I have a 28 month old child. He absolutely does not eat. He totally depends on his sippy with milk in it. Once in a great while I can get him to eat Gerber's banana's w/strawberries. He loves icecream and milk, but that is about it. He had esophageal problems when he was born, and we thought maybe that was part of it. Does anyone have any ideas? i'm worried about anemia and not getting the vitamins he needs
You can self-refer to First Steps, you don't need a doctor's referral. I would recommend it, they can tell you if it's a feeding issue or not after they do an eval. I would also recommend, like another poster, that you see how much milk he is drinking, then cut down on the amount of milk he gets. He may not be hungry if he is getting too much milk. Good luck!
My son was born with severe reflux and asthma, and by age 1 was diagnosed with failure to thrive, because his weight was below the 3rd percentile. His doctors put him on Pediasure, which he LOVED, to ensure he would get all of the nutrients he needed, and he did- it was crazy expensive though (luckily we qualified for WIC at the time, and they covered it with a doctor's prescription). Once he was nearing age 3 and still eating very little, we realized there was a HUGE problem in the making- he had never developed the habit of eating, and was afraid of feeling terrible from eating normal food. We consulted with the amazing doctors at the Marcus Autism Center's feeding program, and followed their advice and program. Within a month he was eating NORMALLY, and has never back tracked!!! They have an incredible record of getting children who have to be g-tube-fed onto eating normal diets, so children with far less severe challenges really excel. I highly recommend them, and insurance should cover them. Good luck!
Talk to your pediatrician. IN has a program called First Steps and they can help with eating issues as well and other things. You need to get this taken care of ASAP, milk is NOT enough nutrition unless you're still nursing :(
He shouldn't be eating ice cream, he shouldn't even know what it is! Will he eat yogurt? You might be able to sneak things into smoothies. Anyhow, contact First Steps and get this taken care of NOW!
hi -
I would highly recommend getting him in for an evaluation with a pediatric feeding team or a specialist (either speech or occupational therapy). If he is that severely limited the earlier you get him in the better/easier it will be to treat him. You would need a referral from his pediatrician
what kind of "esophageal issues" did he have? EE? reflux? motility issues? Does he have reflux now? If he had past issues with motility/swallowing did he have a swallow study? Currently Does he gag with foods? Does he chew anything (doesn’t sound like it)? He very likely may have oral motor issues (e.g. tongue may not move food in mouth, chewing maybe difficult, may not use lips/cheek to eat) - all this will impact his feeding. A pediatric feeding specialist will be able to assess his oral motor skills and assist with increasing his food intake.
Feel free to e-mail me with questions. Good luck!
definately get him checked. my son has had feeding issues since birth and was diagnosed with dysphasia. He goes to feeding therapy that has really helped. He is now on a pretty well rounded diet. He needs food!!
My Grandaughter has the same thing, She also has esophageal problems, her esophigus didn't grow to her stomache so they did surgery to repare it. then a multipul of problems accured and had a trach put in, that is now gone but depends on a feeding tube to get the nurishment she needs wich is a 12 hour feed from a machine. During the day we thinkin everything she drinks with a thinkner from the Medical store. But during the day she loves to eat what i call puffed popcorn it doesn't have any hulls in it and it melts in her mouth. we just started getting her to try different foods like hotdogs (cut very small) and mac & cheese. Try anything soft and work your way from there, but consult his Doctors also they will have the best answers for you.My grandaughter is now 4 but will have the feeding tube until she learns to swallow without choking.You might also contact the Dietision at your local Hospital they may have great ideas. Good luck to you and your Son believe me i know what you are going through.
My daughter is about your child's age. She was always a really good eater until about 6 months ago. She wasn't sick prior to that or had any other reason to stop eating. We brought it up at the last doctor's visit and the doctor asked how much milk she drank. We told her about 36 ounces a day and the doctor recommended we scale that back to about 24 ounces/day. It took a few days of an unhappy child who screamed for milk and some behavorial modification for us as parents too. The biggest thing we noticed was that she would ask for milk about 30 minutes before dinner and we would give it to her. She would chung it down and then not eat dinner. Of course, she is a toddler so some days she eats a ton and other days not so much, but she is much more consistent than what she was.
I do not know how much milk your little guy is drinking, but my first daughter also drank A LOT of milk, up to 1/2 a gallon a day (it was skim, but she would have drank more if I had let her). When I told my pediatrician, she was very concerned because if she continued to drink as much, I was told she could develop internal bleeding (I think of the intestines). I cannot recall what it was now, but it was serious. Additionally, she told me that my daughter did not want to eat because she was being filled up with her milk and felt completely full and satisfied. We ended up restricting her milk. She was allowed a cup when she first woke up in the morning, one cup AFTER she ate her lunch (if she didn't eat, she didn't get one), one cup before afternoon nap, one cup AFTER dinner (if she didn't eat, she didn't get one, and one cup in the evening before bed and teeth brushing. A side note, if a sippy cup of milk is given before bed and without brushing afterwards, cavities could develop. Always brush after the last cup of milk. Definitely talk with your pediatrician next time you go in. Good Luck! I know I hated to say no to my daughter, but it was what was in her best interest.
I have a 2.5 yr old son who would prefer his milk anytime! We try to give it to him after he has eaten so e food. And we put about 1/3 container of pedicure in with his milk to make sure he's getting the right nutrients. He's very tall for his age so the technique must be working but we have to make the efforts as parents to offer the food first.
Ask your pediatrician or family doc for a referral to First Steps. First Steps is the early intervention program here in Indiana. They will send an evaluation team out (the eval is free). From there, they will determine whether he is in need of some services, either Occupational Therapy or Speech to work on feeding issues. They also have nutritionists that could help you out a bit. I would probably also ask to have a feeding assessment done at Riley or your local hospital. Not all hospitals do feeding assessments on children, so you might have to go to Riley for it.
