Challenge #2: My Kids
November 9, 2011 in 2011, About Sarah's Family
So this would all have been easier if I had found paleolithic nutrition BEFORE motherhood. But I didn’t. I was close to my biggest when I got pregnant with my first daughter. Gestational diabetes, which evolved into pre-diabetes after she was born, spurned me on to lose 100 pounds before getting pregnant with my second daughter. But I used a type II diabetes type diet, relying on willpower to make what I thought were good food choices. I struggled for the first year after my second daughter was born to get down to my pre-pregnancy weight. Now, as my youngest fast approaches two years old, I am finally putting all the pieces together for myself: paleolithic nutrition, lots of fun non-strenuous activity, and good sleep. But my husband and kids are still firmly entrenched in a world of nutrition misinformation, a world I belonged to not that long ago.
There are many blogs out there of families living a paleolithic lifestyle with great success (see www.everydaypaleo.com and www.paleoparents.com for inspiring examples). Some of these families were committed to paleolithic nutrition before having children or after their children were substantially older than mine, which I think would make things easier. AND all the blogs I have read thus far have parents united in their efforts to expel all those offensive grains, legumes and dairy products from their diets. This is not the case for me; but, I doubt that my challenge is unique. I am trying to transition a very stubborn family to paleolithic nutrition, mostly against their will (but for their own good, dammit!).
My oldest daughter has never liked food. She had acid reflux as a baby that lasted well into her toddler years. She didn’t like most of the baby foods we tried (homemade and store-bought). Her weight percentile slowly dropped relative to her height over her first year until she reached 5th percentile for weight (but 75th percentile for height!) at her one year check-up. We were on doctor’s orders to fatten her up fast! We were told to make instant pudding with cream instead of milk and give it to her after every meal. Well, it worked. But how do you go back from that??? I have catered food for her for over four years. Sure, we were able to wean off the high sugar content foods (and anything with preservatives or colorings), but she still doesn’t like most food. There are no good protein sources that she eats reliably, except maybe cheese but she only eats this on top of club crackers! She doesn’t eat vegetables and only eats three different kinds of fruit. And here’s the thing: most kids will eventually eat something they don’t really like if it’s the only thing offered (my youngest daughter, for example). This child would literally starve. She has made a profession out of ignoring her physical requirements (we used to joke that the three things she never did as a baby were eat, sleep or poop!). My biggest challenge with my oldest is just plain old finding paleolithic foods that she likes.
My youngest daughter does like food. I introduced foods to her in a very different way, made everything myself, introduced great variety, focused on fruits, vegetables and proteins with grains as an afterthought. But shortly after wheat was introduced to her diet, she started suffering obstructive sleep apnea. It took a year of tests to diagnose that she has a slightly floppy epiglottis (called a laryngomalacia) and severe acid reflux (which shocked us because she almost never spat up as a baby). Our pediatric gastroenterologist doesn’t think a gluten-free diet would help (I actually heard him on NPR this week talking about how we should try acid reflux medicine in babies before altering the mom’s diet to treat colic!) and would like to just “wait and see if she grows out of it”. Fortunately, our pediatrician is on board with trying a gluten-free diet, so I’m going to! My biggest challenge with my youngest is getting through the stubborn, picky toddler phase that she is just entering. This is even harder when my oldest is eating foods I’d rather not have in the house.
My strategy with my kids is similar to my husband. First find great paleolithic alternatives to their staples and then phase out the neolithic foods. For now, I won’t sweat sugar intake if it’s in the form of fruits, starchy veggies and healthy paleo baking. And I have no intention of cutting out dairy products for the moment. Let’s get grains and legumes out first. My hope for my oldest daughter is that improving her nutrition will rectify her chronic constipation, help balance her energy levels (she’s always complaining about being tired), help her sleep more soundly, and clear up her eczema. My hope for my youngest daughter is that her acid reflux and obstructive sleep apnea will completely disappear. And of course, my biggest hope for both my girls is that they will never have the health and weight issues that I had. Again, wish me luck!
I think there is hope for her. there’s no reason NOT to try gluten-free, if this all started after adding wheat to her diet. There are palate widening therapies which will help with the sleep apnea. http://www.westonaprice.org/dentistry/from-attention-deficit-to-sleep-apnea
I have a picky kid too. We just do the best we can. Lots of paleo eaters still eat dairy even though it is a neolithic food. This article shows how archeologists found the time period when and where the ability to digest fresh milk was developed. http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,723310,00.html
I love you blog:) It’s nice to have the perspective of a mom:) I also have a picky daughter and I wish she would try more vegetables. It’s a slow process. I’ve changed my diet completely over the last couple of months and I’m trying to get the kids on board too:) My daughter is a carb addict:)
I’m finding myself hiding vegetables in more and more foods (why I have so many muffin recipes!). And we bribe my oldest to eat vegetables at dinner (if she eats green vegetables every day for 100 days, then she gets a LeapPad). I’m hoping that if we just keep giving her vegetables, that eventually it won’t be a battle.
