Author Topic: In need of help....  (Read 1440 times)

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Offline lilly_kitt

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In need of help....
« on: July 10, 2011, 17:39:19 pm »
Hi

Tyler is almost 20 months old, and to say he's a picky eater is an understatement.  His list of food he will eat has drastically reduced to such an extent that i'm worried about his health.  At kast weigh him he had dropped off his percentile and they wanted to weigh him again in a month, if no improvement then he's going to be refferred.  Part of me thinks this is a good thing.  His 'list' is basically toast, cheerios, shreddies any potatoe product grilled (waffles, stars, cubes,mini waffles with carrot), fish fingers, pizza, turkey dinosaurs, dairylea sandwiches, tomatoes, satsumas, grapes and blueberries, cheese and ham no veg at all.  He used to eat peas and sweetcorn but now refuses both.  He will drink fruit smoothies (the innocent or own brand) and he has vitamins everyday along with 13oz of toddler milk.  I get so stressed at mealtimes he obviously picks up on this, but i cant help it.  I'm worried about him, as whatever he does eat is a very small amount.  he is quite dinky, i'm petite and my husband is lean aswell, he doesn't keep still and eats best whilst on the go.  I still offer veg at every meal.

Any ideas ?
Sarah

Offline Lemonthyme

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Re: In need of help....
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2011, 19:11:50 pm »
Maybe you just need to mix things up a bit?  I know it's easier sometimes to go with old favourites but it's important. 

How about some fishcakes or potato cakes?  They should be fairly familiar with him liking potato.  Here are a few recipes.

http://mamacook.blogspot.com/2011/06/salmon-and-spinach-fishcakes-for-babies.html
http://mamacook.blogspot.com/2011/04/potato-cakes.html

My son had a wobble recently as well and I find if I eat with him or at least sit down with him and nick a bit off his tray, he will try things.  He does occasionally pick up something he's had before, sniff it like I'm trying to poison him, then eat it.  This from the boy who ate a bluebottle yesterday! :o
Here's my blog which is focussed on simple food for babies, toddlers and families http://mamacook.blogspot.com/

Offline Mashi

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Re: In need of help....
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2011, 19:34:18 pm »
It doesn't sound like an abnormal diet for a toddler to me!  I think at this age there are probably more LOs who eat a limited diet of a few things than there are those who eat a huge variety, kwim?

I also would ask your doctor if they suspect something else going on - like, a 20 month old falling below a percentile is generally not a reason to refer them to any sort of special feeding or nutritional or dietary professional unless the doctor thinks that there is some underlying condition....even for babies it is usually not until they have dropped less than 2 centile units and for a longer span than a month...in a 20 month old you would not really expect them to grow and gain rapidly enough to get back UP a centile in a normal month anyway, they just really don't grow that fast at this age. So I would get some more information from them on what exactly they are concerned about....is it a huge weight loss and they are concerned there is some illness or is it just that he has fallen off of his centile iyswim?

Anyway as I said, personally, I don't think his diet is that big of a deal - loads of children this age hate veggies, and you can get most of the nutrients from vegetables in other places.  Just offer them, put them on his plate, let him watch you eat them and don't make a big deal of it...if they are always there, he will eventually try them. And probably spit them out, but trying is a great start, kwim?

I would look at small ways you can make changes to improve the things he does eat, and that might help to open up his taste buds and keep you happier with his overall diet. So for instance he will only eat toast, make sure you are getting him a nutritious bread (be careful with TOO much whole grain at his age, it can be too much fibre for them to eat, so perhaps offering to a 50-50 bread for instance if it is currently white bread iyswim).  Shreddies are good for soem good whole grains and they are fortified so he will get some small bits of things like iron and such..fish fingers, I would offer the best quality ones that you can afford, and maybe change up the brand of them now and again to get him used to change and different things and different tastes and not keep him stuck in a rut.  If he is eating a few fruits, perhaps try to cut them all up and put in a bowl with a couple of new fruits, and say nothing, just give them to him. If he does not eat them, then eat them yourself and let him see you!   

When my DS was in that 18-24 month stage I remember wondering how on earth he could survive on so little...seriously there were days where it was a handful of cheerios and some air ::) and I went digging for requirements at this age and it is seriously SO little...I will try to find some of the various links but I may not have them bookmarked anymore. I think it may have been something like 1000 calories per day and that adds up SO quickly.  If you are offering him food, and not limiting in what he is taking in, then he will be taking in enough to sustain himself and grow.  Adding in some good fats (like avocado, etc) are also some ways to add some extra weight on him.

But aside from that, it does sound really harsh to be making some kind of a nutritional referral just from a weight loss or centile drop unless they are suspecting there is some issue to be concerned about at this age....might be worth a follow up chat with your HV or GP, whoever told you that, and see why they are so concerned so that perhaps they can guide you a bit more as to what it is they think you should do and exactly how much weight he needs to gain...

