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.

If your child has a genuine phobia about trying new foods or seems scared of certain foods, I would ask for a referral to a psychologist.

Some areas have feeding clinics which are run by Psychologists and dietitains/slt's which focus purely on the behavioural side of eating difficulties.

They are not in all areas and as you can imagine over-subscribed usually.

Ask around, phone your local dietetic and psychology departments and ask if there is such a thing in your area. If they do not know of any, ask them who else you could speak to.

You would probably need a referral from your gp. They may not know about the clinics in the first place so finding out your selves first would be helpful.

As one poster said, taking off all pressure and not having mealtimes as a battle ground is a good first step. Just accept what they will eat, and provide that.

Often it is when children go to friends that they start to want to try new things.

Another very fussy eater here. DS3 (and ASD) has lived on bread/toast and butter since he was 2 - he's now 6. No meat, veg, fruit, pasta, rice nothing. He will eat chocolate, biscuits and strawberry fromage frais. He will also drink milk and orange juice. I have been supplementing his diet with Minadex in his orange juice for iron. In the last 3 months he has started to drink those Innocent orange smoothies which is progress.

The paediatrician has told us to leave him until he is 8 and we will try and tackle it then. She said that whilst he is thin, he hasn't lost any weight which is a plus (he only put on 2lbs in one year).

We have all the other usual problems as well. Only eating from a certain plates, cannot tolerate other food around him. Holidays a nightmare, do not do hotels anymore - self-catering in this country only.

TBH I just letting him get on with it - have taken all the pressure off myself.

I can understand the theory behind letting them just eat what they want but the fact is that my other 3 DCs feel this is unfair and (quite justifiably from their point of view) could start demanding their dietry needs are met and only pizza/pasta/chicken wrapped in bacon is served to them.

I could see myself cooking about 5 different suppers.

My dd has always been a very fussy eater. She was tube fed for around a year, has issues with texture, oral aversion and control I think. We had dietician/SALT input from when she was very small and the advice was, generally, to allow her to eat what she wanted. She has a time when she would only eat beige food and a while where she pretty much lived on macaroni cheese, baby chocolate pudding and quavers. I learned very early on not to get stresses about it and whilst it is a pain cooking different meals it's a lot less stressful that battles at the dinner table.

I agree with trying to get dietician/psych input but I expect you'll find that the services are very stretched. there was a programme on TV a while ago about fussy eaters. The advice was pretty much let them eat what they like - the clinican was from the Children's Hospital in Birmingham.

dd is 15 now and whilst she still has certain foods that she would die rather than eat, she does now have a reasonably balanced diet (although still no fruit al all) and thankfully has always had a good appetite for the stuff she will eat.

I wonder if the approach of 'letting them eat what they want and they will eventually broaden their tastes' is the same for dcs with asd. Would 'peer pressure' still have the same effect?

Any psychologists lurking?

My dbro has (non-diagnosed) aspergers, I think in last few years, his range of foods has reduced. He is 30yrs old tho.

Wow, lots of us in the same boat, his psychologist was'nt much help, only suggesting things already tried, he has'nt had his iron levels checked, the paediatrician only gave him a physical examination, checking his eyes, finger nails, height and weight ect.

Does anyone know of a good range of vitimins and minirels he could take, he wont touch those chewy ones aimed at children, however he can swallow tablets if small enough, are there any tablet/capsule form ones suitable for children?

Although the paediatrivian has claimed he is healthy enough, he often does not look it, he has dark circles around his eyes, and is ill far too much for my liking, and also, I dont know if it connected to his diet, his teeth seem to form very visible plaque on them very quickly, each morning and night you can see it clearly, he has a dentist oppoinment soon so will mention this, I wonder if he is not producing enough saliva for some reason.

Maybe a health food shop will have vitamins in a different form or maybe Boots?

Interesting what you say about DS having his finger nails checked as DD has terrible flaky nails. Is this a sign of any deficiency? I always thought it might be??

Am not sure to be honest, but I think I have heard of flaky nails meaning something to do with diet.

I never thought of asking boots, a pharmacist should be able to point me in the right direction I would have thought.

Hi whoingods and cioccolata, I have never posted on 'eating' threads before, and as someone who does not have issues with their childrens eating, I thought I would let you know that what you have listed as your childrens diet is no different to my childrens diets really!

Both your children are eating carbs, protein, veg, fruit, milk and yoghurt

Ok, it may not be the variety you would hope for, but they are eating. I'm not sure if these comments are helpful or not, but I read your lists and thought 'thats sounds fine!', and maybe you are worrying unnecesarily?

Is it the 'fuss' they make about trying other things that worrys you? Or the fact that you have to cook different menu's? Is it your response to the eating that stresses you rather than the eating itself?

I hope it doesn't seem that I am judging you...I just wanted to say try not to stress... it sounds like they are eating what they like to eat and in the quantities they want

Hi mrsmaidamess, I have a variety of worries really, yes it could be worse, at least alot of what he does eat is healthy, but for no apparent reason, he chooses to stop eating certain foods one by one, so I am worring more about long term prblems, I worry that things will get to a point where he will really only eat crap, and yes, his reluctance to try other foods worries me, possibly because my other dc, are the complete opposite and eat anything and love to try new food.

And cooking meals is difficult, and the little variety ds will eat if frustrating, but these things only bother me, not ds, so will try to not stress over it so much.

His child psychologist once said to me, having children with special needs and children without special needs requires to very different sets of parenting skills, and its avsolutely true, house rules, structures and routine for ds are completely different to the ones set for dts.

Did you see that programme a few weeks ago about children's eating? The psychologist's approach was different from any other I had seen, and somehow gradually the children started to include more foods into their diet. I can't remember what it was called!

No, I did'nt see it

I think it was on Channel 4, I'll have a look

Ok thanks

Oh gawd I can't remember. Perhaps some other clever person will know.

No worries

It was on itv and the Psychologist was from Birmingham Children's Hospital.

She runs a feeding clinic there and also visits children from other areas too, I think.

I looked for it last night but the link no longer works.

I did find this though. Scroll down to 'Food, Eating and ASD', Gilian Harris.

I attended a course, years ago, at which she was a speaker. Very interesting to hear what she said (i'm slt) and was fascinated by the ITV prgram a few months ago.

Thanks DH

Well done Desperate!

Information on the program [http://www.itv.com/PressCentre/MyChildWontEat/Ep1Wk2508/default.html here]].

Maybe someone has a copy of it still?

I'm trying to see if I can find any other useful info on The feeding Clinic

Thankyou so much, have to go to my mums now, but will have a good look later, thanks

Sorry, that link didn't work here it is again.

You might be able to contact Ricochet for it.

Google Gillian Harris, Psychologist, lots of bits and bobs.

Thanks DH, that link is very interesting, also makes me realise really could be a whole lot worse.

This may have been said. Great Ormond Street has a clinic for fussy eaters.