Finger food ideas please for reflux toddler

[fazsaeed]

ds won't eat if I feed him, he will eat if he has finger foods.
All day today he's had 1/4 toast and 1 1/2 small hot dogs.

I finally got him to eat noodles.

I'm out of ideas.
He's got reflux and associates food with pain.
Not a good eater

My DS2 had exactly the same problem. It was tough. I feel for you.

We tried high calorie foods:
Organix noughts and crosses (they melt in the mouth)
Organix toddler breadsticks (same)
Frubes to suck on
Crackers or finger sandwiches with full fat cream cheese, peanut butter and jam all at the same time, so even if he just sucked on them, he got lots of calories.
If he likes hot dogs, maybe give him a finger sandwich with smooth meat pate on?
Slivers of cheese
Chunks of soft fruit like ripe pear and banana
Rich tea biscuits or rusks
Cooked pasta in big enough pieces for him to pick up.
Try fish fingers maybe, or chicken goujons. Sometimes those crispy chewy things are easier for them than food which slides down but has lumps in (He still won't eat soup.)

What helped get the calories in was to make up pots of little squares of foods and take them out with us for the day. He'd be at a playgroup or the park and I'd post one in. Any more than one and he'd wise up, but by the end of the day, he'd eaten more than if we restricted food to meal times when he was very aware that he was eating and more liable to get stressed at the prospect of pain. Then at meal times I tended to just give him treats like sweet yoghurts and home made ice cream made with pureed fruit and cream. The idea was that he'd associate meal times with pleasure and the healthy stuff got sneaked in.

My DS had it until he was 4. Now he loves food more than anyone else in our family. It will pass.

Ds won't eat anything runny or lumpy so jam and peanut butter is already crossed off. Cream cheese would be a problem for him too. Fruit he happily chews on then spits out (still happy sone fruit gets down him) I've reeked cheese and no luck. I got belvita biscuits the other day for myself and he likes biscuits (for the first few bites then they are on the floor)

What would you put in the sqaures for when you went out? Ds loves crisps but I've found if he eats them then he's very reluctant to eat anything else. So if were out then he gets some. If he's not eaten at all then i give in, can't have him going hungry.
He normally picks at his food and gets little bits so if he does eat his food he will also be rewarded with some crisps or a little chocolate.

Yesterday was a nightmare... The whole family was stressing trying to eat. My dad doesn't agree with medical intervention but he said take him to see the consultant.
If I ate like ds I'd be stick thin lol

How old is he and what medication is he on for the reflux?

He's 16 months and he's on:
Domperidone
Omeperzole
Chlorophomine
And lactulose to help with his constipation.
He's had baby Zantac and it didn't work at all

DS has always been a reluctant eater. At that age we just left bowls of food around the house with various things in and he'd pick when he wanted to. But he is still dreadful around food, so that might not be the best way! I try to have a zen attitude about it because stressing about it really doesn't seem to help.

Is it the stickiness of cream cheese and peanut butter that he doesn't like? If he likes crisps and biscuits, then perhaps try crunchy things generally: pretzels, breadsticks, wholemeal toast, crunchy deep fried goujons of fish and chicken or cheese straws. They don't sound that nutritious but they're better than nothing.
If he still drinks lots of milk, you can put abidec vitamin drops into it to make sure he's getting all the vitamins he needs. There'll be protein in the milk so then you mainly need to get enough carbs into him. I know it's not a perfect diet, but he will grow out of reflux and then everything changes. While he has it, so long as he survives, that's what matters.

Typical good day for my son age 2:
3-4 small cubes of cheese
2-3 slices cucumber
3-4 slices pear
400ml of milk with abidec vitamin drops
2-3 petit filou yoghurts
bag of organix noughts and crosses corn snacks
a few spoonfuls of humous mixed with full fat greek yohgurt
a spoonful or two of avocado mashed with banana (sounds disgusting but they ate it when weaning
Hipp blueberry rice pudding (totally smooth - for newly weaned babies.)

Bad day would be what you described - 3 mouthfuls of one thing, two of another, mouth clamped shut.

Is he still on follow on milk? If he is, can you ask to be prescribed the extra rich stuff? Is he on a low centile?

He was on the 50th then 9th and he's dropping off the 9th.I'm getting him weighed tomorrow and if he's lost more then to a&e.

Dinner he had a few bites of pizza
Tea
He had 4bites of mini chicken fillet plus a lil bit of bread and a few bites of fish. We were out.

He's lost his fav teddy that he goes sleep with.
It's a dumbo that has the special Disney store scent on it. We were in primark.
I've rang around Disney stores to see if they have any and nope zilch
He's always asleep before 8 but he won't sleep without his baby

He's now in between 9th and 2nd.
4 months ago he was on 25th.

It does sound more serious than just giving a few food suggestions. I think GP's can refer you to a dietician.

I hope he sleeps better tonight. Did you find his teddy?

Hv has done it.
I rang around town this morning and no luck nobody had seen it so at 10.30am I ordered one of eBay for double££
Then at 7pm I got phone call from primark they have found a largish dumbo that smells sweet lol
So I'm off into town for dumbo
Going to put him in the wash and if he turns out ok then that's fab if not I will keep the new one.

Good for Primark.
Faz, I'm really sorry he's not thriving, but I hope you can take heart. My son fell off the centiles. HV kindly put a dot in the margin somewhere minus zero but he did get better over time. it was a slow process but now, aged 9 he squeezes into age 10 trousers. I'd never have believed it at the time. It was like cuddling a piece of paper or a feather, he weighed nothing at all for years and years. Find what he will eat and feed him as much of that as you can. Don't worry if it's 'not good' for him. It's better than starvation. Put Abidec or similar in his milk.

Good luck.

I know it doesn't sound good to say but good for him (atm) Is out the window. Anything he will eat is offered.
Took him to town today to get his teddy back ( cried when he saw it because he couldn't have it straight away, cuddled it and went to sleep, I wanted to wash it first but he wouldn't let go) he had Harry ramsdens for dinner which he nibbled on and he's had no tea ( offered him noodles, soup, bread, naan and last resort frosties but nope didn't work.

Just feels like an endless journey.

Gp recommends we go private

Not sure if this will help but my reflux dd preferred really chewy hard to eat things that I didn't think to give her for ages. She loved chewing strips of steak and beef, chopped bacon, raw carrot and celery sticks. Basically anything that wasn't remotely like drinking or tasting like milk which she associated with pain from birth. But we were lucky in that she was able to keep these solids down, whereas milk had always been a nightmare. Not sure if it will help, by the way she didn't choke once, I was always worried she would but has always been great at chewing.

I was worried ds would choke on hotdogs but he's done well not to so far.
That's what I tried him with but no luck :(
He's hardly sleeping now too and that also takes it's toll on you...

I've got bags under my eyes, pretty sure ds has too. Gp yesterday said he is trying to help me but because ds has got a consultant everything has to be ran past her, and she's not picking the phone up.