Infantile Anorexia

Nazir

I posted awhile ago asking if anyone else's LO has infantile anorexia. Things have been better but things haven gotten worse recently. Just wondering if anyone else is going through this feeding disorder. None of my friends understand what's it's like when your kid doesn't want to eat.

st.augbride

Ds doesn't have this, though he is a picky eater due to sensory issues. I see you're in the DC area. Have you considered the feeding clinic through Children's? It's supposed to be very good. We've seen Dr. Kerzner there for GI and he's great and I think can help families get into the feeding clinic if needed.

Nazir

Actually Children's Hospital diagnosed him with Infantile Anorexia last February.  We see Mrs. McWade-Paez there. He's seen a GI too. He's not severe enough for the feeding clinic. They have him on a feeding schedule. He was in the 2nd percentile for weight then got up to the 10th and now dropped to the 6th.

changingnames

I'm sorry you guys are going thru this. I had never heard of infantile anorexia so I did a quick google and saw a Facebook page, maybe there would be some like minded parents on there? Is it an issue of wanting control over food intake? I assume there is not a feature of looking in the mirror and thinking you are bigger an you actually are or disliking what you see as some of my adult friends with anorexia have described to me. Sorry if those are silly questions but I am interested, in what ways the condition is the same and different than adult anorexia. I hope things get easier for you guys.

Nazir

DS ate everything until he turned 12 months old. 5 days after he turned 12 months he started having reaccuring fevers with no symptoms throughout the summer. We also found out at his 12 month appointment that he was only in the 2nd percentile and the pediatrican gave us 5 weeks to put weight on him. I think the stress of the weight gain and the stress of not knowing what was causing the fevers contributed to the infantile anorexia. It's hard because he ate before and was never sick before 12 months. After 12 months, we saw an infectious disease doctor, a hemotologist/oncologist, GI doctor, feeding specialist and still no one really knew why he stopped eating most foods. We had to feed him while watching TV and by distraction for months. Now we don't do that and he's on a feeding schedule.

Infantile anorexia is hard to explain, basically it's:

A feeding disorder of separation and is characterized by food refusal by the infant with intense conflict in the mother-infant relationship over issues of autonomy, dependency, and control. Occurs after the infant has learned to regulate himself and has established an attachment to the primary caregiver

A.     Infant

1.      Onset of food refusal occurs during the infants transition to self-feeding, between 6 months and 3 years

2.      Food refusal by the infant, which varies from meal to meal and among different caregivers, and results in inadequate food intake in general.

3.      Inadequate weight gain has resulted in failure to thrive

-         Weight is below the 5^th percentile for age, or weight has deviated across two major percentiles over a 2 - 6 month period

-         Weight for height has fallen below the 90% of ideal weight for height.

4.       Development of the infant appears normal except for:

-         Delay in motor development in severe cases secondary to malnutrition.

-         Delay in expressive speech in some infants who appear to refuse to talk as they refuse to eat.

B.     Parent

1.      The parent perceives the infant as

-         Having a poor appetite

-         Being curious and demanding of attention

-         Being difficult and stubborn during feedings, rejecting the parental efforts to get the infant to eat

2.       High parental anxiety about the infants poor food intake expressed by at least two of the following behaviors

-         Coaxing the infant to eat more

-         Distraction the infant with toys or games to induce the infant to eat

-         Feeding the infant around the clock including at night

-         Trying different types of food if the infant does not eat

-         Force feeding the infant

C.     Differential Diagnosis

Food refusal of the infant is not due to a traumatic event such as choking, gagging, insertion of feeding or endotracheal tubes, vomiting or pain secondary to gastroesophageal reflux, or any other medical illness.?

 

changingnames

Gosh Nazir that soun really tough for you guys and of course for LO. I hope that things get better for you guys and that your family and friends can learn to be understanding and not judgmental. I'll bet you get a lot of stupid advice from well meaning people especially since it seems this is not a well known issue and so many people will think you can just feed them xyz or force them in such and such a way. It sounds like a tough row to hoe but it sounds like you are doing everything possible for your little guy.

My ds2 is a little nut of a guy, he bounces around 2-10 th percentile and dropped off the chart for a little while right before starting solids. He is just ridiculously active and has been since birth. he was holding his head up and trying to scootch across the bed the second day of life. Anyhow people always make comments to me about his size and it can hurt a little when a total strangers asks his age and their mouth falls open when I answer. In his case he eats like a horse and the dr says it is just because of his constant motion but I know it sucks to have the public input sometimes. It's like really, do you think I don't know? Hugs.

IslamoradaBride09

While Max didn't have this specific diagnosis (his was technically oral phase dysphagia, though that wasn't 100% accurate), he had many many of the characteristics. The only thing he didn't have was the weight issue-- even when he refused solids completely, he'd still drink formula/milk. It was a really tough road and I can't tell you how much crappy "advice" I received that seemed more like a knock on me as a parent. We went through about three months of feeding therapy with a speech therapist. Every meal/day/week was different-- good, bad and sometimes ugly.

I can't say what finally changed-- he decided he liked food after all? Or that textures weren't as bad as he thought? Or maybe he was tired of fighting? I'm not really sure. Now at almost 14 months, he is almost "normal" in his eating. He could eat more finger foods, and his repertoire of foods isn't the biggest, but it is a huge improvement over where he was. 

Best of luck to you as you work through this issue.