Oh wise ones.... advice please!

[brazen20au]

he doesn't eat muffins, pancakes or chocolate LOL

ok, what does he eat?
breakfast is weetbix or sandwich with peanut butter, this is fine by me (at least PB is a protein lol)

for his fruit break at school he has strawberries or watermelon, the only fruits he will eat

recess at the moment is crap in packets (oreos, chips etc) because other than a butter cake or chocolate cake (the one chocolate thing he will have) he will not eat anything else i cook 

lunch he will eat a salad sandwich as above - lettuce, cucumber tomato. the only other thing he will eat from the school canteen is nuggets and chips which i only order once a term if he doesn't like what they have for their special lunch. i did remember he will eat leftover sausages or snag s'wiches.

dinner is
rice (absolutely NOT fried rice, but risotto is good) if we have a dish with rice he pretty much leaves the rest and eats the rice
pasta (spag bol and pasta fagiole are good, most others not so)
sausages but NOT meatballs
hamburgers
pumpkin soup (was thinking great idea chelsea, can put some legumes in to add more protein & fibre)
tacos
pizza with garlic, olive oil & parmesan
cauliflower, corn on the cob, peas (sometimes)
nuggets & chips

other things he will eat
baked beans (tinned only, not homemade)
bacon
garlic bread
wholemeal bread, no 'bits' in it
milkshakes or flavoured milk

i must say he WILL try anything we ask him to, even though one mouthful is enough.

[brazen20au]

i'm not so much worried about his breakfast or dinner, it's more the school snacks and lunches and how hungry he is by 3pm. his teacher mentioned the other day when i was there while he ate, that he eats double what the other kids eat at lunch time (all my kids have 4 pieces of bread in 2 s'wiches for lunch). yet he's still starving 1.5 hours later

[Russell]

i'm not so much worried about his breakfast or dinner, it's more the school snacks and lunches and how hungry he is by 3pm. his teacher mentioned the other day when i was there while he ate, that he eats double what the other kids eat at lunch time (all my kids have 4 pieces of bread in 2 s'wiches for lunch). yet he's still starving 1.5 hours later

Hmm that doesn't sound right. If he IS eating and still feeling hungry, I'd be trying another doctor and get some other tests done. We had to go through 5 paediatricians with Timothy before we got one that actually cared what we were telling them and not just brushing it off with some random medication, or telling us we were bad parents.

Russell.

[Russell]

Sorry I just realised that last post may have come out the wrong way. Whether it's your current doctor if you're happy with them, or a new one, I think it's good to rule out possible medical causes before tearing your hair out thinking you are doing something wrong.

Russell.

[brazen20au]

no, that's ok, i didn't take it the wrong way
i don't know how much of a deal to make about it, i'm already feeling like a potentially paranoid mother with all the other stuff going on 

[Very Happy Jan]

Goodness Karen - what a load you are carrying- and most of it worry. We had to dramatically increase my DS protein intake last year to compensate for the heavy sport load & rapid body growth. Although he ate all forms of meat he simply couldn't eat the quantity his body required. The best thing I found to increase the protein intake without actually increasing the food quantity was a protein powder. There a several types available from either health food shop or even herbalife have a good one. I found it easy to mix it in shakes or milo or even just mix in with what we were having for dinner. It had no real flavour so you could use it mixed in with the things he will eat. Good luck 

[Ceejay]

i don't know how much of a deal to make about it, i'm already feeling like a potentially paranoid mother with all the other stuff going on 

From my experience you make as much a deal of it as you think you need to K!  I had to throw one heck of a tantrum to get my son's ASD diagnosis...because of his medical history.

Who cares what the drs, specialists etc think of you... it won't matter once you're out of their sight... 

I've been accused of Munchausen by proxy a few years ago by someone whom I thought was a friend..    Nice. 

The fact is, my DS1's tumour was missed for quite a while, even though he'd been in and out of the local ER around 25 times.  Go with your instincts. 

[I Love Bimby!]

Karen, my DH will not eat anything for tea if he has a cooked lunch (which we usually have) or if he has a small lunch only wants a very small tea so I give him Hospital Grade Sustagen when he doesn't want a meal to ensure he is getting the nutrients his body needs.  Whether this is suitable for a 6 year old, in addition to what he does eat,  is something you would have to find out from your doctor or nutritionalist. 

This reminded me of a little boy who visited us many years ago with his Father. The boy who was probably 5 at the time would only eat 1/4 of a piece of toast for breakfast, sometimes 1/2 a sausage and refused to eat anything else. He had some sort of formula for every meal. Although.... the would eat lollies 

They stayed a whole weekend and all I saw him eat was in total 1/2 a piece of toast, a couple of bites of sausage, 1/2 packed of marshmallows and the formula. That was it    Both his parents were nurses and said that they just couldn't get him to eat food...

[Chelsea (Thermie Groupie)]

With that big appetite I would give him a worm treatment to start with.  Sometimes worms are only active at night so you don't see kids scratching throughout the day.

Some nice pumpkin soup or baked beans in his thermos and a salad sandwich should fill his tummy for a little while.

It's good that he is open to try new things. 

[cathy79]

Karen - I would highly recommend "Feeding Fussy Kids" by Julie Maree Wood - a naturopath and nutritionist.  Every recipe is designed to be appealing to kids, and help with fussy eating.  Every recipe lists what it boosts, and what it's great for.

Eg Iron Booster Balls are great for boosting iron, zinc, phosphrous, copper, manganese, vitamin A, Vitamin C.  Great for boosting fruit, children who eat no red meat, are low in iron.

There are heaps of recipes which recommend a blender, and a coffee grinder to grind the seeds and nuts.  So the recipes perfect for Thermomixers.

There is a recipe for Protein Powder which is the basis of my Milo recipe, quite a few smoothie style drinks packed with protein eg Berry Delicious Protein Boost.

You mentioned he likes peanut butter - you can add the Protein Powder to peanut butter.  There is a few pages on "But I only like..." with ideas to build on their favourites.

So I think this book could be very useful.

Another thought is that if you're thinking it might be Aspergers, I have seen that eliminating wheat and dairy can really help.

Anyway, I really hope you can find an answer soon, and that some of the suggestions are helpful.

[I Love Bimby!]

Thanks for the book tip Cathy. DD is on iron tonic from the naturopath... perfect for her! 

Karen,
I hope this gets sorted for you soon!! Weather it's a medical condition or a phase, I imagine it would be nice to have some answers.  Thinking of you

[CreamPuff63]

miso soup?

[versaceyoyo]

cathy that book sounds great.

also karen try the miso soup idea from creampuff.  many children love miso because it tastes 'umami' which is one of the basic tastes (along with sweet, sour etc).  Breast milk is also umami which may explain why kids like the taste of other umami foods.