Worried about not eating

[Sally200]

Could really do with some advice/reassurance please.
My DS, aged 4, SPD and suspected Asperges/ASD - he's never been a good eater - very picky indeed. For the past 5 days he has become worse. He is refusing his bottles which is unheard of, he will ask for a rectangle biscuit (custard cream) - I give him one, he puts it in his mouth and then spits it out. He also loves haribos but has spat them out also saying that they are sticky.
The only thing he will eat are ginger numbers. He is also refusing to drink his orange on occasions although he did have a drink this morning.
What do I do? I can't make him eat. I am letting him eat the ginger numbers of anything else which he can tolerate as I take the view that anything is better than nothing.
Do I go to the Dr - not sure how much assistance they will be, Getting an appt with his paediatrician is like getting blood from a stone.
Any advice would be appreciated - greatly.

bump

Is there anyone that could give me any advice?

Sorry, I have no advice. :(

The only thing he eats are ginger numbers (are they a biscuit?) and orange juice?

Could you contact your gp initially? It would be worth checking if there is anything else going on- perhaps coming down with a cold or sore throat/tummy- that is making him more reluctant than usual to eat. But, even aside from that, it does sound as if his diet is too limited. Perhaps gp could refer to dietician as well as paediatrician? I don't know if that would come through any quicker. In the short term though, I would do what you are doing and let him eat whatever he will tolerate and encourage drinking especially, as kids can get dehydrated very quickly. Would he be likely to try something like a fruit smoothie or yoghurt? Hope you get some answers from gp.

Have gone through this with ds1. We let him eat the very few things he wanted and also had some meal replacement drinks called fortisip which are fruit flavoured - can also get a juice version i think. this at leat meant that he was getting the calories and vitamins he needed. I have found there is very little help on the actual how to get them to eat properly. ds1 only started eating properly when he started to attend an ASD school. They took on the issue for us and he now eats a much better range of foods. I have similar issues with dd2 also ASD. I have been able to persuade her to try small amounts of new foods, but it is a very slow process, involved lots of screaming and tantrumming when I put new items in front of her, even if I am only giving her a tiny piece of a new food.

I am in the same boat as you Sally. Ds1 4years (ASD) is currently not eating anything except for dairy and he has a dairy intolerance. I have cracked under the pressure because I would rather him do lots of poos than watch him starve himself :(

I find there is very little advice out there. I have been to CAMHS ( useless!), Dietician who said they would give high energy drinks ( they are odd in taste so ds won't take them) and told me to give him whatever he will take as keeping up his calories is the most important priority.

Hang in there - I know how distressing this can be

Thank you so much for the replies. We have managed to persuade ds to drink two innocent smoothies so feeling sightly better. Its just such a worry. What I wouldn't do for a magic wand!

The book can't eat won't eat will make you feel less alone!

We had this with ds1 for years. He limited his diet until he was eating no meat, fish, eggs, fruit or veg. He would eat gluten free cheese and tomato pizzas, and buckwheat pancakes with cheese hidden in them. Nothing else except cakes, plain crisps and biscuits. If we tried forcing foods they were rejected and hiding supplements in accepted foods led to them being rejected (that's how we lost yoghurts and orange juice'.

It took a year but his SLD school sorted it. His teacher would sit with him at lunch and give him a crisp with a tiny bit of baked bean sauce on it. When he was accepting that he broke the crisp into quarters and made a sandwich - one bean between two crisp quarters, when that was accepted he added mashed potato to the crisp. When that was accepted mashed potato plus baked bean sauce, when that was accepted casserole sauce on a tiny bit of mash. And so on. It worked and a year later ds1 was eating widely. He now eats more or less anything, smells all food before eating mind so still no supplement hiding!

I am very grateful to his teacher at that time. I had a baby and pre-schooler at the time and couldn't sit down and do any desensitisation at tea time as I was too busy feeding the other two.