I need some objectivity about my son's issues

[liliaceae]

For that last week or so, my 3 year old son has had diarrhea, is lethargic (he has been getting up early and I haven't been able to give him naps), and hasn't been eating much. When he does eat it's usually toast or yogurt.

Normally he doesn't eat a wide variety of foods anyway, he won't eat any fruits or veggies (I do feed him some fruit purees though). His diet is mainly grains and dairy. I think he may have sensory issues with food, he refuses to try new things, and has never even bitten into a fruit other than bananas (although he now refuses to eat bananas as well).

I thought his appetite was getting worse because he's sick, but now I'm thinking maybe he's not even ill, and it's just his diet that's causing his issues. Maybe he's lactose intolerant? Would that cause symptoms like this?

I'm thinking of just trying to force him to eat more things, and see if it gets better. I don't know what else to do. Please help me out mamas, I feel like a complete failure.

ETA: He's also been getting colds constantly this winter (and last winter), he's had 3 colds in the past month.

[sbgrace]

I've been there. It's hard to see the forest for the trees sometimes.

My initial thought is he's had stool changes (and appetite) for a week. That's consistent with a viral gastro infection. Assuming he was eating dairy prior to this I'd think it's not a long term issue with dairy unless things go on. That said, diary is the one thing that can be an issue with stomach bugs in that many cause temporary lactose intolerance that can go on for a while. Speaking as a parent of a picky kid myself I don't know how long you can pull the dairy because he likely doesn't have any other solid protein sources. But you could try it temporarily and see if it makes a difference. He's still well within the window of still feeling yucky from the bug itself though so you might want to hold off.

I don't know how to make a child eat more variety! I've tried...if you figure it out please let me know! You are not a failure.

[hippiemom]

I have three kids... two are teens and one is 9. Two of them are a couple of the worst picky eaters I have ever encountered. I love them, but God, they used to be a pain.. because I let them.
I found that if I served something along the lines of what they liked, with one new thing each meal or each day or every couple of days, they warmed up to it.. esp if I did not allow snacking. I stopped giving in to pickiness because it just got worse when I catered to it. I did not make them eat anything,nor did I withhold food from a hungry kid who needed a healthy snack, but I did not let them live on pasta or whatever the "one" thing they would eat was. When they got good and hungry they tried new things.. I kept it simple, nothing crazy, but balanced. It made me try new things to make or buy as well, and we all discovered some good things
My eldest was allergic to dairy until she was 7. She did not have gastro symptoms, hers was more congestion, but clearing out dairy did cause great improvement. Try it, you'll see a difference within 5 days or so. There are lots of alternatives to dairy that are quite similar.