Help, please! We have an appointment with the pediatrician in 2 weeks, but I'd like to get a heads up as far as what to expect her to say ... and to see if anyone can either confirm or put to rest my worries. The appointment is just a "well-child" visit.
My stepson is 2.5 years old exactly (30 months). He was breastfed as an infant for a few weeks but then his mother stopped because he nursed very frequently and it was too stressful for her, so he was switched to formula (cow's milk) and he still wanted to eat "constantly". I entered his life a few weeks after his 2nd birthday. Here's what I observe ... and when I am comparing his development it's to my own 25 month old and to his peers (from playgroups, church, etc.)
He had all of his vaccinations up to 18 months, and has not had any since and will likely not, per our choices.
He eats a lot, and would prefer to eat all of the time. He never says that he is full or done. He will eat just about anything, no matter what it tastes like. If he doesn't like a food, he'll say so, but continue eating it. He eats VERY quickly, and often shakes (his hands and whole body) while he eats as he shovels the food in his mouth as fast as he can :-(. He sometimes eats so fast that he chokes. He doesn't chew sufficiently (and often doesn't chew at all, I have even seen whole foods, such as grapes and almonds and peanuts and such, in his diaper, completely unchewed) and does gag/choke at least once per meal. He gags to the point of regurgitating about every other day. He typically just keeps the regurgitated food in his mouth and chews once or twice then swallows again. He drinks A LOT of water but his urine is often quite dark yellow and strong-smelling. He can feed himself pretty well with a fork (a skill I taught him, previously his mother just fed him from her plate/bowl, I also taught him to drink from a cup which he is great at doing, before it was only sippy cups). He sometimes will eat and eat and eat and then say "it hurts!" but still ask for/want more food. If you tell him "okay, you're done, you've had enough, buddy" he will get sad. He cries at the end of a meal about once a day. Our eating patterns are thus: 7am (breakfast), 11am (a lunch, larger midday meal), naptime/quiettime (we avoid the midday sun outside), 3pm (a snack, smaller midday meal), 7pm (dinner, large meal), bedtime by 9pm. So we do feed the children often enough that they don't get too hungry, and yet he still asks all day long when we're eating, what are we having, when is food, I'm hungry, etc.
His bowel movements are normal for the amount of food he eats ... he puts a lot in, so a lot comes out. We're working on potty-learning and he's doing pretty well (sits on the potty when prompted, and pees and poops on there about 75% of the time, diaper only for naps/nighttime).
We try to limit him to appropriate toddler portions for his age and size. We encourage him to drink a whole glass of water (for his size) with each meal, and to take small bites, we cut up his food, we remind him to go slowly, chew, take a sip of water, etc. We eat mostly all organic, all natural foods. We rarely eat anything packaged or processed. I do a lot of cooking/baking and do my best to give us healthy, whole foods made from scratch. Lots of nutrient dense foods, too. I've considered that this could be a food allergy/sensitivity issue but I just wouldn't know where to start to try and figure that out, any advice is welcome. We do eat dairy, gluten, soy, all sorts of fruits and veggies, including peanuts, tree nuts, berries.
So, he's a foodie. He likes to eat, a lot. But why the shaking? And hardly chewing to the point of choking and vomiting??? He is also very small. On target for height for his age (not sure of the inches, but I know it's normal because I've measured and charted it recently) but only weighs 21 pounds and he looks underweight. He has hardly any muscle tone anywhere on his body.
He is very lethargic and slow. He does not run. When he walks he is very slow and purposeful. He doesn't usually walk heel/toe, he just walks by planting his foot down flat. He is afraid to walk on surfaces that aren't smooth, and avoids/gets nervous/upset by gravel, grass, bumpy dirt (such as a hiking trail). He cannot walk down stairs, but instead crawls down backwards. He is clumsy and uncoordinated, but so are most toddlers, right?
