My 20 month old has feeding issues. He needs high calorie and high fat soft foods. He eats very few table foods, such as pasta and tomato sauce, mashed potato w/butter and shredded cheese. I tried to get him to eat small cuts of turkey, but he only chews it but doesn't swallow. He will push it out of his mouth when all the flavor is gone.
Peds kept him on formula because of his feeding issue. They finally gave me a referral to go to a children's hospital where they said he isn't getting nearly enough calories or fat.
We are going to ween him off formula and try to get him hungry enough to want table foods. This can take a long process. He is also suppose to get speech therapy which is suppose to help him with chewing. But he chews fine, he just won't swallow turkey even though he obviously likes it, and he won't try any new foods. I tried to even give him ice cream but he won't take it.
I tried to give him a gerber cookie and he will bite into it slightly then spit out any that got in his mouth. I tried cheerios also, and he did the same.
I am really frustrated and worried. I really don't know what to do.
Any suggestions would be really appreciated.
I meant to add he is allergic to eggs and peanuts (tested by an allergist). He won't drink anything other than formula or water. Drives me insane.
coconut butter. it's expensive, but incredibly delicious, and very high in fat and calories. not the solid oil, but the actual coconut butter.
khairete
S.
I see lots of avocado suggested. You can mash this up, and if the flavor isn't there for him, you can add mashed banana. My son loved this, and if it is loose enough, he may swallow before he even realizes it.
haven't had a chance to read all of the answers, but some ideas to share:
avocado is a great one, and you can mash/blend it with banana to sweeten it and most kids will suck that right down.
add wheat germ to just about anything, a tsp blended into his food, that helps to gain weight.
almonds are great, full of good fats and calcium, so you can blend some with some water and make a good paste, which can be eaten on its own or mixed with other foods.
full fat plain yogurt and pureed fruit (mix it with applesauce and cinnamon with a little bit of nutmeg, or plain sweetened with a little agave, or puree blueberries -- or any fresh berries other than strawberries -- and mix them in, there are tons of things you can experiment with here). try not to buy the pre-flavored stuff, it's full full full of sugar.
cook rice or barley or bulgar in whole milk instead of water, and give him that to play with as a finger food.
you can dip some bread in olive oil and let him sort of suck on it, he will love it and olive oil is really really good for a baby who's trying to gain weight.
hope that helps!
Avocados, smoothies are a good idea. I make a smoothie for my son with fruits, veggies, and yogurt, with a little water to thin.
My son started having feeding issues (sensory concerns) at age 15 months, and we saw an OT through the Arlington PIE program that specialized in this until he was 3 years old. Perhaps you may want to look into your local county program and get a referral? Your child takes formula, maybe transition to vanilla Pedisure (mixed with a bit of formula until he gets used to the taste?) Anytime you can add real butter to anything (toast, potatoes, hot cererals, sauting this and that) do it, helps up calories. Our little one was considered failure to thrive for a while due to low weight, even now at 3.5 years old weighs only 26 pounds (but is average for height, so we know he's growing). pretty much, if he eats anything, build off that. it took months for our son to eat an actual piece of meat and swallow it, or many kinds of veggies. Protein is important, and if you can't do nuts or eggs, find beans or cheeses and work off that. Good luck!
Try giving him some mashed up avocado- lots of healthy fat and yummy!
Yogurt (YoBaby I believe is made with whole milk so more fatty than regular yogurt), cottage cheese, make oatmeal or cream of wheat with half/half, and put a pat of butter in it. You can puree meats and stuff if it will get him to eat it. Have you tried adding things to the formula (like cream or drinkable yogurt or pureed stuff)? That might be something to try. Also -- my son refuses all meats EXCEPT hot dogs (cut up vertically and horizontally to avoid choking). I am not the kind of mom to give my kids super processed foods but he tasted one at a bbq and loved it. Hot dogs are now the only meat that will touch his lips... he will still reject all other "healthy" meats but he can eat three hot dogs in a sitting (gross, I know). He also will eat ground sausage. My advice would be to keep trying all different varieties of things -- something even slightly different than normal just might work.
It sounds like a really frustrating situation. Good luck to you!
avocaodos have 30 grams of fat but they're all good fats and they are the most nutritious fruit out there. try those! good luck..
Golly! LUCKY KID!! Don't we ALL wish we could be put on a diet like that!! lol! Seriously though, I'm not trying to make light of your situation. Here are some suggestions that immediately jumped to mind.
Mashed potatos with sour cream and butter (full fat, all natural sour cream and butter! yum!)
Buttered pasta
bananas
peanut butter toast
Add EVOO to everything you feed him
I'm sure you'll get lots of other good advice too. Best of luck!
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Oh, I guess not peanut butter and obviously no mayo either. So stick with bananas, sour cream and butter in his potatos (and maybe some gravy on there too!), butter on his pasta (and maybe even consider an alfredo sauce for his pasta) etc..
My friend's daughter hhad some sensory eating issues and went to eating class where she learned to eat more foods.... I'm sure you've reviewed that w/ your Dr.
In the meantime:
Avocado is GREAT - buy fresh and mush it up! High in fat and vitamins
Smoothies? He can drink those and you can put almost anything in them from ice cream to veggies (not at the same time of course!)
