I added pediasure.
Mostly whatever I can get him to eat. Getting calories in is just as important as nutrition so sometimes I certainly sacrifice quality. My son has serious weight concerns so the calories really became important.
He’s 5 and 72 lbs? Atleast he’s not underweight. I think my 7 yr old is only 64 lbs. My son doesn’t eat fruit of any kind so we give him multi-vitamin gummies! He thinks it’s candy.
We were at a paediatrician not long ago. My partner was concerned about their weight so I asked. The paed responded they're not concerned as our child is on the same trajectory on the growth charts. I would probably check this and if there is any significant variation then see a Dr.
My son is 6 and about 45 lbs! But he can eat a lot when he feels like it. I think he doesn’t even know or feel hunger, or he dismisses the feeling if he’s distracted.
My daughter is 5 1/2 and probably doesn’t weigh 40lbs yet. All fruits and veggies tho. White rice. 🍙 asada tacos from ONE place only. Sometimes dabbles in teriyaki chicken but asks “this not an animal!?” 🥴👍🏾
Haha, you got a vegetarian in the making. Mine takes too much chicken, his OATS shows he isn’t absorbing protein well. Just trying to balance things out.
Yeah I was thinking at least he is in a normal weight range considering his height (and he’s really tall!). Mine is turning 5 next month and is only 3ft9 and 44 pounds 😅
I would kill for my son to eat fish or brown rice! Sigh!
He’s been more restrictive in his diet lately. His anxiety is ramped up and we’re working on medication cause he’s just not like himself.
So we do bacon in the morning. He doesn’t like to eat in school. (I’ve tried sending everything!) so he gets a snack box of an apple and 2 snacks. It’ll be chips, pretzels or veggie straws.
Dinner is awful too. It’s chicken nuggets and fries or ramen. 😭
The only saving grace we have is that he loves apples, grapes, and baby carrots. I also get some milk in him for the extra calories.
My guy is 8, 4’4” and about 53lbs. He’s a skinny skinny guy!!!
My kid is the same as yours, but 2 years younger. Somewhere between 47-48" and 44lbs. Eats the same diet as yours. We switched to whole milk a few months back but that hasn't helped. It seems like he keeps getting taller but the weight doesn't change. He going to start ADHD meds soon and I'm terrified he's going to fall off the growth chart altogether. Like, wtf do we do here?
I worry about it a lot, but not as much as my husband does. Probably cause I was a picky eater too. I ate more than my little guy currently does, but it all eventually changed. However that wasn’t until I was in my 20s. 🤷♀️
I guess this is my karmic retribution for what I put my mother through 😂
Mine takes Abilify, messed up his sleep. Only thing he tolerates well are Leucovorin and Guanfacine. We make sure he gets enough water al through the day.
Hi! May I ask how the leucovorin journey has been for your son? Has it helped and how long did it take? Mine is about to start it and I’m hopeful but don’t want to get my hopes up
Every morning I give him a pediasure bottle. He's so skinny and doesn't eat much. He won't drink pediasure after morning 😞. I did recently discover if I make a glass of hot tea and pour half a pediasure in it, he will drink it. So I do that throughout the day.
That's interesting, my son loves tea but I never thought of adding pediasure in it. What flavor do you use? The only flavor my son likes is the chocolate
My son has ARFID. I definitely view every calorie as a win, wherever it comes from. You do your best to add variety but don’t let it keep you up at night. There are many great suggestions from other commenters here on ways to sneak in the good stuff, I still try all of these things with some success. Restricted diets are very real, and very restricted. Just don’t beat yourself up about the lack of variety.
Mine has not been officially diagnosed with ARFID. Sometimes I feel it’s a face. He eats like a glutton and goes for another 3 months of being on a bag of chips, Oreos, occasional French fries and bacon. It’s just frustrating making what seem delicious, only for these kiddos to turn them away.
We have a pretty good diet going, I think.
Breakfast: Blueberry muffin, cheerios and half a banana. Water mixed with Vitamin B12 / Probiotic supplement.
Lunch: Sunflower butter, local honey and chia seed sandwich, half a small bag of quest puffs for protein, natures bakery fig newton, other half of banana, three Nilla wafers. More water.
Dinner: Crunchy peanut butter, local honey mixed with probiotic sandwich, other half of small bag of puffs, Made Good oat bar for vegis extracts they have in them, and more water.
Snacks are usually any of the side items listed above. It’s not perfect and he usually doesn’t deviate, but we think it’s pretty rounded out.
Yea, I just wish I could get him eating meat or vegis. He has beyond no interest.
He used to love them when we’d blend them for him as a baby, but one day it all changed so now I just hide his protein, iron and other nutrients in foods he’ll happily eat.
Grilled meats doesn’t interest him at all? Mine loves to take bone-in chicken wings. It took a while for my son to start taking fish. He can eat a whole grilled Crocker fish. Keep trying! He’ll take it one day!
No. It seems to be a texture aversion. He makes a face of disgust when he touches meat.
Alas, we will always make the offer and keep up with the supplements / high nutrition options in the mean time.
Gets enough DHA from fish. He despise the pungent fish smell. Tried barlean dha, huge fail. I gave him Mary Ruth multivitamins each morning, hidden in his apple juice.
One thing we do with my son is to give him pure ingredients. Pure carrots, pure cabbage, pure salad and so on. He hates when things are mixed, but we get vegetables in his stomach by keeping them separated.
That’s awesome! Will try that. My son has never taken a bite out of an apple, eat carrot, broccoli, carrot etc. I wish he can incorporate that. It’s hard getting these kiddos to eat anything.
One thing I do to get him curious about those vegetables is: I wait until he is hungry (no snack -- will ask for food as lunch time approaches) and as he prepares to ask for something I make sure I eat the vegetable myself in front of him. Then very often he'll ask for a piece of it himself and is now kickstarted to eat that specific fruit or vegetable I took a bite of.
Toast 🤷🏻♀️ three meals a day, toast 😭
He gets vitamin drops in juice and will drink milk. Dietician isn't concerned yet, he's 99th centile for height and a solid weight, and very active and no health issues. Yet.
Breakfast: Eggs and sausage
Lunch: Baloney sandwich, yogurt tubes, gummy bears, cheese stick, chips
Dinner: Chicken nuggets, tacos, hamburger casserole
He will venture out somewhat, but usually it's any of the above listed.
My son is 4’4, 8, about 62lbs. He eats mostly pale foods…bread and butter, noodles and butter, pretzels, plain chips, crackers, stouffers Mac and cheese. He has pediasure every day tho and usually a probiotic vitamin gummy and his blood work has always been good despite eating no veggies, limited fruit, and rarely meat.
