Helping a child gain weight

2

Replies

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    I think this is something you should discuss with her treatment team ….no one on MFP is qualified to answer this correctly ...

    As odd ad it sounds some of the best information a parent can get is from other parents. Who's to say the dietitian takes this condition as serious as the mom/ parents do. People in the medical field get paid to care.

    My sisters 1 month old baby was BF for a few days then my sister got post partum depression an started feeding the baby formula it didn't agree with the baby. So then they had to change the formula yet again. Now the poor baby has had trouble pooping. The baby was seen by the Dr. and had fissures. The Dr were like ok well just give him warm baths. My sister has since called back to have him seen and the Dr are like well we will check this at the baby's next follow up or well child appointment. Really poor baby now had protruding hemorrhoids and they will not even see him or give her any advice or recommendations over the phone.

    because her daughter has a medical condition that requires a feeding tube, that is why she should ask, you know, DR's and stuff.

    if this was just "how do I get my daughter to eat" then yea, you would have a point..

    this is entirely different.
  • blue_eyes1978
    blue_eyes1978 Posts: 127 Member
    edited June 2015
    rgbmore wrote: »
    My daughter (2 years old) will have to be put on a feeding tube later this year if we do not get her to gain weight. She has some health problems she was born with, and her nutritionist, eating specialist, gi specialist have approved/suggested her eating a high calorie diet, just she can't have very much dairy (NO cheese) or any bananas.

    What would you recommend I feed her that might be toddler appeasing? She is very picky and doesn't go for the "Eat it or starve" strategy. She would rather starve (hence our problem).
    Thank you for any suggestions!


    I'm sure the Dr did give ideas and maybe they are not to her liking. Her health problems are there but the feeding tube sounds like it CAN be prevented IF she CAN get some toddler friendly food ideas that interest her daughter and she eats them and gains weight.
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,030 Member
    edited June 2015
    What would you recommend I feed her that might be toddler appeasing?
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    I think this is something you should discuss with her treatment team ….no one on MFP is qualified to answer this correctly ...
    @ndj1979
    Hm... sounds like ppl are qualified to share 'toddler appeasing' foods .. they are doing it now. ;) Oh and BTW...what's the 'correct' answer anyhow? lol
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    I think this is something you should discuss with her treatment team ….no one on MFP is qualified to answer this correctly ...

    As odd ad it sounds some of the best information a parent can get is from other parents. Who's to say the dietitian takes this condition as serious as the mom/ parents do. People in the medical field get paid to care.


    because her daughter has a medical condition that requires a feeding tube, that is why she should ask, you know, DR's and stuff.

    if this was just "how do I get my daughter to eat" then yea, you would have a point..

    this is entirely different.

    Perhaps you're confused as you seem to missed a bit in her first post. Her daughter is not on a feeding tube but might need to later in the year if she doesn't gain weight. Thus the thread.... ya know asking ideas on making foods her daughter will enjoy to help her put weight on? Remember?

    why are you trying to pick a fight when it isn't needed... if you don't don't have food ideas for her then maybe it's time to move on to another thread?
  • blue_eyes1978
    blue_eyes1978 Posts: 127 Member
    What would you recommend I feed her that might be toddler appeasing?
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    I think this is something you should discuss with her treatment team ….no one on MFP is qualified to answer this correctly ...
    @ndj1979
    Hm... sounds like ppl are qualified to share 'toddler appeasing' foods .. they are doing it now. ;) Oh and BTW...what's the 'correct' answer anyhow? lol
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    I think this is something you should discuss with her treatment team ….no one on MFP is qualified to answer this correctly ...

    As odd ad it sounds some of the best information a parent can get is from other parents. Who's to say the dietitian takes this condition as serious as the mom/ parents do. People in the medical field get paid to care.


    because her daughter has a medical condition that requires a feeding tube, that is why she should ask, you know, DR's and stuff.

    if this was just "how do I get my daughter to eat" then yea, you would have a point..

    this is entirely different.

    Perhaps you're confused as you seem to missed a bit in her first post. Her daughter is not on a feeding tube but might need to later in the year if she doesn't gain weight. Thus the thread.... ya know asking ideas on making foods her daughter will enjoy to help her put weight on? Remember?

    why are you trying to pick a fight when it isn't needed... if you don't don't have food ideas for her then maybe it's time to move on to another thread?



