Ok, seriously. How do I feed him if he doesn't want it? - Page 2

[woodchick]

Originally Posted by newmothermary

Great idea about the black beans! Do you cooked those down further? Assuming you get the canned variety. Or do you get the bagged ones?

Thanks!

Sometimes they get heated up, but usually I just drain and rinse the beans from the can and serve them up cold.

[SubliminalDarkness]

We just gave Ansel some of whatever we were eating. No spoon feeding. He did fine feeding himself, just took him some time to figure it out.

[wombatclay]

Don't forget that cooking in cast iron will up the iron content of the food... dump the beans in a cast iron pan for a quick heating for example.

Now... my dd2 was (still is) a very selective eater. She was eventually diagnosed with a sensory processing disorder. She more or less only wanted to eat crunchy/chewy/savory things... so while dd1 loved avocado, dd2 hated it unless it was a garlic heavy guacamole! And while dd1 loved eating stews (softer veggies/meat) dd2 wanted jerkey and crispy veggies. Have you tried offering a really wide variety of tastes and textures? And what about temperature?

Also... you mention a wheat allergy. Did the dr elaborate? Some people are truely allergic to wheat protiens while others have a sensitivity to the gluten found in wheat. A gluten sensitivity (Celiac disease) can result in damage to the intestines that prevents the absorption of other "good things"... my dd1 has celiac disease and short stature is a common side effect of untreated celiac. Often obvious symptoms take years to develope, but damage to the intestines happens even without the obvious symptoms. Anyway, if the bloodwork showed a problem with gluten then that could be part of what is going on. You could maybe ask for more information about the blood test results?

(oh, if it is celiac, the treatment is a lifelong avoidance of gluten. so no wheat, barley, rye or their derivatives.)

[newmothermary]

The ped didn't elaborate about the wheat allergy only that he is shown on the RAST test to be allergic to wheat (and eggs, shrimp). I did tell her that Miles has been having bread and cheerios with no adverse effects that I can see. He is 75% for height. I'm not sure what that mean in terms of wheat allergy/gluten sensitivity effect. Would a slow in growth effect the height as well? Just thinking out loud.

[wombatclay]

You may want to ask your care provider to double check for Celiac Disease... it's kind of a nasty condition since there can be no obvious symptoms until there is significant intestinal damage. DD1 was diagnosed young (4yo) even though she is big/tall and had been eating gluten grains since around 8-9months of age without incident. We noticed she had tummy aches and really icky stools, then her skin kept getting dry/scaley. They did the blood test and diagnosed celiac... we cut gluten from the family diet and she is totally fine. But if she gets some gluten by accident it's right back to the tummy ache/urgent toilet trips/itchy skin.

The National Celiac Foundation website here has good info. According to current estimates, as many as 1 in 133 people may have Celiac Disease, most of them undiagnosed. Since wheat showed up in your little one's testing, your care provider shouldn't resist adding the celiac test... and it would be worth knowing sooner rather than later. Historically, celiac disease was identified 4-6 months after the introduction of gluten grains to the diet (it takes time for the body to show symptoms since it's not a true allergy but instead an inability to progess the gluten leaving it free to damage the intestines on the way out), so in the past small children were the most commonly diagnosed.

[newmothermary]

Thanks for the info. I will bring it up with the ped. Most likely she'll repeat the blood test to check the anemia so we'll take care of both business in one visit.