Is there an organisation or someone ds can be referred to for his extreme fussy eating?

[whoingodsnameami]

I was'ny sure whether to put this here or in special needs, so will try here first.

DS has AS, he has never had a good varied diet, despite attempt after attempt, he only eats around 12 different foods, if that, he will not try new food at all, also food cant touch each other on the plate, he has a special plate with segmants.

It has always been hard especially meal times as I have to cook 2 seperate meals most times, however, now he has started refuses the food he normally eats, so his choice is becoming extremely limited, unfortunatly through desperation over the years his diet contains foods that are'nt great, for example, burgers and spaghetti hoops, the only veg he eats are raw carrots, fortunately he loves various cereals (no sugar) and a few fruits, and loves to drink milk and water and 1 bottle of actimel a day, however I am still getting increasingly worried about his health, more so now he has started refuses foods he would normally eat, spag bol being the latest.

His paediatrician has given him a good look over and thankfully there are no signs of any deficiencies, but I feel its onlt a matter of time before his health suffers especially in the long term. I have been told there is no specialists out there that deal in this area, has anyone had similair problems and can give me some tips on what to try.

Sorry for all the spelling mistakes, forgot to check before I posted

Sorry can't help but bumping for you. Hope you find some help.

DD is just like this aged 10 and getting worse I'm afraid.
A typical day goes like this:
Breakfast - loads of cereal or toast with a slight spreading of jam. She will eat Nutella without limit

Lunch - jam sandwich or roll on white bread, crisps and piece of cake, apple or box of raisins or carrot sticks

Supper - chips, bread and butter, chicken nuggets (if we are desperate for her to eat something), boiled eggs and soldiers.

She will eat Yorkshire Pudding, carrots, broccoli, sweetcorn and broccoli but I have to keep encouraging these until they are eaten.

She is quite thin and I do worry about her health. I am going to approach the school nurse for some tactical tips as I went to the GP on my own and he didn't really want to get involved!! I think this was mainly because he thought it was more of a health visitor type of issue.

We find it very frustrating and the other 3 DCs find it very unfair that DD has something special to eat and they are quite justified I think. So, I quite often don't cook anything just for her and she has to cope when we have spag bol and just have spag with butter grated on top or potato with butter instead of cheese.

Like yours though, mine will drink milk so I make sure she has a big glass of that each day and as many apples as I can get into her!

Thankyou CC, even though I know ds wont eat most of what I cook I feel guilty cooking myself and dts(5) a good healthy meal, luckily dts will eat anything, veg is there favourite thing, especially anything green, but if I put anything on ds plate that he has'nt tried, he has a complete meltdown and ends up eating nothing. He will eat bread, but with nothinh on it, not even butter, he will only eat potatoes if they are mashed, he is not keen on chips, and wont eat pasta anymore, so even making him a simple meal is very difficult.

DS is almost 8 btw

Oh dear. I do sympathise. Does he get panicky about new food?
DD now says that she is frightened when trying new things and I can see her shaking.

Also going out to eat and friends houses are a bit of a trial. She said tonight that if she had one wish it would be to be less fussy. I think she sees it as a label ie. fussy eater syndrome and sometimes plays up to it saying "I'm the fussy one" but I know that she is quite embarrassed about it.

I have tried, as I am sure you have, being tough and also ignoring the behaviour. Sometimes I think it is a control thing so I am reluctant to major on it too much. But at the same time it drives us mad and we want to sort it out ASAP.

Was your peadiatrician helpful with advice or just a physical check over?

of course I can't spell the child doctor word!

His peadiatrician just gave advice I have already tried a million times, like, keep introducing new stuff, try hiding veg in other foods ect. He gets very distressed if I suggest he tries new food, he refuses to even look at it, he does'nt mind being fussy, he is happy to eat the same stuff over and over.

Generally I ignore the fussyness, but the other night I begged and pleaded with him to try his spag bol, but he went into a complete meltdown and sobbed for 2 hours

He also wont eat food mixed, he used to eats shepperds pie, but last time I cooked it he said he did.nt want it, that it was yucky (he had'nt even had any) so without thinking I told him it was just mince with mash on top, his face was pure horror, that I dared to put 2 foods together.

