Help with 6 year old not eating

Can you refill a used branded bottle with a smoothie you have made? So she thinks it's the brand she likes?

My DS went through a phase of only eating certain brands, but had no clue at that age that the Cadbury hot chocolate jar actually contained a supermarket brand.

At this stage don't worry that she's only eating crap. Working on what she is eating can happen later

That’s fair enough - if OP thinks her daughter will be able to tell then it won’t work. It might work with the innocent brand but a new flavour, then she might just accept that it’s supposed to taste that way. But as I said, innocent smoothies have a lot of nutrients on their own so if she’s happy having them as they are it’s still good.

Agree with this. They KNOW and they will never trust you again.

I would suggest not trying to trick in any way with different things in known packs - that is more likely to lead to loss of that food and even worse not trusting you to prepare food

Keep innocent smoothie bottles and fill them with homemade smoothies that you can hide extra stuff in?

I’m so sorry OP, that sounds very hard.

I don’t have any advice on the therapeutic side and it sounds like you’re doing all you should be there.

In terms of upping her nutrients and calories here are some you could try:

Cake - would she eat carrot cake or courgette cake (especially if she doesn’t know what’s in them?). You can use the nutribullet to blend the carrot or courgette to a paste so they weren’t visible. You can also make cakes with sweet potato, there are recipes for things like sweet potato brownies online.

Muffins - attached is a recipe, these look bloody worthy from the ingredients list but they’re actually delicious and packed full of good things that even my picky 3yo doesn’t notice.

pancakes - would she eat these? If so you can make them with banana and ground almonds and that, along with the egg, is a good source of calories and vitamins

smoothies - would she notice the taste difference if you bought big bottles of innocent smoothies and blended some extra hidden fruit and veg into it (spinach, carrot etc) and then returned it to the bottle? If not then the smoothies are decent anyway so don’t worry too much.

Would she try something like hummus? It has a very easy texture but it’s a good source of iron and protein. Peanut butter too - it’s a great addition to toast or pancakes if she will have those things.

My son went through a long phase of this after he had a sickness bug. At one point he was living on a couple of mouthfuls of ice cream each day. We managed it using a couple of things. Firstly we had a food diary that we would right down everything that he ate - he would write them in and draw a picture of the food. Secondly when we were out and about I’d give him a sandwich to hold. He was so hungry he would inevitably end up taking small bites of the sandwich. Every time he tried to give us the sandwich back we redirected his attention. It wasn’t an easy process and took quite a while to overcome the challenges.

We also gave him unrestricted access to a cupboard filled with snacks - he was allowed to help himself without asking and I think that made him feel a bit more in control of the situation.

I meant to say too, Low Demand Parenting is supposed to be a good book.

I have a picky eater but not quite the same. We make flapjacks together ripe banana, massive amount of smooth peanut butter, oats and honey, cook in the pan for 20 minutes. Mix chocolate with a bit of cream to drizzle over the top. It’s doesn’t set hard it’s really easy to eat I cut into bite sized squares and they go as school snacks, leave a plate out in the kitchen or sitting room and she grabs one as she goes past. They are very easy to eat and more ish but also nutritionally dense, lots of fat and protien. Too easy to eat I have to have a lot of discipline or I’d look like a house.

My DC went through a phase of not eating due to a fear of vomiting. (About age 6/7.) We got to the point where she was refusing almost everything. She lost a lot of weight. Our GP was very understanding but there was little other support. We were advised to simply let her eat what she wanted, which was oreos and breadsticks. That was it for weeks and weeks.
I remember getting upset which upset her further and simply had to back off (going against all our instincts) We tried everything. In the end we just had to let her just get some calories in. Nutrition became secondary.

She slowly, and we're talking months, probably years, started to eat a slightly more nutritious selection.

She still has a limited diet. She's just left school and will eat 7 meals. That's it. However they do include fruit and vegetables. It's restrictive and can be a bit frustrating even now but that's part of her and she's happy and healthy.

