Beyond worried

[missrosex]

I'll try to keep as short as possible, I have been going on to HV, GP etc about my sons eating for about a year and I feel so unheard. My son is 2.8years old and I couldn't name you a handful of foods he eats. From 12 months old he rejected the spoon and all liquid form foods. Witch limited what we could give him but fine he was still eating finger foods etc. As the months went on his appetite became smaller and smaller, spitting foods out, gagging, putting his fingers in his mouth and now today there is not one food I can't tell you I'm certain he will eat. We have tired everything we offer him so many different things, he may have one good day and then weeks of eating next to nothing. Go back a year ago he was on the 70th percentile for his weight and today he is on the 10th percentile. My son is Gradually falling off the weight chart and I don't know what else to do. I'm sick of hearing kids will be kids or he will eat when he is hungry because we are now 3 days in the eating literally next to nothing. He has so much thirst and will drink and drink all day long but not eat. I have tried limiting the drink in hope he eats more but it doesn't work, he has no interest in food. I've had all the leaflets with advice and things to try nothing works. Please anyone help, I feel like if this continues for much longer my little boy will fade away as a mum all I want is a healthy child.

He is under paediatrician for development in general I called the secretary yesterday and she says we have to wait for his next appointment to come through.

I’m sorry to be picky about your language, but “called the GP” to some people means calling for an appointment, it would be unusual to actually get to speak to a GP countless times!
Forget the HV.
Have you had an appointment with a GP (phone or otherwise) even if your boy won’t engage, where you have actually discussed the numbers - the 70th to 10th drop?
Have you asked them at what percentile they would take any action not already taken?

Ah OK, so if you already have a paediatrician referral, that may explain the seemingly strange behaviour of the GP not referring you and only giving leaflets! When did you last see the paediatrician, and what did they say specifically about his eating?

Do you think he may have a digestive issue making eating painful? Again this needs a referral to investigate. If you can afford it I'd go private. My niece refused to eat and that was the first sign she was autistic and had a sluggish system making eating very uncomfortable.
My own daughter missed a month of school, three visits to a GP and two A&E visits before I got a referral - and it was an appointment four months away! So insisted on a private referral (which was a farce as they couldn't seem to locate a doctor at ANY distance for the issue). Anyway I paid £850 for a private MRI and consult. It didn't resolve the issue but reassured me that it was not a tumour or anything like that (though we are still at a loss several years later at least my daughter is functioning).
You have to advocate for your child. The doctors being unable to see him due to his reaction should be a big enough signal that more needs to be done than sending you off with a few pamphlets.

We last saw the paediatrician 4 months ago, there plan was to keep an eye on him and monitor how things go with his weight. 4 months back he was around the 30th centile in weight. They talked about possible dietician referrals in the future if needed. His appointments are 6 monthly so he isn't due one until end of September time. I called the secretary yesterday to try and push for an earlier appointment but she said they are extremely busy and it would be unlikely they could see him earlier. Regarding the conversation I had with the gp about the weight graph is that the 10th centile is still classed at a healthy range. They seem to think because my little boy is active and on his feet a lot that is not unusual he has dropped. Witch of course baffled me, maybe dropping slightly is normal but not a huge jump like this.

This is probably not recommended, but salt added to food makes it tastier and he might eat?

Please check with a dietician before you start putting salt on his food.

My dd was on the bottom line of weight charts all along so she was under a dietician and a paediatrician.

Protein is the one I'd be most concerned about. My dd was prescribed a powdered calorie thing for me to add to her food. I was also advised to add butter!!!

Yoghurts such as petit filous are ok but I was advised not to give them by the nurse but then advised to give them by the dietician.

The other thing is all of you eating at the table together. Put him on your knee or on his Dad's knee and pretend nothing unusual is going on. He might try to eat off your plate. Don't necessarily offer him any. This is going to sound gross, but try sharing food with your husband across the table and he might want some too.

That's the only advice I can give from my very personal and limited experience.

In terms of chicken nuggets, you can make your own which will be infinitely healthier than anything you buy. I buy these from Lidl/Tesco etc. mini chicken fillets

To cook them, you can buy breadcrumbs (yes, it's powdered crap). So you lay out a baking tray and heat your oven to 170/180 celcius (fan). While oven is heating up, you put out three plates. One will have the raw mini chicken fillets, the next will have either olive oil or whipped egg and the final one will have breadcrumbs. You literally take each mini fillet, roll it in either the egg or olive oil and then roll it in the breadcrumbs. Place them all on the baking tray and about 15 minutes in, check them and turn them. They will be actual real proper chicken. I love lemon juice on them (the bottled lemon juice is fine) while they're cooking.

You'll have a batch of real chicken cooked - home made goujons! A grain of salt won't go astray. Don't put pepper or spices on.

I would cook them for anything between 20 and 25 minutes.

The other thing my dd would eat was pasta in carbonara sauce (dolmio crap that you buy).

You need referral to paeds and dietitian.

Does he have a tongue tie or enlarged tonsils? That sort of thing can cause issues with being able to eat food, gagging etc and would need referral to ENT.

Or could be sensory issue - SPD or ASD.

He was tongue tied when he was born but it was cut.

