Bloody Jamie Oliver

[bakabat]

Healthy eating has come to DS1's (SLD/PMLD) school. So now of course DS1 isn't eating at all (except in the classroom where they are still alowed to eat crap- it's the school dinners than have been changed). He was making real progress with food as well. After years of only eating gluten free bread and pizza school had managed to introduce chips and potato waffles and some meat and fish (in the form of gf fishfingers and chicken nuggets)- first meat and fish in 4 years so a major achievement. It's unreliable - but he will still eat fishfingers and nuggets very occasionally at home (refuses often).

They are apparently allowed to eat potato waffles once a month (?) and chips occasionally. BUt on days when those aren't served he'll eat a packet of crisps and a biscuit and occasionally a yoghurt and that's it (so of course behaviour goes because he's hungry and he comes home and starts trying to wolf down anything he can get his hands on- ie biscuits).

Now I'm sure healthy eating is lauadable in ms, and I'm sure it should be encouraged in SLD/PMLD, but to remove the alternatives when so many of the children have problems with food. ....

DS1's teacher is having a nightmare from the sounds of it.

Any ideas- packed lunches don't realy go down well- it would just be more crisps. Of course this could lead to him regressing in trying new foods and we could be back to pizza and biscuits and nothing else. I worry as well that if he's only seeing chips/potato waffles very occasionally he'll stop eating those as well- let alone fish fingers etc and we'll be well and truly stuffed again.

Edam, I was damn picky about textures as a kid. Couldn't eat anything goey, fatty or squashy - still quite like that, can't bear rice pudding, pasta, custard, jelly etc. I'm relatively normalish.
Ds is also very particular about temperature of food, but loves really hot baths. His sensory issues are more annoying - having to touch everything and everyone and put everything in his mouth.
Sorry about the food changes at ds's school. Are other parents concerned? Maybe a meeting with the head? I think fish fingers are perfectly healthy.

you still are fussy you mare!

Oh I know that, but I'm relatively normalish in other areas of my life! And I NEVER ask for anything special if we're invited for dinner. It's my problem and nobody else's. Mind you I once got, as an airline meal, pasta with seafood, banana custard and something eggy. I don't eat ANY of those things. My dh laughed and laughed. I had a bread roll.

lol did you visibly wince?

ds would refuse a chocolate biscuit if it was the wrong shape at one point! He has now grown out of that but is still very picky. Has major issues with textures and will not have 'mixed' food. So he will eat sweetcorn and carrots but not if they are mixed together. I posted on MN when he first ate a pizza...it was such a big step forward for us. And he has just started to eat food with gravy, another huge leap forward.

Goodness knows what it must be like for you bb.....you habe my total sympathy. do you think the school coul dre-heat food for your ds if you sent it in as a packed lunch....so you send cold fish fingers and they heat it up for him?

I think the teacher is peed off aloha! Not much that can be done head wise because it's not coming from him- it;s higher up. I'm having a home meeting soon so will ask then about sending in his own stuff (I wondered whether I could buy stuff and send in for them to try and cook- he's not good with reheated food- for example he loves buckwheat pancakes, but won't eat them reheated the next day or cold). I suppose the other thing would be to send in his own toaster and bread and they could then try and introduce food from the menu paired with the toast. At least it would be eating something.

Bakabat, apologies if my previous post seemed to make light of your situation I diddn't realise how restricted his diet was. Fwiw I think your toaster idea is a really good one and I hope things get better soon

Don't worry carmamere. He's started to take an interest in stirring his bread mixture- and school seem to be doing a lot of supermarket shopping at the moment (each child carrying some food) so it may lead to an interest in food sometime in the future- and who knows he may link the thing he stirs with the thing he eats.......

There are children out there with more restricted diets (!!) but he is pretty bad. The toaster one may work with the school- when we looked around and older class was having a making toast session (although in a separate kitchen so that could be logistically difficult). I need to see his teacher really- he's described it as "a real problem" so maybe he'll have some ideas. He's very good and gets ds1 to do all sorts of things, but completely understands his limits iyswim - I really do trust him (actually I worship the gournd he walks on he is really fantastic).

No advice but just wanted to send you my sympathy, baka. My DS1 is loads better than he used to be but he is still very wary of anything with a "squishy" texture, such as mashed potato. He refuses to try school dinners (they have healthy Jamie Oliver style ones at his school) although my DS2 loves them.

oh bloody hell he's refusing yoghurt (2nd day in a row). O give up!

