Eating struggles

Tessalonikki · Feb 2, 2006

Hello, I am a mother of two kids w/cf (Nicholas 3 and Tessa 14 months). We are going through a pretty rigid routine everyday with our cf care and I am just wondering if anybody out there has had trouble feeding their kids. The doc's at our cf centers always talk about "ravenous appetites" but poor weight gain due to malabsorbtion.
My kids do NOT have "ravenous appetites, just the opposite...it is a daily struggle for me to make meals fun and appealing and sometimes it takes us over a hour to get our food down. And of course I do not want it to become a fight, so I go with the flow and just litterally shove food into them whenever I can with as much distraction as possible, since that seems to be the only way some days.

My daughters weightgain is actually fine, but then she is only 14 months old. My little boy however, who just turned three is very skinny...he is just 29 pounds and when he is in the Bathtub all his ribs stick out. I am just wondering if there are any older people with cf out there that can answer my question. Do you actually get hungry,or is it a part of the cf that doesn't signal hunger to the body?
I usually have a pretty good grip on the cf, but over the last couple of days it seems it does not matter what I cook or prepare, it just does not seem to appeal to my little guy.
Any suggestions or help out there, I would love to get some input.
Tanja (Mom of Nicky 3 and Tessa 14 months both w/cf)

Tessalonikki · Feb 2, 2006

Hello, I am a mother of two kids w/cf (Nicholas 3 and Tessa 14 months). We are going through a pretty rigid routine everyday with our cf care and I am just wondering if anybody out there has had trouble feeding their kids. The doc's at our cf centers always talk about "ravenous appetites" but poor weight gain due to malabsorbtion.
My kids do NOT have "ravenous appetites, just the opposite...it is a daily struggle for me to make meals fun and appealing and sometimes it takes us over a hour to get our food down. And of course I do not want it to become a fight, so I go with the flow and just litterally shove food into them whenever I can with as much distraction as possible, since that seems to be the only way some days.

My daughters weightgain is actually fine, but then she is only 14 months old. My little boy however, who just turned three is very skinny...he is just 29 pounds and when he is in the Bathtub all his ribs stick out. I am just wondering if there are any older people with cf out there that can answer my question. Do you actually get hungry,or is it a part of the cf that doesn't signal hunger to the body?
I usually have a pretty good grip on the cf, but over the last couple of days it seems it does not matter what I cook or prepare, it just does not seem to appeal to my little guy.
Any suggestions or help out there, I would love to get some input.
Tanja (Mom of Nicky 3 and Tessa 14 months both w/cf)

Allie · Feb 2, 2006

My husband was like the stereotypical Cfer. Hungry all the time. It was like a plague of locusts had descended upon the house. So, with that, I can't help you.

I do have some suggestions on adding calories to the food you can get them to eat. Add butter to most vegetables to add extra calories, or cheese to broccoli. This can work with junk food too, add cheese to tater tots to get in some extra calories. ALWAYS use mayonaise on sandwiches, real mayo, it adds a lot of calories. When he gets older, or if he has a adventurous day, try introducing avocado on a sandwich or in other ways, since it has a huge amount of calories and healthy fats. For mashed potatoes, I suggest butter, cheese and sour cream as toppings. ALWAYS butter and salt popcorn liberally. Use cream cheese with fruit slices and some veggies. You can also mix milk with heavy cream.

Another thing kids like is carnation instant breakfast and milkshakes. It tastes pretty good. If you take a packet of that, half cup of half and half, and 3/4 of a cup ice cream, blend it up, you'll have a good morning shake that packs about 500 calories, give or take.

Hope this helped at all.

Allie · Feb 2, 2006

My husband was like the stereotypical Cfer. Hungry all the time. It was like a plague of locusts had descended upon the house. So, with that, I can't help you.

I do have some suggestions on adding calories to the food you can get them to eat. Add butter to most vegetables to add extra calories, or cheese to broccoli. This can work with junk food too, add cheese to tater tots to get in some extra calories. ALWAYS use mayonaise on sandwiches, real mayo, it adds a lot of calories. When he gets older, or if he has a adventurous day, try introducing avocado on a sandwich or in other ways, since it has a huge amount of calories and healthy fats. For mashed potatoes, I suggest butter, cheese and sour cream as toppings. ALWAYS butter and salt popcorn liberally. Use cream cheese with fruit slices and some veggies. You can also mix milk with heavy cream.