I cant spell it either, I C&P the way you spelled it

I have also tried laying out big buffet types meals in the hope he might just try something new, but he does'nt even pay any attention to the foods he has'nt tried.

he he - stupid non way of spelling.

DD sounds quite similar as there is no chance of hiding foods in pasta sauces or soups as she won't go near any of them.
Actually she will eat some veg so kind of leave them in their original form.

I really don't know what the answer is but I will call the nurse tomorrow (really need to get on with this) and can tell you how I get on. I am hoping they can give some tactics but somehow have my doubts!

Ignoring the fussiness is really hard though isn't it. Every now and again I go into meltdown and yell a bit which is clearly not helping.

I do sympathise - DS2 is 10, Dyspraxic with some AS tendencies and like yours, has gone from very fussy to ridiculously fussy.

His diet consists almost entirely of pasta with my tomato and carrot sauce - I've slipped more and more vegetables into the sauce (I make huge batches and freeze portions), but I know if I gave him those vegetables seperately he wouldn't touch them.

He'll eat Yorkshire puddings with chicken gravy - but not the chicken. He'll have a mild curry sauce and rice but no meat or veg in the curry. And that, with the pasta, cereal, apples and bananas, is the full extent of what he'll eat.

He's healthy enough - no more than the average cold - but I worry about his adult life. And there do seem to be very few resources re help with this - the assumption is that fussy eaters are in some way indulged. But my DS2 is one of 4 DC - the rest just eat what they're given.

Funny - DD also has younger twin siblings. . There has to be some sort of attention thing going on as DD ate everything when she was younger and has got worse since about 4 years old

hassled - this is getting stranger or I am going off at a tangent. DD is the second of 4DCs too!??

I cannot remember the name (mange tout or something along those lines) but there is a lady that runs a group for children with eating problems in Oxford. I have seen her doing demonstrations and she is very good. Just making food fun, no force no pressure just fun.

I've just emailed the editor of the magazine families in Oxfordshire as she used or does still advertise in there. If you're not in Oxford she might be able to refer you or something similar

Vino - thanks for that. I really try and make food as fun as possible. We all, including DD, love cooking and I like to eat out with the family as want them to enjoy the social aspect of eating.

I wonder if my patience and time runs out though before I even start to tackle the problem.

think this is the site [[http://www.mangetoutkids.com/ mange tout] . didnt realise it was a franchise so maybe one local to you? Hope this helps

sorry mange tout

thanks Vino - just looked at it.
Unfortunately a bit pricey for me! But looks really good. Would have been interested in the franchise but that is also beyond me ATM

Yes did read the site too and as it is DD last year before starting school full time I was tempted till I realised how expensive it is. And she is a fussy eater but generally healthy things so would be a bit of a waste

Sorry, was watching Eastenders, thanks for that vino, will have a look, though I am nowhere near Oxford.

Yes, my dts also eat what they are given, and love trying new food, while ds looks on in disgust.

I think he has always been a fussy eater, but not so bad until he was around 3-4, infact he would not even eat finger food until he was over 12 months old, he would hold it and just look at it.

Infact, like most typical babies, ds never put anything in his mouth, he never had a dummy, never sucked on a teething ring, and he never put every tiny thing he found on the floor in his mouth, I thought back then I was lucky as his chances of choking on something was very slim, boy did'nt I have a shock when dts started crawling, 2 to race around every minute of the day saying, dont put that in your mouth darling

I have to admit that I was fussy when I was younger and seem to remember it as not being a problem for me at all.

I remember not even eating toast or having milk on weetabix until I was well into my teens! Also only ate sausages or mum's meat pie and absolutely no veg. However, now I will eat anything and DH is more fussy than me.

Perhaps they will grow out of it and we just need to relax, as my mum did. I don't know.

I suppose food just isn't that important to some?