perseverant eating disorder

[morethannews]

please help? my son 11 years old and lives of crackers porkscratching crisps but mainly chocolate any suggestions still buying age 7/8 years clothe for him, now in high school so wants to buy trenty clothes without thomas tanks etc on them very hard to get socks pants etc as shoe size is only 11 and waist is size 3/4 years regards .

no advice I am affraid but will bump as much as possible till someone more knowledgeable comes along.

have you spoken to your doctor and can s/he get a referal to a dietician?

Don't buy any more crisps and chocolate?

Difficult at that age. Has he always eaten like this? Can't you sit down and explain the harm he's doing to his body and give him some kind of reward for eating something healthy. Start slowly at first.

Agree with SydSnow. Don't buy any of this stuff. You are in control. Saw a Trisha type show once and it was about obese children (opposite in your case but with same eating 'disorder') and this woman with a hugely obese son said she felt sorry for him when he asked for biscuits but felt bad as he was being bullied at school because of his size!!

Tell your son you will start to eat healthy too. This is too important. He's only 11, he will eat what you provide for him, it will be a struggle at first but he's old enough to understand the importance of it.

Also, wearing Thomas the Tank is a slaggable offence for an 11 year old!!!

On Trisha show should have said, the woman felt sorry for her son when he asked for biscuits and just gave him the packet. Felt like phoning in!

She already said that she DOESNT want T the TE!!!! If her DS has an eating disorder then its not as simple as just telling him, is it? Its an illness!!!!

To answer your OP morethannews, have you tried Boden? Their boys stuff for aged 7/8 looks OK to me, but i am not very cool . Also try La Redoute.

There's a specialist eating disorder unit at Great Ormond Street. Also worth buying "can't eat won't eat", it's aimed a children on the autism spectrum, but the problems are very similar and it has some ideas.

School worked with my son to expand his very limited diet. It took a year, but the key was to get him to take very tiny small amounts of new foods on safe foods. So they started with a tiny tiny drop of baked bean sauce on a crisp. A year and a half later and he will eat things like casserole (although often the first mouthful has to be rewarded by a choc button, or presented on a crisp etc, once the first mouthful is in he will then eat about half a portion without fussing).

my ds(12) is very picky and only has a limited amount of things. does he eat anything other than what you've listed? he also seems to be getting better since he's been at secondary school. he seemed really skinny for ages then just suddenly shot up a bit.

please dont think this is a popular psychology lesson or trite answer, hate to post but it worked for us and might help you. Does your son want to change and eat more foods? My son did last year, he had very limited food choices and eating something new, even a speck would cause gagging and vomiting, but he really wanted to change, go for pizza with friends etc (prev only menu item available to him was garlic doughballs without the garlic butter). He read the paul mckenna book "change your life in 7 days " (I know, im not taking the pee, but it really worked) next week we went to a pizza restaurant and he ate Ciabatta with chopped tomatoes and garlic and pizza. It was life changing for all of us, honestly.
Sorry if this offends you, not thinking I can give great advice, just passing this on in case it helps.
Agree with Boden on clothes front, ds2 (who eats normally) is 9 1/2 and wears age 6-7 as is weeny. With boden I can buy him same clothes as his older brother, just smaller sizes. No t the te in sight!

Yeah Kristina, I did get that re T the Tank. I was being ironic.

I know morethannews wants help and her son could well have some kind of eating disorder.

BUT, my ds's friend has terrible eating habits and it's only because they have been pandered to (not suggesting that's definitely the case with morethannews, see above). He is a sweetaholic and has already had 4 fillings (aged 7). He won't drink water or milk, has sweets in his lunchbox and for break. He's tiny for his age.

It could be either problem. Sorry, didn't mean to be trite.

