To give my dd Innocent smoothies?

[Mummylion9]

DD is 12 and has autism and sensory issues which makes eating very difficult for her. She eats no fruit or veg other than a small piece of broccoli and/or apple or cucumber which I insist on but it's difficult for her.

She does like the individual Innocent smoothies so I buy those for her, she might have one or two a day certainly no more.

But then I start to worry about the sugar and how we are supposed to be cutting down on fruit juice etc.

So good or bad in these circumstances? I give her vitamin tablets too.

Would she consider a make your own smoothy mocktale session? Maybe make a complementary pizza together and let her go with you to choose the ingredients and present it in a cool way ( go to somewhere like B&M or the range)to make it like a little party, girls night if you think she might like that kind of thing. It could just open the door to trying something a bit different?

Im afraid that this is not factually correct, and (although it may bot be your intention) comes across as very judgemental. Neurodivergent children (and adults) have a very complicated relationship with food, it is entwined with sensory, physical and emotional systems. The awful truth is that these children can end up in hospital or worse (awful national story just this week) - they simply do not eat if they feel they can’t.
give her the smoothie. Get the calories in. I imagine that in a while - there will be a shift anyway.

It can vary. The multiple professionals from a range of disciplines (GP’s, ARFID specialists, psychologists, paediatricians, dieticians) I have know would rather a child eats something. A significantly underweight child is dangerous - so get calories in, and slowly (sometimes excruciatingly so) things may shift, and then shift again. There are so many factors to consider - but ultimately, to keep them alive, “fed is best”.

I would love my son’s diet to be better but if you think I have the time to pierce open a carton of smoothie with a straw, pour out the contents, make a smoothie that is exactly the same texture, taste and colour of an innocent smoothie, somehow decant it back into the carton and then present it to my son for his breakfast, I’m afraid it’s just not going to happen.

People here saying 'brush teeth well' but please make sure you leave the teeth brushing at least 30 minutes after drinking it. You need to let your saliva wash some of those sugars off the teeth first or risk damaging them more.

Some very melodramatic responses on this thread. As a child of the 90s, I grew up drinking Sunny Delight by the bucket load, as well as multiple other things that were full of sugar. I’ve never been overweight in my life, or had anything wrong with my teeth!

One smoothie per day is perfectly fine.

I thought the whole point of innocent smoothies is there is no ‘added crap’.

Except added vitamins in the immunity range.

So I don’t know what everyone is talking about. I consider it a healthy option and purchase them specifically for my kids as they are good for them!

We had essentially the same, at a similar age. Favourite foods were lentil cottage pie, lasagne and smoked haddock (not all in one meal obviously!)

It changed overnight. He had his autism diagnosis at 2 years old.

He has added 3 "new" foods to his repertoire since 18 months old (hes 8 now), which are essentially different versions of stuff he will already eat. E.g. always eaten bread, now eats pittas. I nearly cried the day he ate a packet of Haribo brought home from school, because this meant we could then get a multivitamin gummy bear into him for a few years (until boots changed the recipe 🙄)

Even as a health conscious vegan, I would sell my soul for him to eat a McDonald's chicken nugget. That would open up a whole world of opportunity in terms of being able to go out and about without having to plan it all around his food needs.

Unless you've lived it, you have no idea...

It’s far too OTT. It’s fruit at the end of a day and comes with a straw that protects your teeth. I cannot believe people are getting so upset over a smoothie. Pretty sure some of these posters have eating disorders if they think a smoothy is the devil of all foods. Round where I live kids have juice and smoothies everyday, haven’t seen any toothless kids yet.

@Mummylion9 let your daughter drink the smoothies.

I have ARFID and as a child the only vegetable I would sometimes tolerate was carrots, which we had once weekly. The only fruit I would sometimes tolerate was strawberries. My mum used to go out of her mind because 5 a day was constantly spouted to her and I wouldn't eat anything. For me, a sunday dinner was a couple of bits of plain chicken, 6 yorkshire puddings and maybe some carrots... all on separate plates.

Then when I was 16 I got my formal diagnosis (not just picky eating!) And the doctor turned to my mum and said "just let her eat what she wants but always have options available". My mum could have cried that someone was finally listening.

