Kids with oral aversions & feeding problems Support - Page 2

[PumpkinSeeds]

Today was much better. I finally got him to take some paracetamol for his pain. It turns out his throat was hurting. It took several hours to persuade him to chew the tablets.

He ate so good today it was amazing. The hardest thing for me has been to release those feelings that on the days when he eats well, that means I'm a good mom. And the days when he can't eat or when he's overly gaggy That means I'm a bad mom.

He ate today:

1/2 cup oatmeal made with milk and butter
1 pbj on whole wheat
The juice of 2 oranges
1 piece of sweettart like candy
1 yakult
1/2 cucumber with salt
1/2 head stir fried broccoli
6 fish sticks :
3 very small crackers
2 spoonfuls of yogurt

[PumpkinSeeds]

One thing that used to help a lot was when my son chewed gum. Another thing is that I used to let him blow bubbles into a glass of water with a straw before taking a bite. I also used to feed him while he took a bath. Something about being in the warm water helped a bit. Those things aren't working for us now that he his feeding himself.

I'm curious Thystle, when your son gets treatment, what that treatment looks like, especially for the anxiety and feeding clinic. I'm worried I'm not doing enough.

My 2yo won't eat unless he feeds himself. It's like night and day between my kids. They couldn't be more different regarding food and feeding.

[Treasuremapper]

I took my daughter in to see her pediatrician today. I felt so embarrassed, because her iron levels are great. The bruises were normal childhood bruises on her shins, but no real explanation for the dark circles under her eyes.

Overanxious mom strikes again. Even though she had refused her iron supplements for over a month, apparently there were sufficient stores of iron.

Pumpkin Seeds, that's quite a menu for one day!

Wearing shoes all the time is a sign of sensory processing dysfunction? My dh always wears shoes.

[mistymama]

Can I join? I've got a 4 year old with sensory issues. He can't tolerate many, if any mushy foods but regardless, he hardly eats at all. He was in OT until he turned 3 and had made great progress ... but in the last year he's gone back downhill (eating-wise ..everything else is great!) and I really need to get him back into OT.

Our biggest problem is that he loves PediaSure, and prefers to drink it over anything else. Of course, if he's drinking that, he's not hungry for regular food. People say just cut out the PediaSure and he will eat! Well, I know you guys understand that just is not true ... he wont eat, he'll starve himself before he'll touch food some days/weeks. It's so hard.

He likes crunchy, mostly colorless foods. So tortilla chips, corn, crackers are pretty much all he wants to eat .. and that is IF and WHEN he ever feels like eating. He lives off PediaSure, which is so very expensive.

I'm going to watch and join this thread, and hope we can find a good pediatric OT after the first of the year.

[PumpkinSeeds]

You just can't wrap your head around it unless you have a child like that, isn't it? The best validation that I got was when my son was being evaluated and the OT said that whoever told me that "he would eat when he was hungry" was wrong.



I said before that I was spoon feeding my son until a couple of months ago. I used to feed him this pureed soup I would make and hide a lot of things in it, but now he won't eat it because he won't self feed it and he doesn't want me to feed him anymore. So now I'm trying to find things that he can eat without gagging.

I know I'm rambling, but there has been many a day when I thought I was the only one going through this. And to think I used to consider myself a foodie. Now I think of food and I just. get. sad.

Originally Posted by mistymama

People say just cut out the PediaSure and he will eat! Well, I know you guys understand that just is not true ... he wont eat, he'll starve himself before he'll touch food some days/weeks. It's so hard.

[Cinder]

My 2 1/2 year old isn't really pick per say...he likes a wide variety of foods when he is willing to eat...he just doesn't like eating in general.

[Thystle]

kchoffmann {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

I was being all encompassing when I said yelling. I was trying to get a point across. I still get frustrated too and I rarely yell.

If he is not willing to help himself or you out, he may be depressed or you may both be in need of counseling to get at the "root" of what is going on. It may be a power struggle.