Another thing kids like is carnation instant breakfast and milkshakes. It tastes pretty good. If you take a packet of that, half cup of half and half, and 3/4 of a cup ice cream, blend it up, you'll have a good morning shake that packs about 500 calories, give or take.

Hope this helped at all.

julie · Feb 2, 2006

Tanja, I can't be of much help either but just wanted to offer up suggestios that you might hear from others as well. At this point and with their CF, let them eat whatever it is theyare interested in right now. Be it a cheeseburger, a milkshake (Milkshakes are GOOD calories too), cheetos...

My husband use to "self medicate" when he was little. His poor somach always got SO SO upset with just solids so he woudl vary every other meal, solid, liquid, solid, liquid (liquid being a homemade milkshake, McDonalds milkshake, boost/ensure/pediasure shake, bodybuilder shake...). Maybe you 3yr old isn't eating a lot because his stomach hurts. THat's a tough age to convey pain or discomfort, maybe varying his meal types might help with more intake.

On a sidenote, Allie, Mark and Ry sound so much alike! Mark eats anything, anything. I lovingly refer to him as my personal and portable garbage disposal <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">. You should see our foodbill for 2, wait, I'm sure ours would look a lot alike.

julie · Feb 2, 2006

Tanja, I can't be of much help either but just wanted to offer up suggestios that you might hear from others as well. At this point and with their CF, let them eat whatever it is theyare interested in right now. Be it a cheeseburger, a milkshake (Milkshakes are GOOD calories too), cheetos...

My husband use to "self medicate" when he was little. His poor somach always got SO SO upset with just solids so he woudl vary every other meal, solid, liquid, solid, liquid (liquid being a homemade milkshake, McDonalds milkshake, boost/ensure/pediasure shake, bodybuilder shake...). Maybe you 3yr old isn't eating a lot because his stomach hurts. THat's a tough age to convey pain or discomfort, maybe varying his meal types might help with more intake.

On a sidenote, Allie, Mark and Ry sound so much alike! Mark eats anything, anything. I lovingly refer to him as my personal and portable garbage disposal <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">. You should see our foodbill for 2, wait, I'm sure ours would look a lot alike.

Allie · Feb 2, 2006

I have good milkshake recipes too, if you'd like! PM me, email me, or leave a request on here.

Julie, I wish I'd come on here while Ry was still alive, I could have used the tax breaks from food! Ry could polish off anything. Although his record was half a raspberry cheesecake. That made ME sick, and him, eventually lol.

Allie · Feb 2, 2006

I have good milkshake recipes too, if you'd like! PM me, email me, or leave a request on here.

Julie, I wish I'd come on here while Ry was still alive, I could have used the tax breaks from food! Ry could polish off anything. Although his record was half a raspberry cheesecake. That made ME sick, and him, eventually lol.

Tessalonikki · Feb 2, 2006

Thank you so much for all the great tips to boost calories. we are actually doing all of the above and my little guy seems to some days live on Pediasure. I boost all of our foods up with butter, cream cheeses you name it. I has extra calories I will put it in. I have even come up with a whole little cookbook for my two kids. But I wish with all my heart that they would be the little "hoovers" you discribe. I would gladly triple our foodbill if I would know what they would eat. But I guess Nicky is a Toddler - he turned three last Friday and it is just a normal way for kids to go through these phases. I will try the Instant breakfast for variety and keep up my various milkshakes.
Thanks for all your input - I will keep you posted on the results.

Tanja (mom of Nicky 3 and Tessa 14 months both w/cf)

Tessalonikki · Feb 2, 2006

Thank you so much for all the great tips to boost calories. we are actually doing all of the above and my little guy seems to some days live on Pediasure. I boost all of our foods up with butter, cream cheeses you name it. I has extra calories I will put it in. I have even come up with a whole little cookbook for my two kids. But I wish with all my heart that they would be the little "hoovers" you discribe. I would gladly triple our foodbill if I would know what they would eat. But I guess Nicky is a Toddler - he turned three last Friday and it is just a normal way for kids to go through these phases. I will try the Instant breakfast for variety and keep up my various milkshakes.
Thanks for all your input - I will keep you posted on the results.