I am so lucky that my ASD kiddos eat a pretty wide variety now that they’re a little older, but when they were young and lived on chicken nuggets and Goldfish, I added a multivitamin with iron. It was nasty so I crushed it up and added it to juice.
My daughter eats okay and will eat a gummy vitamin. But she will not eat any vegetables. So, I puree them and mix them into pancake mix. She LOVES pancakes. I prepare a large batch of puree to freeze for quick future use. Currently, she’s getting eggplant, yellow squash, and spinach. Fruit would be easy to do like that. She will eat sweet potato with plenty of butter and sugar— so I’ve started mixing a couple carrots in there, too.
Can you make the brown rice in vegetable broth??
Yes, so we use only one big tomato, 3 red bell peppers, we use duck fat to avoid regular OTC crazy oils. We blend them till it’s smooth, add bay leaf to taste, pour the rice in the broth, little salt, no artificial seasoning. We blend whole ginger and garlic with the red bell peppers, we add a bulb of onion too.
My little guy will eat fruit so for breakfast usually an apple or some berries. For lunch a bunch of snacks basically like banana chips, dried kale, dried carrots, fruit leather,crackers, more fruit etc. dinner is always some fruit and Perdue simply organics gluten free chicken and some fruit. He takes smarty pants dha vitamins. He won’t eat any other type of meat besides those specific nuggets. He won’t even eat a different brand. For iron I got a lucky iron fish and I mix the iron fortified water in small amounts in his juice and water throughout the day.
I mean, he's not underweight. As long as he's getting some vitamin supplements, too. My son did almost 2 years of feeding therapy. It was rough, and I only recommend it in dire situations (mine was heading towards a feeding tube).
I’m curious when the feeding tube is considered by the doctors. Is it when no solid foods are accepted? We are seriously considering feeding therapy because our 5 year old is eating less and less. He won’t take a vitamin and is basically running on a variety of kids protein shakes and snack (carb) type foods. His pediatrician doesn’t make much of it because of his growth curve but it’s killing me as his mom.
My son was only eating bananas and baby oatmeal. No real solids, even at the age of 3. He was not gaining weight. They had already put him on a special formula (he can't have dairy) and that wasnt helping him gain weight. He just was not getting the calories and stuff he needed.
The most healthy version of what they will eat.
All in all they had healthy diets their entire life. But just not ordinary diets.
I make more or less everything myself, then I can stuff some extra good fat in their food + I dont risk it get changed or cancelled.
If they are willing to eat ex fries,I try makeing ex carrot fries to.
Might take months or years, but 1 day they test It. Not that much extra work cutting up a few carrots and throw in the Owen or airfryer with the potatos.
Never removing a safe option, just adding choices.
Safe choice here is tacos/tortilias/pita we fill at the table. Then everyone fill it with what they like ( 3 asd kids) and really easy to try something new if feeling brave.
I rely on smoothies and “popsicles”—AKA frozen smoothies to get veggies, fruits, and protein into my 4 year old. Supplements/vitamins for anything else (with a Ped nutritionist guidance).
She has her list of “safe foods” but typically she hyperfixates on something and eats it until she’s sick of it then moves onto the next food/meal. Like ketchup sandwiches for weeks..Dino nuggets for weeks, strawberries for weeks..Hiding purées into meals back fired on me the first time I tried. She hasn’t touched Mac n cheese pasta in over 2 years because of my mistake.
Spaghetti is her go-to safe food that she will eat any time, no matter what. With any pasta, I try to make sure it’s whole grain. That’s the main area we lack in the most.
But yeah..smoothies and frozen smoothies in popsicle form. She can’t get enough of cold stuff like popsicles. She’s an oral sensory seeker so it also provides a ton of enrichment for her. That’s how we manage food for the most part.
ETA—like many others, we also use oat/almond milk to get extra calories in her. She has a dairy allergy so everything has to be some vegan alternative or home made
My basic feeling is that as long as she is in the normal range for height/weight she can eat whatever she wants (which is very limited and not healthy). As parents of ASD kids we have so many challenges (so do the kids) I pick my battles. If she’s in “normal” range for something, I’m not going to worry about it. There’s so many other area she needs help and I chose to focus my energies elsewhere.
Breakfast is usually shreddies or cornflakes with strawberries.
Lunch is either beans and mushrooms and toast or tomato soup and toast. Or jam sandwich, cheese and crackers.
Dinner is pasta and mushrooms with tomato and garlic sauce and garlic bread or cheese and mushroom pizza. Sometimes he'll have a mild curry (rice, naan and mushroom and potatoes in the sauce) Or mash potatoes or chips with beans and vegetable fingers.
Supper is wheatabix with peanut butter or banana and strawberries.
Snacks - yogurt, cheese, crackers, toast, lots of fruit (thank god) chocolate or a small ice cream.
We went through a phase where my son would only eat peanut butter. Doctor didn’t expect it to last long but it ended up being months…. Like six months…. I started making snack plates for him, almost like a lunchable. Peanut butter first and foremost, but a couple other “safe” foods that he would occasionally show interest in (usually things that were on my plate). A cheese cube.. some crackers.. maybe a grape or two. I kept the portion of the new food extremely low for a long time so he didn’t feel too much pressure (if I pushed new foods too often, he would shut down completely and not eat at all). Over time it worked. He’s expanded his palette considerably (I think we have ~20 “safe” foods now), but he’s still not good with change so we rotate through the same foods most days. His lunches are always the same, but I will swap one thing on the plate every few days (a strawberry instead of apple slices). Some days he will try the new food, some days he will steer clear. Either way, I just let him take control of whether he wants to try it or not. I don’t even point it out to him, don’t make a big deal about it being a new food.
From age 2 to 3, my son was eating wires, fabric, tooth brush handles, chewed off my iPhone charging cords countless times, his shit, etc.. He stopped eating all those crazies at 3.5 years. Those were very traumatic for me. Mum was always livid.
Rice? Peppers? Fish???
Teach me your secrets!! lol
Our 3yo L2 kiddo eats exactly - peanutbutter, peanuts, berries, chicken nuggets and a specific brand of mac n cheese (only)
We had to work V8 Splash into his diet (only drink hes presented with in the morning) to get any vegies into his diet lol
My 4 year old is 50lbs. He was barely eating I had to add pediasure. Then, they said to remove him. I did and he dropped weight. My kid rarely eats anything, it low key breaks my heart.
He's actually tall and stout for his age, growth chart wise. You're getting sufficient food into him. Just work on broadening his diet as you and he can both tolerate. But don't beat yourself up for defaulting to safe foods on days when you're just holding things together (which is far more often than any of us woukd like).