Since then my diet has grown exponentially. Because I have felt like i had more control over trying things and was doing it was a 'safe space' of not being hungry (so the stakes were lower if I didn't like the taste/texture. Yesterday I ate a roast dinner with carrots, broccoli, green beans, yorkshire puddings, lamb and roast potatoes and gravy all on the same plate. If you had told me 20 years ago (I'm 36 now) this would be a possibility for me I would have thought you were lying. Don't get me wrong though, i still have my struggles (and i notice them more when I'm out of my comfort zone).

What helped me was acknowledging my struggles and not scoffing at the idea that I might not like something for any random reason. When i tried something and didn't like it, we talked about it (was it taste/texture/not sure what) to help me learn to identify trends to build what I could try (ie mushrooms and cooked onions are too slimy so i still don't eat them but i can eat raw red onion in a sandwich because it is crunchy).

Let her have her smoothies but have other fruit readily available for her to try if she wants.

Well done OP for getting your daughter to the point of having some fairly safe fruit and veg! I say, forget the naysayers and consider letting her have 2, as by the looks of their website, that would be about a quarter of her daily vit C needs. The lower she is on calories, the harder it will be for her to eat anything.

My kids used to have one a day in their packed lunches, they're adults now and their teeth are fine.

I wouldn't give it anymore thought op.

Yes, if someone says their child will only eat chicken nuggets I think ‘wow, you get protein!’
I always tell myself that if someone hasn’t cried tears of joy because their child has eaten a chocolate hobnob instead of a chocolate digestive, and therefore incorporating oats into their diet, then they’re on a very different parenting journey to me and I don’t need to listen to their judgement.

if it was that easy OP would be doing it !! Have you any idea of the stress and anxiety it causes parents when a child with additional needs has food aversions ?? Have you every worried that your child could literally starve …that’s on top of all their other issues connected to autism it’s terrifying. Don’t you think we have tried literally everything. For parents with autistic children life is hard , if the easy option worked we’d be taking it .

Food is better than no food…in an ideal world everyone would have a perfectly healthy low sugar diet, but it’s not an ideal world, and your daughter needs to eat.

Be kinder to yourself, you are doing what you can.

I’ve tried that previously but she also refuses it as well.

People mostly mean well but you won’t get a huge amount of useful advice from parents who haven’t experienced restricted eating/neurodiversity.

My son has an innocent smoothie a day - he also brushes his teeth twice a day thankfully and has zero fillings. Genetics is by far the most influencing factor on teeth so I wouldn’t listen to broad strokes scaremongering.

My son is autistic and has ARFID and I just need to him to eat enough to maintain his weight and to keep up the practise of consuming food/drinks.

There are some useful discussion spaces on Facebook for parents of neurodiverse children or those with restricted eating, it is more helpful as they understand the impact of ‘just make it yourself’ or putting something in different packaging.

People are talking a load of rubbish about Innocent smoothies 🤨 There's no added sugar. Yes, there are a lot of sugars in fruit - same as in smoothies you make at home.

Innocent Berry Energise, Strawberry, Cherry, Apple & Guarana Super Smoothie with Vitamins 750ml

3 1/2 Pressed Apples (50%), 24 Pressed Grapes, 2 Mashed Bananas, 6 Crushed Strawberries (10%), 6 Crushed Sour Cherries (3.3%), 24 Crushed Blackcurrants, A Splash of Pressed Beetroot, Chicory Root Extract, Some Milled Flax Seeds, Some Vitamins (B₁, B₂, B₆, C, E, Niacin), A Dash of Guarana Infusion (0.01%)

Sugar is sugar, regardless of what plant it comes from.

This

What that her child doesn’t have arfid? Or that she doesn’t give them smoothies ?

There is so much hysteria around fruit and fruit juice. My kids have fruit juice with food once a day plus a big bowl of fruit. No tooth issues at all! They brush twice a day, what they eat is full of vitamins. That’s just a fact

And if they wouldn’t eat that I’d give them an innocent smoothie. I don’t have a ND child but if I did I would not be too worried about squashed fruit in a carton

The point is though that people are saying ‘don’t give an innocent smoothie, make your own instead’. If the OP does that, it will still contain fruit, and therefore sugar.

I have a child who has suspected autism and ADHD. She won't eat any fruit or veg. My DD will eat baby pouches of apple and parsnip. I think if this is the only way you can get the fruit into her then I'd keep doing it. Although, I'd make sure she has water after and brushes her teeth properly. I currently have to get my shopping from 4 different supermarkets because of DD food issues. She eats what she eats and im delighted when she does.