Baulking on food

[biff]

Anyone else had problems with this? Ever since he was a baby when weaning he has struggled with certain textures of food. He baulks on things a lot when he is eating and sometimes it puts him off that particular type of food for a while. Was wondering if this is coincidental or if anyone else had had experience of it.

[Flora]

My ds has this problem too. He's 14 now, but when he was a baby and toddler it was partcularly bad and he used to throw up frequently (just about every meal time). He is better now but only in as much as he avoids the foods which make him wretch (which is nearly everything) so he has a very limited diet.

 

I can't give you any advice because to be honest I don't think I dealt with it, well only in as much as I went along with him. It was the easy option and has always felt like the only option because every time I have tried to make/encourage/force him to eat a more varied and healthy diet has ended up with him vomiting all over the plate. He is about to receive intensive occupational therapy for his sensory issues (because it is a sensory issue) which I'm just praying will work. The therapist is going to work with the school chef to help him with these difficulties.

 

Maybe with your child it won't be so severe (how old is your child?). This is just my experience of this issue.

 

Flora

[biff]

My ds has this problem too. He's 14 now, but when he was a baby and toddler it was partcularly bad and he used to throw up frequently (just about every meal time). He is better now but only in as much as he avoids the foods which make him wretch (which is nearly everything) so he has a very limited diet.

 

I can't give you any advice because to be honest I don't think I dealt with it, well only in as much as I went along with him. It was the easy option and has always felt like the only option because every time I have tried to make/encourage/force him to eat a more varied and healthy diet has ended up with him vomiting all over the plate. He is about to receive intensive occupational therapy for his sensory issues (because it is a sensory issue) which I'm just praying will work. The therapist is going to work with the school chef to help him with these difficulties.

 

Maybe with your child it won't be so severe (how old is your child?). This is just my experience of this issue.

 

Flora

 

He is 5. But he used to be sick a lot as a baby he didnt stop bringing milk back till he was well over a year old. He used to even be sick from laughing so much! Makes me wonder whether he has had a problem with his tummy too.

[Flora]

He is 5. But he used to be sick a lot as a baby he didnt stop bringing milk back till he was well over a year old. He used to even be sick from laughing so much! Makes me wonder whether he has had a problem with his tummy too.

 

 

Hi, has he been checked out for any of this? My son was the same, used to bring back everything and more. He also had severe diahorea which lasted for 18 months non-stop when he was little! He was on a dairy free diet for a while when he was a baby and young toddler which helped a bit. But I think the reflux problem was a seperate problem from his wretching on food.

 

I think your first port of call should be the GP.

 

Hope you can get it sorted, I know how distressing this can be.

 

Flora

[Cariad]

T does this with mashed potato and things which are thick in texture. He was also an oz at a time then wind when he was a baby, or he'd sick it all back up. I thought it was part of his autism as a lot of people I know with ASD kids have the same problem.

[MichelleW]

J had severe vomiting problems from about 5-6 months old, so he went on to soya milk which solved the problem. But he also had tonsilitis from 6 months, and at the time I just assumed that the tonsils were the cause of J not being able to eat lumpy food. He would gag and be sick every meal. But it would go in phases and I would be able to get him up to year old baby food, then would have to go back to 4 month baby food whenever he got a cold. So i think it was more to do with swallowing lumps than a sensory issue at that time. However, he could eat finger foods! i.e. bread sticks and eventually sandwiches. The vomiting stopped when he got to about 3 - which is when he stopped getting tonsilitis.

 

It was only as he got older that his diet became more restricted, and whereas he used to love meat, he stopped eating it after he had a chewy bit once. Then he stopped eating bananas because he no-longer liked the smell. Then he would not eat things that didn't "look right" - i.e. not the same type that he was used to.

 

I think with J it was a complex mix of issues!

[jb1964]

T does this with mashed potato and things which are thick in texture. He was also an oz at a time then wind when he was a baby, or he'd sick it all back up. I thought it was part of his autism as a lot of people I know with ASD kids have the same problem.

 

Hi Biff,

 

I thought like Cariad that this can be a sensory issue related to autism. My daughter had gastric reflux and constipation from birth and gagged on anything with a mashed, squidgy or heavy texture - she was better with light finger foods (anything she could control easily) - dried cereal etc. She was also put on a milk free diet from 6mths til she was nearly 5 by the Paed.

 

However, she also had enormous tonsils and a friend of mines NT son was exactly like my daughter with foods but he had his tonsils removed at 10 and started eating so much more variety and larger portions practically straight away - my daughter was tiny until she reached around 12 and after this massive growth burst she started to eat better (my NT little one has big tonsils and she is the same and she struggles with foods) and I also wonder if it was something to do with her tonsils being so large when she was little - and after 'she grew into them' it helped - I know the doctor has recently commented on my littlest one's tonsils being so large and I recall the same thing with my eldest.

 

Take care,

Jb

Edited March 26, 2008 by jb1964

[EmmaB]

My dd had severe silent reflux as a baby and was on medication until around 18 months old. This (we believe) has had a knock on effect with food and she still regularly gags at age 6 on certain foods. She also tends to over chew food until she is unable to swallow it and needs a drink to get it down.

 

She cant tolerate things like mash potato, yogurt with bits in, jelly with pieces of fruit. She seems think of food as the enemy and will inspect anything we put infront of her. Off the top of my head she wont each ham, cheese, mash, beef, most sausages, eggs, potatoes, anything in breadcrumbs and virtually all fruit. She loves rice though and I have discovered if I chop up really, really finely salmon or chicken and mix this in with peas, corn and carrots and cover it with gravy she will eat it. Makes me want to throw up, but if it works for her!!

 

She would live on Pizza given the chance and often takes this instead of sandwiches to school. Apparently the cheese on a pizza is not the same.....

 

We saw an occupational therapist as dd is also very sensitive to noise and tactile defensive, she believes most of dd's texture problems are now "learnt" and will be difficult to shift. I have been told also by our psychologist that "sensory issues" are very common within the Spectrum too!

[Karen A]

Hi Biff.Ben is able to describe how the texture of certain foods makes him gagg.I think it is a sensory issue.Mashed potato is certainly one of the main foods that causes problems.Karen.

[BusyLizzie100]

Hi. DS2 has a very sensitive gag reflex. Even when he was little, when I put sliced apple or banana on his highchair tray he would retch. He often vomited, and very easily, often just from 'a bad cough'.

 

He's now 10 and can explain a little more (but not much!). He can't be in the same room as someone eating an apple because the smell is so unpleasant; likewise bananas, pear, any fruit really. He has always been much better at eating 'dry' foods, like chicken nuggets, chips, sandwiches etc.

 

His diet has always been limited, but he will make an effort now, if encouraged (bribed, cajoled!) to eat veg like peas and broccoli. Still no fruit, although he does drink smoothies - but no lumps or seeds.

 

For him it is a sensory issue. His sense of smell if extremely sensitive and texture also plays a part.

 

DS2 also has difficulties, but not smell, mainly texture and taste. He also has difficulty chewing because of dyspraxia. But he will eat fruit (chopped), but no veg, ever.

 

DS3 eats like a horse. How different they can be!

 

Lizzie xx