I am anxious to see what they do in the feeding clinic also. I will let you know as soon as he gets in. Right now in OT they have him do "hard" work (vestibular) and then "snack time". It is rather scripted and follows a protocol. So my son has not been as "receptive" and "compliant" as some. But I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and I am desperate enough for him to try anything once.




I am also using alot of the Nourishing Traditions ideas (over in the Traditional Foods forum). And I will buy him "better" stuff than the rest of us eat if my food budget is tight. Meaning he will get the organics before the rest of us. I figure since he does not eat as much he should get the best first. I was happy that he is now starting to ask if something is healthy or not... and occasionally will "allow" a food brand switch to something "better" if he thinks it's not healthy. Like when we got him to switch to organic trans fat free faux Oreo's instead of the real ones. Ofcourse there was that one day I accidently bought the wheat and dairy free ones and he cried for an hour after putting one in his mouth.




Our biggest thing to "get over" was the "wasting food" struggle. It was hard to get everyone to stop getting mad at him for wasting food. It's hard for many people to step outside the box and try to remember he is not doing it on purpose. But removing the "shame" helps a bit.


Oh and mine does eat better if he does heavy work/vestibular stimulation first.


Ok I am rambling now....

[Thystle]

PumpkinSeeds ... would he eat the soup if it is in a cup?



Anytime my son showed an interest in a new spoon or silly bowl or cup I would buy it. I have a whole assortment of little things to try to make it "fun".


Would he respond if you let him choose some new cups (or bowls or sppons or those little feed bags thingies, etc...) all by himself? Even if you just put something in it every "meal" and it takes him a month to try it? Over and over again until he accepts it?

[USAmma]

PumpkinSeeds, welcome to the SN forum! There are many parents here whose children have feeding issues. I think feeding issues are soooooooo hard to deal with on so many levels. I mean, a mother's first instinct is to feed her child, and when you can't, it's just an awful feeling.

My dd's story is the sig link below, click on GERD. Basically she has had a feeding tube from 3 mos old for GERD, vomiting, refusing to eat, lack of hunger. Now she's almost 3 (in Jan) and doing better in many ways, but still not anywhere near normal with eating. The tube has been a blessing in disguise.

My dd has recently been dx with E.E. It's an allergic condition of the esophagus that comes from food allergies or inhaled environmental allergies. It's very hard to diagnose it, and can only be done through biopsy. It also is hard to find out which allergies are bothering her because a skin test won't reveal them. Different kind of allergy cells. The dx explains a LOT. I was wondering of your child has had any tests done for this condition, or for food allergies in general.

My dd is hand-fed most of her food, and when we are able to devote the time to her, we can get enough calories in her without the tube. But she eats so slowly with solid foods, and she has a hard time eating purees without gagging, and she won't drink milk or smoothies (just a little bit, like 2 oz) so it's a struggle.

[Thystle]

Ooooooooooh one more thing.


I bought him a little Easy Bake Oven and he seems to want to "bake" snacks for himself alot more. It's worth a try!

[Thystle]

mistymama ... there is alot you can hide in Pediasure, and alot of mama's that wish their kids would drink it!

Have you ever "witheld" it until he eats a few bites of something else first? And then give him the drink? And then slowly upped how many bites they had to eat first?

Some kids do not respond well to this and others think of it as a game or "duty" to eat their # of bites first.

[Thystle]

USAmma {{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Browsing your site I see we have done many of the same things!

They are beautiful by the way!

[kchoffmann]

We use Reliv, which is a sort of healthy alternative to Pediasure (sort of - there's still sugar in it). It's a food-based supplement, so we immediately saw some big changes in him once he was actually absorbing some real nutrition. And, you can hide everything in there, which we do. We had to get him on it slowly, adding the tiniest amount to his milk at first, and then working him up to a full dose. If anyone's interested, PM me - I have a friend who sells it.

