Regression after 'intensive' feeding therapy--now what?

[Anonymous]

We just did a one week intensive with our feeding therapist. Ds typically does great with her during weekly visits, though progress is slow. She felt we'd make some good progress if we intensively focused on feeding by meeting for an hour a day for 2 weeks straight. Well, we started this last week and now we are seeing tons of regressions : ( So much so that she recommended we hold off continuing the intensive for now. He was never a good eater--hence the feeding help--but he would eat certain finger foods or foods on a fork with distractions, and would happily drink his pediasure, and has gained well (worked his way up from <1st adjusted age to 20th actual for weight and <1st to 50th for height). Now he is on a total strike except for his crackers and we can get him to eat purees and yogurt with tv/youtube assistance. Everything else that goes in with a fork gets spit out, even go to foods. Plus, he refuses to drink anything. Pediasure, milk, juice, water...anything...and from a straw, cup, sippy, etc... He has definitely lost weight, is showing signs of dehydration, and is not focusing as well. We have no idea what to do. He never seems hungry or thirsty ever. We've been to see GIs, nutritionists, feeding and OT. I am at a total loss as to what to do short of trying an appetite stimulant (which also scared me since he tends to react poorly to meds--if there is a possible reaction, he tends to have it).

Any suggestions on docs who are helpful with this? It seems like nothing works. All we do is hope things get easier as he gets older and can reason more. Ds has no diagnosis other than being born with severe growth restriction.

[Anonymous]

This happened to my son a 18 months. We were working a therpist who used some daily excerises that left him feeling forced into interacting with foods he was no comfotAble with. He refused to eat for two months and we had to start all over with Cheerios. He was surviving on bottles. I have heard of a similar senerio with children who enter intensive feeding programs that are super behavioral, which is not a good fit for everyone.

There are three practioners I would recommend. Dr. Chatoor at Chatoor at children's. She is knowledgeable about feeding disorders. With regArd to therpist there is Anne Reynolds at ITS which is who my sons is work with right now and we love her. She is Kensington, MD. Finally Randi Simenson, who used to be at children but now has a practice in VA is suppose to be excellent. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I have no suggestions, just wanted to reassure you that things do get easier once you can reason with kids. My son is 10 and has only once had a weight above below the first percentile. After lots of therapy and working with him, we were left with one single goal - calories. So, when he would only eat certain foods, that's what we fed him. I want to say that around pre-k, he started to care about nutrition because it was being taught in school and over the years, he's added a couple of foods a year.

[Anonymous]

Someone else asked out feeding therapist recently I dcurbanmoms. The thread is below

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/265937.page