18 Month Old Boy, Hardly Eating

Try having him tested for Celiac Disease. I have a friend who's 20 month old was having similar symptoms, refusing to eat, lethargic, losing weight, diarrhea, etc. After an extensive round of tests she was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Now she is gaining weight, happy and eating well.

I don't blame your son for disliking Pediasure...it tastes awful.

T.,

I am so sorry you are going through this. Have they tested him for silent reflux? My son and daughter had it. It can lead to children refusing to eat and drink due to the pain caused by eating and drinking. And can cause vomiting, especially when they get upset or scared etc.. Have they had him do a Barium swallow (really easy-just a few ounces and low radiation now a days--digital like xrays are taken really cool--my son just had one) to check for narrowing of the esophagus or any stomach or intestine problems?

Was the pediasure chocolate--that will cause reflux (heart burn)? Diary, garlic, caffiene, carbonation, tomatoes, citrus, and high fat foods can really get reflux acting up.

I would say let him eat what ever he wants even if it is just applesauce, animal crackers, soda crackers, etc. and worse case scenario give him popsicles to keep him hydrated (just stay away from citrus based ones).

Ask to see a pediatric gastroentrologist ASAP they specialize in the gastroentestinal system.

Hang in there!

R.

Honestly you need to talk to your Dr about what is going on. Why did they say he was throwing up?
Offer protein shakes, chocolate milk, carnation instant breakfast, even making him a yummy yogurt milkshake.
If he is just recovering he may not regain his appetite for a while, he just needs to have nutrition and hydration.
I don't think it sounds like he is picky but something else going on. I would want to know what is going on with his digestive system to cause the issues.
Try probiotics too like Activia yogurt, they help a lot get the digestive tract in order.
I would just think your Pediatrician would have helped giving you a meal plan, how many calories he needs to be taking in and so on about what is going on.
Add extra healthy fat to things too, whole milk to milkshakes, whole milk yogurt, whole milk in pudding and things. I know when my kids have had bouts of stomach problems they didn't eat much for a good week or so after it, just keep him hydrated.

I would also suspect food allergy/intolerance. We had a similar kind of thing happen with my DS2 a few months ago.

I thought we'd all caught a stomach bug. DS2 had a fever and vomiting. We all got better; he seemed to be struggling and wasn't eating. Ped said BRAT diet and keep him hydrated w/Pedialyte. I suspected issues with banana and apple and hadn't tried wheat yet, so we stuck to rice. DS would finally start eating again and then suddenly he'd be vomiting and lethargic again. :( After 2 visits to the ped, at least 2 nights on the verge of going to the ER, a loss of about 1.5 lbs (!) I stopped trying to feed him anything but Pedialyte & breastmilk. And he got better.

Fast forward a couple of months and the same thing happened again. Twice in a few weeks. So I looked over the food diary (he's got some intolerances we already knew about so I keep a food diary as we try new solids) and rice jumped out at me. Rice! No wonder the BRAT diet was making him vomit! He's been just fine since I pulled all rice.

So my suggestions would be: start a food diary, get allergy testing (bearing in mind that it may be an intolerance that won't show up on the tests), and if you can figure out quickly a few foods he's able to tolerate... feed him those and only those. Our ped had suggested giving Pedialyte *often* throughout the day to help our DS regain his weight.

Best of luck & I hope you get him recovering really soon!

When the body is that malnutritioned, it is picky about what it wants to consume. My husband told me when he was 100 lbs, he could taste food on his fingers and know if he wanted it. This is what I would recommend: there is a dr back east who my friend subscribes to who became a nutritionist to better help his patients. He put her son on a diet of raw goat's milk, carrot and celery juice combined. It probably saved his life. Don't use anything with preservatives or anything that has been cooked because his poor starved body needs nutrients. You can also put vitamins in olive oil and rub it on his skin, it will absorb some. Lastly, people with severe eating disorders have been said to come out with the help of weekly massages, so learn some techniques and use them on your son. Best of luck and my heart goes out to you during this especially hard time.

What is he drinking? I would suspect a food allergy/intolerance and would definitely stop all dairy. Many kids seem to be having problems with dairy these days and I believe that we rely on it too much in our food supply.

Wheat (especially gluten) is another culprit and I would investigate celiac disease as a possibility. IF he is gluten intolerant, continuing to use gluten causes damage to the intestinal tract.

I second what Lynette has told you. There definitely seems to be something more going on here other than just pickiness. Kids don't usually (although it can happen) throw up that much just because they are being picky. Especially if he has managed to get foods down, but then throws them up some time later.

Allergies should definitely be ruled out. Even though he may be throwing up right now when you feed him things other than dairy, wheat, soy and other big culprits - once their bodies get out of whack because of these allergies, it can affect them no matter what they are eating. Do ask your pediatrician for a good child allergist recommendation. Or just ask around - you don't need a referral to see one.

If his allergy tests come back negative, digestive/intestinal disorders should be ruled out. Like Lynette said, celiac disease could be another culprit. Or there could just be something wrong with the way his digestive system reacts to food - but all of these things can be figured out by seeing a pediatric GI specialist.

If this is still going on, I really would get to the bottom of it. Kids can get really sick if there is something wrong and it's not addressed.

I wish you the best of luck! I know how frustrating it is feeling like you can't properly nourish your kids! Let us know what you find out!

It may be time to look for a new pediatrician, as I'm not seeing a lot of answers out of this one. If your child does not have allergies (and I would definitely test for the top ones: wheat, dairy, soy--even eggs & nuts if he's getting any of those), find out what foods he really likes--smoothies are a great way to help them gain weight by adding whey protein, which you can get at any natural food store, pharmacies, etc; you can do milk shakes with ice cream and full fat milk. A friend of mine has a daughter who has been suffering from reflux--she gagged & threw up everything with texture--and now that she's on medication, my friend feeds her daughter things like carnation instant breakfast mixed with half & half, milkshakes with full fat ice cream--think Ben & Jerry's and Hagen Daaz. There are ways to get kids eating, but to me, you've got to rule out any issues like reflux & allergies. Has your pediatrician brought this up? You should totally have a doctor who is looking out for your child and if he isn't showing an interest in figuring out why this is happening, it's time for a new doctor. Hang in there--your child will grow & someday, you won't worry so much about this. Good luck!

I would agree with all the other posts, and add:
ask your pediatrician about zinc supplements to increase appetite. My daughter had reflux and was <7% for weight. The zinc (wich they can make into a liquid that is very easy to give) helps improve appetite. Good luck.

Is his belly ever distended?? My sis had a similar experience and he was just not eating and throwing up anything else, and really skinny. Weeks of dr. visits, they finally saw some specialists, it was first thought that he had celiac disease, which is allergy to gluten) and after another blood test it was determined that he has H. Pylori, which is a intestinal bacteria that can be treated with antibiotics. The H.Pylori (sp?) creates ulcers and other issues in the intestines so that the child is not hungry, does not absorb nutrients, is in pain, etc. distended belly from gas and malnourishment. It is a bacteria that is common in 3rd world countries, transferred usually by fecal matter. My nephews Gpa works out on the farm....we think the crawling boy probably picked up a boot/shoe or something outside and stuck it in his mouth.
You can just request a bloodtest and have them look out for celiac or H.Pylori.
good luck.

T.,

Have you considered the possibility that what you are offering is not what is best for him? As someone that take all sorts of unnatural, unhealthy food into my body, yet have many friends that are very conscious of what the put in theirs I see the possibility that perhaps your son is more sensitive than you are to the type of foods that you prepare.

Have you considered talking to a nutritionist about the best foods to prepare?

With my whole heart, C.