'My Child Won't Eat' on TV tonight - anyone watching it?

[henrys7thwife]

I am, religiously with my notepad and pen next to me! Comes on at 9 pm, ITV1.

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

oh yes - if only to say smugly 'well, DD2 isn't that bad'.

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

viseo? or shall i take notes?

[SJ99]

yes I shall as my child won't eat so interested to see how they deal with it!

[henrys7thwife]

Apparently it includes a 12-year-old who only eats chocolate (thank GOD DS hasn't gotten to that stage) and a toddler who doesn't eat hot meals (sounds like mine...)

[henrys7thwife]

My son sounds a LOT like the little 2.5-year-old on there (not the one with all the bottles & nappies, but the one who eats yoghurt all the time).

Any opinions on what the woman has to say: Let them eat cake?

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

I was right. DD isn't that bad. although the leaving her until she wants to try other stuff hasn't worked for her. 10 years later she hasn't moved on from marmite sandwiches.
and while her diet isn't that limited it is still bloody irritating and far from normal.

[Saggarmakersbottomknocker]

Nigella - it took dd til she was 12 to try other stuff. These last two years have been a revelation

[bambi06]

is it a series because i missed it?

[kitbit]

gah missed it! So was it just a freak show type showcase of the worst eaters they could find or was there actually some useful wisdom beyond the usual "oh he won't starve himself you know"?

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

there's hope yet then? thanks.

[AitchTwoCiao]

nigella, the woman did say that when girls get to their teenage years there is often an improvement as they are more interested in fitting in with mates etc. good luck.

[Tommy]

it wasn't that great was it? I thought I might get some tips for DS1 but it was a bit freakery/common sense/crazy mum really.

If it had been on the BBC, they would have offered a helpline and/or fact sheet which might have been useful

[Saggarmakersbottomknocker]

Oh yes. This last year dd has started to eat pasta, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber and fried eggs. No marmite though. Thank God

[Tapster]

Seemed very sensible to me, especially for an ITV doc. From my experience of my DD I found that giving her what she wanted to eat and slowly introducing new foods has worked - glad to see that the "give them what you want you want to eat and let them starve if they don't approach" plus the AK "smiley faces" food were both said not to work.

It is surprising how good a child can look on a diet of chocoate and wotsits - the human body is very resilient.

A lot of the mothers come across as hysterical - may be they did contribute to some of their childrens problems, but after going through the stage of my child having severe food phobia it can drive any mother insane.

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

[Saggarmakersbottomknocker]

It has been cooking for herself that has helped dd. I'd have let her loose in the kitchen at 5 had I known.

[desperatehousewifetoo]

Watch it on your computer here:

www.itv.com/CatchUp/Video/default.html?ViewType=5&Filter=21258

If that does not work go to 'ITV catch up'. There's a link on front page.

I think all the children were actually eating the correct calories that their bodies needed weren't they, just limited nutrients. So this approach wouldn't help so much with a child who can't eat enough iyswim.

riven, have you tried double cream in your mashed potato too? There are also high calorie powders that you can add to food. Sorry if i'm 'teaching grandmother to suck eggs' and you've already tried all these things!

[SJ99]

Riven we have exactly teh same problem. Not so much DS 2.5yrs is fussy with foods (altough can be), it is more that he doesn't want to eat much and prefers to eat veg/fruit i.e. not really body building foods on their own. He is much better now that when he 1st moved onto solids but is so active he doesn't really retain much fat. Plus at 1st sign of illness/teething it's always his appetite that goes & his weight does go down. Frustrating and not v. easy to get high cal stuff into them if they don't want to eat! Good luck with your appointment

[blueshoes]

I caught snatches of it. I like the fact that they did not go down the 'if you starve them they will eat' route.

If people can have phobias about the most irrational things, it is not inconceivable that children can develop phobias around food, that call for strategies beyond the ken of the average parent.