by Katja | Feb 13, 2018 | anxiety, extreme picky eating, low appetite, Uncategorized
Bethany’s Journal: Amari’s Journey of Healing Amari, age two, was adopted at age 14 months from Ethiopia and initially had some hoarding behaviors. After being home for about a year, her eating changed dramatically, with no identifiable cause. While underlying medical causes were being evaluated, Bethany needed help. The following are excerpts from Bethany’s notes and emails on the first few months during the transition from an anxious/pressured feeding relationship to one focused on routine, avoiding pressure, and healing anxiety. This post is largely excerpted from Katja’s first book Love Me, Feed Me, focused on adoptive and fostering families. Bethany used responsive, trust-based philosophies expanded upon in the STEPS+ approach in our book, Helping Your Child with Extreme Picky Eating. This post is for informational purposes, and not meant to replace care of the individual child. February 10, day one: A few months ago, she started to get pickier and ate less and less, eventually eating about five bites at each meal and down to two cups of milk a day and gaining nothing. She would pocket and take an hour to finish those bites. In one year home, she grew four inches and gained only nine ounces . . . We saw a nutritionist who told us how to sneak calories into her food. We saw a speech pathologist who determined that the issue was “psych” and barely glanced at her. In the last week, Amari has gotten SO much worse. She hardly drinks 1 and a half cups of milk/day, drinks nothing else, and takes about three bites at meals. I can force feed her more, but she gags constantly and...
by Jennifer | Oct 25, 2016 | anxiety, extreme picky eating, low appetite, parent experience, Responsive Feeding
For many families, weekly (sometimes daily) doctor and therapy appointments are the norm rather than the exception. They strive to make everything fit into the schedule, because doing so keeps their child “well”- or at least not sick- and hopefully making medical or developmental gains due to professional, sometimes intensive intervention. This may be a temporary scenario, or not. For parents of chronically ill or medically fragile children, every day begins with a status check: Is he running a fever? Is she going to hold down her feeds today? Did I give her all of her meds on time? Why is he doing X? Then on to the scheduling and phone calls- to the doctor’s office to sign a request for records to be sent to the out-of-state specialist, to the insurance company to fight yet another battle about payment for the child’s numerous procedures and office visits. For the parents who live this reality, it can be mind-numbing and terrifying all at once. Having a child who is well is the exception rather than the rule. Being truly well, however, is not the same as not being sick. For many kids, they have never been truly “healthy”, as the WHO states: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” What about these situations in otherwise “healthy” children? the baby who screams every time she sees a bottle, but takes a small amount when it is forced into her mouth the toddler who throws up at least once a day after being fed the preschooler who exists on Pediasure because he doesn’t...
by Katja | Feb 16, 2016 | extreme picky eating, low appetite
Four- year-old Nathan ate fewer than ten foods, “failed” twelve months of behavioral and sensory feeding therapies, and was holding steady at the first percentile for weight. Medical and oral-motor work-up was unremarkable. On the advice of a dietitian, his mom offered his favorite straw cup with Pediasure several times a day, which he would sometimes sip. Mom, Elise tried effusive praise and rewards of stickers for any bites he would take, but this was becoming less and less effective. Mom described Nathan as cautious, not overly anxious, but “incredibly strong-willed.” She shared, “If he even thinks we want him to eat something, he shuts down. The only food he has tried in the past year was entirely on his terms, usually away from home.” Elise describes their routine: 6:30– 7:00 a.m.: sippy cup of milk— Nathan enjoys cuddle time in bed with mother, father, and baby sister, who gets a bottle at the same time 8– 9:15 a.m.: at the table for breakfast (with cartoons) 10– 11:30 a.m.: snack, sips of Pediasure and crackers while wandering around 12– 1:30 p.m.: lunch (with iPad) 3– 4:00 p.m.: snack (crackers while playing) 5– 6:45 p.m.: dinner, with Mom, Dad and sibling, Nathan is last to leave the table Nathan’s story is not uncommon, and illustrates five opportunities to support appetite: 1. Phase out the morning pre-breakfast drink. Many families use supplements or milk to support calories and nutrition, giving a sippy cup or bottle first thing when their children are likely to drink a good amount, often with a cuddle. Alas, this kills appetite for breakfast, but parents may fail to make the connection....