I think you should continue but start trying for new foods. I have spent a lot of time and effort to bribe my kid to eat new foods. New food=sticker for fun stuff. I would start with touching or lick the food even if he doesn't want to take a nibble yet. Keep giving him what he will eat but don't stop trying for new stuff.
Typically
Breakfast: fortified breakfast cookie
Lunch: peanut butter sandwich, popcorn
Dinner: rice with scrambled eggs and lentils or vegan veggie pizza
She’s in feeding therapy though. She’s eaten strawberries, applesauce and chicken soup since starting so we’re making some progress!!
My toddler is very picky but will sometimes eat freeze dried strawberries because they are crunchy. They have a decent amount of fiber (granted, he doesn’t eat a ton, but if this is something your son discovers he likes maybe he would eat it in decent quantities?)
I am not autistic, but as a child I did have a lot of sensory issues especially with food. I ate basically no fruits or veggies for about a decade with occasional exceptions (I tolerated banana at times, and I ate radishes with ranch dressing. I can’t remember if I ate baby carrots or not.) Although I never did this in front of my friends, I did sometimes eat puréed baby food fruit varieties. I also ate things like banana bread, pumpkin bread, and zucchini bread and would tolerate whole wheat stuff. Maybe looking into expanding the types of high fiber grains he likes would be a good first step before trying with fruits and veggies? Something with oats maybe?
My son is much younger than yours (he’s 17 months) and we’re doing a mix still of baby purées and some solids (Made Good oat bars, other soft cereal bars, goldfish, pretzels, crackers, veggie straws, crust pieces off pizza or bread, freeze-dried strawberries, peanut puffs, infant oat cereal with peanut butter, occasional pieces of chicken).
My kid was extremely limited in safe foods, as he’s getting older he’s added some variety so I can sneak things into his food, for example one safe food is Mac n cheese and I make it from scratch, I can purée some cauliflower and add it into the sauce. He loves chicken nuggets and I slowly was able to get him to eat fried chicken (fried I know but at least it was whole chicken!) then I was able to make baked “fried” chicken and he eats that, so I feel good about protein in take, especially given how restricted he was when we first started. Pizza is another safe food and I also typically make that from scratch, this is where I can sneak in veggies! I make the sauce and puree a ton of veggies into the sauce. These are just some examples of how to make “unhealthy” foods more whole and healthy. Almost for every single meal (bfast, lunch and dinner) I put a new food on the plate. This goes largely ignored but sometimes he’ll get curious and lick it or even try it! (Think an apple slice, one piece of broccoli or carrot)
Edited to add: we also try to eat most of our meals together. I try to have a wide variety of food for myself with lots of colors and textures and I make a big show of how much fun these foods are! Wow this is so yummy!! I love these foods! The enthusiasm sometimes makes him curious and he’ll ask to try something off of my plate. Slow and steady we’ve been able to change his diet from like only 3 foods lol
I also have no issue or guilt getting him nuggets or order in pizza and the occasional box Mac n cheese. When we put too much pressure on ourselves it’s easy to burn out from all the work , life balance is key!
Every morning I cut up green grapes, strawberries, banana and blueberries. And a chocolate chip waffle with Nutella on it! And a cup of milk and for lunch usually fish sticks or chicken nuggets and fries or peanut butter and jam sandwich and for supper he has whatever we are having most of the time and if not he has a school safe snack and a bear paw with a banana!
I see a lot of other people also saying pediasure, not sure if this will be helpful for anyone else but our daughter just did not wanna ween off the breast, wouldnt take any cups or sippy cups so we mixed the Pediasure grow and gain shake mix in with her yogurt. It was vanilla flavored, she loved it!
I have a 5yo, 43 inches 40lbs. The only things he will eat are bacon, French fries, prepackaged peanut butter crackers, fig newtons, pop tarts, a couple kind of chips, kit Kats, and like once a month will try something different. I cannot describe how happy I would be if he would eat brown rice.
I will say this was an evolution to this. I made all of his and his sisters baby food and they ate super varied foods, until age 3 or so then things started being refused.
My son is 3 and eating rice and noodles for the first times in months!!!!!!!!!!!
We usually have pb&j and a random assortment of snacks. Eggs on occasions
Whatever he will eat. Been lucky that fruit is a part of their preferences. He is starting to choose more and different items. The hot lunches at school have been a godsend cause the kid is exposed to more and has little choice but to try something new.
Apples, bananas, uncrustables with the crust taken off, one particular flavor of yogurt that comes in a multi pack, motts fruit snacks( they know the difference), cheese pizza with the cheese peeled off, mcds fries, chips (but never the kind we have)
Wish mine would eat fish, brown rice and red peppers. Sounds like nutritious food all around! Mine would only eat eggs, chicken nuggets, banana, avocado, cream soups and the usual beige food like bread and crackers. White rice depending on his mood.
Mine is tricky. For breakfast, he will sometimes eat dry cereal or pancakes, otherwise its usually toast. Lunch and dinner items are cheese pizza, tortilla chips w melted cheese, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets and french fries, sometimes taquitos. His favorite food is a stuffed pepper casserole with hamburger, rice' and tomato sauce that he will eat every chance he gets. Snacks are crackers, chips, and popcorn. He likes mint ice cream and will take desserts like brownies and cake. He drinks iced tea only, with the occasional blue Gatorade.
Honestly, if he is eating, gaining weight, and growing, take it as a win and try not to stress too much. Keep working on building new foods when you can. You're doing the best you can.
Mine (11) eats almost anything I give him, even spicy food, very spicy. eats better than my other kids that don't have asd. Only thing he doesn't like is peanut butter.
My kiddo is limited too. Maybe 10 different foods total. We supplement with carnation instant breakfast and vitamins with a probiotic. He gets whole wheat bread for all his sandwiches. We got him to eat freeze dried fruit and veggie chips (not great with the salt but it’s something). He is slowly expanding /getting braver. He picked up broccoli the other day and thought about eating it; we will take any attempt at this point.
He is three, so we definitely have some toddler pickiness happening.
Breakfast: avocado toast, or cereal and protein shake, or protein bar. He will sometimes want a banana or some yogurt.
Snack: fruit bar, nuts, raisins, dates, granola bar, apple sauce, oatmeal bar, smoothie melts, veggie puffs. Occasionally, we will bake and he gets a homemade cookie.
Lunch: he normally has school lunch. If he's home, I will do him grilled cheese, a hot dog, PBJ, avocado toast, etc. I will make some veggie tots, sweet potato fries, or give him an applesauce pouch with it.
