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I kow it has been done a million times...but, limited diet, vitamin suggestions etc.

10 replies

hazeyjane · 27/01/2014 09:25

Ds's gp has suggested some blood tests to check ds's iron levels etc, he is extremely pale, tires very quickly and his hair is coming out very easily where he twiddles it. He has a very limited diet, and craves far too much sweet stuff and fat.

This is what he eats

breakfast - best of both bread toasted with butter and jam (I tried an olive oil spread, which was dribbled out onto the table).
cereal (Rice Krispies little men) with soya milk (won't drink cows milk)

lunch - pork pie chopped into little cubes (sometimes leaves the sausage part) or sausages (skinned and chopped up) yoghurt drink (like actimel)

tea - jacobs cream cracker or toast with dairylea + organix crisps. petit filous or vanilla ice cream

Drinks water with a little apple or orange juice.

He will also have biscuits or cake for a snack, refuses the snack at preschool.

I always put cut up apple, sweetcorn and peas on the plate, which he used to eat, but now refuses. He used to have the fruit puree pouches, again he now refuses these, so he is basically getting no fruit or veg.

He eats with us and/or the dds and I regularly put different foods out for him, to encourage him to try other things, but he will push them away or bang his head on the table if he really wants it as far away as possible (eg banana)

I have tried every vitamin supplement I can, but he won't take any, and detects even the tiniest drop hidden in juice, yoghurt or ice cream.

He saw a dietician when he was a lot younger and frankly she was a bit useless, gave me some healthy eating sheets, annabel karmel recipes and suggested he take a supplement or drink follow on formula (which he wouldn't touch).

OT suggested the usual hands in cold spaghetti and trying to get him playing with jelly (won't even stay in the same room as pasta or jelly now)

Off my own back I have tried little portions with a reward of things like ipad/chocolate button etc if he touches it etc, but again absolute refusal.

Sorry this is so long, but .I am at a bit of a loss what to do next

OP posts:
AtYourCervix · 27/01/2014 09:38

I have no useful suggestions as D2 has always been the same. Not eaten a fruit or vegetable since she was 1.

Things we have tried....

Putting veg on the plate alongside what she eats

Bribery / reward (try this and you get x or y)

Making meals herself

Growing stuff

Hiding it in stuff (like pizza sauce)

Not nagging her

Nagging her

Pleading.

As for supplements......... not a chance.

She's got to 15 and 5ft 6 without scurvey. God knows how.

hazeyjane · 27/01/2014 10:03

Thankyo Cervix, it is good to hear of other children having an equally shit diet!

I always think of this news story and hope that he is still well on his jam sandwich diet.

I think I just sometimes spend time with people who look horrified at what ds eats and panic.

We were offered the option of him being tube fed when he was smaller, but we didn't because we worried about him developing food aversions (ha ha!) Now I think, we would at least be able to make sure he is getting some nutrients.

He is a chunky boy, but very short (off the bottom of the centile scale) so I worry that the lack of nutrients contributes to this. (of course it could just be that his mother is a short arse.)

OP posts:
AtYourCervix · 27/01/2014 10:06

Yup. 15 years of saying 'just give her bread' to people who have been told 4 million times that putting a plate of salad in front of her is not a good idea.

theDudesmummy · 27/01/2014 11:37

Have you tried the dried fruit snacks Yoyo Bears or Humzingers? It may just be an individual thing but DS will not even look at fresh fruit (gags if he has to) but loves both of these. It is the only way to get fruit into him.

zzzzz · 27/01/2014 12:28

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PolterGoose · 27/01/2014 12:53

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hazeyjane · 27/01/2014 19:47

Thankyou everyone, this place is good for my soulSmile

Zzzzz I would love to try some Montessori style 'experiments' it is good to try something new, sometimes it just feels like we are clambering up a very sandy slope, and just standing still! Will be happy to feedback what happens.

Polter I have tried some of the swaps you suggested on another thread, and I like the idea of trying to maximise the nutrition of what he will eat. He does like dark chocolate, so I have little chunks of that rather than chocolate buttons and we have switched to Best of Both Bread, and he will eat soya yogurts. I will have a go at the ice creams, and expanding my cakes with hidden fruit and veg repertoire!

I need to think about the supplement, I don't want to in any way force it and put him off taking his meds, he has to have 8 doses of meds a day + 3 extra when he has antibiotics, and so far he has been really good about doing it himself with a syringe, if I am very gentle and patient about it, so I can't risk that.

OP posts:
zzzzz · 27/01/2014 21:12

This reply has been deleted

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AAmommy · 27/01/2014 23:18

Here is some strategies we tried. Some worked, some didn't but might give it a try:

  • I was getting him used to the tastes when he was watching something on TV and he wasn't paying attention to what he is eating. It meant me feeding him, but still... Quite often he would spit out some food, fine. I would give him couple spoons/forks of what he liked, then again something new I wanted him to try. It took months, but worked better than anything else.
  • if he didn't eat something he used to eat before, I just dropped it for some time and give it to him in a month. Some things he would eat again, some not
  • mixing some vegs in his favorite food helped. E.g. bolognese with meat and vegetable - all finely minced/mashed, so he wouldn't realize and pick and choose
  • Vitamins I had to give him with syringe first couple months (empty stomach so nothing to vomit), then he got used to the taste and now takes it with a spoon.
I perfectly understand you. Our eating is a constant battlefield. Now it has improved a bit... baby steps...
claw2 · 28/01/2014 07:57

Ds's diet is just as bad, if not worse. He has been severely anaemic in the past. I give him chewy jelly strawberry flavoured vits and my GP supplies iron supplement in medicine form, which is sugary and sweet so ds will take it.

He has been seen by dietician, CAMHS, OT's, Feeding clinics and we have tried all of their suggestions. I have read all the self help books I could get my hands on. Nothing has helped really.

We have made some improvements at home with ds's eating over the years.

I stand no chance of ds eating anything, unless he agrees to it in the first place. Ds's diet is very 'beige' so when introducing a new food, I know I stand more chance of him agreeing if it is beige.

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