Very frustrated!

mjordan30

My son is 20 months old and I have become very concerned and frustrated with his eating habits...

When he was born we had a very very hard time nursing because he would not latch (I ended up pumping for 7 months and giving it to him in a bottle). The lactation consultant suggested that he was tongue tied. Since then I have asked several pediatricians and two pediatric dentists about snipping it and they have all told me that it was not that bad and they just want to monitor it.

He has always been very hard to feed. For the longest time I could barely get him to drink atleast 8 -12 ounces of milk a day, which is way less than he is suppose to have. He just didn't like milk, even with syrups in it.

My concern and frustration is coming with his eating habits. He will occassionally try new things, but immediatley spits it out. He will not eat fresh fruit, he will only eat dried apples or pear. He used to like yogurt but now he won't even eat that. I can easily name the only things that he will eat:

cereal, dried fruit, crackers, rice cakes, occassionaly chicken nuggets, bread, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and thats about it.

It seems to keep getting worse with the things that he will eat. One day last week I almost fell off my chair because he ate spagetti, well yesteday he wouldn't even try it. I always sit him at the table with us when we eat and make him a plate of exactly what we are eating. Sometimes he will try it and spit it out and other times he won't try it at all. I know he is very hungry because he will cry at the pantry. When we are eating and he won't eat what we are eating he will scream and kick in the high chair, I will take him out and sit him on my lap and try to get him to eat off of my plate. He will usually keep crying, so I put him down and scarf down my meal and then go play with him. Then later on I will usually give in and give him some crackers or make him his own meal because he is still crying at the pantry. I don't want it to come to this any more, I want him to eat what we are eating. Every book that I read says not to force them to eat. I just don't know what to do. I know people are probably going to tell me to just let him cry and put him to bed hungry and crying, but thats a lot easier said than done. All of my friends kids eat anything and everything. I don't want meal times to be a stressful, angry time. I try not to let him see me get upset.

Does anyone have any suggestions to try? Has anyone been in my situation and then all of a sudden they just turn around and start eating?

I mention that part about him being tongue tied because I am wondering if that can cause and eating problem???

Just, FYI, he is also behind in speech, and he is gaining weight and seems very happy except for when it come to meal time.

Thank you so much!

Melissa

mrsmikey

Have you talked to your pedi?  It sounds to me like he needs to see a speech pathologist.  This is exactly the kind of thing they're trained to help with.  I would strongly recommend you get your pedi to get you a referral.

Phillywife

Logan went through a time where he would only eat chicken and french fries. I was so frustrated and worried that I tried everything.

My aunt gave me a  food flashcards game and I would show those to him it would help him talk, learn more words and eventually eat better. I tell him too that Mickey mouse loves cheese...grilled cheese, maccaroni and cheese, cheese on his spaghetti. That works too. Now though Santa likes to eat fruit, yogurt and broccoli. Good luck.

mjordan30

Yes, he is seeing a speech therapist in January.

mrsmikey

That's excellent!  I'm sure they will be able to give you some answers.  I don't think it sounds like what's happening is normal, although I think most kids go through crazy eating stages. 

When we learned DS was aspirating, we learned that's why he was throwing up when he ate solids, and was refusing foods and refusing the sippy.  I thought he was having a hard time with the transitions, but it wasn't that he didn't want to try things, he just couldn't properly swallow and he learned that by avoiding the food or throwing it up he would avoid the pain.  Sometimes they just can't tell us what's going on.  I hope you get some answers for your little guy.