My 7 year old daughter is eating less and less.
She eats no fruit or vegetables. The only thing she eats is my crumb chicken for dinner, which she is getting sick of. She lives off plain white bread with butter (no crust) and white wraps and sauce. For lunch she might have crackers such as jatz or saos with cheese or vegemite, and a piece of bread and butter for breakfast. She will gag on anything new. Only drinks water (no dairy). This all might possibly be a texture issue! However, she was a great eater as a baby.
I’ve tired forcing (can’t leave the table until it’s eaten) which results in gagging, and I just can’t watch her do this.
I’ve been to a GP quite a few times. I’m always told don’t worry about it. She will eventually eat new things. Unfortunately that advice hasn’t helped and its getting worse. My last GP appointment I got referred to a dietitian, who’s view is to place food in front of the child and let them choose IF they want. This didn’t work, and my daughter choose not to eat anything placed in front of her. She thought it was great as there was no forced eating.
Looking for other mums who have had this issue and what medical profession helped you? Did you need a referral? Or any other advice anyone can offer! TIA
7 year old not eating properly
7 year old not eating properly
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Kids
13 Replies
No advice for referrals but I was thinking while reading this, to try pizza. She's got wraps, sauce and cheese ticked so she could start with that. We have pizza nights where I make the bases and prep the toppings then we all make our own. The kids love putting their own toppings on. It might get her to try different things eventually, if not it's just one more thing she eats.
Becoming sensory (clothing, food, skin, textures, hygiene like teeth and hair brushing, messy play, grass, sand etc) can be linked to their nervous system - so a physical symptom of not coping/ being overloaded/ taking control/ keeping input simple. She is definitely seeking to keep it simple with what you’ve listed. See a paediatrician or a psych. GPS are notorious for saying ‘they won’t starve, they’ll eat when they’re hungry’ and it’s just terrible advice when you’re not being a helicopter parent; you’ve got a real problem. Now sure, letting her eat that may be part of the strategy but there’s definitely more to understanding her than that.
This sounds like ARFID, anxiety or sensory sensitivity (can be texture/taste/smell), or potentially a bit of all three, which can come as part of being neurodivergent (autistic/ADHD/other neurotype).
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/arfid.html#:~:text=What%20Is%20ARFID%3...
I would request a referral to a paediatrician and potentially an OT or dietitian who specialises in getting sensory kids to eat. You'll want that specialty because whoever you get will need to be sensitive to their anxieties and food avoidances.
I told my kids, "eat or starve". Unless she's starving herself, I'd stick to this motto... she e
Will eventually eat once she's hungry enough
Google ARFID. This post is literally my daughter. She has ARFID and due to her food avoidance she is predominantly tube fed (she’s now 17 and had a feeding tube for 7 years).
Find a paediatrician and a good dietitian for guidance and possible diagnosis.
My daughter was like this from 2-9yrs old and then slowly started branching out. A big thing was wanting to eat what her friends ate. They grow out of it.
My 6 yr old is now a fussy eater, I make her lunch/dinner and put something extra (brocoli). She doesn't have to eat it, I put no
pressure. Last week she tried a nibble. I consider it a win. She didn't like it but that is fine.
I have a no pressure approach and it works.
A lot if kids go through a fussy phase, I wouldn't worry about it... yet...
I was an extremely fussy kid but apparently a great eater as a a baby/toddler. It increasingly became an issue from about age 3.
It was 100% a texture/sensory issue for me but the problem was I couldn't recognise or articulate that as a child, I didn't have the words to explain "Hey mum, the texture of this banana is sending my sensory system into overdrive, I'm incredibly uncomfortable right now to the point it's almost physically painful".
All I knew was that I didn't like it and that I would do literally anything to avoid that feeling.
To this day, even if my survival literally depended on it, I couldn't force myself to eat a banana. There actually has been times where the only things I've had left in the house to eat were my trigger foods and I have chosen to go hungry instead (which is saying a lot because I also hate the sensation of hunger lol). So the whole "kids won't starve themselves, they'll eat when they're hungry" is complete bulldust. Some kids literally will choose starvation.
Anyway, to get to my point in all this, I am currently exploring the possibility that I may have ADHD. I feel like my sensory aversions are definitely related to that.
So my advice would be to start investigating the possibility of this being a neurodiversity thing rather than a dietary thing.
My daughter stopped eating years ago, when she was about the same age. Went to a couple of doctors until I found one who said shes low in iron. Something happens in your brain when your low in iron and tells your body u can’t eat. My daughter would only eat soft foods like custard or yoghurt or mashed potato. Got her that liquid iron medicine, can’t remember the name, just in any chemist, and I was surprised it worked! My son who is 8 is now going through the same thing and not eating like he used to so he’s on iron as well.
Worth a shot!
I have a very fussy 9 year old. Although she is getting better we supplement her diet with pediasure protein chocolate flavour. I have found since giving her this it has increased her appetite. I don’t make a big deal about food, ask her to at least try what we’re eating, if she doesn’t like it then no worries but we have found a few new foods by taking the pressure off. I also always serve her with mostly foods she will eat with some new foods for her to try if she wishes.
I have a very fussy 9 year old. Although she is getting better we supplement her diet with pediasure protein chocolate flavour. I have found since giving her this it has increased her appetite. I don’t make a big deal about food, ask her to at least try what we’re eating, if she doesn’t like it then no worries but we have found a few new foods by taking the pressure off. I also always serve her with mostly foods she will eat with some new foods for her to try if she wishes.
I have a very fussy 9 year old. Although she is getting better we supplement her diet with pediasure protein chocolate flavour. I have found since giving her this it has increased her appetite. I don’t make a big deal about food, ask her to at least try what we’re eating, if she doesn’t like it then no worries but we have found a few new foods by taking the pressure off. I also always serve her with mostly foods she will eat with some new foods for her to try if she wishes.
Get a referral to speech pathologist.
As a few others have mentioned, it does possibly sound like ARFID however this tends to be diagnosed more so when there is an impact to her health or life eg signs of malnutrition or deficiencies or impacting her social life due to being unable to eat out of the house or being ostracised by friends.
Otherwise it may be looked at simply as a sensory issue etc.
My best advice is to find a dietician or speech pathologist who have experience in this area of treatment but at home you can help by trying to reduce the battles around food and reducing stress around mealtimes. Lots of praise for trying new things (even touching or licking them) but also acknowledging that it may take lots of attempts to actually get used to the new food.
Keep the existing foods in the diet and gradually try and add to it.