I promised to keep you posted about Fainjin’s eating. Thanks for all the support and advice so far.
I’ve talked to lots of people about our encounter with the dietitian, and most have been horrified. I have been given the name of a different dietitian who is very good, and she is sending me some info (she’s in a different area so would be difficult to consult directly, but if necessary I will see if we can manage it somehow).
In general, we have gone back to following the traditional advice: don’t make a battle out of mealtimes; offer new foods several times even when the child refuses them; eat dinner at the table as a family, and so on.
Fainjin eats a good breakfast of cereal with a drink of milk. During the day (snacks and lunch) he will eat raisins, banana, yogurt (we use this to increase his fruit intake too), bread with butter and vegemite, and crackers. For dinner he will eat plain pasta with cheese, cocktail sausages, and/or white rice. Sometimes he will eat baby food in a jar, especially fruit. He will also eat any biscuits, cake or lollies that happen to be offered, which is infrequently! He did eat some crystallised ginger yesterday, and seemed to love it, to our suprise.
We are giving him an iron supplement, since that is the nutrient his diet is particularly deficient in. Apart from that, we are following the advice of our family doctor, which was essentially “He’ll grow out of it”. And we’re trying not to beat ourselves up over it too much. He is difficult to take out for dinner, but I suppose small children often are in any case. If you have occasion to dine with us, please bear this in mind, and know that we find it as trying as you do.
Our greatest problem is getting him to try a food. Hiding food (eg shredded chicken in rice) is no good – he’s got an eagle eye for things like that, and it leads to him avoiding the possibility in future (it took me a week to get him back on rice!). If anyone has a good hint on how to get him to try new foods, please leave a comment!
July 27, 2009 at 2:38 pm |
Whilst reading you post. I thought you were writing about Fainjin’s cousin. His diet consists of sausages, mushrooms, sultanas and carrots. I’m accepting it at the moment to avoid the battles. My 6 year old niece keeps telling me that the carrots will make him see in the dark. (Atleast she can see one positive). He refuses to taste anything and I’m fast running out of how ideas. Keep me posted on progress.