Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
My Son is 3 years old, and non verbal, he has always been really difficult to feed, he doesn’t feed himself and can only have foods that he can swallow straight down because he doesn’t chew. All his foods are mainly blended, he doesn’t eat any solid food or meltable snacks. Meal times are always really difficult, it takes a long time for my son to eat a meal he constantly pushes the spoon away, or head butts the spoon, won’t open his mouth or just turns his head away. We make a variety of different meals and the outcome is always the same.Has anyone else experienced this? Or have any ideas as to what we can try? we have had a feeding assessment but it wasn’t any use, all they have said is that until my son starts feeding himself there isn’t much help they can give.
Thank you.
My grandmother would always say children will eat when they're hungry DO NOT force feed them.
So I would give my son 2-3 items: 2-3 small peas. 2-3 Cheerios. a few finger food items and when he was done pop a few more on his tray. I would continue this in the car. I would pass him one item at a time. Eventually he would have enough and refuse.
We have many dietary issues in our family as well. My son is allergic to eggs and cannot have pork. I have severe grain/legume/high fibre veg allergies. I'm following a FODMAP diet guideline for now, as it does cover most of the known allergens individuals with IBS deal with.
They don't need much when they're young. But I would definitely work out if he allergies/intolerances.
JuniperFromGallifrey Thank you for your advice, the only thing we’ve come across that my Son is allergic to is cheese so we stay away from that. It’s quite difficult because he doesn’t know when he is hungry or thirsty, everything has to be offered to him at certain times otherwise he would just go without, there is no understanding or communication.
Interesting about the cheese, as it can allude to other things. There are several possibilities with this including animal rennet. My son did better with goats cheese than milk when he was young. I had to go off diary for 15 years until I stopped eating gluten. About a year after I could have dairy no problem! As I've gotten older, I cannot have dairy if I accidentally have legumes or cruciferous veg. Its a frustrating problem, but it's amazing you've been able to identify this.
Can you leave cups with lids of water about the house within his reach? An idea that's not always earth friendly, but can help for a time, is to buy small bottles of water and just leave them within his reach in various locations. I did this with my son and it helped. He would at least eat protein bars, which, between 3-6 I would let him eat whenever. He maybe had one a day though. Have you tried the squeezable fruit puree? Again, not earth ideal, but can be really helpful in situations like this. https://www.boots.com/ellas-kitchen-strawberries-apples-stage-1-from-4-months-120g-10102114?cm_mmc=bmm-buk-google-ppc-_-PLAs_HeroCompare-_-Baby_Feeding-_-UK_Smart_Shopping_Baby_Feeding&gclid=Cj0KCQiAxc6PBhCEARIsAH8Hff36jQDhjLCikRE6XDeQ4tFAgDRa1G6EFc07OAWeG1I0hpXh3xgAdakaAmicEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds