How do i get my son to eat?
I am so frustrated and I was wondering if anyone here had any ideasthat had maybe worked for them in the past. My son is 15 months oldand he does not like to eat at all. I am guessing that it is asensory thing but since we haven’t gotten a diagnosis yet we can’tget an evaluation yet so I am wondering what to do in the meantime.On a good day I can get about 600 calories in him and on a bad day itis more like 300. I am so weary because I stay up late making gfcfbaked goods and homemade chicken nuggets and purees and then they areall refused and go into the garbage. Right now he is only eatinghotdogs, rice cereal, sausage, and veggie booty. He really shouldn’teven be eating the veggie booty because it has corn in it but that isthe only snack he will eat. He does not like bread, cookies,crackers, or anything that would typically be a toddler filler. He issensitive to phenols, soy, corn, and eggs but he still gets them insmall doses since I am so limited. He won’t feed himself but hedoesn’t like to be fed either so every mealtime ends up being ascreaming match and then he ends up hungry and grumpy for the rest ofthe day. He hasn’t gained weight in 4 months. Everybody tells me hewill eat when he is hungry well it seems to me he has been hungry for4 months. The day is more than half way over and he has only had 1/4cup rice cereal with darifree and baby pears, 6oz darifree mixed with2oz pear juice, 1 handful of ceros, and then he flat out refused thechicken salad I offered him at lunch then went down for his napcrying and hungry. I just can’t allow him to eat hotdogs for lunchand dinner every day. Any ideas?
This post tagged as: 2 eggs, bread mix, gf bread
Shane Dearmond said,
Wrote on January 20, 2007 @ 2:23 am
My son was right oposite. He only ate bread for the longest time.However I do have a friend who’s son ate only baby food when he wasyour sons age. Does your son still eat baby food; better yet WILL hestill eat baby food? She couldn’t get Will off baby food til’ he was18 months old but it was better than the hot dogs. She also gavesupplements.
To help with oral sevsory issues go to wal-mart baby section andlook for this packet toothbrush combo thing. It has a tooth brushbut it also has this oral stick in it that looks like a ball at theend with rubber spikes. Rub that in your son’s mouth throughout theday and it really helps with oral sensory issues. It’s also calleda “NUK” brush.
Another thing that helped with my son’s oral motor is this. Webought a tupperware box and filled it with dry rice. We put 4marbles at the very bottom of the box and Sasha had to dig throughthe rice to get to the marbles. The smallest things will make thebiggest difference in the sensory world. My son started eatingbetter textured food after starting that but it wasn’t like he waseating green beans and broccoli. He just ate a few things that henormally wouldn’t eat.
Magda Laurence said,
Wrote on January 21, 2007 @ 1:59 am
Just recently he started refusing purees as well so Ino longer have that option. I will try the toothbrush thingy. Iactually have one somewhere. He actually tolerates a big kidtoothbrush quite well so I don’t know if the baby toothbrush would doanything for him. I want to find out more about the brush therapy (onthe body) for SI if anyone know anything about it
Shane Dearmond said,
Wrote on January 22, 2007 @ 12:18 am
We did brush therapy on the body and it did help. What you do is buya surgical brush. You brush the arms, back, and legs about 15 timesa day. It only takes 1 minute to brush all over but you must do itmany times a day. Avoid brushing the face and tummy as you will geta negative reaction and it won’t help. I purchase our brushesthrough Pocket Full of Therapy. http://www.pfot.com
Shonta Labbadia said,
Wrote on January 22, 2007 @ 10:54 pm
I make my 9 yo son Tinkyada brown rice pasta w/ sauce for many dinners/snacks. Last time I did this, MY 15 mo daughter acted like she also wanted some. So, Igave her some of his elbow pasta w/ a little sauce. She loved it!Can your son eat bananas? I cut up my daughter’s banana yesterday afternoon incircles (I basically sliced it up) and she kept saying & signing “more” and whenall was said and done, she ate the whole thing!She also likes the Enviro-Kids Gorilla Munch that I bought for my son (althoughhe didn’t like it!)
Rosaura Randles said,
Wrote on January 23, 2007 @ 10:06 am
15 month old children are stubborn- they also do not eat as much as babies,because they are so into discovering new things- as well as walking/running allover the place ( they gain far less weight than babies also). I would replacethe 6 oz of darifree with water- as he would not be drinking his calories.I would discontinue the GFCF treats- as they are exhausting for you- andprobably too different for him than non- GFCF.Try a plate of plain chicken/meat, fruit and vegetables. Do not make a fusseither way- to eat it or not. Maybe put it on a coffee table so he can pick atit as he is cruising.
Wesley Marske said,
Wrote on January 24, 2007 @ 11:35 am
My son is also sensitive to phenols but I do give some in limitedamounts. What ones cause the worste problems? For Connor it would be bananas,concentrated apple stuff, red grapes, food coloring.Does your son like fruit? I put out plates of OK fruit, veggies, slices of OKmeats and rice crackers for the kids to pick at. They love this and Connor getsinto it too. Any kinds of melons are OK, green grapes (limited amounts), pears,peaches, pineapple. He will eat, sliced cucumber, carrot sticks and celerysticks, brocolli flowerlettes. I get msg free ham slices and turkey slices orcut up cold cooked chicken for the meat plate. Because it is presented like asnack and everyone is digging in, Connor started to help himself. It’s a hitand we do this for one meal at least once every couple of weeks.
Theodora Formato said,
Wrote on January 26, 2007 @ 4:07 am
Pardon my ignorance, but what are the symptoms of phenol sensitivity?My son only eats apples -which he does once or twice a day. I can’timagine taking that off his diet.
Wesley Marske said,
Wrote on January 26, 2007 @ 4:10 am
For my son, high phenol foods cause hyperactivity and sometimesaggression. Often they will get red in the cheeks and/or ears. Dana has agreat web site with lots of information and links http://www.danasview.net.