    :) Exactly :)
  • sugaraddict4321
    sugaraddict4321 Posts: 15,689 MFP Moderator
    Nothing wrong with asking for ideas. It's not like she's crowd-sourcing a medical diagnosis, she just wants ideas - and there might be someone out there who's been in a similar situation and can offer suggestions! :flowerforyou:

    OP, I'd try not to go too far on the happy meal/hot dog route, as those foods are high in sodium. Not sure how that could impact your child if she's already got some medical issues and dietary restrictions. As someone else said, can you come back and tell us what foods she does like, so maybe we can think of some higher-cal substitutions? Wishing you the best. This must be very stressful.

  • KentWhiteRabbit
    KentWhiteRabbit Posts: 92 Member
    My son has ASD and was VERY picky as a toddler, one day he would eat sausages, the next hell would freeze over before I could get one near him. Life was very frustrating at meal times between the ages of 2 and 5! We tried the eat it or starve method as health visitor promised no child will ever starve themselves....they were wrong!!

    My only advice would be to just let her eat what she wants at mealtimes, to get the calories in, so she isn't starving herself, and then try small amounts of veggies, meat, or whatever you need to get her to eat, away from meal times. This keeps mealtimes less stressful and in time hopefully she will eat enough to avoid the tube. The one thing that my son has almost always eaten was plain boiled pasta. He would have a little cheese or butter on it, you could try dairy free spreads etc.

    At 5 my son was very light (not as severe as your daughter it seems), and one day I just "gave in" and let him eat chocolate and pasta for dinner. I felt like a bad Mum! BUT, he turned 18 at the weekend he's slim but not an unhealthy weight. He eats a much more varied diet, although he's still picky, and actually enjoys cooking too.
  • jumblejups
    jumblejups Posts: 150 Member
    Had this on my husband's side of the family, a couple of different little ones for very different reasons.

    If it is a case of not being able to stomach some food too well and not just aversion alone, then things like Fortisip and Complan might help. I think you're in the US so I've no idea if they have different names there, but essentially they are very high calorie milkshakes with a lot of vitamins, usually prescribed to people who need to gain weight, have GI disorders etc. Some have dairy but I am relatively confident that there are versions that are dairy free, as it is common for people with GI disorders to require them but also not be able to manage dairy.

    If it's simply aversion, the dairy-free milkshake things could still help if she likes them. Also higher cal juices if she takes them. One of my sons has required high cal foods at various stages, but not to the extent of your daughter, so we have done things like making him eggy bread (bread dipped in egg and fried, it's basically French toast but I associate French toast with things like sugar and syrup - although that could work too!). One of my husband's relatives had a serious issue with simply not taking anything except squash (as in concentrated juice/cordial), that required working with a dietician to move her slowly onto other foods. The first other food she accepted was spaghetti hoops, then slowly moved onto tuna with mayonnaise. Full fat mayo is a great, very high cal and non-dairy addition. We use to make our son mashed potato with mayo mixed in, mayo on toast, mayo on anything! Aversions/food refusal is tricky as it goes beyond the food or physical illness and involves psychological reactions to food too.

    Good luck :smile:
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
    edited June 2015
    rgbmore wrote: »
    My daughter (2 years old) will have to be put on a feeding tube later this year if we do not get her to gain weight. She has some health problems she was born with, and her nutritionist, eating specialist, gi specialist have approved/suggested her eating a high calorie diet, just she can't have very much dairy (NO cheese) or any bananas.

    What would you recommend I feed her that might be toddler appeasing? She is very picky and doesn't go for the "Eat it or starve" strategy. She would rather starve (hence our problem).
    Thank you for any suggestions!

    Why is she picky? What does even picky mean at this age? Is it a texture issue? Is it a smell issue? Is it a behavioural issue? Is she working with a speech therapist, physical therapist? Do you have a diet plan and she is refusing to follow it? Have you tried someone else feeding her? Sneaking in food while she is busy playing, while you are telling her a story? Limiting her snacks so she will eat more at mealtime, or the opposite, offering constant small snacks? Bottle feeding with high calorie formula while she is half asleep, or even dream feeding, if she is battling feedings while awake?

