No touching!!

Ben had a total meltdown because a potato had touched his nuggets. He was now refusing to eat any of the nuggets, even the ones that had not been “contaminated” by the potato.

Does this sound familiar?

Wanting foods to remain separate is super common. Many children are uncomfortable with foods that touch well into the primary years and there are a surprising number of adults who still find it a challenge. The official label is brumotactillophobia — try saying that five times without making a mistake 😉

Why no touching?

Any time we have a child that is less comfortable around eating then small things can become a real challenge. There are many logical reasons why separate foods are more easily accepted:

i) Contamination. This is something that is a common complaint among children who find new foods a challenge. Having a food that is not a favourite, touching one that is, can be upsetting.

It can bring up all sorts of fears about how it may affect the accepted food. Will it make it taste or feel different, for example.

Moreover, just having a food that is not in the comfort zone next to something else on the plate can be really off-putting. A good way to understand this as an adult is to think about how easy it would be for us to eat comfortably if there was a hair…