Make a Menu for Picky Eaters!

Sometimes, children who had acid reflux as a baby or still live with it, can only enjoy a relatively limited diet. While this can be incredibly frustrating from a parental perspective, rarely is this the fault of the child. Early reflux may have created food aversions based on textures or tastes that the child remembered as painful. If the child is still living with reflux, the diet may be limited for more obvious reasons. These dietary limitations can make meal time frustrating and innovative solutions are sometimes needed. Thanks to the creativity of our 13 year old son, our youngest son with acid reflux disease now has a restaurant style menu to choose from every day for breakfast!

This past summer, after watching us struggle to come up with a breakfast that sounded good to our youngest son, our oldest son took it upon himself to create a menu of interesting options that our son can enjoy. Using the computer and fancy fonts, our son created a menu with such items as ripe bananas, rice with yummy duck sauce, and toasted grilled cheese. Since our youngest son does not have the opportunity to eat out at a restaurant very often, choosing from a menu makes the process of deciding what to eat not only less stressful, but actually fun!

Creating a menu might seem like spoiling a child to those who do not have experience with acid reflux disease in their family. But, for those of us living with the disease, it often comes down to trying to find a balance between being healthy and happy. With years of practice, we've learned that sometimes extraordinary circumstances call for special solutions.