Tanja (mom of Nicky 3 and Tessa 14 months both w/cf)

Diana · Feb 2, 2006

Toddlers. Can't live with them can't live without them. They are sooooo cute but such hard work! I also have two little ones with CF and all you can do is persist. My eldest is terrible at sitting down and eating an entire meal. I try to make a huge over the top deal of it when she eats all her lunch or dinner and she gets really excited. Although it doesn't mean she is always willing to do this. Because I know she won't eat much at meal times I constantly offer her various snacks throughout the day. If I let her help me make it she is usually much more willing to eat it.

A trick we do with her is reverse psychology. Her dad points to something on his plate and says "I bet you can't eat that up" and she thinks it's hilarious to prove him wrong. Little does she know that she's playing right into our hands and sometimes eats all his dinner before he has touched it!

It really is constant effort with these little ones and I am already finding I will prbably have same issues with my youngest as she loves pureed fruit but nothing else!

Is there any food he is particularly fond of? Let us know so we can think of more ideas for you.

Diana · Feb 2, 2006

Toddlers. Can't live with them can't live without them. They are sooooo cute but such hard work! I also have two little ones with CF and all you can do is persist. My eldest is terrible at sitting down and eating an entire meal. I try to make a huge over the top deal of it when she eats all her lunch or dinner and she gets really excited. Although it doesn't mean she is always willing to do this. Because I know she won't eat much at meal times I constantly offer her various snacks throughout the day. If I let her help me make it she is usually much more willing to eat it.

A trick we do with her is reverse psychology. Her dad points to something on his plate and says "I bet you can't eat that up" and she thinks it's hilarious to prove him wrong. Little does she know that she's playing right into our hands and sometimes eats all his dinner before he has touched it!

It really is constant effort with these little ones and I am already finding I will prbably have same issues with my youngest as she loves pureed fruit but nothing else!

Is there any food he is particularly fond of? Let us know so we can think of more ideas for you.

mousesmom · Feb 2, 2006

Hi Tanja

Monique has (now 20) has never been a good eater. She eats 2 or sometimes even 1 meal/s per day(not always the same time of day) with snacks between.

She doesn't like butter on bread, eggs, cream, fatty meals or chocolates(wish I could say the same) or most fruit and vegetables. So I've learned (after much fighting) to buy all the things she does like and to give her as many of her calories as possible in milk shakes/smoothies which don't fill her up as quickly as solids(sometimes I secretly add things like eggs or cream) and then suplement other nutrients with vitamin & mineral tablets etc.

One thing I know is that when she's sick she has no appetite at all, and it's no good trying to force her but I learned through trial and error and when she's hungry I take advantage of the oppertunity! Although when her weight is low I do nag a bit. Btw when she was a teenager she liked being thin - boy did that scare me!

mousesmom · Feb 2, 2006

Hi Tanja

Monique has (now 20) has never been a good eater. She eats 2 or sometimes even 1 meal/s per day(not always the same time of day) with snacks between.

She doesn't like butter on bread, eggs, cream, fatty meals or chocolates(wish I could say the same) or most fruit and vegetables. So I've learned (after much fighting) to buy all the things she does like and to give her as many of her calories as possible in milk shakes/smoothies which don't fill her up as quickly as solids(sometimes I secretly add things like eggs or cream) and then suplement other nutrients with vitamin & mineral tablets etc.

One thing I know is that when she's sick she has no appetite at all, and it's no good trying to force her but I learned through trial and error and when she's hungry I take advantage of the oppertunity! Although when her weight is low I do nag a bit. Btw when she was a teenager she liked being thin - boy did that scare me!

JazzysMom · Feb 2, 2006

To this day my Mom panicks & hubby nags if I dont eat everything in site. I do have to say its not like when I was little. I was an eating machine UNLESS something was wrong. It could have been the slightest thing & to this day applies. Post nasal drip, being tired etc all makes my appetite go down & then the meds....oh my the meds. I do rely on shakes when I am sick (or not right). Doctor says better that then nothing which is how I was figuring. When my appetite is normal I always add the extra calories anyway. Some people disagree with saying whatever U can get them to eat since a balanced diet is important also. However; speaking from 30 years experience. If the appetite isnt there & the weight goes down the balanced diet doesnt really matter to much at the moment. Do what work.....I have the problem with my 7 year old (no CF). There are times she will hardly eat anything & then times I cant get enough on her plate. I believe much of this is associated with her growing spurts tho!