I agree that you should not be adding salt to his food without consulting your gp first.
The fact that he is eating so little seems to go beyond him just being a fussy eater. The fact that he is drinking so much, my first thought was diabetes, as excessive thirst is one of the first symptoms.
I would make a very detailed list of exactly what he’s eaten and at what time, also exactly how much he is drinking over the course of a day/night.
Very often I think if you take along a detailed diary etc , the gp can see at a glance that there really is a problem. I think they get so used to people over exaggerating, ie my son hardly eats anything (not saying that’s your case at all) that they take peoples words with a pinch of salt. I would def continue to chase it up, you know your child and you know when somethings not right

DS1 went through similar and we were frantic. Back and forth back and forth to the GP and the hospital for months and months while his weight dropped and dropped.

We found feeding him in front of the TV/tablet helped as we could spoon it it while he wasn't paying attention. In the end it turned out to be an issue with him having huge tonsils which were literally blocking his throat and making it hard to swallow - other signs were that he had a very snotty nose, a frequent cough and snored/stopped breathing in his sleep (he also threw up much more often than other children I knew). Once his tonsils were out he was absolutely fine.

I hope you can find out what's wrong and start to work on it soon, it's absolutely devastating to watch your child wasting away and I feel so much for you.

Yes to adding protein and fat into his smoothies: protein powder, smooth nut butter, cream, full fat yogurt, as well as yummy fruit, cocoa nibs, or whatever will help him to enjoy it.

If he’ll have smoothies, try:
vanilla paediasure, peanut butter, bananas.

Another vote for an ENT checkup. An old friend of mine had similar with her child and after surgery everything changed. I can’t remember if it was ears or tonsils though - sorry! Her daughter suddenly started talking a lot more after the surgery also.

DH was like this as a toddler, MIL always tells me how he’d just eat chocolate mousse. It was a very specific brand as well so she had to make sure they always had enough in. He grew out of it eventually thankfully but she was very worried about him at the time. He eats most things now but barely any fruit because he hates the texture.

Purely anecdotal but wanted to offer some reassurance that they definitely do often outgrow this. I would push it again with your HV and GP though purely because of the weight loss above all else.

My little boy was 2 years 7 months and diagnosed with Type one Diabetes. His symptoms were all four T's
Thirsty
Toilet
Tired
Thinner
The symptoms came on slowly he refused to eat at first.

If he has all four of the T's he needs a finger prick to test his blood glucose ASAP at GP or A&e

Sorry , I know a few have suggested Type One but it is really serious and best to rule out.

My little one is all of them other than tired, he has so much energy. But he pee's lots, he drinks loads and he has lost weight. His nan is also diabetic so it may be worth a check.

I really hope it's not T1, and you can find out what's happening for your little one.

Have you considered/are aware of Ensure Plus? Not sure if they are appropriate for children though. Ensure are shakes usually given to people/adults with eg eating disorders or those who can’t/won’t eat for one reason or another.

Ask your GP specifically for a referral to dietician, if you haven’t yet. they are not giving you/your child appropriate advice, treatment or referral so you go in and demand this, as is your right.

The dietician can confirm if the shakes are appropriate for a 2.5 year old or recommend a paediatric alternative, and can give broader counselling or signposting on eating and other professionals that should get involved.

Absolutely agree with it sounding like Arfid. It might not be, but often the GP is far more receptive if you go in with I have recognised XYZ of this condition, I want referring to this department because ZYX.'

Here -
He's gradually refusing more and more foods as he's getting older - .
He can tolerate food of a similar texture taste - smoothies etc but will blankly refuse to try new things.
He has difficulty eating in normal circumstances and has to be in a very positive mood even if it's a 'safe' food - the Mcdonald's.
He has no apparent appetite - he has eaten the nuggets etc and shown no further interest.
His growth/weight have plummeted and he is dropping percentile.

Be adamant you're not prepared to wait and see. You've waited and seen - you want a referral. Is it possible for you to go privately? Often you can have a private consultation and then be referred via the NHS.

If you can afford to go privately and are near London, I am can recommend an excellent clinic that are specialists in this field.

Paediasure is a food replacement shake that is made especially for children (like Ensure/Complan). You can buy it on Amazon/Ocado or in pharmacies.

You could have a look at kids.eat.in.color on Instagram. She’s a dietician and mother of a child who was underweight, she’s got some good tips and she runs a course for picky eaters

Hi again,
You have had some great advice about how to get him to eat (although not sure about salt) However, you need to get him tested for Type 1 IMMEDIATELY. It is a really serious condition before diagnosis and if he tests negative you will will be able to discount it. They will either do a finger-prick, very quick test or get him to give a urine sample and test it for ketones. Takes minutes, they will be able to tell you straight away. All the other advice is for the future, this is for now. Good luck

That sounds awful OP. Try to get your son onto some PaediaSure Shake. It's a nutritional supplement drink, I think Tesco et al sell it. Might tide him over for the time being. Also, make sure he's having a daily vitamin gummy - Bassetts do some good ones. I'd recommend cutting food up in little pieces and presenting it in interesting ways, such as using cookie cutters for sandwich shapes etc. Go for high calorie options like Greek yogurt or avacado and most of all, try not to panic as he's likely to pick up on your anxiety (easier said than done, I know).

What does he say about the foods? Is he scared of eating or does he tell you he's not hungry? Is he pooing ok or could it be hurting him?