    There is no such thing as a generic toddler-friendly meal, toddlers are individuals. One of my kids could not handle the texture of meat, one would nurse all day if I let him still at this age, one had as a favourite meal lentil soup and olives (yes, not exactly what comes to mind when you think of toddlers). I do not think you will get much help by just asking other people what they feed their kids. I feel your pain, but there will be as many answers as there are toddlers.
  • rgbmore
    rgbmore Posts: 85 Member
    Thank you all for your suggestions! I do have a "diet plan" from her team of specialists, but it has more generic suggestions. (Nut butters, avocado, pediasure, etc). They also really just want her to eat and enjoy eating again/the process of eating to help your body so I was just looking for some ideas of what to try with her. Please be assured we are in constant contact with her specialists, they just didn't give me a huge cookbook or anything to go on. I apologize for causing concern to some, all I wanted were some suggestions of what foods are enjoyable for a toddler to eat but would add some weight. :) She gets weary of momma putting sunflower seed butter on all her food. :)
    As for "how" to feed her, thank you for suggestions, but we have some behavioral therapists working with us on that. I mentioned her eating habits to give an idea that she can't really be "forced" to eat right now.
    I should have rephrased the post, apologies, I just really wanted some ideas of what to add to my shopping list for her.
  • abelcat1
    abelcat1 Posts: 186 Member
    Does she like oatmeal. You can pimp it with dried fruits and cinnamon. I also suggest avocado. Guacomole will work as dip or spread it on bread. And how about dried beans and peas. Try dishes like dhal and hummus. Perhaps she will enjoy that. Good luck. I wish you all the best and hope Things will Work out for you and her.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
    What would you recommend I feed her that might be toddler appeasing?
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    I think this is something you should discuss with her treatment team ….no one on MFP is qualified to answer this correctly ...
    @ndj1979
    Hm... sounds like ppl are qualified to share 'toddler appeasing' foods .. they are doing it now. ;) Oh and BTW...what's the 'correct' answer anyhow? lol
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    I think this is something you should discuss with her treatment team ….no one on MFP is qualified to answer this correctly ...

    As odd ad it sounds some of the best information a parent can get is from other parents. Who's to say the dietitian takes this condition as serious as the mom/ parents do. People in the medical field get paid to care.


    because her daughter has a medical condition that requires a feeding tube, that is why she should ask, you know, DR's and stuff.

    if this was just "how do I get my daughter to eat" then yea, you would have a point..

    this is entirely different.

    Perhaps you're confused as you seem to missed a bit in her first post. Her daughter is not on a feeding tube but might need to later in the year if she doesn't gain weight. Thus the thread.... ya know asking ideas on making foods her daughter will enjoy to help her put weight on? Remember?

    why are you trying to pick a fight when it isn't needed... if you don't don't have food ideas for her then maybe it's time to move on to another thread?

    I am not picking a fight…I am telling OP to talk to a DR since her daughter seism to have a serious medical issue.

    What are the qualifications of everyone trying to tell OP how to feed a sick child?????
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
    rgbmore wrote: »
    Thank you all for your suggestions! I do have a "diet plan" from her team of specialists, but it has more generic suggestions. (Nut butters, avocado, pediasure, etc). They also really just want her to eat and enjoy eating again/the process of eating to help your body so I was just looking for some ideas of what to try with her. Please be assured we are in constant contact with her specialists, they just didn't give me a huge cookbook or anything to go on. I apologize for causing concern to some, all I wanted were some suggestions of what foods are enjoyable for a toddler to eat but would add some weight. :) She gets weary of momma putting sunflower seed butter on all her food. :)
    As for "how" to feed her, thank you for suggestions, but we have some behavioral therapists working with us on that. I mentioned her eating habits to give an idea that she can't really be "forced" to eat right now.
    I should have rephrased the post, apologies, I just really wanted some ideas of what to add to my shopping list for her.

    What does she enjoy? If you can post some meals she likes, or at least tolerates, it would be easier to get suggestions on what else to try.
  • AlixStark
    AlixStark Posts: 16 Member
    I'm sorry to hear about your little girl. That must be really hard.

    My sister was very picky when she was young and would also prefer to starve. Noodles with butter were big in our house - you can use margarine to avoid the dairy issue, and fun shapes can make it more appetizing. Kraft Mac & Cheese have character noodles she might like. Chicken nuggets with ranch or some other fatty dipping sauce, and french fries. Mac & cheese with a vegan cheese maybe? Smoothies if she'll drink them - you could use a high calorie coconut/soy/almond milk base, add in any flavors she likes (strawberries, chocolate, peanut butter), and add a big scoop of coconut oil or avocado for extra fat & calories without affecting taste.