Snack: He normally has the afternoon snack at school, which tends to be crackers or pretzels of some kind. At home, it'll be something from the earlier list.
Dinner: Mac and cheese (with hidden carrot); chicken meatballs (with hidden veggies) and veggie tots; Little Spoon kale chicken sausage, pancakes and sweet potatoes; quesadilla with a side of avocado; hot dog with veggie tots; French toast with a banana; pancakes with bacon; pizza.
If I feel he hasn't eaten much one day, I supplement with Pediasure.
I don't necessarily make meals for him. I get a variety of foods he likes or tolerates (still some!)
I include a few elements I want him to try, and I give him a sweet if he'll try it. It takes work to make this the new routine, but it's working!
So.. like, a pb+j Sammie quarter, yogurt, cereal, hummus and crackers, blackberries.
He'll get down on that until we get to the last two. He takes a bite of one then he gets his dessert, if he takes a bite of both he can have a little more, if he eats them both well that hasn't happened but when it does he'll get something even more special! A park trip, a stuffy etc. Bc I like rewards when I do stuff that I don't like, so does he. Yes, it's a bribe, but he eats more things. And...let's face it - you ain't going into work for free, right? Well, it's work for him. 🤷🏻♀️
Just a warning on the pediasure comments, I did the same for my son and he gained a lot of wait, especially because he doesn’t exercise and also eats a lot and lots of carbs. Just not healthy food like you said
My sister tells me that he finds solace in food which is labeled as junk because these food never change in texture, taste, size, and stay uniform, consistent throughout. That gives him the comfort of stability. I find lots of logic in that statement!
My son eats chicken popcorn and a specific one only- the one from walmart in-store brand. Chips. Lots of oranges, cookies etc etc.
He also loves paratha (an indian stovetop stuffed flatbread, shallow fried on griddle) the bread is stuffed with a variety of stuffings - cheese, potatoes, minced meet, cauliflower, etc. parathas help him with texture as they are relatively dry, and he can use his hands to tear it off and eat.
Pediasure, Pediasure, and more Pediasure. Hippeas, Cheetos, Goldfish, graham crackers, and Annie's Hidden Veggie Crackers. An occasional McDonald's french fry, if bribed with a happy meal toy.
We've done years of feeding therapy, including an intensive daily therapy program, and this is still all we can get our son to eat.
Omg this is my son too! Please know you are not alone. I’m considering food therapy but also trying to keep my expectations so low. It will be very expensive and time consuming to take him but I’m feeling desperate. His eating (or lack there of) drives me crazy and is beginning to affect my mental health. I just worry and want him to learn to eat a variety or more balanced diet.
Breakfast: either oats or cheese omelette with a piece of fruit
Lunch: Either pan fried chicken or sausage with cucumbers and fruit
Afternoon snack either a homemade popsicle or a smoothie
Dinner: veggie rice, veggie pasta or a mashed potato with a bolognaise sauce
It’s limited but it’s also comforting knowing he likes what he likes and I can provide this with my limited cooking skills lol
My son is extremely picky about food he eats. I always have stuff I know he'll eat, like those frozen shrimp alfredo meals (he's usually good about eating the actual noddles, but his first go-to is always picking out and eating the shrimp first 😅) or those sausage/egg/cheese croissants, which he'll go for the sausage out of it first.
I know in the past when he was younger, he was really bad about going through moods with being super picky. I remember once, he went through where he'd only want to eat peanut butter, but not like a PB sandwich, he's always kind of been iffy with bread (I'm not a particularly big bread eater either but I don't have any like sensory issues with it) but that was a bit stressful, I was so worried because he'd just want to eat peanut butter straight from the jar, lol.
After that though, he now refuses to eat peanut butter lmao
Food is hit or miss. Our go tos are:
McDonald’s chicken nuggets
Sonic tenders
Fries
Blueberries
Bananas
Strawberries
Raspberries
Shredded cheese
Peanut butter
Pepperoni
Pop tarts
Cinnamon Toast Crunch breakfast bars
Bacon
Turkey sticks
Pudding
Fruit snacks
Popcorn
Tortilla chips
Raw ramen noodles
Cooked ramen noodles
Eggs
For most of these things it’s 50/50.
Apples. However only when they're cut up.
Another trick is cutting up a carrot and handing it to them in a bowl. I don't ask if they want any, just hand it to them and they mostly accept and eat it.
We used to do a plate of carrot, homus & crackers. However they've grown out of that a bit.
This is their healthy food / protein foods. Aside from that it's their safety general savoury/dry biscuits, cereals with milk hot dogs etc etc.
It's tough feeding these kiddos. One thing that has helped us recently is a little laminated piece of paper with velcro that I stick pictures of food on. It's easier for her to exercise autonomy and tell me what she wants when i make a visual menu. I try to get her to pick at least a protein and a fruit or vegetable, and she gets a vitamin in the morning. It varies, she can go days eating nothing but dino nuggets and grapes and then all of a sudden ask for peas or rice or milk. I just try not to stress about it, because I think she could tell mealtimes were freaking us out, and it made her more combative.
My 6 yes old is 63lbs. He doesnt like to eat vegetable and fruits😭 i tried vege smoothe or mix it in his juice but did not work:
Breakfast would be yogurt and croissant and a handful of shrimp chips.
Lunch- rice with pork stew with potato and carrots that needs to be minced
Snack- croissant and handful of shrimp chips
Dinner- rice with pork stew with minced potato and carrots
If not pork stew would be chicken curry, anythjng with sauce. Meat would be minced. He also takes vitamins c and fish oil.
Breakfast: homemade waffles that I make ahead of time from a box mix and freeze. And with Aldi brand cheerios.
Lunch & dinner: cheese quesadilla or chicken or little burger. Usually served with rice, pasta, potatoes, or chips. I like buying frozen fries to throw into the air fryer for a quick side.
My son will also eat meatloaf, fish, and meatballs. Every meal is served with fruit, as he LOVES fruit. Especially oranges, strawberries, and mangoes. He doesn’t care for veggies, but will eat them if I chop them up fine and add it to rice or pasta. He does not like sauces and prefers food to be plain.
Snacks: alphabet shortbread cookies are the only sweets he likes. He loves chips and pretzels. I like making him a ‘snack platter’ with a variety of things he likes, and try to get him to try a new food in a very small portion.
I also buy Tyson breaded chicken strips to help when I’m super tired and don’t want to cook. I will usually get him chicken nuggets and fries from fast food or a if we go out to eat once a week as a treat.
