[DPline]

My older son has always been a terrible eater. Quite literally since birth. He is not a child that 'if he gets hungry enough he will eat.' He won't. So he eats a very limited number of foods. (I shouldn't have just believed the pediatrican when she kept telling me he would just outgrow it and should have gotten him into therapy as a toddler. But that is the thing about hindsight! If I had only known then what I know now. . . .) Now add to that, last week he got his braces off and got a 'block' which is basically two giant retainers that force his jaw into position to correct a severe overbight. So the child who hardly eats anyway, is now eating even less because his jaw hurts and he has a mouth full of plastic making it very difficult to chew.


So to my question - I am looking for ideas for packing nutrition into what little food I can get into him. I am thinking smoothies/shakes I can 'hide' things that he might not otherwise eat. Any great receipe ideas? Or other ideas? Any suggestions as to suppliments I can toss in? I am open (and would appreciate!) any ideas.

Thanks!

[angelkisses0102]

D~
Is he is feeding therapy now? If not, it's never too late...although the 'behavioral' aspect (learned behavior) is VERY hard to overcome...he still can be taught to eat varied foods.

My DS is finishing up FT...the end of the year we are done and he is eating so much better!!! Not great...but the progress is amazing!

We relied on pedisure...as DS had a very limited diet and would not drink shakes or smoothies. You may want to talk to a nutritionist as well.

Good luck...I know this battle well!

[DPline]

I was hoping you would respond Angelkisses! Do you think age 11 is too late? Or do you think there is still any 'hope?' I had really chalked it up to something that should have been dealt with 8 years ago. Would you mind emailing or PMing me about what exactly the feeding therapy involves?

[mommytoEli]

do you have a vita mix or other high powered blender?

[yehudit]

Don't know if this will help, but I have Crohn's disease and sometimes have trouble eating also. Constant stomach aches, no appetite, etc. I've been told that Boost and Ensure are as good as food and balanced if you can't get anything down.

Is your son gaining weight? Or are you concerned about balance nutrition? What foods does he like?

[okie_mom3]

My DD is not much on eating either (very picky) however she will drink the V8 V-Fusion (full serving of fruit and full serving of veggies in 8 oz), also you could make him shakes using pedisure, ensure, boost just add to ice cream (may add other flavorings of his liking) my dd will drink the shakes also (she has no idea any of the above is what it is (nutritional)...goodluck...I am also interested in feeding therapy if anyone could PM me and explain how it works...Thank You

[DPline]

Originally Posted by mommytoEli

do you have a vita mix or other high powered blender?

I have a pretty heavy duty Waring blender, but I would be willing to invest in a VitaMix or such if that would get some better nutrition in him. (It wouldn't hurt me either!)

Originally Posted by yehudit

Is your son gaining weight? Or are you concerned about balance nutrition? What foods does he like?

He is 11 years old. 5'2" tall and about 95 lbs. So tall and skinny but not emaciated or anything. And healthy as can be. He almost never gets sick. That has always been the problem getting a doctor to buy into him having food issues. It is now a combination of adding the dental issues and going into the teenage years that I feel I need to find some better way of dealing with this.

As far as what he will eat -

Breakfast is cold cereal, toast, waffles or pancakes with peanut butter or a bagel with cream cheese. He will not eat eggs.

Lunch is a peanut butter sandwich (no jelly) or a bagel and cream cheese, some kind of fruit, some juice or milk, and a cookie or other dessert.

They can bring a snack to school to eat during the morning so he usually takes a couple handfulls of Goldfish crackers, pretzels, or Cheez-its. He used to eat the Nutrigrain yogurt granola bars, but I haven't been able to find them in quite a while. He loves yogurt, particularly the drinkable, smoothies types. That is his typical after school snack so that was what led me to the packing nutrition into a smoothie path.

Dinner is hard. He will not eat any meat except hot dogs and turkey Lunchables. (Not really valid meat sources!) He will eat any plain pasta (not raviloi or tortellini) with parmesan, pizza with the cheese removed (doesn't like the stringy-ness of melted cheese), mac and cheese (only with velvetta), and tortillas with cheese (not melted.) He will eat basic vegetables - corn, peas, carrots - and most any fruit. There are probably a few other things I am forgetting.

Okie-mom3 - I bought some of the V8 Fusion this morning, so I am hoping he likes it!

[mommytoEli]

Originally Posted by DPline

I have a pretty heavy duty Waring blender, but I would be willing to invest in a VitaMix or such if that would get some better nutrition in him. (It wouldn't hurt me either!)

well, if you get a vita mix ( i am in love with mine and use it at least once a day most days), or your blender is tough then check this out, Welcome to Vita-Mix - Healthy Eating, Healthy Living! here are some vitamix soup recipes. you can liquify them as much as possible, but it will still taste yummy and will have lots of nutrients. my favorite is the taco soup(i like to add the chips into the mix, rather than sprinkle on top, it still tastes taco-y, but the soup is a bit thicker.) sometimes i even throw in a few extra veggies or flaxseed for good measure.

[okie_mom3]

Just a little FYI...the V8 Fusion is much better cold...