OP, I probably won't be much help, but I had a near chocking incident as a child, although I was a bit older - probably 9 or 10. I didn't really have much sensory issues, although I suspect I do have ASD. I've always been a not very good eater even before then.

I had a massive fear of chocking, and I would take absolute ages to eat a meal because I had to psyche myself each time I had to swallow, even if it was liquid. I would often spit out food when no one was looking, especially if it was something like meat. I lost quite a bit of weight. My parents were not understanding in the slightest.

I did eventually grow out of it - I can't remember how long it lasted, but I think I was 11 or 12 by that time. There wasn't anything specific that helped, it was probably just exposure, having to do it day in and day out, so over time the fear has diminished. However, for you DD having a well educated compassionate parent is far more than I had - keep doing what you're doing, you are doing a great job.

My oldest was medically underweight at around 6 but due to lack of appetite and asd. We were told to give him what he wants as long as he was eating something. He had cheesecake or donuts for breakfast.

Your daughter might not eat cheesecake for breakfast but whatever she will eat let her. If that’s chocolate let her eat it, petit filous let her eat it. Let her help herself from the fridge/cupboard. Fill it with her favourite things and take all the stress/anxiety away from food. An asd/afrid child will starve themselves so don’t believe that bollocks about eating if they’re hungry.

S*ummer
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If she eats cake have you looked at oat muffins? You could even make those (oats, banana and dark chocolate) and the. Add some butter icing or something on top to make it into a cake.

I know when we've had children before with very limited diets and eating small amounts (I work sen Ed) we have made sure the small amount they do eat is high calorie and high fat). So if they eat mash potato it's mashed with butter and cream.

Also has anyone mentioned the powder you can add to foods to increase the calories? You could perhaps add it to the pouches she will eat?

For some the solution has ended up being a NG tube (the feeding tube via the nose). I'm not sure of the medical science but frequent amounts of food into the stomach does something about the hunger signals.

Not recognising hunger signals can be related to sensory processing in the same way as not recognising being full.

But I agree that a psychologist who specialises in ND and disordered eating would be best here. I'm wondering if you need to look further afield and do online consults?

Would she eat if her pals are eating?

Could you have a kids party for some reason and invite friends round and serve sandwiches, cake etc and sit them all down to eat and she can join in if she wants to?

I think some posters don’t realise that if you have a child with potential autism/ sensory issues that they are very sensitive to the tastes & textures of certain foods. So swapping the packaging won’t work. A homemade smoothie tastes very different & has a different texture to an Innocent one. For eg. my DD will only eat certain brands of foods & we’ve tried all the usual tricks but she can always ALWAYS tell if it’s different! It’s really annoying!

Hi
Also solidarity here, my boy (Autistic) ate only chicken nuggets and innocent smoothies for more than a year. Then stopped drinking the smoothies when they changed to a paper straw! Its so stressful. Im also in Ireland. Two suggestions only, as you have so many good ones up thread
a) contact the Central Remedial Clinic in Dublin and ask to refer child to their Complex Feeding Clinic.
b) phone and write to Dietitian service you are referred to, advise of your childs weight loss. I have the national prioritisation sytem for Dietetics and weight loss as significant as hers should mean she is Priority 1 and seen within 4 weeks.
c) Nutrigen Vitamin Sprinkles. From Holland & Barret. Tastless, you can put them in/on anything, only vitamin my boy couldnt detect so didnt refuse.
Good Luck x

Also could you somehow open the innocent smoothie packs and put something else inside them without her noticing? Or maybe “lose” the straw so it has to be poured into a cup (in front of her) so she might accept other smoothies?

Have you tried playing with food? For example if she likes craft, making pictures with dry pasta as a start, then maybe mandalas with dyed rice? Could then move on to cooked pasta e.g. have a laminated picture of a face and using cooked spaghetti to make hair? Or a sensory type thing with a hidden (washed!) plastic toy that she likes hidden in cooked pasta for her to find, she’s exploring the texture/sensory aspects with no expectation she will eat. You would probably need to do it too and make it a game etc.