Starting GAPS with picky kids...help?

[micah_mae_]

So my 4 yo is autistic and has always had "tummy troubles". Now both my 2 yo and my 4 yo have diarrhea often. My 4 yo also has a bloated tummy, always has. We thought he'd grow out of it but now we think he might have a gluten intolerance. My husband also shows signs of adrenal fatigue.

So here's what we eat on a regular basis:

Breakfast-

Organic yogurt sweetened with homemade berry sauce (frozen organic berries, a little water and a touch of pure maple syrup).

Organic steel cut oatmeal sweetened with my berry sauce or plain pure maple syrup.

Omelets made with organic cheese and/or meat and organic free range eggs.

Snacks-

Tons of apples and oranges and bananas. Sometimes grapes. But mostly apples and oranges. Partly because they're both cheap. I buy organic apples and grapes but not oranges and bananas.

Natural peanut butter (ingredients are peanuts, salt and sunflower oil).

Organic popcorn.

Lunch-

Leftovers.

Organic meat and cheese rolled up in a tortilla.

Pasta with either cheese sauce or tomato sauce. They like Annies mac and cheese.

Gluten free chicken/fish nuggets (no antibiotics or hormones).

Dinner- (All our meat is antibiotic/hormone free, free range, grass fed, etc)

Meat and lentil tacos with flour tortillas, salsa, organic cheese and organic sour cream.

Shepherds pie.

Chicken Rice Salsa casserole.

Baked pasta with meat and cheese.

Fish baked with greens/eggs/cheese (the only time he'll eat "green stuff").

Frozen pizza on bad days.

So big issue is that my kids don't eat vegetables. I don't know why because my husband and I LOVE vegetables and eat them often. But my kids think veggies are yucky. :( They also won't drink/eat soup or broth which I know is the biggest point behind the GAPS diet.

So to summarize my kids NEED to do the GAPS diet, they don't eat horribly as it is but they are stubborn on the key points of healthy eating and GAPS (broth/soup and veggies). 

So has anyone else been there/done that and succeeded? Do I have to just starve them until they're hungry enough (that thought makes me sad)? Do I bribe them? I need an idea of how to move forward..

[velveeta]

First, here's a big hug for you... GAPS is really hard. We did it for a few months, and we only did full GAPS. Intro, as you know, is even more restricted. And ours was completely dairy free. My kids do like broth. I make chicken broth by simmering the bones for 24 hours with a bit of apple cider vinegar to draw the minerals out. Although I don't think acv is GAPS legal. It's been awhile!

My one boy is very picky. Well, he was much more so before we dropped most grains and did a several months trial of dairy free. I really think that so called picky kids just have food intolerances.

I felt all of this was daunting when I was in your shoes bc, like you, I didn't want to force anyone to do anything. I also give a lot of supplements, and I felt like I was asking the kids to do things that were hard and unfair. The natural consequence of not doing the supps (in our case) was severe adult mental illness. I just felt the stakes were too high not to do something powerful when I had the chance to do so. So... I made a chart where we checked off each day of taking the supplements and eating GAPS. It wasn't like it was optional, but they could see their progress and at the end of each week, I would get them a Lego set. It wasn't a bribe (in my mind) bc I wasn't giving them the option. I said often, this is hard, and I am proud of you for doing something I don't think just anyone can do. And here, I hope this present makes it easier to bear.

I don't know how helpful this is, but let me just say that most everyone who NEEDS this diet, won't want to do it.

Sometimes a GAPS dinner is hot dogs! Sorry, I want to write more, but these children are all over the place! Good luck!