Offline firsttimemummy

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Re: In need of help....
« Reply #3 on: July 10, 2011, 19:44:40 pm »
if he drinks smoothies, would he take soup? Murray used to love soup but when we started smoothies he went off soup .... until we called it "vegetable smoothies"!

Murray goes through phases of liking something then refusing it for a while - we just ask him to try everything once (a little taste) and if he still doesn't want it we just take it away.  Often, though, once he tastes it he realises it is nice.

Looking at your list of things he likes it seems that he likes crunchy things - could you get him to help you make food that is similar, ie coat fish/chicken in flour then egg then breadcrumbs and make your own fish fingers etc.  Maybe by helping make it he will be more interested in eating it?

My friend's LO is a fussy eater too but when she is with Murray she will eat whatever he is eating!! Does he sit with you at mealtimes and see you eating the same foods?  My friends also get stressed by her not eating but have to keep reminding themselves that she will only eat when she wants to and pressuring her doesn't help.  They used to CONSTANTLY give her little bits of food (the theory being that little bits add up to a lot) but this meant she wasn't hungry at mealtimes.  Now if she doesn't eat at one meal they wait til the next snack/meal and she usually eats more at that time.

If your LO is stressing about food then try to make it fun - put lots of food on the table and play games with no pressure to eat.  I am guessing you are in the UK - if so, BBC3 had a series on recently called "junk food babies" or similar (should still be on iplayer, maybe) - it had some really interesting insights into dealing with children who are fussy eaters and ways of encouraging them to try new foods, which meant smelling, touching etc food in a non-pressurised way.



I have no clue about the amount of milk that he takes (ie if that is a lot or not) but is he filling up on that instead of eating?
L x Having a bw break from 1 Feb 2012 - if you want to get in touch please send me a pm.  I may not be here but you are all in my thoughts xxxx (probably be back some time)

still happily married, just not counting!

Offline lilly_kitt

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Re: In need of help....
« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2011, 20:15:30 pm »
Hi

Thanks for your responses, it is appreciated.  We sit down for breakfast and lunch together, ty has his dinner at a different time to us as we both work full-time so use this time after he has gone to bed as 'our' time if that doesn't sound too selfish.

He has 4oz in the morning very early and then 9oz just before bed.  I make sure there is at least 2 hours before his morning bottle and his brekkie.  He is teething pretty bad at the moment so am giving him powder before his food.

I was trying to find that documentary but cant remember the name of it, it watched it and it was very good.  He is a funny little boy who has aversions to certain textures and actually shudders if he picks something up he doesn't like the feel of.  As a result omlette is now off the menu which is used to love along with quiche.
He has wholmeal bread (the same as us), we also buy fruit loaf and malt loaf which he likes and will eat without anything on.
It is very limited as to what he will eat as he wont let a spoon anywhere near him from me and will only either eat with his fingers or use a fork on 'dry' things, I buy fishcakes (salmon and cod) to give him some variety and he also has the omega 3 fish fingers.
My HV was the one that mentioned refferral as he lost 5oz in 8 weeks, he hasn't put any on since the last weigh as his appetite hasn't improved.  We were shocked he had lost weight as he doesn't look overly thn and he was eating better at the time.  He is more of agrazer and eats better on the  go with something in his hand.
Sarah
x



Offline Lemonthyme

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Re: In need of help....
« Reply #5 on: July 11, 2011, 06:09:22 am »
Oh not selfish at all!  We're the same.  Without some post bed time I think I'd go quietly mad!

Maybe you need to look at going to several smaller meals rather than 3 big ones?  Do you offer snacks?
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Offline firsttimemummy

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Re: In need of help....
« Reply #6 on: July 11, 2011, 07:10:39 am »
You could try giving him soup etc but giving him bread to dip into it rather than eating it with a spoon.

We also often have our dinner once  the boys are in bed too - it's just more practical.  Only recently, now Murray usually eats the same as us that we all eat together.  He usually has lunch himself too as he goes to bed at 12 so needs an early lunch.

You say he eats well on the go - do he have lots of little snacks like that, or do you mean he eats meals better on the go? If it is the former, it may be the little bit of snack are filling him up so he isn't hungry at mealtimes.  If it is the latter, maybe it is him picking up on your apprehensions - could you make his meals more relaxed by having music on or the tv or something so the focus isn't on his food iyswim?

We do breakfast around 7-8am, snack around 10am, lunch at 12, snack at 3 then evening meal around 5.30pm.

Murray went off certain foods/textures when teething but would go back to them at a later date.  Once he had a stomach bug just after eating egg and wouldn't eat eggs for almost a year after that - we added cheese etc to egg one day so it wasn't as strong eggy flavour and now he LOVES eggs again!
L x Having a bw break from 1 Feb 2012 - if you want to get in touch please send me a pm.  I may not be here but you are all in my thoughts xxxx (probably be back some time)

still happily married, just not counting!