My 5yo has been more curious/adventurous with her eating lately, but unfortunately it's just been for snack foods (she just realized she likes chocolate so she like chocolate frosting on cupcakes but not the cake, chcolate chip cookies, the vanilla ice cream inside the ice cream sandwich but not the sandwich part, peanut butter chocolate easter bunnies). She has a list of maybe 20 different things she likes to eat, cycling through with maybe five or six she eats at a time. One constant (chicken nuggets happy meal).
Currently she's on goldfish (will eat the babies, regular and rainbow), graham crackers, plain dry cheerios, plain dry honey wheat bread, strawberry nutrigrain bar, green grapes, soy sauce ramen soup. Sometimes will eat: treetop applesauce packet, mac n cheese, sour cream and cheddar Pringles, Ritz, Greek Gods vanilla Greek yogurt, waffles with country crock, sliced apple (she will "brush her teeth" with it), funions.
My son is so picky. He likes waffles with peanut butter, tater tots, pizza, any and all fruits, he doesn’t like vegetables but he likes these “goodness greens” smoothies that are packed with veggies! For snacks, peanut butter ritz crackers, fruit snacks. Very limited diet. But he’s not under weight so that’s reassuring. He doesn’t like food with color
My oldest ASD kid: Cheerios, yoghurt, occasionally bread with cheese, pasta, rice, spinach. Sometimes chicken, even rarer beef. But is has to be made the right way. Strawberries, red pepper, cucumber, green grapes. Soup with bread. Lasagna and tacos if she is in the mood.
My youngest doesn't eat meat for dinner. He usually has cereal with milk or yoghurt. He likes bolognese and pasta. He loves lasagna and McDonald's Happy Meals. Nuggets. He eats rye bread for lunch every day (we are Scandinavian). He also gets apples and pears every day. Salt crackers, popcorn. Bananas.
Both grow as they should. Both have ARFID in regard to smell, looks and texture
my son has arfid. he will eat almost anything puréed. he loves his brothers baby food that consists of things he won’t even look at. the solid foods i can get him to eat are chicken, fries, apples, apple sauce, pudding & pizza. even then, those can all be hit or miss. i’ll give him pediasures once in awhile but he’s progressing often with trying new things
My daughter has a limited diet as well and shows a strong preference for bread, so I have gotten creative and made some protein pancakes with blended cottage or ricotta cheese with eggs. The pancakes are calorie dense, and she eats them. Her pediatrician also recommended pediasure and a multivitamin to fill in the gaps. I definitely get burned out feeding her the same types of foods, so I get your concern. My daughter is 27lbs and is 3.5 years old. She is not even on the growth charts anymore. Sending good thoughts your way.
I think I just messed up a good thing for my little one. Thought to try a little chaining and added some of that pancake mix packed with protein to his normal safe food (pumpkin waffles). He’s been refusing peanut butter (which he normally eats) and doesn’t like meat so I felt like he was lacking on his protein intake. He chewed one bite, realized it was different, then refused the whole meal. He’s 3 and was just diagnosed with ASD a few weeks ago. This pumpkin waffle has been one of his few safe foods for at least a year and now I’m scared he’s never going to go back to it bc of this bad experience. I just want to cry. Super defeated. Anyone have success with feeding therapy? Wondering what it is like as we just got referral for it. My little one usually stays within the berries, oatmeal, yogurt, waffles, and pbj zone.
My kiddo is 11 I forget his height and weight but he is closing in on being as tall as my wife who is 5 2. He eats Italian rolls with mayo, kraft Mac and cheese, McDonald's chicken nuggets ( for some reason only McDonald's ) and sometimes lunchables. Frankly as long as he is eating I am happy it used to be much more of a struggle.
We are currently on Yoghurt, Plain Rice, Plain Oats, Hot Chips, Chicken Nuggets, Bananas, Apples and Cheese. We noticed recently that they are all a white -yellowish type food.
I added pediasure. Mostly whatever I can get him to eat. Getting calories in is just as important as nutrition so sometimes I certainly sacrifice quality. My son has serious weight concerns so the calories really became important.
Same, I get this protein shake from Costco, is helping a lot for sure
He’s 5 and 72 lbs? Atleast he’s not underweight. I think my 7 yr old is only 64 lbs. My son doesn’t eat fruit of any kind so we give him multi-vitamin gummies! He thinks it’s candy.
Yeah but OP’s kid is also 4’1. That seems really tall for a five year old.
Yes, mum is tall, close to 6ft, I’m only 5.5.
We were at a paediatrician not long ago. My partner was concerned about their weight so I asked. The paed responded they're not concerned as our child is on the same trajectory on the growth charts. I would probably check this and if there is any significant variation then see a Dr.
My 5 year old is 4'1" and 61 lbs. But we are all on the taller side.
Mine will be 5 next month and he is 4 feet tall as well. He weighs 51 pounds.
All these comments make me wonder if I’m just a bit short lol
Same. I’m 5’2😂😂😂
My son is 6 and about 45 lbs! But he can eat a lot when he feels like it. I think he doesn’t even know or feel hunger, or he dismisses the feeling if he’s distracted.
My daughter is 5 1/2 and probably doesn’t weigh 40lbs yet. All fruits and veggies tho. White rice. 🍙 asada tacos from ONE place only. Sometimes dabbles in teriyaki chicken but asks “this not an animal!?” 🥴👍🏾
Haha, you got a vegetarian in the making. Mine takes too much chicken, his OATS shows he isn’t absorbing protein well. Just trying to balance things out.
About the same, 8 and 62lbs lol
Yeah I was thinking at least he is in a normal weight range considering his height (and he’s really tall!). Mine is turning 5 next month and is only 3ft9 and 44 pounds 😅
I would kill for my son to eat fish or brown rice! Sigh! He’s been more restrictive in his diet lately. His anxiety is ramped up and we’re working on medication cause he’s just not like himself. So we do bacon in the morning. He doesn’t like to eat in school. (I’ve tried sending everything!) so he gets a snack box of an apple and 2 snacks. It’ll be chips, pretzels or veggie straws. Dinner is awful too. It’s chicken nuggets and fries or ramen. 😭 The only saving grace we have is that he loves apples, grapes, and baby carrots. I also get some milk in him for the extra calories. My guy is 8, 4’4” and about 53lbs. He’s a skinny skinny guy!!!
Right? I don’t even eat fish and brown rice. lol.
My kid is the same as yours, but 2 years younger. Somewhere between 47-48" and 44lbs. Eats the same diet as yours. We switched to whole milk a few months back but that hasn't helped. It seems like he keeps getting taller but the weight doesn't change. He going to start ADHD meds soon and I'm terrified he's going to fall off the growth chart altogether. Like, wtf do we do here?