Good luck!
Does he hang around other kids? This helped my daughter the most. She wanted to eat what they were eating. Does your pedi allow peanut butter? PB is nutritious, provides iron and protein and is fatty. Also avocados alone or made into guacamole are nutritious and high in fat. Have you tried grilled cheese and breaking it into small pieces? Hang in there! He will come around!
Avocado. My son loves it! My daughter loved it too until she started getting opinionated about her food! ;) Also try full fat cheese and whole milk yogurt. Will eat he mac and cheese? You could make that and add sour cream, whole milk, and butter to it. Banana cut up is also really good. It's not fatty, but it's pretty sweet and would probably add some calories. I would also keep trying with the ice cream. Kids need lots of time to actually eat new foods and I think it's a great way to get dairy, fat, and calories in him!
Maybe your son doesn't like the texture of certain foods or doesn't like how it feels to swallow them. My 14 month old son keeps meat in his mouth for a long time and them fusses when he's tired of it in there. I have to swoop it out with my finger.
Have you ever tried the Gerber meat sticks? My son does well with those. I peel the casing off. You could make him a turkey or chicken sandwich with cheese and mayo. PB&J sandwiches. Cheese, crackers and grapes. I peel the grape skin and cut or tear the grape. Tuna salad (finely mashed) and crackers or on a sandwich. Meat in a food processor with mashed potaoes and gravy. These are just some ides. Of course make sure he gets plenty of fruits and veggies too. Plus, if you switch from formula to cows milk, I believe the milk has more calories and fat. I think Gerber's web site has other meal and snack ideas. I remember reading something from them saying that its important for toddlers to get fat in their diet. Good luck! :)
It seems the swallowing is the problem, not the taste of the food itself. Avocados, salmon, peanut butter are all high calories and high fat. Try to mash them as soft (even liquid) as possible to help him eat it. Or for example, make guacamole with the avocado and let him dip with some toasted pita or nachos. he ma just leak the nacho but he will get fat from the avocado.
You can cook what he likes in cream. I usually cook chicken and turkey in condensed milk (cream would be as good, or even better): first in the butter to have them gold all around and then lower the heat and cover them in cream. Let cook slowly so the consistency is very soft. He may still chew it and spit it afterward but he'll get the fat from the cream. If he has no problem with milk, you can try whole milk creamy rich yogurts or milk shakes (adding cream, fatty ice cream...) to the shake.
EDIT: I just saw your edit.
I would go for the dippings. He may not get the solid food but just chewing 'leaking the dipping may help (guacamole, hummus, cream...)
Is he allergic to other nuts? If not, try the almond butter or other varieties of nut butter. They also make sunflower butter and soy butter (soy butter is nasty, imo, so I never it plain, but maybe he'll like it?) Cheese is good--can he do small curd cottage cheese?
If he's allergic to eggs, can he have egg yolks? Cooked, scrambled eggs yolks might be okay, since I believe it's the protein in the white part of teh egg that causes the allergy.
Give him full fat yogurt, sour cream, milk. Try full fat coconut milk, as well, if you find it--you might want to check local ethnic groceries for it.
Add some butter to his orange veggies (pumpkin, sweet potato, carrots), since the fat helps him absorb the vitamin A that makes them orange.
Can you make smoothies for him? Use blueberries or strawberries, cantaloup (sp), banana, mango, peaches cherries. Freeze fruit or buy pre-frozen from the freezer section of the store. Use 1/2 cup fruit + 1/2 cup whole fat yogurt. Add wheat germ (if he can do really thin baby rice cereal, he can do wheat germ, which is a good source of some vit/minerals), and/or whey protein (if okay'ed by your pediatrician) to up the protein if needed; you can get vanilla or chocolate flavored whey protein in the health food section of the grocery or a health food store (like GNC, I believe). Blend in a blender until smooth. Feed by spoon or in a regular cup (it's probably too thick for a sippy cup or bottle). Or, you can do 1/4 cup mango + 1/4 cup peach + 1/4 cup OJ +1/4 cup yogurt, blended. If you want to freeze your own fruit, for fruit that needs to be cut up, place a piece of wax paper on top of a cutting board or a cookie sheet or pan. Cut fruit into smallish pieces (ice cube size or smaller). Place pieces in one layer on the wax paper, with a little space between the pieces (pieces should not touch). Place in freeze horizontally and freeze overnight. I've done this successfully with cantaloup (sp) and bananas & other fruits as well.
Egg nog? Fruit and full fat yogurt smoothies?
hummus is really good and he can dip chips in it. full fat yogurt for babies is really good. pediasure can be supplemented as a dessert/snack. You can also make mashed potatoes and bake bread using liquid formula (my older brother lived on this the first few years of life.) GoodLuck!!
Avacado comes to mind.
What about the meat sticks from gerber (like vienna sausages) Maybe he would like the texture of those.
I am glad that you have a referal to a speech therapist. Do you go soon?
Have you had a referal to a Developmental Pediatrician? You might call the childrens hospital and talk to the intake nurse in developmental pediatrics to see if they could help.
M.
tofu, and smoothies would be helpful. As well as goat's milk, coconut milk, any type of yoghurt. Cook some millet or quinoa until it's very mushy and then give it to him.
Hope this helps.
L. M
