How do I get calories into my picky eater?

[BlingaRinga]

9yo DS’s diet is getting more and more restricted and he is so small and skinny it’s starting to worry me.

It’s not just that he has a very limited range he won’t eat large volumes of anything (except oven chips!). He picks at everything.

I’ve tried nutritional shakes and he won’t drink them.

I’ve more or less given up trying to get him to eat vegetables. He won’t really eat any meat protein unless it’s a McDonald’s beef burger, ham or smoked salmon, which are hardly healthy options. He basically just eats processed carbs and some cheese and yogurt.

I just don’t know what to do! Help!

Have you had medical advice about this?

Pancakes for breakfast? Ditch the McDonald’s

Fortify his food i.e add cream etc to anything he has milk in (cereal, tea, smoothie, milkshake, mash etc)

Will he eat nuts? Peanut butter?

Make sure the yogurts are full fat etc.

My adult husband is the same. McDonald's burgers or KFC he is 9 stone. He will eat a McDonald's strawberry shake though, I have kept a cup and whizzup strawberry haagen daazs with full fat milk to get calories in occasionally.

Could be AFRID

Offer the foods he will eat and a small portion of something he's maybe eaten before but now struggles with.

I have been there twice with two of my DC and it felt relentless and like I was falling them as a parent. I hated the advice of keeping on trying because it felt impossible to try any more.

Then one day, they just grew a bit more confident with smells, then texture, then flavour, then portion size and now in their own time, both eat a great variety and will try new things. That is the simplified version, it has taken a very very long time.

Try to forget yesterday each evening and try each day as a new opportunity.

The drs might want to weigh and measure your son but try not to see this as a criticism- they want to monitor and help. They'll give you leaflets and links but there is no quick answer- just time.

All the very best, OP.

Try and find a flavour of slim fast he likes (tastes very different from nutritional shakes and you could also add a scoop of ice cream or yoghurt to make it even better) and give him one with every meal. It says not for under 18s but that’s because it’s a slimming product which obviously isn’t for children but you’re not using it for slimming. It’ll add +600 calories to his day and it contains lots of vitamins and minerals.

Tried peadiasure shakes which are supplemental drinks designed for kids and he doesn’t like them. Can’t imagine slimfast will be any different.

Is it worth taking him to the GP do you think?

He used to be a brilliant eater as a toddler and his range has narrowed and narrowed and narrowed. Every week there seems to be something he was happy to eat the week before that he won’t touch.

It’s very tricky. But if you do at home your own burger and buy the high protein bread adding a full fat cheese and maybe some picles or tomatoes if he accepts. Maybe some unhealthy recipe like a cake that can have some whey protein and carrots on it to add the veggies and calories and he would not notice.

It might be worth buying one to see? They are actually nice, my nephew was taking my strawberry ones after trying a bit of mine and my sister buys them for him now because he’s also a fussy eater. He has yoghurt in his morning one, a plain one when he gets home from school and one with a scoop of ice cream with dinner. She also buys the powdered one to make herself rather than the premade one I get so she can make it with whole milk for extra calories.

I wish I knew what the magic was with McDonald’s burgers (100% beef with no additives, so they say?!) as NO burgers I cook at home meet his approval.

I can try - the peadiasure ones just taste like a perfectly nice milkshake to me and he hates them.

Omg. I wish you luck then :(.

When he goes to his friends house does that gets better or he will not eat at all?
I had cases that sometimes the kid will eat a bit in friends/ strangers house and nothing at home.

You have described my son and to a lesser extent my daughter. My son has been seeing an OT for this. I wish my son would drink smoothies so I could load them up with goodies, but he will only drink water. It’s really difficult because he refuses medication when sick!
i wish he would eat yogurt and cheese like your child, good protein there! I have had to make myself stop stressing about it because it was affecting my health. He eats the same meals every day, but at least he is eating.

fingers crossed it improves with time

Would he eat a homemade burger? I'd say you could up the calories by offering a burger with slightly fattier mince?
Smoked salmon is a good food, does he it it on anything ? Could you try crumpets with butter and salmon on top? Or full fat cream cheese?
How about stirring some double cream into a yoghurt?

Is it worth taking him to the GP do you think?

Absolutely. This is not picky eating! He has a very restricted diet and the longer it goes on the longer it will take to get to the bottom of what's goign on.

With my fusspot, the burger is about how thick the supermarket ones are. Have you tried smushing them very thin like a McDs patty??

He WILL eat a peanut butter sandwich, thank god - I live in fear of him starting to reject peanut butter!

He does like Greek yogurt so I serve that regularly but he just tends to dip his spoon in and lick a bit off rather than eat it in great quantities..

He doesn’t like mixed food down to not liking cereal served with milk, he’ll only pick at a bowl of dry cereal. I always serve a glass of whole milk on the side but he doesn’t drink it.

We don't have such a picky eater but the pattern has been similar - some brands are fine, some are not, and foods disappear from the diet.
I really rate a dietician on Instagram - Thalia Snack Nutritionist. She has paid groups that sound amazing but we have benefitted from her free content.
DS has recently eaten home made breaded chicken, and a Bolognese bake with gnocchi - previously this was a one brand only nugget issue and only spaghetti with the sauce put on at serving. We've also got him to eat mixed lentil and mince Bolognese sauce (DH is another matter on that one) and got a veggie burger back in that had disappeared.

Thank i will take a look!

He does need to go to the GP. This is a very limited diet. He needs to be checked to see if he is underweight and/or deficient in and vitamins, iron etc.
They may be able to offer a dietician appointment.
He may need to be checked for other issues.

In the meantime, I would keep feeding what he likes, but add in more of the same as snacks.

I sometimes make pasta with smoked salmon, cherry tomato, red pepper and creme fraiche sauce. Really quick and easy and my slightly picky DS2 loves it. Just an idea if he likes smoked salmon and the creme fraiche gives some extra calories, or you can use double cream.

That’s worth a try.

How are posts like this remotely helpful?!

op, I would definitely get him seen by a GP. They can start the ball rolling with support and sadly the wait is a long time, so worthwhile doing now. Does he complain of stomach ache, have loose bowel movements or anything? Wondering if something is putting him off eating, ie, Coeliac. The GP should do blood work hopefully.

It is very stressful isn’t it? I find it quite upsetting as I’m quite a foodie and not being able to cook anything homemade for him makes me feel like such a failure.

Fortunately my other DS is a pretty good eater but it’s hard to balance things out - I feel like I am not meeting his needs because I‘m so stuck trying to find things that are palatale to my eldest.