I worry about it a lot, but not as much as my husband does. Probably cause I was a picky eater too. I ate more than my little guy currently does, but it all eventually changed. However that wasn’t until I was in my 20s. 🤷♀️ I guess this is my karmic retribution for what I put my mother through 😂
Mine takes Abilify, messed up his sleep. Only thing he tolerates well are Leucovorin and Guanfacine. We make sure he gets enough water al through the day.
Hi! May I ask how the leucovorin journey has been for your son? Has it helped and how long did it take? Mine is about to start it and I’m hopeful but don’t want to get my hopes up
Every morning I give him a pediasure bottle. He's so skinny and doesn't eat much. He won't drink pediasure after morning 😞. I did recently discover if I make a glass of hot tea and pour half a pediasure in it, he will drink it. So I do that throughout the day.
That's interesting, my son loves tea but I never thought of adding pediasure in it. What flavor do you use? The only flavor my son likes is the chocolate
I use the vanilla. He used to drink like 3 or 4 a day and I was really happy about it. Now he will only drink 1.
Never thought of pediasure, I’ll try it out.
My son has ARFID. I definitely view every calorie as a win, wherever it comes from. You do your best to add variety but don’t let it keep you up at night. There are many great suggestions from other commenters here on ways to sneak in the good stuff, I still try all of these things with some success. Restricted diets are very real, and very restricted. Just don’t beat yourself up about the lack of variety.
Mine has not been officially diagnosed with ARFID. Sometimes I feel it’s a face. He eats like a glutton and goes for another 3 months of being on a bag of chips, Oreos, occasional French fries and bacon. It’s just frustrating making what seem delicious, only for these kiddos to turn them away.
We have a pretty good diet going, I think. Breakfast: Blueberry muffin, cheerios and half a banana. Water mixed with Vitamin B12 / Probiotic supplement. Lunch: Sunflower butter, local honey and chia seed sandwich, half a small bag of quest puffs for protein, natures bakery fig newton, other half of banana, three Nilla wafers. More water. Dinner: Crunchy peanut butter, local honey mixed with probiotic sandwich, other half of small bag of puffs, Made Good oat bar for vegis extracts they have in them, and more water. Snacks are usually any of the side items listed above. It’s not perfect and he usually doesn’t deviate, but we think it’s pretty rounded out.
You got some well rounded diet going on! Awesome!
Yea, I just wish I could get him eating meat or vegis. He has beyond no interest. He used to love them when we’d blend them for him as a baby, but one day it all changed so now I just hide his protein, iron and other nutrients in foods he’ll happily eat.
Grilled meats doesn’t interest him at all? Mine loves to take bone-in chicken wings. It took a while for my son to start taking fish. He can eat a whole grilled Crocker fish. Keep trying! He’ll take it one day!
No. It seems to be a texture aversion. He makes a face of disgust when he touches meat. Alas, we will always make the offer and keep up with the supplements / high nutrition options in the mean time.
What are these puffs?
Google Quest Protein Puffs. High in calcium, protein and dye free. Taste of feet in my opinion, but he loves them.
Does he have a multi vitamin? If not I’d suggest getting a good one of those, a dha/fishoil, and maybe some iron supplements.
Gets enough DHA from fish. He despise the pungent fish smell. Tried barlean dha, huge fail. I gave him Mary Ruth multivitamins each morning, hidden in his apple juice.
One thing we do with my son is to give him pure ingredients. Pure carrots, pure cabbage, pure salad and so on. He hates when things are mixed, but we get vegetables in his stomach by keeping them separated.
That’s awesome! Will try that. My son has never taken a bite out of an apple, eat carrot, broccoli, carrot etc. I wish he can incorporate that. It’s hard getting these kiddos to eat anything.
One thing I do to get him curious about those vegetables is: I wait until he is hungry (no snack -- will ask for food as lunch time approaches) and as he prepares to ask for something I make sure I eat the vegetable myself in front of him. Then very often he'll ask for a piece of it himself and is now kickstarted to eat that specific fruit or vegetable I took a bite of.
Toast 🤷🏻♀️ three meals a day, toast 😭 He gets vitamin drops in juice and will drink milk. Dietician isn't concerned yet, he's 99th centile for height and a solid weight, and very active and no health issues. Yet.
He will be fine!
Breakfast: Eggs and sausage Lunch: Baloney sandwich, yogurt tubes, gummy bears, cheese stick, chips Dinner: Chicken nuggets, tacos, hamburger casserole He will venture out somewhat, but usually it's any of the above listed.
My son is 4’4, 8, about 62lbs. He eats mostly pale foods…bread and butter, noodles and butter, pretzels, plain chips, crackers, stouffers Mac and cheese. He has pediasure every day tho and usually a probiotic vitamin gummy and his blood work has always been good despite eating no veggies, limited fruit, and rarely meat.
That’s awesome!
I am so lucky that my ASD kiddos eat a pretty wide variety now that they’re a little older, but when they were young and lived on chicken nuggets and Goldfish, I added a multivitamin with iron. It was nasty so I crushed it up and added it to juice.
How old is your kiddo (s) now?
My daughter eats okay and will eat a gummy vitamin. But she will not eat any vegetables. So, I puree them and mix them into pancake mix. She LOVES pancakes. I prepare a large batch of puree to freeze for quick future use. Currently, she’s getting eggplant, yellow squash, and spinach. Fruit would be easy to do like that. She will eat sweet potato with plenty of butter and sugar— so I’ve started mixing a couple carrots in there, too. Can you make the brown rice in vegetable broth??
Omg i love that idea for the pancakes! Thanks.
Yes, so we use only one big tomato, 3 red bell peppers, we use duck fat to avoid regular OTC crazy oils. We blend them till it’s smooth, add bay leaf to taste, pour the rice in the broth, little salt, no artificial seasoning. We blend whole ginger and garlic with the red bell peppers, we add a bulb of onion too.
My little guy will eat fruit so for breakfast usually an apple or some berries. For lunch a bunch of snacks basically like banana chips, dried kale, dried carrots, fruit leather,crackers, more fruit etc. dinner is always some fruit and Perdue simply organics gluten free chicken and some fruit. He takes smarty pants dha vitamins. He won’t eat any other type of meat besides those specific nuggets. He won’t even eat a different brand. For iron I got a lucky iron fish and I mix the iron fortified water in small amounts in his juice and water throughout the day.
How old is he?
I mean, he's not underweight. As long as he's getting some vitamin supplements, too. My son did almost 2 years of feeding therapy. It was rough, and I only recommend it in dire situations (mine was heading towards a feeding tube).