JazzysMom · Feb 2, 2006

To this day my Mom panicks & hubby nags if I dont eat everything in site. I do have to say its not like when I was little. I was an eating machine UNLESS something was wrong. It could have been the slightest thing & to this day applies. Post nasal drip, being tired etc all makes my appetite go down & then the meds....oh my the meds. I do rely on shakes when I am sick (or not right). Doctor says better that then nothing which is how I was figuring. When my appetite is normal I always add the extra calories anyway. Some people disagree with saying whatever U can get them to eat since a balanced diet is important also. However; speaking from 30 years experience. If the appetite isnt there & the weight goes down the balanced diet doesnt really matter to much at the moment. Do what work.....I have the problem with my 7 year old (no CF). There are times she will hardly eat anything & then times I cant get enough on her plate. I believe much of this is associated with her growing spurts tho!

littledebbie · Feb 2, 2006

I was a really picky, difficult eater when I was little...now I eat like a horse. When i was a kid I liked mashed potatos and my Mom would put a lot of butter on them. I think they were easy for me to digest. I also drank Instant Breakfast 3 times a day with whole milk. It tastes way better than Scandishakes (in my opinion) my Mom used to just make one and that was my drink with my meal. My Mom also used to give me candy bars and cookies. She tried to get a little nutrition into my meals and kept up my vitamins, but when it came to calories she used whatever worked. Cookies work <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> and you can usually throw in a glass of milk too! Whatevr works, use it- even if it seems odd, I think I ate mashed potatos everyday for the first 10 years of my life... LOL. But I ate them <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

littledebbie · Feb 2, 2006

I was a really picky, difficult eater when I was little...now I eat like a horse. When i was a kid I liked mashed potatos and my Mom would put a lot of butter on them. I think they were easy for me to digest. I also drank Instant Breakfast 3 times a day with whole milk. It tastes way better than Scandishakes (in my opinion) my Mom used to just make one and that was my drink with my meal. My Mom also used to give me candy bars and cookies. She tried to get a little nutrition into my meals and kept up my vitamins, but when it came to calories she used whatever worked. Cookies work <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> and you can usually throw in a glass of milk too! Whatevr works, use it- even if it seems odd, I think I ate mashed potatos everyday for the first 10 years of my life... LOL. But I ate them <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

anonymous · Feb 2, 2006

My 19mo old is the same way!!! She doesn't eat at all! We just switched her enzymes from Ultrase to Creon5. And she only takes 1/2 cap with meals and snacks. She used to snack a bit more with the Ultrase but had frequent loose stools. Now she can go from meal to meal w/out snacks, nibbles at dinners and only likes fruit!! I called the cf dietian and she said that means she is absorbing the fat better with the new enzymes- she is more satisfied. She weighs like 25 pounds at 19 mo. so weigh is not really an issue at this point, but i really do not know what she is eating to help her grow!! Soooo frustrating!! I also signed up for extra helpings thru Solvay and they sent her vanilla Carnation High calorie shakes(560per drink and 32 fat grams) I do give her that once a day!
Good Luck!
Blythe
Mom to Brinly w/cf , Birgess w/o and baby due 8/8 w/o

anonymous · Feb 2, 2006

My 19mo old is the same way!!! She doesn't eat at all! We just switched her enzymes from Ultrase to Creon5. And she only takes 1/2 cap with meals and snacks. She used to snack a bit more with the Ultrase but had frequent loose stools. Now she can go from meal to meal w/out snacks, nibbles at dinners and only likes fruit!! I called the cf dietian and she said that means she is absorbing the fat better with the new enzymes- she is more satisfied. She weighs like 25 pounds at 19 mo. so weigh is not really an issue at this point, but i really do not know what she is eating to help her grow!! Soooo frustrating!! I also signed up for extra helpings thru Solvay and they sent her vanilla Carnation High calorie shakes(560per drink and 32 fat grams) I do give her that once a day!
Good Luck!
Blythe
Mom to Brinly w/cf , Birgess w/o and baby due 8/8 w/o

Eating struggles

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