Help! 15 mo. won't eat. She is still on breastmilk.?

Question

My daughter has texture aversion. We have been see a therapist for about 2 months now. Although we have made some progress, she is not really eating anything.

She will eat vanilla ice cream some. sometimes

She will take a few sips of water out of her sippy

She will suck on fries, crackers, meat, pizza without cheese, but if a piece gets loose in her mouth, she will either take it our, or spit it out.

I'm worried because I'm still breastfeeding her, and she is a little anemic. Help! Help! Help!

Answer 1

I had never herd of this until I met a little friend of my 2 year olds. this boy is almost 3 and doesn't eat. the speech therapist knows that we know him and she was so excited the day he sucked the salt off a cracker and licked a sucker.

You say that she is in therapy, which is great. Does the therapist use any tools to introduce textures into her mouth? My son may have apraxia, so I am really into looking at oral-motor stuff. I have found 2 catalogs that have tons of things dealing with feeding issues. I think it was abilitations integrations -special needs that had little mesh bags to put small bites of food in so they could taste it and explore the texture, then you could pull it out and throw it away. they also had things like spoons and chewies with different textures on them so you could help introduce texture in non-food ways. they also have books dealing with this issue. Another fun catalog to look for resources in is Superduper. I am getting a bunch of materials from those catalogs for my son with some of his EI money.

Answer 2

ever thought of health homemade shakes. like fruit smoothies. with fruit and yogurt or frozen yogurt. i would slightly bring back the amount of milk you give her, she might be willing to try if her belly is a little hungry. like hit up her main meals breakfast, lunch and diner with milk at first then take away 1/2 the serving at lunch, she may be more willing to get to try something. if she cant have cold things, try chicken broth, sllightly warm. like your milk is warm and thick to her.

Answer 3

I've never heard of texture aversion, but now I'm wondering if my daughter is the same way.  She's 2 now, but never liked much foods.  I ended up nursing her to 21.5 months.  She doesn't really like to eat at all and has a list of like 5 things she'll eat.  And that's IT.  

Keep nursing her and add some vitamins to your diet to boost what she gets.  Maybe try some smoothies since she'll eat ice cream sometimes.  Good luck!  It's gotta be hard.

Answer 4

If I were in your shoes, I would have her try pureed sweet potatoes or apple sauce in very small bites on a rubber baby spoon. Vanilla yogurt is also tasty and smooth.

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/nutrition...

click on the link above and scroll down to where it says "Iron Rich Baby Foods" and read on for ideas about the anemia.

Answer 5

I'm still nursing my 16 mo. boy and he is the same way.  I bought one of those magic bullets and puree everything.  I found some Earth Best Org. baby food he liked and then I added stuff to it, like meat and then eventually I just made everything myself.  Not too difficult, because I literally just put WHATEVER I'm eating in the bullet and puree it.  I always give him a little of the non-pureed food on his tray.  He will chew it, then spit it out.  But at least he keeps putting the food in his mouth.  Last month he FINALLY swallowed the egg!  Of, course he woke up with hives! So, I had to start over with bland stuff and am working my way up again to a good variety. (Not sure it was the egg since he was eating all kinds of stuff including nuts - yes, I'm seeing an allergist next wk).  Also, he tends to eat more solids when my husband is feeding him and I am no where in sight.

Answer 6

Well its great you're still breastfeeding her at least. Not only is it better the longer you breastfeed, but at least you know she's getting the good nutrients in your breast milk. I would say to just keep up the therapy for the texture aversion and keep offering and trying to give her foods. She will eventually outgrow it. Keep track of what foods she refuses to eat and which foods she will at least try or will eat. Maybe there's a pattern with them? Maybe she only likes wet foods like fruit and ice cream and meat? Maybe she likes foods that are cold or hot better? Good luck and keep up the breastfeeding!