Hello friends, my wife and I have been on quite a journey with our littlest (15 months old). Quick recap:
Henry was diagnosed with severe acid reflux AT birth. He could not keep food down and continuing to projectile like spit up until he was about 9 months old. We got it under control (ish) at about 7 months with a dosage of 20 mg of Nexium per day (some adults take that kind of dosage). Due to his feeding issues, we were behind on getting him to do babyfood etc.
At about 9 months old we stared with pureed food and he would not take it - he'd cover his face and cry from hunger. We tried everything we could think of and could not get him to consistently eat any real food.
We took him to a speech therapist who has diagnosed him with a feeding aversion. He has had about 5 apps and we have made some big strides from where he was originally, but every day is a long, hard battle.
At this point we have discovered that his aversions are texture based (predominatly). If the food is crunchy, he is 80% more likely to try it than if not. This is his diet at this point:
Apple Slices
Freeze Dried Strawberries ( he will NOT eat fresh)
Veggie Straws (we stuff them with French cut green beans or deli meat)
Snapped Pea Puffs (I mean, kinda a veggie)
Freeze Dried Sweet Peas (he'll sorta eat them, but not well)
Graham Cracker with PB on it
Yogurt Melts
Real yogurt (he'll eat some and them cover his face and cry)
That's about all he'll eat.
We CANNOT get him to eat cheese in any capacity (unless cleverly disguised and even then...) and unless he hide lunch meat in his veggie straws we cannot get him to eat meat of any sort.
We are completely frustrated, exhausted and many times feel hopeless. Does anyone have any suggestions here?
** While all opinions are helpful, please refrain from hard-lining "He'll just grow out of it one day." I too used to believe that but we've gotten to the point where we are concerned that he is getting enough calories and nutrients from his food. I refuse to simply do "nothing" when my child very apparently needs help. I do believe with age and understanding some of this will get better, but these early years are crucial to development and we don't want him to fall behind.
Henry was diagnosed with severe acid reflux AT birth. He could not keep food down and continuing to projectile like spit up until he was about 9 months old. We got it under control (ish) at about 7 months with a dosage of 20 mg of Nexium per day (some adults take that kind of dosage). Due to his feeding issues, we were behind on getting him to do babyfood etc.
At about 9 months old we stared with pureed food and he would not take it - he'd cover his face and cry from hunger. We tried everything we could think of and could not get him to consistently eat any real food.
We took him to a speech therapist who has diagnosed him with a feeding aversion. He has had about 5 apps and we have made some big strides from where he was originally, but every day is a long, hard battle.
At this point we have discovered that his aversions are texture based (predominatly). If the food is crunchy, he is 80% more likely to try it than if not. This is his diet at this point:
Apple Slices
Freeze Dried Strawberries ( he will NOT eat fresh)
Veggie Straws (we stuff them with French cut green beans or deli meat)
Snapped Pea Puffs (I mean, kinda a veggie)
Freeze Dried Sweet Peas (he'll sorta eat them, but not well)
Graham Cracker with PB on it
Yogurt Melts
Real yogurt (he'll eat some and them cover his face and cry)
That's about all he'll eat.
We CANNOT get him to eat cheese in any capacity (unless cleverly disguised and even then...) and unless he hide lunch meat in his veggie straws we cannot get him to eat meat of any sort.
We are completely frustrated, exhausted and many times feel hopeless. Does anyone have any suggestions here?
** While all opinions are helpful, please refrain from hard-lining "He'll just grow out of it one day." I too used to believe that but we've gotten to the point where we are concerned that he is getting enough calories and nutrients from his food. I refuse to simply do "nothing" when my child very apparently needs help. I do believe with age and understanding some of this will get better, but these early years are crucial to development and we don't want him to fall behind.