Anyone else on here have a child with a food phobia?

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

If you do I would like to hear how you deal with it from day to day.

TIA

Attila

[Raine3]

My Ds is 2yrs in two weeks .... wont eat a scrap except his milk in a bottle .... he gags every time I put his bib on!

[Seuss]

like riven - I tend to give him things I know he will eat. Although we do keep trying him with new things but only when it doesn't matter so much what he eats and when - like in the hols.

[Seuss]

Agree with Christie, my ds will now handle quite a range of foods and occasionally lick something new - he hasn't extended his range with regard to actually eating many of them yet but does seem to be progressing in the right direction. He is quite keen on making food now (off to make cakes in a minute) so I'm hoping this will move on to eating it too! The bits I find hard is that I want him to eat something - anything, I don't want to make a huge issue out of it and then sometimes I just really don't feel like battling to get him to try something.

[streakybacon]

Agree with Christie - it is a VERY long and difficult process to teach a child with food issues to eat a wider range of foods but it can be done. Much of it comes from sensory sensitivity and you need to be extremely patient and consistent if you're to teach a child to accept new foods. Christie's advice about doing it in small steps is excellent, starting with accepting a food on the plate then gradually progressing to touching, smelling, licking etc until they feel able to try eating it. This can take months if not years.

My ds (9, with AS) ate the same meal for four years - chipolata sausages (only from a particular butcher), smiley faces and beans. Using gradual techniques we slowly encouraged him to accept trying new foods, often with him sitting on my lap while I spoonfed him with a tiny amount of the new food, swiftly followed by a favoured food. It took months for him to accept something new but when he did we made a big fuss, gave praise and rewards, and encouraged him to continue trying. He now has a very good nutritional diet but still doesn't eat the same kinds of foods as NT children have - eg pizzas and the like (doesn't do combined foods apart from sandwiches, and that's a lengthy tale in itself).

Don't give up, it can be done but first establish a core range of foods that your child enjoys (however small) then gradually add new ones, but remember it will probably take a very long time.

Oh, and I found it essential to rotate newly introduced foods regularly, as if I left it too long between tastes he'd forget he'd had it and consequently we'd have to start over again with that particular food. Soul-destroying! And don't over-load by trying too many new foods at once. One at a time works best.

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

Hi

Thank you to all those who have responded. I put this thread up before I went on holiday so I've just seen it.

Christie - my son is now 9. DS has always had issues surrounding textures and new tastes and this is fear/anxiety based. He was weaned fine but when it came to eating actual lumps the problems really started. I've told various professionals since he was 2 that he was going beyond the realms of just being "fussy" but I don't feel that anyone really listened properly to me. He was referred to the feeding clinic at GOSH but was turned down because he was too old (at 7!).

I've now been told by the dietician who we've found (private based but also works on the NHS) that she thinks he has mouth sensitivity. She's also told me that it is not my fault that this has happened - I have felt at times pretty much awful and ashamed over the years and still to some extent do.

The variety of foods he will now eat has gradually increased over the past 18 months or so. we;re still working on acceptance of more hot and cold food (he's very sensitive to temperature). Its a long and hard road. Parties, school lunches, field trips have all been particularly difficult; seemingly all the other children eat crisps and fruit at such things but not mine. Peer pressure makes no odds.

As a family when we've eaten out I have lost count of the times I've said to the wait staff, "he's eaten earlier" or "he'll have some of mine".

I've had all sorts of suggestions ranging from the mad and bad to the sensible. I have finally found someone who can now help my son.

From my personal knowledge of children's food phobia (and I would not wish this on my worst enemy honestly) I don't feel that enough research has been done. I also don't think that many GPs are at all helpful when it comes to food phobia as they know next to nothing about the problem. I think media awareness has increased; from time to time I come across stories of adults who have only ever lived on one or two types of foodstuff.

[Raine3]

progress ... He ate two munchbunch (with cream) yoghurts yesterday .... but nothing today ... yet!!!