friends or family are flexible enough to “serve” your child’s familiar foods onto their own plates. For instance, if you typically serve foods on serving platters, can you put goldfish on the platter and have everyone take a few and put them on their plates?
If your child has tactile (touch) challenges, be sure to bring tools that help them interact with unfamiliar foods. This may be toothpicks, utensils, or a towel to wipe off their hands.
3. Have fun with their safe foods – get creative!
Making small, tolerable changes to your child’s safe foods (with their permission and participation) is a great way to learn flexibility with eating. For the holidays, you can get creative and make a turkey shape out of goldfish and marshmallows, or a Santa hat out of lollipops!
4. Give your child food-related jobs
Holidays are a great time for children to learn about new foods without the pressure to eat them. They can help serve everyone a certain food, or be in charge of clearing plates, mixing ingredients, etc. All of these opportunities allow your child to learn about a new food from a visual, tactile, and/or smell perspective, without pressure!
Additional resources
If your child also has difficulty with sensory processing, check out this post on All About Sensory on strategies for decreasing stimulation during holiday meals.
If you want an easy-to-read handout to provide to families, check out my product below, with more specific tips and tricks!
