My son wont eat !!!

[kieranandalexsmummy]

hi im just after some advice,
i have a 3.5 yr old son with asd,he had a chest infection a few weeks ago which has left him with a croup cough,my problem is he hasnt ate any proper food for 2wks now and has lost a lot of wieght he wasnt the best eater anyway(practicly had to force feed him)
gp said he will eat when he is hungry doesnt seem to understand kids like alex sometimes dont understand that they are hungry. the last few days he has started eating dry foods biscits and scotch pancakes.
just wondered if anyone else has been through anything like this??
feel at a loss !

From what I know a lot of ASD kids don't like 'wet' food very much.

Keep going with those, I'd say. There's no use saying 'they'll eat when they are hungry' a la GP as, you know as well as I, normally rules do not apply to ASD kids. My DS (6, ASD) eats dry cold food. He pretty much lives off sandwiches, breadsticks, crackers, crisps, sometimes yoghurt, if we're lucky.

I'd try and get some vitamins down your DS if you're worried but try not to get too anxious about it, he'll pick up on it.

Oh, I sound like your GP now sorry

Keep going with the dry foods, I meant to say.
d'oh!

thanks its nice to hear from another mums perspective,today we've just left bits round the livingroom hes ate the cream from god knows how many borbons and had a half a pack of quavers which i guess is better than nothing.
can i ask spinkle how u get ur ds to try new things ? and at the min my ds has just got to the clingy stage (been told its a good thing as it meens his awareness is improving) but i cant even go for a wee without him!!

this is all so new to us sorry for all the questions

My DS1 (3.5 ASD) has issues with food, and only eats certain things, mostly dry things he can pick up with his hands. I could never get him to take a multivitamin until I put one amongst some sweets and he ate it thinking it was a sweet. Since then he will eat one every day.
Also if your DS likes dry food then a bowl of dry cheerios (or other decent cereal) without milk is a good way of getting some wholegrain and vitamins into them.
My DS likes yorkshire puddings and pastry, and I can often hide bits of potato, veg and meat from a cooked dinner under a bit of pastry or yorkshire.
Home made pizza has also been a lifesaver, with hidden vegetable sauce instead of tomato puree. Oh and a sandwich toaster if he likes toast - you can hide allsorts of goodness inside a toastie!

Dry shreddies and rice crispies go down well here - and they're fortified with vitamins and iron so that helps.

Trying new things? Erm, now that's tricky. DS ate a pancake yesterday but I had spread nutella on it.... New things are tried and if not eaten just removed with no comment. He eats in front of the tv - yeah, not ideal, but he seems to find it less threatening, so I'll put the new stuff down and just walk away.

Some days he seems hungrier than others and will perhaps try something new. Today it was a breadstick with sesame seeds on it. The changes are that tiny! He ate it. But he may not eat it again.....

I try not to stress about it. He's the tallest kid in his class and is a normal weight, so I cling to that!!

If he still has the croupy cough it might hurt him to eat. My DD2 was admitted with croup a couple of times and they explained that the swallowing movement puts pressure on the windpipe where it's most sore and can be really painful. She found it really hard to even drink.

Try really hard to be very calm and relaxed about food. It may not help matters but being uptight could be a very bad move.

Dry biscuits and scotch pancakes are not too bad. I'd just keep leaving other food out for him too so you feel like he's being offered a more balanced diet.

Trying new things is really hard if you have a strong sensory experience from eating. I get DD2 to lick things first and then really really praise her. If I'm lucky after a few times she'll try a little nibble. Making it safe, relaxed and child led seems to be the key for us.

Good luck.

DS2 is also best with dry cold foods. He does sometimes try new things if not pressured, but not very often. Usually he'll just lick it initially, after seeing it on his plate for awhile, then awhile later actually try it.

What were some of his favourites prior to being ill? Will he drink juice or smoothies at all? You can hide a fair bit of fruit in a smoothie, if he'll drink it. Might make his throat feel better too.

Best of luck. Food issues some days really do my head in, so I can really sympathise on this one!

DNiece only likes dry food. She eats cooked rice, dry noodles (only sharwoods medium egg), raw peppers, onions, leeks, the chocolate off digestives, rice cakes, dry cereal...

your ds may have associated the illness with food and pain etc so will now not want to eat....get anything even junk food for now into your ds and get to gp asap and ask for dietician referral (emergency)...keep log of weightloss also...is your ds drinking....that is most important tbh!

So worrying:( for you

thanks all,we had a break through this evening he ate a rolo pudding!!! i let him stick his fingers in and have a lick first and it seemed to work he ate all of it.
thanks for all the advice think i will try the jelly baby multi vit as he might think they are sweets.
Al1son i am hoping your right and it is that its the croup that is making him off his food fingers crossed it will get better

Let him have whatever he will have. As much of it as he will have.

Will he drink milkshakes? You can get complan that is sweet enough that most children like the chocolate one, and it's very nutricious (think formula milk!)

What does he like to drink? My DS is nearly 4 and doesnt eat alot (Babybels, ricecakes, raisins, toast) but he likes to drink alot, so I make sure he has juice or smoothies (ones without bits that fit through the holes in his Tommee Tippee cup.

Like alot of the other posters he grazes alot during the day - there is always something out he likes to eat, and he does alot of eating infront of the TV, which again isnt ideal but if he eats something I am happy to let him do.

Breakthrough!!!!!!!!!
he ate weetabix yesterday (choc flavour of course) and he had loads of cookies. i try'd with the milk shake but you would of thought i was trying to posion him!!

i should of added i still give him the ocasional formular bottle ( at bed time and some times in the night ) and he wasnt even having that but he had to 5oz bottles yesterday.
so i might even try him with his usual food today(mashed sunday lunch,its all he will eat ) thanks so much everyone for all the advice it has really helped sooooo much.