I started this post yesterday (on Day 4 of gorging...hence the title), but haven't gotten around to finishing until today.
Is Ana a reformed food-addict? Not yet. I realize that many of our issues stem from a lack of communication. Not that my children can't communicate with us at all, but not in the same way our bio children can. Trey and Luke can, and frequently do, walk up and say, "mom, I'm hungry. Can I have..." Ana and Sasha are restricted to signing "eat" when they want something. And frankly, they haven't exactly mastered the whole signing unprompted thing. They can sign on their own, but I think a lot of times they forget that they can. I realize that I have to be very careful with Ana. If I ask, "Ana do you want more?" She signs "more". If I ask, "Ana, are you all done?" She signs "all done". And if I ask, "Ana, do you want more or are you all done?" She gets all confused sometimes. So, now I am working on trying to feel her out without prompting anything. Also, (Crystal this is for you) at first I didn't think I really allowed any of my kids freedom with their food, but that's not true. They can ask for what they want when they want it. It doesn't mean I always say yes, but at least they have a way to voice their opinion about what, when, and how much they eat. I also try to give them choices (as in broccoli or green beans with dinner). Sasha and Ana have never had that.
As of now, we are through day 5, however, we haven't really stuck to the "gorging". As of today, I have decided this is just not right. I am giving Ana more flexibility with her food, but I am also restricting a bit.
Here is what I have noticed during this experiment:
Ana is capable of walking away from food and busying herself with other things.
She likes to eat quickly (as in, shove it all in at once), but once it is gone, she is okay with walking away.
Since we began, Ana has suddenly become pickier with her food. I don't know if we made her feel comfortable enough to voice an opinion or if she just decided that since we might give her more food, she would rather eat the yummy stuff.
Where are we going from here? We are going to take a middle of the road approach. We will still restrict what she eats and how much, but within reason. We will allow her to feed herself and snack like the other kids. And we will hopefully be getting her thyroid checked in the near future to try to rule out hypothyroidism. I am trying to let go, and not stress so much over the food thing. I will prayerfully hand it to God and let Him work it out.
Best of luck to all of you who are struggling like we are.
1 comment:
n lg- that was from Justus, I guess he wanted to write his thoughts about this :)
I think we are about where you are. We tried the whole gorging and it didn't work, of course I do give Kaylee more to eat than I think she needs. She still thinks she needs more though. Like you, I allowed her to feed herself and eat snack on her own, but maybe it is her age, she will shove it all in at once and then choke. So, we are going back and trying to work on teaching her to eat slower, and take time between bites. I don't really know how the future looks, whether she will overcome this or not, I am hoping so.
As for giving choices, after you said that, I realize I don't give the other two much choice over meals. They do have a choice for snack, but it usually has to be a healthy choice. I think that right now, if I tried to give Kaylee a choice in foods, she would choose it all, lol. Maybe this is an age thing too. One day, I am hoping she will be able to choose. She has started refusing things, but only fruits and vegetables, and I do let her, because it is still a huge improvement.
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