We bought maybe 20 different brand protein bars and did a big taste test and my child picked one that they like.

I think it's a lot of trial and error to find something that are like other things they like. I've made crepes out of chickpea powder for instance, which we serve with cheese and apples. Mine doesn't like egg yolks, but will eat fried egg whites occasionally. Another thing I do is to fry quesadillas in olive oil or avocado oil to add some healthy fat calories.

If they like pancakes, here is a great recipe (this makes one serving):

one egg,
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup cottage cheese
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. vanilla
1/4 t. baking powder
Blend in a blender, then fry as pancakes.

Can he have tree nuts? Mine doesn't like nut butters, but a really good shake is one banana, a big scoop of Justin's hazelnut/chcolate butter, milk or vanilla yogurt and ice. Can add a little Toroni caramel syrup if you want.

I also make the Cook's Illustrated muffins that use yogurt but I use Greek yogurt, and instead of white flour I use 1/3 white flour, 1/3 golden wheat flour, and 1/3 almond flour. If he can't do tree nuts, I wonder if chickpea flour would work there.

I also find that peer pressure is helpful. Mine would never eat chicken at home, but somehow got to a place where they will eat Panda Express orange chicken because she would get it at the mall with friends.

Anonymous wrote:I'm an ED therapist (not local). We use CBT for ARFID. Highly recommend this book and getting a head start on reading about ARFID until you can get into treatment.

https://www.amazon.com/Cognitive-Behavioral-Therapy-Avoidant-Restrictive-Disorder/dp/1108401155

Make sure you see someone who uses evidence-based practices for treatment.

+1 it’s so great that you’ve identified its ARFID op, this is such a big first step towards getting the right help. It does sound like what it is - I also work in the field and agree with this poster the number one thing to focus on right now is getting a professional on board who uses evidence based practices and is trained in ARFID

My son, who also has food allergies (hazelnut, peanut, garbanzo bean) lost weight between his 17 and 18 year check up. He was always on the thin side and would stop eating when he was full. Even things he loves. He does eat chicken, pork, steak, fruit, and fish so slightly different situation. He started drinking strawberry and cream premiere protein shakes with breakfast every morning. He is off at college so he handles his own food. We did discuss that he needed to gain some weight and he did gain about 9 pounds this year. The shakes were key for us. They are safe for him with his allergies, and they do not have to be refrigerated until opened and are easy to grab. He does prefer them to be cold though. He also eats Madegood breakfast bars and apple sauce squeezers in the morning for breakfast. Oh, and a cup of coffee from his keurig. Perhaps buy a few of these shakes for him to try. They sell a mixed pack on Amazon. We bought the assortment and he tried them and decided strawberry and cream are his favorite.

https://www.target.com/p/premier-protein-nutritional-shake-strawberries-cream/-/A-94461875?preselect=50835895#lnk=sametab

Best of luck!

Anonymous wrote:Push for a referral from the pediatrician. See if she/he can get you in with a specialist or a feeding disorder program at a hospital (NOT eating disorder, but feeding disorder). That would be better IMO that any specific provider because sometimes these issues are multifaceted. Someone mentioned GI and that is important too-often there is a GI doctor on a feeding disorder team. Plus your child will likely need a workup to make sure there aren't already significant nutritional deficiencies.

Our child did feeding therapy as a toddler and the issues warranted an OT with a specialty in feeding disorders and GI doctor for silent reflux. A nutritionist could miss the bigger issue-at the very least I would work with a dietician who has training in feeding disorders.

When you advocate for your kid sometimes doctors don't take things seriously until you push-be politely and assertively pushy.

Our pediatrician gave us terrible advice and referrals - not all are well trained. And this was at Capitol medical. So do your own research too.

This list serve is also helpful https://feast-ed.org/

High calorie (not height)

I put heavy cream in nearly everything for my daughter when she was struggling heavily with anorexia. Its height calorie, dense and delicious - in smoothies, eggs, chocolate milk - you can get in hundreds of more calories -

Nutella as someone else mentioned is high calorie and dense - we put on crepes which are easy to tolerate when someone is in their still deprivation levels of eating.

Good luck. It’s so hard. Hugs.

We had good experience with eating recovery center - after a couple other not so good experiences

I'm an ED therapist (not local). We use CBT for ARFID. Highly recommend this book and getting a head start on reading about ARFID until you can get into treatment.

https://www.amazon.com/Cognitive-Behavioral-Therapy-Avoidant-Restrictive-Disorder/dp/1108401155

Make sure you see someone who uses evidence-based practices for treatment.

Thanks all! These are great suggestions

Push for a referral from the pediatrician. See if she/he can get you in with a specialist or a feeding disorder program at a hospital (NOT eating disorder, but feeding disorder). That would be better IMO that any specific provider because sometimes these issues are multifaceted. Someone mentioned GI and that is important too-often there is a GI doctor on a feeding disorder team. Plus your child will likely need a workup to make sure there aren't already significant nutritional deficiencies.

Our child did feeding therapy as a toddler and the issues warranted an OT with a specialty in feeding disorders and GI doctor for silent reflux. A nutritionist could miss the bigger issue-at the very least I would work with a dietician who has training in feeding disorders.

When you advocate for your kid sometimes doctors don't take things seriously until you push-be politely and assertively pushy.

Op, my child was similar for about 4 years. Just didn’t really have an appetite and extremely picky eater. DC gained 2 lbs over 4 years, slower growth although still did grow. Extremely low BMI.

DC did food therapy, met with nutritionists, two different registered dieticians, therapist, and GI doctor. I was obviously doing everything I could.

First, find a nutritionist who works with kids like yours - underweight with low appetite. The ones we met with didn’t have any silver billets but gave me recipes for high calorie milkshakes and we found something my DC would finally ingest. For most of the 4 years DC was underweight the majority of the eir calories came from their milkshakes.

After age 8, feeding therapy is no longer recommended, but find a therapist who will help your DC try new foods. That was helpful (DC was also in therapy for anxiety so their therapist also worked on food).

The GI doctor checked for any medical issues - didn’t find any - and prescribed an appetite stimulant. It didn’t work on DC but I’m glad we tried it.

In the end, what worked (and I’m not sure it really worked but DC would have eaten even less if we hadn’t done this) was adding as much fat as we could to the foods that DC did eat. So adding butter and oil or heavy cream to everything DC would tolerate. So a table spoon of heavy cream in the breakfast cereal (along with milk), tons of butter or oil on their pasta, etc. huge bowl of ice cream every night for dessert (with any topics they would like.

At some point DC started eating a bit more and is now slender but 5% for BMI and I’m delighted. DC still never over eats, still very picky but gaining weight in an appropriate way.

I honestly don’t know what changed or got better but it did, at least enough that DC is off milkshakes and gets th eir calories from regular foods.

Anonymous wrote:Toren Wolf on insta is 16 now, ND with ARFID. Hundreds of reels. Some be discussed trying new foods, even demos. Might be helpful.

On FB also. I know there is at least one video where he talks about the shake he gets much of his nutrition from (don't remember the name). He and his mom talk at length about the ARFID he has.