MY SON IS ONLY SURVIVING ON CRISPS....HELP

[Lorniebenno]

Hi everyone

I have only recently joined this forum and posted something on here about a month ago. My 2 yrs 8 month son's diet has gone from bad to worse. He will only eat one particular make and flavour of crisps now (2 bags a day), i am struggling getting one bite of a sandwich down him or any of the baby food that he use to eat. He has just had loads of blood tests and they have all come back fine which i don't understand as he is shattered, pale and loosing weight. He has gone from the 91st centile to the 25th and lost 2lb in a week. I am just so worried about him and don't know what to do.
He is already under a paediatrician and has to see a dietician on Friday but i honestly don't know what they are going to do. I can't face doing anymore food diaries as it's the same day in and day out. They gave him a high calorie/vitamin and protein powder to mix with his juice but he just threw his cup on the floor. No one has mentioned SED but i am really starting to wonder whether he has got it and what it will mean for my little boy.
They have mentioned that he may have to see a psychologist but how can they make a little toddler eat.

Lorna

[lauramay]

Hi Lorniebenno,

I am so,so, sorry you have this problem. You must be so worried. I expect you've tried all the reward tactics. Also, someone mentioned leaving food for your son to eat on his own, without you watching.
Are you or your husband of mediterranean descent? I'm thinking of Thalassaemia minor, where there is lack of iron which could make your son not want to eat. I don't know whether your hospital have checked for that possibility?
I can't think of anything else to say, and I expect that I haven't really helped. Let us know what the dietician says.

[Lorniebenno]

I am really worried, it's awful. Yeah we have tried everything, he has a reward chart but it didn't make any difference. My husband and I are British and our families are British so i doubt whether it would be Thalassaemia. He is already on an iron and viatmin suppliment as his iron levels were low. His diet has just got worse and worse. I thought it was bad a year ago but it was great compared to now. I just wish someone had listened to me ages ago and they could have had a better chance of getting him to eat. I wish i knew what was going on in his little head, i feel so sorry for him cos he is missing out on things like kids parties, picnics in the park etc.

Thanks for your advice and i shall let you know what the dietician says.

[millymoos]

Hi
I desperately feel for you and share your sense of despair.
I know that this will come as little comfort to you but my son (who will be 3 on saturday) has had eating problems ever since he was around 1 year old. He was at his worst (fingers crossed) about 12 months ago when he was only eating 1 brand of bagel and that was pretty much it. I tried everthing but nothing worked and I used to cry myself to sleep with worry and I really used to think that I would go into his room in the morning and he would be dead from starvation. (seriously I did)

DO you know what I did? I simply let him eat bagels everyday. Nothing else. No pressure, no nothing, Just bagels bagels bagels. And I simply took the pressure off (me as well as him), expected nothing and tried simply to very slighly increase the volumes so he was getting more calories. The biggest thing I have learnt is that for children like ours the key thing is calories. Not good or bad ones, just calories from any source.

It has taken a year and we have a long way to go but my son will now eat

chips, smiley faces, waffles, roast potatoes
chicken nuggets
peas
carrots
pizza (cheese and tomato only)
yogurts
jelly
crisps
bsicuits
chocolate
apples, bananas, pears, oranges, grapes, kiwi, blackcurrants, strawberries, raspberries (pretty much any fruit)
Cereal (weetabix fruit and fibre, cornflakes, rice krispies, cheerios, crunchy nut etc)
Cucumber
Red peppers
crackers with cheese spread
breadsticks, rice cakes, cereal bars etc
cake
We have a very long way to go but the improvement is vast (for us)
He is less stressed around food, will help me chop, peel and prepare food and will lay the table for me and sit at it while we eat a meal
He is happy, energetic, and developing well in every other sense,

So I guess what I am saying is although it goes against all your inner beliefs just let him eat crisps if that is what he will eat. Just try to increase the amount to increase the calories, then start working on other ideas. I never ever thought 12 months ago he would eat the food items listed above so it is possible.
And if he continues losing weight go back to your GP or take him to A&E and do not let them fob you off

I wish you every luck
Karen

[Lesley]

To millimoos
How didyou get your son to increase his diet so much
did he suddenly just ask to try different foods

[millymoos]

We really didn;t do anything other than

reinstated family meals round the table. I always give my son a very small amount of whatever we are having and a bowl with something he will eat, eg toast and make no reference to it. I simply leave it there. We do not talk about food, I do not ask him to try it, I dont mention anything. We talk about the day, what we will do in the afternoon etc. No Stress no fuss no expectation to eat. And gradually he has tried some things. It has been hard. At first just getting him to sit at the table was a nightmare. Then getting him to sit with a bowl of food in front of him was difficult etc. Now he will have anything in front of him with no fuss but wont eat it.

Sounds easy but it really hasn;t been and keeping my wits about me is hard. I still worry endlessly about his diet and weight but dont show this.(not to him anyway)

Btw he had his tonsils and adenoids removed on monday and we are already noticing an improvement in his sleeping and breathing so maybe his eating will improve too. Fingerscrossed but not too optimistic.

K

[millymoos]

We really didn;t do anything other than

reinstated family meals round the table. I always give my son a very small amount of whatever we are having and a bowl with something he will eat, eg toast and make no reference to it. I simply leave it there. We do not talk about food, I do not ask him to try it, I dont mention anything. We talk about the day, what we will do in the afternoon etc. No Stress no fuss no expectation to eat. And gradually he has tried some things. It has been hard. At first just getting him to sit at the table was a nightmare. Then getting him to sit with a bowl of food in front of him was difficult etc. Now he will have anything in front of him with no fuss but wont eat it.

Sounds easy but it really hasn;t been and keeping my wits about me is hard. I still worry endlessly about his diet and weight but dont show this.(not to him anyway)

Btw he had his tonsils and adenoids removed on monday and we are already noticing an improvement in his sleeping and breathing so maybe his eating will improve too. Fingerscrossed but not too optimistic.

K

[Lesley]

hello

my daughter is now eleven
When she was younger she would have gone HYSTERICAL had I put something on her plate which was not one of her 'safe' or 'acceptable' foods

[millymoos]

he used to freak out but we perserved. We told him he did not have to eat it if ih didn;t want to but he was expected to sit at the table with us. We always put it in a separate bowl away from his 'safe' food

Now he deosn't freak out, just says something like, dont like it and pushes it away. We say nothing and leave it there

We still have a VERY long way to go but I am definitely less stressed now

K