    Nutrition is very important so sneak in fruits and veggies if you can, but honestly if my daughter was faced with a feeding tube I'd focus primarily on getting calories in her, and supplement with a multivitamin. Kids love Flintstones chewables, or the gummy vitamins.
  • athenasurrenders
    athenasurrenders Posts: 278 Member
    Coconut cream is very high cal, smooth texture, not to strong flavour and light coloured so might be a winner. If you put a can of coconut milk in the fridge for a bit the cream will solidify on top. You can whip it up with cocoa powder and maple syrup (or your daughter's flavours of choice) to make a lovely sort of frosting consistency which is lovely spread on ...everything. You could also sneak some into anything creamy like pasta sauces, mash etc.

    Avocado is good - my daughter won't eat it alone but I make ice lollies by mashing it with lime juice and sugar, yummy.

    Can she have any dairy at all? Because I find that pastry and pies are popular at that age. We put just about anything (tuna, cooked veggies, chicken, left over pasta sauce) on puff pastry and fold it into little pasties. (It's a great one for kids to help cook too, if that's part of your behaviour plan)

    Muffins topped with jam - lots of dairy free muffin recipes online. Carrot cake is a bit hit in our house and is pretty high cal because of the high oil content.

    Pizza - you can make pizzas at home without the cheese and the sauce is a good place to hide extra calories.

    If she likes pasta maybe a homemade pesto skipping the cheese? Pine nuts and olive oil are good sources of calories.

    Will she eat fish? Oily fish are good, maybe mixed with mash to make a fishcake if that makes the texture and flavour more manageable.
  • madhatter2013
    madhatter2013 Posts: 1,547 Member
    PopeyeCT wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    I think this is something you should discuss with her treatment team ….no one on MFP is qualified to answer this correctly ...

    This. You're talking about the health of your baby here. That's not the sort of thing you go to random internet people for.

    Also...chicken nuggets with bbq sauce is what my daughter couldn't get enough of at that age.

    I agree that this is more of a question for her treatment team, however, she's not asking for concrete answers or answers taht anyone here may or may not be qualified for. Like most people in the forums (well, not lately, it seems) they ask for experiences of others and how those others coped with their situation of the same manner. It's more comforting to anyone to know that they are not the only one who's had to deal with whatever problem it is their facing.
  • madhatter2013
    madhatter2013 Posts: 1,547 Member
    abelcat1 wrote: »
    Does she like oatmeal. You can pimp it with dried fruits and cinnamon. I also suggest avocado. Guacomole will work as dip or spread it on bread. And how about dried beans and peas. Try dishes like dhal and hummus. Perhaps she will enjoy that. Good luck. I wish you all the best and hope Things will Work out for you and her.

    Ah hahaha "PIMP IT"

    I've never heard that term used in conjunction with food. That's awesome!!!
  • rgbmore
    rgbmore Posts: 85 Member
    aggelikik wrote: »

    What does she enjoy? If you can post some meals she likes, or at least tolerates, it would be easier to get suggestions on what else to try.

    Her favorite food is watermelon. She could seriously eat a whole baby watermelon. Soft pears (like in the can or very ripe), soft grapes, and sometimes she is a fan of pasta. She was not happy when they said no more mac n cheese. :(

    A lot of her problems are psychological with food, and without writing a huge essay on it, just some textures bother her as well as color. (But then some days she's totally fine! It's a lot to do with mood.)
    She is a hard sell with meat and fried food-texture issues. She will chew them up, the push them out of her mouth instead of swallowing. Strange, I know. D: Drives me nuts.

    So for example:
    Yesterday she was all about french toast, tried it again today and it was absolutely no-go. Nutritionist suggested getting a larger "arsenal" of meals so we can keep out of a rut.

    So I figure if I take all of your suggestions and keep giving her new-ish meals to try, she might keep eating. :) We are trying to give her at each meal one familiar thing that she usually likes with a new (or not eaten recently) food.

