I’m not sure I’ve mentioned this in a prior post however I’ll bring it up again. Last year BC began acting stranger than norm around smells and certain foods. At home he was perfectly fine, however in public he’d rarely eat unless he literally sniffed the place out first.

One day while spending the day in NYC he had a breakdown. He hadn’t eaten since leaving Greenwich so he was starving. He threw a fit and refused to get inside a cab. Greg finally got him inside and he vomited twice before we reached our place. No food in the house and none of our vehicles in NYC, Greg called a cab….BC screamed and vomited….Greg called a Town Car.

The ride in the Town Car was fine. We got to the restaurant; BC sniffed the place out and burst into tears and said he couldn’t eat there because it smelled like a toilet. So we left…went to the market and I cooked dinner at home which he ate with no problem. A few days later, Eva mentioned she had a similar experience with him when he went out with her gaggle.

At this point I’m worried. BC isn’t a whiner, crier, or a brat so for something to cause him to burst into tears and throw a fit it must be pretty bad. We also saw that he was becoming increasingly picky about his food and the way people, places, and/or things smelled. When meeting people, he’d cover his nose until he determined they didn’t smell. The only person he didn’t do this to was his doctor.

Anyway, his doctor asked us to watch his eating habits and give him a report on his next visit. We did. He was then tested for increased amounts of fungiform papillae (taste buds). When the doc put these little drops on his tongue, it turned bright blue. Turns out BC is a supertaster. A supertaster is a person who experiences the sense of taste with far greater intensity than average.

This not only affects their taste but in some their sense of smell is heightened as well. Ha! This is why BC can’t eat in places with the slightest smells….and he certainly can’t ride in NYC cabs. So his reaction in the cabs wasn’t him being irritable; it was a natural reaction to his environment. He couldn’t help it. Poor baby, I felt terrible for getting pissed! This also explains why he doesn’t like eating away from home. It doesn’t explain why he loves NYC street hotdogs…I’ll have to talk to the doc about that tidbit.

It’s not something they grow out. They learn to cope with it. BC is young so he’s curious about everything…and with a garden the size of a small country, he’s having a blast figuring out all the foods that won’t make him gag. Milk, yes. Soda, no. He gags every time he drink soda. Carrots, yes. Basil, no. He threw up in the garden from eating basil. As for smells, we’ve gotten him out of covering his nose however the downside to this is he’s shy when meeting new people. We’re working on that.

We’re also teaching him to tell us when something is getting to him. You see, right before he voluntarily vomits, he breaks out in goose bumps. We need to know when the goose bumps begin so we can get him out of there, lol! My mom, the shrink, also suggested putting a very small amount of Vick’s Vapor Rub right inside of his nose before we go out. Surprisingly, it works—he doesn’t get as ill and he’s not as freaked out when going into new restaurants.

He’s father isn’t this way but, in hindsight, Tasha was. We always thought she was a picky eater with OCD tendencies. She was ALWAYS cleaning and hated smells of any kind. Who knew? *shrugs*


Read up on the topic when you have a chance, you might have one on your. I’ve learned a lot since BC was identified. I'll never doubt my little man again! Kids know more than we give them credit for...they may not be able to express it to others but they know it. I'm very proud of him, he's doing very well with this. He's cautious when introduced to new foods but he's not afraid to try them. Actually he loves bouncing around the garden like a rabbit. Now if I can just get him to leave the fruit trees alone I’ll be happy.