Gorging: Day 1

My last post gave way to some discussion about how to end Ana's attachment to food. Our kids came from a "good" orphanage. They were fed 3 meals a day, snack before lunch, snack before dinner, and a yogurt drink before bed. Sasha has NONE of Ana's same feeding issues. Why? Personalities? Is it a Ds thing? Is it an orphanage thing? I have been so perplexed by this.

Sasha will refuse food if he doesn't want it or is full. However, he does shove his mouth full of more food than it can hold, which leads to him crying and spitting it out. This one I can figure out: snack and mealtimes were done quickly at the orphanage. Food was taken away whether or not a child was done with it. And Sasha is a slow eater! I imagine he often had food taken right out from underneath him. In the case of a sandwich or finger foods, he will keep one in each hand. I'm sure this is his insurance in case I remove his plate from the table before he is done (I would not do this by the way).

You have read all of Ana's issues with food, so I won't recount them. But based on a comment on my last post I have decided to do a little experiment. We will call it the "gorging yourself into a food-induced coma" experiment. Many kids who come from orphanages have issues with food. A great deal are malnourished, many horde food, the list of food troubles is long and the reasons are many. And often parents are told the solution is to allow their child to eat as often and as much as they want. This way they will learn that food will always be available. I never felt the need to try that approach with Ana for so many reasons: she was always fed at the orphanage (therefore that should not be reason for her behavior), I feared her attachment to food would worsen, I worry about her health and I was concerned with weight gain, I was scared to see what it would look like, and I wanted her to learn proper portion sizes. But then today I decided to try to put myself in Ana's place and piece together her past a bit. The orphanage director referred to Ana as a "puffy" child. She told us that she always told the nannies to make her run. Well, running was an impossibility for Ana at the time (we are still working on it), but I began to wonder if they gave her small portion sizes. Then I started thinking, "what if she has never known what it is to feel full". Even if her body ever gave her the signal I don't think she would recognize it. Thus began our adventures in gorging.

Day 1:
I started at lunch, putting a plate of food in front of Ana and standing back. Normally I feed her out of fear that everything would go in at the same time and she would choke. She shoved her mouth full of PB &J sandwich, but then set it down while she chewed for a bit. Then she picked it back up and did the same. Her half a sandwich was gone in 4 bites, then she started on her baby carrots. I had to stop her at one point when, with a mouth so full of sandwich she could barely close it, she tried to add a whole baby carrot. After that food was gone we moved on to a full plate of fruits and veggies, and then another. At that point she started throwing food on the floor. I asked, "Ana are you all done?" She signed "all done" and then clapped for herself and happily left the table. I thought, "wow! This is going to work!"

And then came snack time after nap. Horrific!!! Trying not to allow her too much food at snack times is my modification to the gorging diet. She ate a bowl of cottage cheese and a slice of apple she found on the table before we went out to play in the kiddie pool before dinner. Normally she loves the pool!!! She cries to get in and cries when I take her out. Not today, She just cried the entire time she was in there, all the while signing "eat, please". So, I took her out and let her finish off the other half of an apple that was on the table. It took about 2 minutes for her to eat 1/2 apple, and as soon as it was gone cry-fest started up again. I was not about to give her more snacks with dinner looming around the corner, and a chance for her to play outside and get fresh air. I put her back in the pool until I couldn't take her crying anymore, at which point I made everyone get out and come in the house so we could get dinner.

Dinner time for Ana lasted an hour and a half!!!! And her is a run down of what she ate:
1/2 of a Chick-fil-a chargrilled chicken salad (no dressing)
About 2 cups of Life cereal
A handful of pretzels
3 scrambled egg whites
And a plate full of corn, carrots, peas, and green beans (about 3/4 cup worth)

And then after she finally got down from the table (she did sign "all done" at my prompting...it was already 15 minutes past bedtime by then) she found a package of Lorna Doones that Luke left lying around and started working out those. But apparently she didn't have room for them. Even though she was happily shoving them in, they were just coming back out as a drooly, cookie mess. When I brushed her teeth for bed, her gag reflex started kicking in, which never happens with her.

This is Ana digging for food in her bib while she waits for the next round.

The final plate-full at dinner

This is how she looked when she started slowing down

Eyes glazed over, drunk sort of look, could this be full?

Oh, are we close?

And there it is! Ana cries "uncle"...or "all done"

Scared about what day 2 will bring. Anyone with experience with this, please do tell!