Good luck!
So I just found your blog. I’ve just gotten turned on to the idea of paleo. I have 4 kids. My oldest will try anything once and if you tell her it’s good for her health, she’s game. My 2nd (boy) will be hard. It was a challenge to get him to eat anything other than bread, crackers and bananas as a toddler and even harder to get him to try anything now. He does have issues with sleeping and had chronic ear infections as a baby and we had to get tubes. Then my littlest ones are twin boys. They have their days but one in particular has been a very picky eater. He will scream and throw food at you and has trouble sleeping at night. Hmmm…I’m starting to make the connection
. My other twin eats if it’s presented in a nice way but they play off each other. Sometimes they both eat, other times you fight with one. It’s hard. Then my dear hubby, who is 6’2″ and skinny as a bean pole. He doesn’t work out, eats whatever he wants and no poundage added. I’m getting him used to the idea of trying one thing at a time. Your blog is going to be a go to resource.! Wish me luck!!!
Good luck! Sounds like you have many of the same challenges that I have! The good news is that we’re making great progress. My husband is totally on board (although he still has some dairy). The kids are gluten-free (only a little rice, otherwise I’d say grain-free), legume-free, and of course we have no modern vegetable oils and very little sugar in our house. Our big remaining challenge is dairy. I wouldn’t worry about it too much except that my youngest is still having issues with sleep apnea which might be caused by chronic rhinitis (still don’t have a definitive diagnosis after a year and a half! arg!). Small changes definitely work for our family. I hope it works for you too!
was reading the comments…I love the idea of hiding vegetables…think I bought a book about that b4 but never carried through on my plans…blending veggies right after I blend some liver ;o)
thanks so much!!
Holly
I’m slowly getting into Paleo – for health and weight reasons, and hubby promissed to follow..slowly; I’m 56 and my daughter is almost 3o now- so when she was toddler paleo approach was nowhere in sight. she was good at eating what you give her, but suffered enormously from constipation which became huge problem; I manage to resolve it with my variation of Budvig cream (google Johanna Budwig) and made that for whole family for more than 10 years every single morning. We had no exces weight, no health problems and she had never gotten any of the usuall ear/troath/nose infections or antibiotic treatments untill she was 8 years old – and that was once, and she sayed healty and very active…For Paleo style that cream needs to be adjusted a bit, but it is nice, tasty and excelent option for kids…o, and while she was up to 7-8 my way to make her eat was just to tell her that it will make her beautifull – or later (when she become teenager) that it will keep her skin and hear beautifull – lucky me – it did!
Thanks! I found the information on the Budwig diet very interesting (sortof similar to Gerson). It really emphasizes just how important having a balanced omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid intake is (and just how far away from that the Standard Amercian Diet has veered!). I have actually been really interested in the similarities between Gerson (and now Budwig) and paleo (although I am no where near recommending coffee enemas!) because of the focus on good fats (although I think grass-fed animal fats are good fats) and alot of antioxidants. Again, thank you!
I just found your blog and I love it. Even though my kids are much older, when they were preschoolers I wanted them to eat healthy and to get them to do so I had two tricks that always worked. The first one was to have them help me plant a garden. I used seeds and seedlings so the kids didn’t have to wait so long to see the food growing. They have so much pride in eating what they grew. The second trick is to have the little ones help prepare the meal. Have them do the fun part. My five year old loves to pour things into the bowl or pan and stir, like dressings or veggies. They also love to watch the food processor slice and grate things and put things in the blender and watch that make solids into liquid. This has been the best way to spend time teaching and getting my kids to eat real food.
[...] She discusses the issues she had converting her children off of dairy here [...]
[...] She discusses the issues she had converting her children off of dairy here [...]
OK. So I have a 9 year old and 7 year old at home. I have just switched to paleo eating and feel great. My daughter is a carb addict (me too before switching) and will literally starve if she doesn’t get food she likes. I tried going cold turkey with the kids figuring that once they get hungry they will eat. Not so with my daughter. Sounds like your oldest. She has asthma, allergies and ADHD. I think this diet will help her. Do you have any recommendations for me? Thanks!
It has been a very slow process with my oldest. A combination of firm rules, but also some accommodation, letting her eat a fair bit of fruit and homemade larabars and homemade paleo bread, not having foods in the house that I don’t want her to eat, patience, encouragement, and tough love.