Nutritional help for a child not eating

[TonyaW]

I have a child who says he is having a hard time swallowing for the last few days. I guess it has been about 48 hours since he has eaten solids. He will drink smoothies and eat yogurt. Otherwise he spits out food and says he feels like he is going to choke. He was checked out by a doctor but there were not functional problems in the throat or obvious symptoms of illness. I am away from home for the month of October in vacation home in the middle of the country without easy access to much.

I have been making smoothies. I need to make sure he is getting a balance of foods and plan to make an hour trip to the store in about 1 week. On hand I have been using almond butter, banana, berries, egg, yogurt, spinach and buckwheat smoothies. It seems fairly balanced, but I wanted to see what else I can do. I don't really have anything else except some sweet potatoes and some milk come via my sister in law. I plan to try to make a custard. My husband will be bringing some paleo meal whey next week.

Anything else I can do with a not so great grocery store nearby. I just want to make sure I am not missing anything.

I would normally feed him really TF style foods, but I can only do so much right now with this issue. He is getting good quality eggs. Good milk though not raw when it comes tomorrow. I don't have any liver with me or CLO. Oh, I do have CO.

[velcromom]

Can you get some bone broth going? I'd try giving him a double strength broth with sea salt and pasture butter stirred in. Avocado "pudding", (avocados, frozen banana, nut butter, vanilla, all blended & kept in the fridge for pudding or freezer for "ice cream")

A choking/lump in the throat feeling can be a symptom of reflux. Hope things improve for him soon!

[cocobean]

You could put some coconut oil in with the smoothie to help get another kind of healthy fat in there. It sounds like you're doing a good job of keeping as balanced as you can. Good luck! Here's to hoping it's just a phase!

[TonyaW]

Good ideas thanks. I am planning to make some bone broth tomorrow with a leftover chicken carcass. I hadn't thought of the avocado and keep forgetting CO.

[TonyaW]

Originally Posted by velcromom

Can you get some bone broth going? I'd try giving him a double strength broth with sea salt and pasture butter stirred in. Avocado "pudding", (avocados, frozen banana, nut butter, vanilla, all blended & kept in the fridge for pudding or freezer for "ice cream")

A choking/lump in the throat feeling can be a symptom of reflux. Hope things improve for him soon!

How else would I know if it is reflux and what would cause it at this age? I have noticed him burping more.

[velcromom]

I am not sure what would cause it in a child, I just know I had pretty severe LPR (laryngo-pharyngeal reflux, sibling to GERD) for a while and one of the main symptoms was that awful lump in the throat. Supposedly it was inflammation due to stomach acid rising into the throat - mine was related to low stomach acid and improved with digestive enzymes that included a betaine HCL supplement. Two things I know are needed for stomach acid production are salt, so if he is not getting enough salt, adding that in may help, (in broth, or you can also add a pinch of salt to a glass of lemonade without changing the flavor) and also the fact that stomach acid is supposed to be produced in the presence of histamine - add more fermented foods if you can, for the histamines. Sounds weird I know. Maybe do a search on reflux here, I bet there are probably an awful lot of threads.

[TopazBlueMama]

Herbal tea and bone broth with salt, and not push solids until until he is feeling better balanced and less inflammed. It's got to be stressful, I"m sorry.

[MamaMamaMama!]

As far as herbs go it's the bitters that help increase stomach acid--that's your stuff like dandelion, chamomile, fennel, etc. Taking these before a meal can really help digestion.