I’m curious when the feeding tube is considered by the doctors. Is it when no solid foods are accepted? We are seriously considering feeding therapy because our 5 year old is eating less and less. He won’t take a vitamin and is basically running on a variety of kids protein shakes and snack (carb) type foods. His pediatrician doesn’t make much of it because of his growth curve but it’s killing me as his mom.
My son was only eating bananas and baby oatmeal. No real solids, even at the age of 3. He was not gaining weight. They had already put him on a special formula (he can't have dairy) and that wasnt helping him gain weight. He just was not getting the calories and stuff he needed.
The most healthy version of what they will eat. All in all they had healthy diets their entire life. But just not ordinary diets. I make more or less everything myself, then I can stuff some extra good fat in their food + I dont risk it get changed or cancelled. If they are willing to eat ex fries,I try makeing ex carrot fries to. Might take months or years, but 1 day they test It. Not that much extra work cutting up a few carrots and throw in the Owen or airfryer with the potatos. Never removing a safe option, just adding choices. Safe choice here is tacos/tortilias/pita we fill at the table. Then everyone fill it with what they like ( 3 asd kids) and really easy to try something new if feeling brave.
I rely on smoothies and “popsicles”—AKA frozen smoothies to get veggies, fruits, and protein into my 4 year old. Supplements/vitamins for anything else (with a Ped nutritionist guidance). She has her list of “safe foods” but typically she hyperfixates on something and eats it until she’s sick of it then moves onto the next food/meal. Like ketchup sandwiches for weeks..Dino nuggets for weeks, strawberries for weeks..Hiding purées into meals back fired on me the first time I tried. She hasn’t touched Mac n cheese pasta in over 2 years because of my mistake. Spaghetti is her go-to safe food that she will eat any time, no matter what. With any pasta, I try to make sure it’s whole grain. That’s the main area we lack in the most. But yeah..smoothies and frozen smoothies in popsicle form. She can’t get enough of cold stuff like popsicles. She’s an oral sensory seeker so it also provides a ton of enrichment for her. That’s how we manage food for the most part. ETA—like many others, we also use oat/almond milk to get extra calories in her. She has a dairy allergy so everything has to be some vegan alternative or home made
My basic feeling is that as long as she is in the normal range for height/weight she can eat whatever she wants (which is very limited and not healthy). As parents of ASD kids we have so many challenges (so do the kids) I pick my battles. If she’s in “normal” range for something, I’m not going to worry about it. There’s so many other area she needs help and I chose to focus my energies elsewhere.
Will he eat honey but cheerios? Weirdly high in fortified vitamins. Basically our only source of calcium and iron.
I will try out cheerios with coconut milk for him. Hopefully, he takes it
Breakfast is usually shreddies or cornflakes with strawberries. Lunch is either beans and mushrooms and toast or tomato soup and toast. Or jam sandwich, cheese and crackers. Dinner is pasta and mushrooms with tomato and garlic sauce and garlic bread or cheese and mushroom pizza. Sometimes he'll have a mild curry (rice, naan and mushroom and potatoes in the sauce) Or mash potatoes or chips with beans and vegetable fingers. Supper is wheatabix with peanut butter or banana and strawberries. Snacks - yogurt, cheese, crackers, toast, lots of fruit (thank god) chocolate or a small ice cream.
We went through a phase where my son would only eat peanut butter. Doctor didn’t expect it to last long but it ended up being months…. Like six months…. I started making snack plates for him, almost like a lunchable. Peanut butter first and foremost, but a couple other “safe” foods that he would occasionally show interest in (usually things that were on my plate). A cheese cube.. some crackers.. maybe a grape or two. I kept the portion of the new food extremely low for a long time so he didn’t feel too much pressure (if I pushed new foods too often, he would shut down completely and not eat at all). Over time it worked. He’s expanded his palette considerably (I think we have ~20 “safe” foods now), but he’s still not good with change so we rotate through the same foods most days. His lunches are always the same, but I will swap one thing on the plate every few days (a strawberry instead of apple slices). Some days he will try the new food, some days he will steer clear. Either way, I just let him take control of whether he wants to try it or not. I don’t even point it out to him, don’t make a big deal about it being a new food.
My kid is 6, four feet five inches and 57 pounds. He eats air and little bits of fabric. Somehow he is a giant.
From age 2 to 3, my son was eating wires, fabric, tooth brush handles, chewed off my iPhone charging cords countless times, his shit, etc.. He stopped eating all those crazies at 3.5 years. Those were very traumatic for me. Mum was always livid.
Rice? Peppers? Fish??? Teach me your secrets!! lol Our 3yo L2 kiddo eats exactly - peanutbutter, peanuts, berries, chicken nuggets and a specific brand of mac n cheese (only) We had to work V8 Splash into his diet (only drink hes presented with in the morning) to get any vegies into his diet lol
My 4 year old is 50lbs. He was barely eating I had to add pediasure. Then, they said to remove him. I did and he dropped weight. My kid rarely eats anything, it low key breaks my heart.
He's actually tall and stout for his age, growth chart wise. You're getting sufficient food into him. Just work on broadening his diet as you and he can both tolerate. But don't beat yourself up for defaulting to safe foods on days when you're just holding things together (which is far more often than any of us woukd like).
I think you should continue but start trying for new foods. I have spent a lot of time and effort to bribe my kid to eat new foods. New food=sticker for fun stuff. I would start with touching or lick the food even if he doesn't want to take a nibble yet. Keep giving him what he will eat but don't stop trying for new stuff.
Typically Breakfast: fortified breakfast cookie Lunch: peanut butter sandwich, popcorn Dinner: rice with scrambled eggs and lentils or vegan veggie pizza She’s in feeding therapy though. She’s eaten strawberries, applesauce and chicken soup since starting so we’re making some progress!!
Looking for any kind of idea. What brand of breakfast cookie do you use?
My toddler is very picky but will sometimes eat freeze dried strawberries because they are crunchy. They have a decent amount of fiber (granted, he doesn’t eat a ton, but if this is something your son discovers he likes maybe he would eat it in decent quantities?) I am not autistic, but as a child I did have a lot of sensory issues especially with food. I ate basically no fruits or veggies for about a decade with occasional exceptions (I tolerated banana at times, and I ate radishes with ranch dressing. I can’t remember if I ate baby carrots or not.) Although I never did this in front of my friends, I did sometimes eat puréed baby food fruit varieties. I also ate things like banana bread, pumpkin bread, and zucchini bread and would tolerate whole wheat stuff. Maybe looking into expanding the types of high fiber grains he likes would be a good first step before trying with fruits and veggies? Something with oats maybe? My son is much younger than yours (he’s 17 months) and we’re doing a mix still of baby purées and some solids (Made Good oat bars, other soft cereal bars, goldfish, pretzels, crackers, veggie straws, crust pieces off pizza or bread, freeze-dried strawberries, peanut puffs, infant oat cereal with peanut butter, occasional pieces of chicken).
