Tiny appetite

[whiteroseredrose]

I've posted before that my MIL is currently living with us. She is really thin, probably because she eats very little.

I'm at a loss as to what to do. I give her small portions so that I don't overface her and have made some of her favourite foods but she only eats a few mouthfuls - she can manage cake after mind you! I can't believe that she can survive on so little.

Is this normal? She doesn't do much nowadays.

Does anyone have any tips?

Max the calories intake if you can. Does she like tea/coffee? Switch to Gold Top. With a biscuit? Belvita style biscuits?
Max the butter and the cream- dollop of double cream in anything you can. Mash, lasagne, custard, porridge, Complan.
Visit to the GP? They might prescribe Fortisip type things though they're quite sickly... Ensure puddings are a possibility if she won't have the drinks. You can use the milkshakes to make puddings too, work well in sponges, cakes, muffins.
Maybe little and often works for her and it might work better changing mealtimes around or having plenty of small snacks instead, in front of TV can be a good time not to concentrate too much on it.
What was her routine like before she lived with you?

I would try and get calories in in meals in a kind of 'hidden' way as pp said. Blue top milk, cream etc. Also I think the eating in front of the tele is a good idea. When your MIL is sat in the evening see if she wants some biscuits or crackers. She might not be able to eat decent meals so maybe snacking is the way forwards?

My mum is on palliative care and I honestly thought she would fade away in August because of her complete lack of appetite.

However, she now improved a great deal and has put some weight back on. We started by giving complan made with full fat milk, full fat luxury yoghurts, rice puddings made with full fat milk and topped with cream, basically anything that was easy to eat and full of loads of calories.

Her appetite has increased quite a lot now so we have a few more options, all small portions but loaded with calories.

Porridge made with a spoonful of sugar, full fat milk then topped with cream.
Cornflakes with milk and drizzled with golden syrup
Ensure milkshakes (prescribed from doc)
Tea and chocolate biscuits whenever
Chocolate whenever she fancies it (a lot!)
Mash made with cream & butter
Cake
Small bowl of ice cream drizzled with caramel & chocolate square or two

The struggle is not doing any of that for myself

Great ideas thank you. We already have full fat milk for her and have desserts in too.

I will try bits of cheese and ham and crackers in front of the TV too.

She likes creamy things so I will add some to sauces.

And yes to trying Complan. I bought it for her years ago and she liked it.

I thought I'd stopped making 2 meals a night when. DC grew up and now it is back again!

My 81 year old husband is unwell and eats very small portions so,like others suggest here, he eats little and often and lots of snacks. On an average day he has porridge with brown sugar and full fat milk for breakfast, a croissant mid morning, main meal at lunch time and that will be a small portion but something protein based with potato, rice or bread and a vegetable. Pudding's usually full fat yogurt and in the evening scrambled or poached egg and toast. He enjoys nuts and fruit as snacks and has a Fortisip drink every day. He has gained a little weight on this diet.

she can manage cake after mind you! Cake’s good. It may be full of sugar but it’s also got eggs.

DH has been losing weight because of cancer treatment- he stopped the trend by taking a bowl of cereal up to bed for when he woke up at night (along with my efforts to make all meals nutritionally dense, and leaving plates of nibbly snacks at his elbow - nuts, halva, dates, bite sized cakes)

My DGM got like this. So we started giving her food she would eat with relish like a whole piece of fried fish and fresh cream cakes. I know they are not good for you but she was elderly. A nurse told us that as long as she's eating and drinking it doesn't matter.

Try fortisip. It's got 300 calories in a small bottle

Give her a glass of sherry half an hour before lunch, and she should eat more then.

I would just let her eat whatever she wants.