Anyone with a DC in the 2nd percentile or thereabouts for weight?

[Anonymous]

Hi, my DC is in the 2% for weight and has struggled with feeding issues. We are receiving great help and DC is improving! It would just be nice to know that I am not alone. I feel that my friends with their big eaters just can't relate. DC is a toddler. Feeding friends children, and watching them eat is so painful for me. It is so simple, they want to eat, you give them food, they eat, and then the meal is over. With DC I have to be sure the texture is not to advanced and that it it is a finger food DC can handle. We have a schedule that we follow and there are set meal times. I have to be relaxed and fun so that I won't give DC mental problems about food and watch the child eat a fraction of what I would like DC to eat. Ahhh! Mommy is relaxed & meal time is fun is hard to maintain sometimes!

[Anonymous]

Oh my gosh how your post brought back memories. I have a close friend whose child also had/has feeding issues, and we used to say to each other, "Ask me how my day was, and I will tell you how DC ate." It is SO HARD when your child struggles with eating - hard for the child, who has serious reasons why he or she won't eat certain foods - and especially hard for a mom. I mean, our primary job as moms is to feed our children, and it's so emotionally exhausting when this doesn't go as smoothly as it's all "supposed to go." I think this one challenge was harder than all the others emotionally. I could deal with DC not talking, not walking, not doing lots of things he was "supposed" to do, but the not eating thing was the hardest.

It sounds like you're doing eveything right and yes, being calm and not taking it all so personally (it's hard hard hard not to!) is the best strategy. My son is 7 now and out of the woods on weight issues - he's now 7%, yipppee - but he still struggles with certain foods (vegetables, fruits) and many textures (no soup, no stews, likes his foods separate and not combined). He eats like a picky child now, but meals are no longer the stress that they were.

I don't really have much advice to share, but just wanted to say that yes, I have been there/done that, and I certainly feel for you as you go though this. I remember that if one more person had tried to suggest the magic food to me that their child just ADORED, as though all that was needed for my child to eat was for me to offer more tasty choices to my DC, I thought I would scream or punch someone (and I'm hardly the screaming or violent type!).

Sending you hugs!

[Anonymous]

My DC was less than 0 percent for weight and 50 percent for height when he was 14 months. We have been in the Children's Hospital feeding clinic since he was 14 months. He is now 4 years and is 25 percent for weight and 25 percent for height. I was even happy with 10 percent for weight. But after my child had his adenoids removed (for ear issues) he began eating more than he ever has. He is still on a strict eating schedule, but is eating enough most of the time. I have not been able to smell him starving (the smell of acetone on the breath) for about a year now.

My child still does not have much interest in eating and would rather starve than eat something he doesn't like. But he is eating enough to sleep through the night, which I couldn't say was the case a year ago.

[Anonymous]

OP and 3rd poster - what therapies do you use? We did children's - doc chatoor from age 3-4. The recs were behavioral (family meals) and we followed them but it was not sufficient to get over texture issues. The recs did change our family food culture and provided our child a deep love of the social aspect of dining. My kiddo loves having friends for dinner, loves helping to cook.... But those things were not sufficient to address texture issues and deep aversions. A few months ago we started doing SOS feeding therapy out of pocket with a speech language person. It is working. Every week he tastes something new with her and eventually things are translating out into the real world. I can see in the distance that one day my kiddo will just be a picky eater but not limited to just 5 foods. For us, volume was never an issue - just limited range. OP's comment on how easy it is for other kids breaks my heart. I remember seeing 9 month old kids chowing down on foods that my 3 year would never even touch. With the sos feeding therapy things are finally changing. We got tomato sauce and jelly and pizza recently. I figure we will be working with the SOS person for at least another year. I want a decent number of actual fruits and veggies in the diet before we transition out of therapy. Anyway, I am trying to do everything possible to get a broad range before kindergarten starts - so hearing your story would be useful.

We also recently got serious on dealing with his perpetual runny nose and he uses a nasal spray for allergies. I think that has helped. As I also suspect some stealth reflux, we are going to start an over the counter based on allergist chat to see if it helps. One doc said tests to determine if he has reflux are so invasive that would be a good first step. Anyway, I feel like my kiddo was just born more sensitive - sensitive skin, sensitive sense of touch, sensitive emotionally - and it has been and continues to be a global process of calming down that sensitivity.

[Anonymous]

My middle child had a staph infection as an infant and dropped off the growth chart, to below 0% for weight and around 3% for height. We struggled for years to get him to eat enough high quality foods to maintain his weight, or on a good visit, gain a percentage point or two. He is actually the only kid I know who wore out his 3-6 month clothes, as he wore them from around 3 months through well over 1 year. We tried everything, high calorie healthy foods, butter on everything, whole milk, Pediasure, McDonalds a couple days a week. Nothing worked. He was in the lower single digits for the first 3 years of his life. I used to hate going in for his check ups. I remember the week leading up to them I would feed him anything he would possibly eat that might make him gain weight. I was always so afraid of going in to an appointment and having him be flat on the growth chart. When I put him on the scale I would just close my eyes and hold my breath. It makes my stomach turn even now just thinking about it.