Oh, bummer, baka.

he's so weird- he just refuses staple foods overnight. like apples- every time I turned around he was eating apples- heused to have 3 a day- then suddenly overnight refusal and a shudder if one goes near him now- been like that for well over a year. . I blame dodgy episodic memory myself.

I have to say, he looks the very picture of health despite it all. You have to be doing something right or he has the constitution of an ox. Good luck with the school, and the toast.

He doesn't look too bad at the moment - no deep circles under his eyes and he tans which helps. Although he does have a dreadful diet (and it is bad- then only good bit is the supplement) he doesn't have much in the way of additives (as they cause headbanging). Maybe its that. He's skinny though and before he got fussy he was quite well built.

my disguise isn't very good then PMSL

I know how you feel, I didn't realise that it would be all schools.

My mum said she was worried as my ds(unit attached to m/s) will only eat Jam sandwiches, tbh I thought that children with sn who were known to have food problems would be excluded from the changes.

Get a petition, perhaps write to Jamie Olivers press agent. It is a good idea but must not be inflexible.

My ds will still take Jam sandwiches, there is no way I would risk changing it.

The problem is that I don't think that the powers that be (and possibly Jamie Oliver as well) don't realise how infexible some sn kids can be about their diet. It *isn't the same as NT kids being picky, it is whole different ball game.

Im not sure that it helps but here you can get "toaster bags" to put gf bread into toasters which have had other toast in, it would save you sending the toaster.

i have total symapthy for you. ds has a very restricted diet too[his choosing] and will only eat 6 things total!! so he has a packed lunch..if you can call it that but he will never be able to have school dinners as he gets very anxious if anybody tries to offer him something different or even if he thinks there may even be a slight possibility of this happening..do you feel your whole life revolves around disastrous mealtimes and you just want to run away.. my ds has asd and weve done everything to help but no chance and like someone else said one day hell be happily eating something and then something clicks in his head and thats it he will never eat it again and will heave if its brought near him let alone on the table and he has vowed he will never eat anything new for the rest of his life!! hes only 6!! hes supplemented up to his eyeballs and looks like a rugby player and hardly ever gets sick... he doesnt eat anything with additives etc so could be a reason why hes so healthy!! they said dont worry , as hes fit and healthy and growing well but they arent there at every mealtime!!rant, rant rant..

I'm dreading when DS goes to school. He isn't special needs but hugely fussy. I was so proud when he started to eat skinless sausages and fish fingers. Hopefully packed lunches will be okay because the only cold stuff he'll do is chocolate spread sandwiches.

Jamie Oliver is all very well and having healthier options which look appetising in schools is great but not for kids who have eating issues. He may not have fussy kids but lots of us do. The government should increase the budget on meals so that better quality versions of fish fingers and nuggets can still be available.

toaster bags!!!! what a fantastic idea! I've seen them somewhere.... Lakeland???? Will suggest that to school tomorrow!

yes, you can get toaster bags from Lakeland.
Good luck.
SURELY gvt policy can be flexible for SN kids? Talk to the head of SEN in the Education Dept of your LEA, I wonder?? This is an important issue, and I bet you are not the only parent enduring this worry.

govt policy- flexible??? I wish! Because there's no school run there;s no school gates. I'm mssing this months coffee morning, but will corner other mums at the harvest festival (in between weeping into my hanky). I have a feeling that its a problem fro quite a few though judging by some of the comments in the home-school book.

Bakabat, you have my sympathy, my ds is just the same. The school menu looks really lovely but I know there is nothing there he will eat so he takes packed lunches. I met his new teacher the other day and she said "but he eats really well!". Er, yes. But that's because I only pack things that he likes! What would be the point otherwise?!

If it's any consolation, ds suddenly stopped eating bananas for no apparent reason (as they do)but over a year later he has just as suddenly started eating them again. So there is hope!

I'm probably being hopelessley naive, but since you and the school are jointly exasperated ny this, why don't they just give him smiley faces or whatever? You're hardly likey to report the school, the school are hardly likely to report themselves...and neither T Blair nor Anglela Kelly nor even Jamie Oliver Himself can be in all places at once, chcking your ds's school! Can't they just keep a bag of smiley faces / nuggets / f fingers , heat them up and give them to him?