Tantrums ... he screams. Shrilly. Instantly, there's no real wind up period when he's sad/upset/angry he just SCREECHES. If he wants a toy someone else has, he screeches. Often there are no tears. There are actually only tears if he's truly hurt/injured. We do not respond to the screaming unless he is hurt or NEEDS something. If he is told to stop doing something (like please stop banging your fork on the table) he makes a sad face, winds up with his mouth open while he sucks in a breath, then there's a SCREAM! like in a horror movie. It's grating to say the least.
He has no interest in art activities. He won't scribble with a crayon, won't do fingerpainting (and if we dip his fingertip into the paint it brings on a screeching fit/tantrum), doesn't do/enjoy playdough.
Finger-sucking ... he does suck the two middle fingers on his left hand, which I presume is normal (my two children are both breastfeeding, 25 months old, and 4 months old, and neither sucks their fingers/thumb or has a lovey, so I have no experience with it). His fingernails on those fingers are deformed from his frequency and urgency of sucking (he sucks really hard) at nighttime, naptime, and randomly throughout the day (out of boredom, upsetness, etc.)
I just wish I knew this was all within the realm of normal, or what was wrong so we could help him.
Things he's great with - words, language development, can say the ABC's, very musical in that he can repeat a line of a song if you sing it, or imitate a tone/note perfectly in pitch. Full on sentences as far as language goes. He is very expressive and dramatic with his faces. Also he's incredibly cute, but maybe we're a bit biased because he's ours :-).
I've thought of so many things ... diabetes/hypoglycemia, a thyroid issue (explains the lethargy, thinness, super-hunger), some sort of muscular dystrophy type issue ... I just have no idea. I don't know much at all about autism/Asperger's syndrome and the symptoms. Maybe it's a combination of things, maybe it's nothing ... I don't know.
We just want him to be able to enjoy life more. To run and play with the other kids. To be able to savor food and not be upset every time a meal is over. To not just live to eat. To enjoy our arts and crafts activities.
I'll do my best to answer any questions.
My stepson is 2.5 years old exactly (30 months). He was breastfed as an infant for a few weeks but then his mother stopped because he nursed very frequently and it was too stressful for her, so he was switched to formula (cow's milk) and he still wanted to eat "constantly". I entered his life a few weeks after his 2nd birthday. Here's what I observe ... and when I am comparing his development it's to my own 25 month old and to his peers (from playgroups, church, etc.)
He had all of his vaccinations up to 18 months, and has not had any since and will likely not, per our choices.
He eats a lot, and would prefer to eat all of the time. He never says that he is full or done. He will eat just about anything, no matter what it tastes like. If he doesn't like a food, he'll say so, but continue eating it. He eats VERY quickly, and often shakes (his hands and whole body) while he eats as he shovels the food in his mouth as fast as he can :-(. He sometimes eats so fast that he chokes. He doesn't chew sufficiently (and often doesn't chew at all, I have even seen whole foods, such as grapes and almonds and peanuts and such, in his diaper, completely unchewed) and does gag/choke at least once per meal. He gags to the point of regurgitating about every other day. He typically just keeps the regurgitated food in his mouth and chews once or twice then swallows again. He drinks A LOT of water but his urine is often quite dark yellow and strong-smelling. He can feed himself pretty well with a fork (a skill I taught him, previously his mother just fed him from her plate/bowl, I also taught him to drink from a cup which he is great at doing, before it was only sippy cups). He sometimes will eat and eat and eat and then say "it hurts!" but still ask for/want more food. If you tell him "okay, you're done, you've had enough, buddy" he will get sad. He cries at the end of a meal about once a day. Our eating patterns are thus: 7am (breakfast), 11am (a lunch, larger midday meal), naptime/quiettime (we avoid the midday sun outside), 3pm (a snack, smaller midday meal), 7pm (dinner, large meal), bedtime by 9pm. So we do feed the children often enough that they don't get too hungry, and yet he still asks all day long when we're eating, what are we having, when is food, I'm hungry, etc.
