Major food refusal and getting thinner :(

[Hedgehog17]

And he ate some of the turkey 

Yay!!

[Smurfette]

Double awesome!!!!!! 

[MommaBrooke]

YAY!!!

[Hedgehog17]

Just a quick update - I've contacted a pediatric nutritionist for help, as I'm struggling to work out what to give him and he's still not eating much. I really hope she can help us!

Met up with the other members of our pre-natal group, and feel very depressed and discouraged at how small DS looks compared to the rest of the babies (all born within weeks of each other). They are all looking or starting to look like toddlers, and DS is still very much a baby 

[Smurfette]

Hang in there. Good for you for getting extra help...when do you meet with her?

[Hedgehog17]

It'll be a telephone consultation initially, and hopefully within the next 2 weeks!

Breakfast was refused this morning, and by the time we got back from his 45 min activity session he was really tired and hungry  There wasn't time to re-offer breakfast, so he just got the 2nd half of his a.m. bottle and down to nap.

I'm going to see if he'll take scrambled egg for lunch, then it's up to nursery to get his bottle and his next meal into him!

We have to do a food diary for 4 days so I'll have to start that soon..

[Smurfette]

Hugs and Good luck! Please let us know how it goes! What did you try for breakfast?

[Jimbob]

How are things?

[my3girlsjde]

Many {{{hugs}}}

E was a 'failure to thrive' for a couple of months and it was heartbreaking to see all of the other lo's get so much bigger. So I get where you're at for sure.

How are things now? O know that E is pretty picky and our Dr has theorized that she's learned through multiple intolerances that a lot of foods make her feel icky. Teething is the worst because it triggers her reflux and although medicated, my gut tells me that her tummy is sensitive. Any chance of this here for you? Yesterday she ate two cookies and a quarter piece of homemade bread. That's it. So on those days I simply give her more bottles. She's on nutramigen, but if she were on milk, I'd probably put something in it to give it a boost. She did go through a 'anything bread or baked' kick so pureed chickpeas went into a lot of cookies.

I know at this age most lo's are taking more food and much less milk, but unfortunately E didn't get that memo . My Dr feels she'll pick it up later on, and just to ride this out by trying to keep food fun and non stressful. It's hard with the older two seeing her not have to eat what's set in front of her but it's keeping her happy.

My general rule is now: offer once. If refused, I ask if she wants it. If no, I try one other thing (usually have two items set out for food). If still refused, I let her down and try again in half an hour. If the same thing happens, she gets a bottle so I know she's getting 'something'. I'd never have done this with a kid that was simply a bit picky. But when major food refusal happens, it gets so stressful and I know she can read it all over me. I know she's now in no danger of losing weight again, but it was really scary when she was so I've really let go of the need for her to follow the guidline that all of my friends' lo's are doing. Some days now, she eats much better. But I know teething and food reaction days are tough and I do let it go. She's developed a love for anything called a cookie. So there's some interesting 'cookies' that she's eaten.

I hope this helps some, and I rally hope you're getting some guidance from some sort of medical professional. I can only imagine how frustrated I'd be in your shoes. I totally agree on pp's in regards to the ranitidine. PPI's have worked so much better in my house. Can you ask for another referral to a different ped? Just thinking aloud on that one.

Much love and support. I know it's hard when they don't eat.

[Hedgehog17]

Thanks lovely ladies 

It's now been a week since we made the changes suggested by the nurtitionist, and things are slowly improving  Just before we spoke to her I think we were having extra difficulties because DS was ill - he had a fever, didn't want to eat, was drinking loads of water, had a lot of runny mucousy poops and a spotty rash on his bottom and upper legs  I had no idea what it was but he got better fairly quickly and was back to normal within 5 days. Yesterday there was a notice up in the nursery saying they'd had a confirmed case of Hand, Foot & Mouth disease and when I looked up the symptoms that could have been what DS had - I never thought to look in his mouth or at his palms or soles when he was ill 

With his eating, the major change was to drop to 2 bottles and keep them well separated from solids. He now gets up at 8am, has a solids breakfast, then gets his first bottle at 10am before going down for his nap at 11. When he wakes he gets lunch, then nursery tea or a snack at home at 3.30pm, dinner at 6pm and his 2nd bottle at 6.45pm and down to sleep at 7pm.

He's not holding out for milk as much and is eating more at mealtimes  he's also started eating finger foods again so I'm hoping to get more variety introduced over the next few weeks. Yesterday he cheerfully munched parsnips roasted in sesame oil for the first time! His protein intake isn't what it needs to be yet, so I'm trying to get more into him. At least he's adapted well to the routine change 

He also seems to have grown over the the last week  He tends to do his GS late so I think that was his 12mo one he's just had!

As far as his reflux goes, I'm actually doing a meds wean because he's been a LOT better. Today is day 2 of just 1 dose of ranitidine and the previous 5 days he was fine on 2 doses (He was on 3 originally). I think having less milk and more solids is really helping here 

We had to pay for the nutritionist but it was money well spent, as we would not have got useful help or advice from the HVs or GP and I don't know how long the waiting list is for an NHS nutritionist, but I suspect very!

Feeling much more optimistic now and am hoping that DS will be happy to eat Christmas dinner with us - that's my goal 

Thanks again for all your support, this is the best place to be 

[my3girlsjde]

Wonderful!

Fingers crossed with you for a lovely Christmas dinner together.

[Jimbob]

So glad to hear things are improving 

Kelly x