    So we'll try:
    Roast beef with gravies (very tender)
    Oatmeal with dried fruits
    Avocado/Guac on bread
    Hummus/dhal (Gonna try homemade since she hates storebought)
    Mashed potato with mayo/sour cream
    High calorie shakes (we've tried pediasure and orgain, ordered some ensure clear to see if that's better)
    Pasta with sauces/stirfry with oil/curries
    Sweet potato fries (with fry sauce?)
    Spaghettios
    Smoothies (these are a hit or miss..but if it's from jamba juice for some reason it's the best lol)
    Coconut oil for cooking
    Yogurts (I have a hard time finding not low fat yogurt. Seems like most people have the opposite problem)
    Chicken/Tuna/Egg/Pasta salad
    Raw vegan ice cream (gonna go research that!)
    Juice
    Noodle Soup with crackers


    Truly, thank you all so much for all of your help! This is a great list to start with. I am a bit of a nervous/stressed wreck over this, so having a list written out for when I go shopping/ go to the fridge makes my life so much easier!! Thank you!!
  • rgbmore
    rgbmore Posts: 85 Member
    My son has ASD and was VERY picky as a toddler, one day he would eat sausages, the next hell would freeze over before I could get one near him. Life was very frustrating at meal times between the ages of 2 and 5! We tried the eat it or starve method as health visitor promised no child will ever starve themselves....they were wrong!!

    My only advice would be to just let her eat what she wants at mealtimes, to get the calories in, so she isn't starving herself, and then try small amounts of veggies, meat, or whatever you need to get her to eat, away from meal times. This keeps mealtimes less stressful and in time hopefully she will eat enough to avoid the tube. The one thing that my son has almost always eaten was plain boiled pasta. He would have a little cheese or butter on it, you could try dairy free spreads etc.

    At 5 my son was very light (not as severe as your daughter it seems), and one day I just "gave in" and let him eat chocolate and pasta for dinner. I felt like a bad Mum! BUT, he turned 18 at the weekend he's slim but not an unhealthy weight. He eats a much more varied diet, although he's still picky, and actually enjoys cooking too.

    Yeah, she has West's Syndrome, which can commonly lead into ASD. We are testing/evaluating for that now that she's been spasm/seizure free for a while, but that sausage scenario is TOTALLY what happens in our house. I feel you, it's good to know that she will probably be okay. And yeah, if she has to have the tube, so be it, but we're not done trying yet! :) I feel you, and bet you are a great mom! Thank you for the advice and sharing your story
  • kjacobs06
    kjacobs06 Posts: 13 Member
    pediasure?
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
    rgbmore wrote: »
    aggelikik wrote: »

    What does she enjoy? If you can post some meals she likes, or at least tolerates, it would be easier to get suggestions on what else to try.

    Her favorite food is watermelon. She could seriously eat a whole baby watermelon. Soft pears (like in the can or very ripe), soft grapes, and sometimes she is a fan of pasta. She was not happy when they said no more mac n cheese. :(

    A lot of her problems are psychological with food, and without writing a huge essay on it, just some textures bother her as well as color. (But then some days she's totally fine! It's a lot to do with mood.)
    She is a hard sell with meat and fried food-texture issues. She will chew them up, the push them out of her mouth instead of swallowing. Strange, I know. D: Drives me nuts.

    My daughter was this way with meat, something about the texture. What helped was either using very tender meat with sauce (chicken was a "favourite", especially thighs) and also ground meat. I used to cook meat in red sauce, think like spaghetti bolognese. Mixing the meat/sauce with rice or very small sized pasta helped a lot get her used to meat. Since you say your child likes pasta, this could help.
    Also if you cannot use butter, you can cook with olive oil, and add extra in her meals.
    When it comes to yoghurt, try greek full fat strained yoghurt. It is about 10% fat and you can also mix in honey, jam or chocolate to make it interesting (and higher in calories). You can also use it with fruit to make smoothies and if you can get an ice-cream maker, it is an excellent basis for ice cream. If she likes ice-cream and you cannot feed her regular milk-based ice cream, you can google recipes for curstard based ice-cream and use soy, almond or hazelnut milk instead of regular milk. Also coconut milk makes a good ice cream base, and you can also add coconut oil for extra calories.
    When you serve food, do you eat the same thing? I think with most toddlers, if it comes from your plate, it is much better accpted (at least as a first try) than if it is their own meal.