Definitely talk to your GP - this is a behaviour problem and there may be other related difficulties that need attention. You need to have his general health checked, then see if you can have a referral to a child psychologist and dietician. meanwhile, chocolate is reasonably nourishing, which is probably why he can go so long on it. Some children with limited diets have sensory processing problems which affect how they percieve textures, so as he likes crisps and pork scratchings, it could be worth trying other crunchy textures like carrot sticks or crackers. Good luck, let us know how he gets on!

hi again, my son as always been on a very limited diet but as never eaten fruit except green apples and green grapes the apples had to be peeled and not a blemish on them or wont touch and even them have gone of his menuy now. i have a five year old that eats everything so not bad parenting. been on a course just in case .ha ha
we see a child pscologist in birmingham childrens hospital every six months and piediatrician every six months also dietician (about 3) all have given up . now still no joy tried everything they have told us and no avail
tried starving ( just lost weight very fast ) tried reward system (not bothered at all rather do without reward than eat), reflexology ( his behavour improved but no good for eating) tried herbal (no joy) still need help regards.

morethannews, didn't realise you'd tried so many different avenues. Isn't it incredible that these 'experts' just give up??? So you are left on your own.

Sorry, no help, don't really know what your next step is, but good luck.

I'm so sorry you have been through so much and noone has helped. Could you ask your GP for a referral to a childrens occupational therapist? Some of them can assess children for sensory processing disorders and may be able to help if psych and dietician cant. Has he any other difficulties - behaviours, autistic spectrum stuff, adhd, language difficulties? Jimjams2 suggested Great Ormond Street - I know its difficult to get referrals out of area in current nhs climate, but if anyone could help they would. Good luck!

thanks for all the advice im in the process of getting hold of great ormonds street and hoping to get any help they can give me from them but waiting list is apparently very lengthy regards trudy anyother suggestion is greatly appreciated

Hi, I hope I haven't joined this thread too late - have only just joined Mumsnet via a Google search for Perseverant Eating Disorder. I too have been through the hoops over the last 5 years like morethannews in an attempt to get some recognition of my son's (non)eating problems and ended up eventually at Gt Ormond St, via GP, local hospital paediatrics, dietrician/nutritionist and Royal London feeding clinic. First thing she will have to do is get a referral from GP, or the feeding clinic/psychologist already consulted and endure the waiting list (18 mths in our case). But having got there, I found that because his case isn't 'severe' enough in comparison with the other children they see (some are totally tube-fed or on diets restricted to maybe one food only) they haven't been able to offer anything productive except a meal-substitute fruit juice prescription. I am in the process of setting up a parents support group, as I have found that it's often the carers that need just as much help as the children in dealing with the effects on a day to day basis.

hi esyjayay I WOULD BE VERY INTERESTED IN THE SUPPORT GROUP YOU TALK ABOUT STARTING AND SINCE READING YOUR MESSAGE RELIZE THAT MY SON WILL PROBABLY BE THE THE SAME AS YOURS NOT SEVERE ENOUGH ALTHOUGH ITS GETTING THEIR AND IT CERTAINLY FEELS THAT WAY SOMETIMES , I HAVE TOO TRIED ALL THE DRINKS ETC PRESCRIBED BY THE PIADIATRICIAN AND DIETICIANS, THE PROBLEM IS HE WONT DRINK THEM OR PUT THEM NEAR HIS MOUTH I REALLY DONT THINK THEY REALIZE WHAT IT IS LIKE FOR THESE CHILDREN ITS NOT THAT THEY DONT LIKE THE TASTE, IT s THAT THEY WONT EAT-dRINK THEM NOTHING TO DO TO THE TASTE BECAUSE IT DOESNT EVEN GET AS FAR AS THAT STAGE , IF ONLY THESE "PROFESSIONALS" COULD LIVE WITH THESE CHILDREN AND HAVE TO CARE FOR THEM. THEN PERHAPS THEIR PERCEPTION ON THE PRIBLEM WOULD BE A LITTLE MORE HELPFUL. IVE HAD ONE PIADIETRICIAN ACTUALLY SAY " HAVE YOU TRIED JAM ON BREAD AND BUTTER he MIGHT LIKE THAT " this was when my child was 4/5 years of age . he is now 11 years of age and even less of a variety now and will not drink anything whilst at school. never has drunk water ever . milk is a no-no and has been since 3 years . sorry going on-on -on but it is a bit of a release to get it out of my head again soRry for the rambling dont feel like this often but get very frustrated that none of the so called specialist just see my son every 4 months or so and for about a hour and thats it until the next time , we as parents have to live and breath with the problem and worry about our children regards . morethannews

I have just subscribed to the C-A-T thing, so morethannews if you want to email me direct, please do so - I've only just joined this Mumsnet website and I'm not sure how you check out email addresses but I expect you do!