Eventually, he started eating more, and finally started growing. The increased eating occured after we moved to a place with a lot of other boys who ran around outside all the time, climbing trees, having lightsaber battles, riding scooters. I think the increased outdoor activity just made him hungrier (or as my mom used to say, playing outside makes kids grow). He is getting ready to start kindergarten, and he is finally solidly on the growth chart, around 10% for weight and close to 20-25% for height. He is still much smaller than his brother was at this edge, but he is trending upward on the growth chart and following his curve instead of remaining flat or near flat, so we are thrilled.

It is so stressful. I used to worry about it all the time and would feel like a failure, like I was starving my child. I did get better for me, and I hope it does for you too.

[Anonymous]

3rd poster here. My child does not have texture issues. He has infantile anorexia, so the therapy that Dr. Chatoor suggested has worked well for us. I think it is much harder when a child has multiple feeding issues. Infantile Anorexia is a regulation issue. Dr. Chatoor has been studying IA since the 1980's so that is really what she specializes in. We were just lucky to live near CNMC where she practices.

[Anonymous]

OP writing. Thank you all for sharing Even though it is just an online message board, it still feels good to know that I am not alone! To answer another poster's question, we go to Children's and work with Laura McWade, NP. I really like her. She got us on a schedule. Before my DC was just snack nursing and had no interest/ would not eat solids. This was at over 1 year old. I was at such a loss. It turns out that nursing was a quick way for DC to take the edge off and keep going. Once I started spacing out meals and using the schedule, intake picked up. We have a lot of catch-up to do regarding textures. Right now I'd say DC is starting to master textures that most 9-10 months old go to town on easily. Because there was such a late start, and there has been obvious improvement we aren't doing speech/OT. The problem is one of hunger regulation. The child would rather go and blow (and lose weight!) than eat. Laura mentioned at our first appointment that the term that they use for children like this is infantile anorexia. She said not to be afraid of the term, it just means lack of hunger. I have never seen it written on any paperwork, so am not sure that my child is formally "diagnosed" with this. DC did maintain the 2% growth curve at our last visit. This was only because DC was re-weighed on the scale that the previous weight had been taken on. According to the other office scale no weight gain had happened!

Also, I want to send out a huge thank you for sharing the improvement that you all have seen in your children. It gives me hope!

[Anonymous]

Op, I completely understand where you are coming from and several of the PP's nailed it on the head about how I feel about mealtime and emotions associated with eating. My DS is still little (18mo) and we are still dealing with eating issues but it is getting better. it was so nice to read about older kids and the reality that they just prefer certain textures but have gained weight and thrived!

Quick ? about the IA: what is the cause? Is it metabolic? Caused by untreated medical condition? Is there medication to treat? Foods to avoid (that perpetuate the anorexia)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My middle child had a staph infection as an infant and dropped off the growth chart, to below 0% for weight and around 3% for height. We struggled for years to get him to eat enough high quality foods to maintain his weight, or on a good visit, gain a percentage point or two. He is actually the only kid I know who wore out his 3-6 month clothes, as he wore them from around 3 months through well over 1 year. We tried everything, high calorie healthy foods, butter on everything, whole milk, Pediasure, McDonalds a couple days a week. Nothing worked. He was in the lower single digits for the first 3 years of his life. I used to hate going in for his check ups. I remember the week leading up to them I would feed him anything he would possibly eat that might make him gain weight. I was always so afraid of going in to an appointment and having him be flat on the growth chart. When I put him on the scale I would just close my eyes and hold my breath. It makes my stomach turn even now just thinking about it.Eventually, he started eating more, and finally started growing. The increased eating occured after we moved to a place with a lot of other boys who ran around outside all the time, climbing trees, having lightsaber battles, riding scooters. I think the increased outdoor activity just made him hungrier (or as my mom used to say, playing outside makes kids grow). He is getting ready to start kindergarten, and he is finally solidly on the growth chart, around 10% for weight and close to 20-25% for height. He is still much smaller than his brother was at this edge, but he is trending upward on the growth chart and following his curve instead of remaining flat or near flat, so we are thrilled.

It is so stressful. I used to worry about it all the time and would feel like a failure, like I was starving my child. I did get better for me, and I hope it does for you too.

Wow, you just descibed my DS...except it was 9-12 mo clothes...the only reason we ever bought new clothes was because the season's changed, not because he outgrew them. And You completely described how I still feel about dr appt's and weight checks...I cried last week because I couldn't get DS to eat anything before his dr appt...so sad. Luckily, DS will eat at daycare..definetly peer pressure to eat and I am so thankful. Sigh.