Thystle, we're fine, thanks. I wasn't looking for advice. He's in counseling, but in general it's just one of those things in a marriage. I was just venting my frustration and looking for comraderie about it - this is the first place I've ever been where someone else had to deal with the same thing from their DH.

[PumpkinSeeds]

Usamma, I have been following Nitara's story. You are an amazing mama.

My son does have multiple food allergies which makes it more complicated. Recently though, he has been drinking yakult without any kind of reaction and I've slowly introduced butter and cooked milk (in the oatmeal). He seems to tolerate it ok. But we are still holding off on the other allergens.

[Strong Mama]

Well, my ds hasnt been eating well at all this week. Of course he wants all the sweets thats around the house, but his food menu is limited and all he has eaten this week is spagetti, pizza and chicken/french fries. UGH. I found a video, I got it from the WIC office per request by EI coordiantor, and it has children eating healthy things, he LOVES to watch it. Its almost like he is in awe that people actually eat this stuff, KIDS actually eat this stuff and he wishes he could but cant or something. He asked for milk, grapes, and bread watching this video!!! Of course, he didnt eat anything he asked for, but still...he asked for it!

I am so frustrated this week. And who else dreads christmas dinner? I HATE the looks from my family or rather they are like, go get in line, get J some dinner. I shrug my shoulders, Im like, hes fine and they go all funny like GAWD doesnt she feed her child?: Yea, i do, but nothing on this menu hell eat thanks very much. Humph.

Well, looks like hell have chicken and french fries instead this xmas!

[mamarhu]

I'm hoping he might eat mashed potatoes at the family dinner, but I don't really expect him to.

[Treasuremapper]

I never heard of Reliv? Where do you find it?

My daughter with eating aversions will not touch Pediasure. However, my other daughter, the one who cheerfully eats big piles of kale, tofu, and brown rice with pickles on the side, begs for Pediasure.

[kchoffmann]

Originally Posted by inezyv

I never heard of Reliv? Where do you find it?

My daughter with eating aversions will not touch Pediasure. However, my other daughter, the one who cheerfully eats big piles of kale, tofu, and brown rice with pickles on the side, begs for Pediasure.

Ha! Of course she does. That's how it always is.

Reliv is sold through private distributers. It's actually one of those multi-marketing thingies, which I'm not interested in or a fan of, but because my friend sells it I thought I'd give it a try. There are all these testimonials about how it's changed people's/kids' lives, including some kids on the spectrum. It might be useful for you because you can gradually introduce it into something that's already familiar (as opposed to Pediasure which is already mixed) - that's what we did; we started by adding almost nothing to his milk, then gradually increased it over time. Now he gets over a full dosage every day (my friend told me it's fine to go over the dosage. She said it's like giving him more vegetables than the required amount of servings). Really, it's just vitamins and minerals, but they're food-based, which means the body can absorb it. We're so relieved to have it because even though my son eats only one thing, sometimes two, I know he's getting nutrition.

If you're interested I'm pretty sure they have a website. Probably www.reliv.com, and then if you're still interested, PM me and I'll give you a way to get in touch with my friend. She's not pushy at all - she'll just educate you about it. And then if you want to just give it a try at first, that's fine with her.

[kchoffmann]

Funny thing DS just did

To set this up, you need to know that pretty much every day I offer something to DS he won't eat and ask him to take one bite. Usually I do this when he's asked for his one food he eats. I try to get him to take one bite, or even put something to his lips, before he gets the thing he really wants. He usually fusses, and I usually say over and over again "One bite. Come on, just one bite." I'm sure this sounds familiar.

Anyway, DH was eating some cookies, and DS, interested in the cookies, came over to investigate. He picked one up and pushed it toward DH's mouth. DH, who was already eating one said, "No thanks, I don't want that. I already have a cookie." But DS kept pushing, holding the cookie up to DH's mouth, and said, "One bite."

[Thystle]

Originally Posted by kchoffmann

But DS kept pushing, holding the cookie up to DH's mouth, and said, "One bite."