Ideas or Acceptance

StayCeeLynne · January 2009

I'm not sure if I could get ideas or just find acceptance..............

I will try to keep this brief: I have a son with Russell-Silver Syndrome, which is basically a height disorder. One of the characteristics of this syndrome is they are very, very thin and don't like to eat or eat a lot. Therefore, we have to make sure our son eats a lot of calories. So, in our house we have two kinds of things such as high fat cheese for him.....low fat cheese for me. Or, high calories crackers or him......reduced fat for me. And so on.

It's hard for me to think of how to cook low fat/calories meals for me and my husband and then it needs to be higher calories for my son. I also have a 15 year old daughter who is average weight and height and doesn't have to worry about her figure (or at least not until she's 40 years old...ha. ha.).

I'm just struggling with how I'm going to cook for me and my husband and then get him to eat higher calorie food. For instance, what if I make spaghetti with whole wheat noodles and ground turkey and he should have a higher fat ground beef and I guess the noodles don't make much difference except healthier. This is probably a poor example as I can't think of a meal off the top of my head right now, but you get the jist of it, right?!!?

Please don't suggest he just eat more to make up for it because he can't eat a large quantity at one meal sitting. It's just hard.....very hard to cook differently for different family members.

Thanks!

Stacie

StayCeeLynne · January 2009

I'm not sure if I could get ideas or just find acceptance..............

I will try to keep this brief: I have a son with Russell-Silver Syndrome, which is basically a height disorder. One of the characteristics of this syndrome is they are very, very thin and don't like to eat or eat a lot. Therefore, we have to make sure our son eats a lot of calories. So, in our house we have two kinds of things such as high fat cheese for him.....low fat cheese for me. Or, high calories crackers or him......reduced fat for me. And so on.

It's hard for me to think of how to cook low fat/calories meals for me and my husband and then it needs to be higher calories for my son. I also have a 15 year old daughter who is average weight and height and doesn't have to worry about her figure (or at least not until she's 40 years old...ha. ha.).

I'm just struggling with how I'm going to cook for me and my husband and then get him to eat higher calorie food. For instance, what if I make spaghetti with whole wheat noodles and ground turkey and he should have a higher fat ground beef and I guess the noodles don't make much difference except healthier. This is probably a poor example as I can't think of a meal off the top of my head right now, but you get the jist of it, right?!!?

Please don't suggest he just eat more to make up for it because he can't eat a large quantity at one meal sitting. It's just hard.....very hard to cook differently for different family members.

Thanks!

Stacie

hmo4 · January 2009

Feed him higher cals more often. I bought Ensure and Boost to add calories to my son's diet as he's also very thin, and I worry about him. It must be very hard for you, but you can feed him healthy spagehetti like that, but maybe add shredded cheese and a garlic bun to it. You don't want to feed him high unhealthy fat foods either that will affect is arteries, cholesterol, etc either. I feel bad for you, it must be tough.

brookefoley · January 2009

That sounds very difficult!! My sister has a similar issue with her 2 year old son... he has a heart condition and due to that, he had a very hard time gaining weight. He was 2 and only 16 pounds. She had to try to get him to eat extra calories. Thankfully he had surgery and got a new valve in August and now is doing much better.
I am not sure what to recommend but I hope your son likes ice cream!!! If I were him I would be in heaven because I would eat it every day. :devil:
Brooke

greeneggsam · January 2009

I'm not sure I have the most helpful suggestions, but maybe this will bump up your post so someone else sees it.

It sounds like you are doing things right - thinking in reverse of trying to lose weight. For instance, I try to avoid high-calorie gravies and sauces because I am trying to lose weight. Maybe your son would be able to use more of these things to put on weight, and it wouldn't require too much extra work on your part.

Best of luck to you!

AmandaJ · January 2009

I am not posting to offer you only advice but empathy too. Our youngest daughter has Rett Syndrome and she does not get enough calories and also has a hard time eating. You didn't say how old your son was but one thing I do with Emmy is start her meal while I am still cooking. She has basically no hand function so it takes her a long time to eat. This way she gets more food and more calories. I keep her favorite high calories food in the house but I know that I have to stay out. If I am making a meal that can be made low fat, I actually cook hers seperately. Ex. regular noodles. I also add the cooked meat at the last minute and have little packages of high fat beef frozen that I can add to hers.

I understand the difficulty you are going through and it is very hard. Emmy really can't eat much at one time either or she gets sick. I will think about what else I do and try to help.

Hang in there!

Editted to add - she also drinks pediasure because some days that is all we can get down her.

StayCeeLynne · January 2009

Thank you for your quick reply and advice. Yes, it is very hard to count calories for me in one direction and count for him in the opposite. But having this website is already helpful and finding it hard to get off of here!!! Thanks and best of luck to you!

Stacie

JJLM · January 2009

I have no experience with your child's condition but applaud you for being healthy and keeping him healthy.

the first thing that comes to mind is making *batches* and then freezing individual portions for him. Like the spagetti exampl, you could make a batch of meatballs and then freeze them individually so that when you make spagetti you can just whip his into the microwave, but there aren't a bunch of them tempting you.

good luck!!

greeneggsam · January 2009

SCL, I'm bumping this because I just had an idea when I was measuring out some snacks to take to work. What about trying to get your son to eat peanuts, almonds, and things like that? They are small in size, but they pack some real punch for protein, good fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

The plus side: because nuts have a good nutritional balance, you can have some, too! They are my new favorite snack! Just keep an eye on the portion size, though, 1/4 cup fills up fast!

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