Fussy eater in italy

[Lovehummous]

I will be taking my 11 year to italy in June, it's our first holiday abroad! I want to be excited but I'm too preoccupied with worrying about what he's going to eat for 5 days. He has autism and is very picky. Currently he eats - chicken dippers, turkey dinosaur, garlic bread, naan bread, Yorkshire puddings, popcorn chicken. That's it. We will be visiting molfetta for 2 days and then visiting san michele salentino for 3 days. Is anyone familiar with these places and know any supermarkets/restaurants nearby that will have English food? Or food that is very similar

11? For five days? I’d take it as an opportunity for him to eat what’s available. He’ll come to no harm.

I will get jumped on here but if this is not a wind up is this really all he eats ?

Does he eat plain pasta or pizza? We went to Italy with my son, who was a fairly picky eater, when he was quite small, and it was fine, but a lot of that was because he did like pasta and pizza, and it was usually possible to get plain pasta without sauce, or a very simple pizza. He also ate bread, plainly cooked chicken, a few plain vegetables and salad, and ice cream. We got by!

You’ll be able to get garlic breads and breaded chicken easily enough.

did you miss the part where he had autism? Sadly many people with autism would simply not eat.

I can’t help with the specific areas OP but could you contact your accommodation and ask them? Does he have anything like crisps on his possible list that you could take with you as backup?

Start introducing Italian foods - plain pasta and garlic bread. Holidays are supposed to be restful so not sure why you’d choose a country that primarily has food your child won’t eat.

I’ve just come back from Rome and the food was very traditional in most restaurants. I don’t remember seeing children’s food sections on menus. I know you’re not visiting Rome but I was surprised (although not disappointed) that the capital didn’t have more diverse food options.

My 14 year old is extremely fussy and also has autism.

In our experience (and this may not work for you, but maybe to give you hope) I found the new experiences made him more willing to branch out- super slowly now though.

I always had a backup - so toast and raw carrots and cucumber and chips in his case. But he experimented with pizza in Italy (and now eats margarita pizza only- but he eats it) and in Greece for some reason went completely crazy over calamari and pita bread with a little bit of dips.

I'd say not push it- let him stick with his safe foods as much as possible and to just let go of any expectations and see what happens.

My son is like this and has a very limited list of specific foods he will eat. And they don’t include chips, or plain pasta or anything much else you might get in a restaurant (except bread) 😩.

My son however will eat things like crackers, crisps and most fruits.

If your son will eat snack foods that keep e.g. crackers I’d take a load of those in your suitcase and ultimately he’ll be OK for a few days.

I have 2 with asd/afrid. One holiday ds ate only yoghurt, bread and bananas he survived. I just relax, let them eat anything they wish and take emergency snacks. Dd ate plain pasta, plain bread, chicken and chips, pineapple and kiwi plus a daily ice cream (she would only have one a day as its bad for you) last holiday and survived. We actually somehow manage every time. I do tend to discretely add more calarific foods before and after the holiday (especially dd as is on 2nd percentile). This year we're going halfboard and hoping fruit for breakfast, pasta/chips and chicken for tea. And hopefully bread, chicken and ice cream in the day from the supermarket.
Also dc understand even if they're not eating they will allow others to enjoy trying new foods even if that means them just sat waiting for us to eat (because it's everyone's holiday and we accommodate them, so they can accommodate us to).

I've spent a lot of time in Italy with children (my own & my Italian relatives') - there generally aren't special children's menus but asking for a plain dish that isn't on the menu/smaller portion for children is totally normal.

Why do people have to be so arsey.

How dare someone with a SEN a child want to go somewhere nice ..

Currently he eats - chicken dippers, turkey dinosaur, garlic bread, naan bread, Yorkshire puddings, popcorn chicken.

Presumably he doesn’t have those for breakfast (genuine question not sarcasm)? If he has bread/toast, he should be ok, same with cereal. One of my DC has autism and when we went abroad, initially had a meltdown at the lack of familiar foods. A trip to a local supermarket improved things as she found some cereal and Oreo’s. We also picked up some cheese (obviously not a British cheese but one I thought she’d like as it was mild and a good texture for her).

Having then been reassured by those foods, she was a little braver in restaurants and had local bread, some breaded thing, some chips, etc. I found that finding ‘interesting’ foods and drinks, and getting her to look for things like different chocolate bars, helped her mindset. The new foods became less threatening to her.

Can you take some naan breads with you just in case? The supermarket ones have a good shelf life and will maybe help you if everything gets a bit stressful.

I felt a very sad heavy sinking feeling reading this. How much that child is missing.

Ask them for some plain boiled pasta. Hé will survive.

Yes he's autistic with sensory issues. Strong smells, certain textures and the look of some foods make him feel physically sick, he may even vomit sometimes. What can I do? Force feed my child food he can't eat?

Chicken Milanese is breaded chicken so you could ask for a plain version of that. Garlic bread shouldn’t be a problem either. We found Italians very accommodating with food requests. I know how nerve wracking it is OP!

Dont force feed him obviously. Hé will est some beige food éventuelle if hé ils hungry enough.

Huge lack of understanding on here but also a lack of curiosity from parents. My daughter (autistic) has several friends at school who are restricted eaters/ have ARFID. What kind of accommodation are you in? If you're in self catering the supermarkets are RAMMED with frozen foods and they even have Lidl and Co-Op. I agree with some others that you could possibly try to take things with you. But if they only eat a couple of things for the whole holiday at least they have a full tummy and are not stressed. I can see how you'd be worried about it though :(

Eat and eventually. Sorry

Tell me you have never had an autistic child without telling me.
Do you think dealing with a restrictive diet and sensory processing issues is a walk in the park for the parents?

Are you staying in an apartment? Italian supermarkets definitely sell chicken nuggets and I'm sure they'll have garlic bread and some sort of flat breads... if you're out and about, would your child eat plain pizza bread? I'm sure you could order that (Google translate will be your best friend!)

Your right with the not force feeding obviously but for a lot of children with ARFID or sensory needs then they will starve before they eat something that isn’t a”safe” food for them.

Oh Fgs… I too have an autistic child and when I took them to Turkey I just let them lead the way food wise and eat what they were willing to - no big drama, didn’t need to start a Mumsnet post about it. They didn’t starve and managed to make it home in one piece.

How fussy is fussy? If a change of brands or shapes is OK, you'll be fine with chicken milanese. Big chicken nuggets is how DS described them. But if specific brands or shapes are required, you are going to find it difficult to replicate it. Italian food is so kid friendly (pizza, pasta, ice cream) they don't really do specific kids food in the same way as the UK.