[DPline]

Originally Posted by mommytoEli

well, if you get a vita mix ( i am in love with mine and use it at least once a day most days), or your blender is tough then check this out, Welcome to Vita-Mix - Healthy Eating, Healthy Living! here are some vitamix soup recipes. you can liquify them as much as possible, but it will still taste yummy and will have lots of nutrients. my favorite is the taco soup(i like to add the chips into the mix, rather than sprinkle on top, it still tastes taco-y, but the soup is a bit thicker.) sometimes i even throw in a few extra veggies or flaxseed for good measure.

It looks very cool! Really expensive, but really cool! I will have to pay more attention the next time they have them at Costco and see what they are going for there.

There were some great looking receipes on your link so I will try starting with my blender and/or food processor and see where that gets me.

Thanks!

[luvbeingamom]

My son was so tall and skinny when he was young the doctor suspected he had Marfan's. He was 5'10" and 95 lbs when he started high school. Like your son, he was really healthy and he is athletic. We tried to not make food a huge issue and just make sure he got enough protein in. He liked the chocolate whey protein shakes blended with ice. He is 22 now, and still has some food issues. However, since he is a Division one athlete, he has come to think of food as "fuel" and eats it because his body needs it. He is now 6'8" and a healthy 235 lbs. If your son likes athletics, talking about food as fuel for the body may help...

[DPline]

Originally Posted by luvbeingamom

My son was so tall and skinny when he was young the doctor suspected he had Marfan's. He was 5'10" and 95 lbs when he started high school. Like your son, he was really healthy and he is athletic. We tried to not make food a huge issue and just make sure he got enough protein in. He liked the chocolate whey protein shakes blended with ice. He is 22 now, and still has some food issues. However, since he is a Division one athlete, he has come to think of food as "fuel" and eats it because his body needs it. He is now 6'8" and a healthy 235 lbs. If your son likes athletics, talking about food as fuel for the body may help...

5'10" and 95 lbs! Yikes! Interesting about the Marfans. I googled it and had myself temporarily freaked out, but I think it is just genetics in my son's case. (DH is 6'4 and all 5 of his siblings are really tall too.) I can totally see my son getting up to 6'8" at the rate he is growing. I am sure he will pass me up in the next couple years and I am 5'7".

My son had never been interested in sports but recently got into fencing, so I love the idea of talking about food as fuel!

Where can I get chocolate whey protein? Is that something I can find at Target or do I need a specialty store? I am quite sure that just mentioning the chocolate part I could get that down him!





Okiemom3 - The V8 Fusion was a big hit. I blended it with some ice for a 'slushie' and he loved it. Next I think I will start with that as a base and see what else I can throw in.

[Nevada Jen]

You can get the Chocolate Whey at Walmart. It comes in a big jug and you add milk. Obviously, you probably want to be giving him whole milk. I noticed nuts missing from your list of foods he eats. Macademia nuts pack a good punch calorie and protein wise. Peanuts come with lots of different versions. Also, edamame is a yummy choice thats fun to snack on. Tuna or chicken salad. A good chix salad is the salad from the can with mayo like you would make tuna salad but then add powedered ranch dressing mix to it about an eighth of a package. Maybe he would eat ham. My picky eaters will eat real bone in ham (the kind you cook for Christmas).

[DPline]

Originally Posted by Nevada Jen

You can get the Chocolate Whey at Walmart. It comes in a big jug and you add milk. Obviously, you probably want to be giving him whole milk. I noticed nuts missing from your list of foods he eats. Macademia nuts pack a good punch calorie and protein wise. Peanuts come with lots of different versions. Also, edamame is a yummy choice thats fun to snack on. Tuna or chicken salad. A good chix salad is the salad from the can with mayo like you would make tuna salad but then add powedered ranch dressing mix to it about an eighth of a package. Maybe he would eat ham. My picky eaters will eat real bone in ham (the kind you cook for Christmas).

Nope. He won't eat nuts except for peanut butter. Not even chopped up in brownies, muffins, cookies, etc.

No dice with edamame either.

No ham, chicken or tuna. I was playing around making another smoothie tonight trying some fruit combinations and I told my husband I was going to throw in a chicken breast and see if DS would notice!

[luvbeingamom]

You can find whey protein at just about any drug store in the sports suppliment section and at GNC. It is also good to add a little peanut butter to the chocolate powder. Make sure to use the blender...it is straight up nasty if you try to mix it with a spoon. It just dosn't mix up easily. You can also use a scoop of vanilla powder in your smoothies. My son liked smoothies made with strawberry yogurt, frozen strawberries, a scoop of vanilla protein powder and milk. To him it will feel like he's using a sports suppliment because whey protein is what athletes and body builders use.

Don't stress about Marfan's. Remember my son was 95 lbs at 5'10"! That is incredibly skinny. The doctor was right to suspect it, so we went to a specialist who ruled it out. He just needed to grow into his body and his eating issues weren't helping.

I was built similar to my son when I was growing up. My mother fed me milkshakes & generally forced food on me. As an adult I became very overweight & actually had to have gastric bypass surgery. I understand why she did it because I went through the same thing with my son. Because of my experiences, I tried to keep food out of the emotional realm with my son & thankfully everything has turned out ok.