His bowel movements are normal for the amount of food he eats ... he puts a lot in, so a lot comes out. We're working on potty-learning and he's doing pretty well (sits on the potty when prompted, and pees and poops on there about 75% of the time, diaper only for naps/nighttime).
We try to limit him to appropriate toddler portions for his age and size. We encourage him to drink a whole glass of water (for his size) with each meal, and to take small bites, we cut up his food, we remind him to go slowly, chew, take a sip of water, etc. We eat mostly all organic, all natural foods. We rarely eat anything packaged or processed. I do a lot of cooking/baking and do my best to give us healthy, whole foods made from scratch. Lots of nutrient dense foods, too. I've considered that this could be a food allergy/sensitivity issue but I just wouldn't know where to start to try and figure that out, any advice is welcome. We do eat dairy, gluten, soy, all sorts of fruits and veggies, including peanuts, tree nuts, berries.
So, he's a foodie. He likes to eat, a lot. But why the shaking? And hardly chewing to the point of choking and vomiting??? He is also very small. On target for height for his age (not sure of the inches, but I know it's normal because I've measured and charted it recently) but only weighs 21 pounds and he looks underweight. He has hardly any muscle tone anywhere on his body.
He is very lethargic and slow. He does not run. When he walks he is very slow and purposeful. He doesn't usually walk heel/toe, he just walks by planting his foot down flat. He is afraid to walk on surfaces that aren't smooth, and avoids/gets nervous/upset by gravel, grass, bumpy dirt (such as a hiking trail). He cannot walk down stairs, but instead crawls down backwards. He is clumsy and uncoordinated, but so are most toddlers, right?
Tantrums ... he screams. Shrilly. Instantly, there's no real wind up period when he's sad/upset/angry he just SCREECHES. If he wants a toy someone else has, he screeches. Often there are no tears. There are actually only tears if he's truly hurt/injured. We do not respond to the screaming unless he is hurt or NEEDS something. If he is told to stop doing something (like please stop banging your fork on the table) he makes a sad face, winds up with his mouth open while he sucks in a breath, then there's a SCREAM! like in a horror movie. It's grating to say the least.
He has no interest in art activities. He won't scribble with a crayon, won't do fingerpainting (and if we dip his fingertip into the paint it brings on a screeching fit/tantrum), doesn't do/enjoy playdough.
Finger-sucking ... he does suck the two middle fingers on his left hand, which I presume is normal (my two children are both breastfeeding, 25 months old, and 4 months old, and neither sucks their fingers/thumb or has a lovey, so I have no experience with it). His fingernails on those fingers are deformed from his frequency and urgency of sucking (he sucks really hard) at nighttime, naptime, and randomly throughout the day (out of boredom, upsetness, etc.)
I just wish I knew this was all within the realm of normal, or what was wrong so we could help him.
Things he's great with - words, language development, can say the ABC's, very musical in that he can repeat a line of a song if you sing it, or imitate a tone/note perfectly in pitch. Full on sentences as far as language goes. He is very expressive and dramatic with his faces. Also he's incredibly cute, but maybe we're a bit biased because he's ours :-).
I've thought of so many things ... diabetes/hypoglycemia, a thyroid issue (explains the lethargy, thinness, super-hunger), some sort of muscular dystrophy type issue ... I just have no idea. I don't know much at all about autism/Asperger's syndrome and the symptoms. Maybe it's a combination of things, maybe it's nothing ... I don't know.
We just want him to be able to enjoy life more. To run and play with the other kids. To be able to savor food and not be upset every time a meal is over. To not just live to eat. To enjoy our arts and crafts activities.
I'll do my best to answer any questions.
I agree with PP about making sure that your Dr. isn't going to just have 5 minutes set aside for a well check up. And trying to get the appointment moved sooner. Good luck!
I hope you figure it out.
