Hi ladies, I have a 2 year old who has recently been diagnosed with sensory processing disorder and currently under investigation as a non verbal autistic.
My question is- for as long as we can remember we have always struggled to get him to eat food that has some form of nutrition value to it. He has a lot of trouble with different textures of food and we have only been able to feed him the raferties gardens baby food sachets. Usually for breakfast he will eat weetbix that is very soggy and recently he won't even eat that, he will shut down and scream. We have tried him on heaps of different stuff for breakfast. He won't ever eat lunch, he grazes through out the day usually has a savoury biscuit and he loves cheese. He used to eat yoghurt but has stopped eating that as well. For dinner, it's very hit and miss, some days he will eat with no problem and others he will completely shut down, hold his breath, scream etc to get away from the food. He will only eat the same raferties garden dinner sachets. I am Concerned because he has very little nutrients in his diet. He does get the vitamin lollies, but he is gradually losing weight. The only drink he will drink is milk. I have given him the option of choosing his own food, but all he will pick is either a chocolate chip biscuit or a ritz cheese biscuit. I'm at a loss ladies, I have no idea how to get him to eat! He is so grumpy and lethargic and I'm sick of the temper tantrums that are caused because he is lacking nutrients!
3 Replies
I'm mum to a 20 year old on the spectrum.
Firstly make sure you are using the blue book to track height/weight etc. if he is tracking nicely on that then don't be overly worried. Kids this age do get fussy, and start cutting back on food BUT as you have mentioned the possibility of Autism it should be approached correctly as our kids have a tendency to get stuck at this stage and they take it to an entire mother level.
I remember the months of refusing everything other than toast!
Your son will need a quality early intervention provider. They will be able to coach you through expanding his diet in a way that won't make it worse. You can start with a provider now without a diagnosis (as long as you are happy to pay) or you can choose a provider in preparation for diagnosis. Many have wait lists so the sooner you choose one the better.
The Raising Children Network website and Autism Awareness Australia website are a wealth of information. They both describe what therapies available and what is bullshit and what is quality. So I would start there.
I would allow him to eat as he is until you start with a provider as doing the wrong thing with a child with autism can make things worse.
Good luck x
We have an 8 year old who has been diagnosed for just over a year. He has sensory issues as well and we have a lot of trouble getting him to eat. It is also hit and miss with what he eats. School lunches are the worse as we find that he barely eats. He also does not like the feeling of brushing his teeth. So far he has not lost weight. And we have him on iron and multivitamin. We would also be very interested in getting others answers. We from about 18 months old he became very fussy.
I worked with kids with ASD it is a very slow, tedious desensitisation process that a speech therapist or OT or applied behaviour analysis service provider can take you through.
Done the wrong way it can make it worse. So see the experts.