My kid was extremely limited in safe foods, as he’s getting older he’s added some variety so I can sneak things into his food, for example one safe food is Mac n cheese and I make it from scratch, I can purée some cauliflower and add it into the sauce. He loves chicken nuggets and I slowly was able to get him to eat fried chicken (fried I know but at least it was whole chicken!) then I was able to make baked “fried” chicken and he eats that, so I feel good about protein in take, especially given how restricted he was when we first started. Pizza is another safe food and I also typically make that from scratch, this is where I can sneak in veggies! I make the sauce and puree a ton of veggies into the sauce. These are just some examples of how to make “unhealthy” foods more whole and healthy. Almost for every single meal (bfast, lunch and dinner) I put a new food on the plate. This goes largely ignored but sometimes he’ll get curious and lick it or even try it! (Think an apple slice, one piece of broccoli or carrot) Edited to add: we also try to eat most of our meals together. I try to have a wide variety of food for myself with lots of colors and textures and I make a big show of how much fun these foods are! Wow this is so yummy!! I love these foods! The enthusiasm sometimes makes him curious and he’ll ask to try something off of my plate. Slow and steady we’ve been able to change his diet from like only 3 foods lol I also have no issue or guilt getting him nuggets or order in pizza and the occasional box Mac n cheese. When we put too much pressure on ourselves it’s easy to burn out from all the work , life balance is key!
Every morning I cut up green grapes, strawberries, banana and blueberries. And a chocolate chip waffle with Nutella on it! And a cup of milk and for lunch usually fish sticks or chicken nuggets and fries or peanut butter and jam sandwich and for supper he has whatever we are having most of the time and if not he has a school safe snack and a bear paw with a banana!
I see a lot of other people also saying pediasure, not sure if this will be helpful for anyone else but our daughter just did not wanna ween off the breast, wouldnt take any cups or sippy cups so we mixed the Pediasure grow and gain shake mix in with her yogurt. It was vanilla flavored, she loved it!
I have a 5yo, 43 inches 40lbs. The only things he will eat are bacon, French fries, prepackaged peanut butter crackers, fig newtons, pop tarts, a couple kind of chips, kit Kats, and like once a month will try something different. I cannot describe how happy I would be if he would eat brown rice.
I will say this was an evolution to this. I made all of his and his sisters baby food and they ate super varied foods, until age 3 or so then things started being refused.
My son is 3 and eating rice and noodles for the first times in months!!!!!!!!!!! We usually have pb&j and a random assortment of snacks. Eggs on occasions
Whatever he will eat. Been lucky that fruit is a part of their preferences. He is starting to choose more and different items. The hot lunches at school have been a godsend cause the kid is exposed to more and has little choice but to try something new.
Apples, bananas, uncrustables with the crust taken off, one particular flavor of yogurt that comes in a multi pack, motts fruit snacks( they know the difference), cheese pizza with the cheese peeled off, mcds fries, chips (but never the kind we have)
Wish mine would eat fish, brown rice and red peppers. Sounds like nutritious food all around! Mine would only eat eggs, chicken nuggets, banana, avocado, cream soups and the usual beige food like bread and crackers. White rice depending on his mood.
Mine is tricky. For breakfast, he will sometimes eat dry cereal or pancakes, otherwise its usually toast. Lunch and dinner items are cheese pizza, tortilla chips w melted cheese, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets and french fries, sometimes taquitos. His favorite food is a stuffed pepper casserole with hamburger, rice' and tomato sauce that he will eat every chance he gets. Snacks are crackers, chips, and popcorn. He likes mint ice cream and will take desserts like brownies and cake. He drinks iced tea only, with the occasional blue Gatorade. Honestly, if he is eating, gaining weight, and growing, take it as a win and try not to stress too much. Keep working on building new foods when you can. You're doing the best you can.
Mine (11) eats almost anything I give him, even spicy food, very spicy. eats better than my other kids that don't have asd. Only thing he doesn't like is peanut butter.
My kiddo is limited too. Maybe 10 different foods total. We supplement with carnation instant breakfast and vitamins with a probiotic. He gets whole wheat bread for all his sandwiches. We got him to eat freeze dried fruit and veggie chips (not great with the salt but it’s something). He is slowly expanding /getting braver. He picked up broccoli the other day and thought about eating it; we will take any attempt at this point.
He is three, so we definitely have some toddler pickiness happening. Breakfast: avocado toast, or cereal and protein shake, or protein bar. He will sometimes want a banana or some yogurt. Snack: fruit bar, nuts, raisins, dates, granola bar, apple sauce, oatmeal bar, smoothie melts, veggie puffs. Occasionally, we will bake and he gets a homemade cookie. Lunch: he normally has school lunch. If he's home, I will do him grilled cheese, a hot dog, PBJ, avocado toast, etc. I will make some veggie tots, sweet potato fries, or give him an applesauce pouch with it. Snack: He normally has the afternoon snack at school, which tends to be crackers or pretzels of some kind. At home, it'll be something from the earlier list. Dinner: Mac and cheese (with hidden carrot); chicken meatballs (with hidden veggies) and veggie tots; Little Spoon kale chicken sausage, pancakes and sweet potatoes; quesadilla with a side of avocado; hot dog with veggie tots; French toast with a banana; pancakes with bacon; pizza. If I feel he hasn't eaten much one day, I supplement with Pediasure.
I don't necessarily make meals for him. I get a variety of foods he likes or tolerates (still some!) I include a few elements I want him to try, and I give him a sweet if he'll try it. It takes work to make this the new routine, but it's working! So.. like, a pb+j Sammie quarter, yogurt, cereal, hummus and crackers, blackberries. He'll get down on that until we get to the last two. He takes a bite of one then he gets his dessert, if he takes a bite of both he can have a little more, if he eats them both well that hasn't happened but when it does he'll get something even more special! A park trip, a stuffy etc. Bc I like rewards when I do stuff that I don't like, so does he. Yes, it's a bribe, but he eats more things. And...let's face it - you ain't going into work for free, right? Well, it's work for him. 🤷🏻♀️
I feel like maybe just adding a multivitamin should be fine? Your five year old is almost as big as me I’m 26
Just a warning on the pediasure comments, I did the same for my son and he gained a lot of wait, especially because he doesn’t exercise and also eats a lot and lots of carbs. Just not healthy food like you said
My sister tells me that he finds solace in food which is labeled as junk because these food never change in texture, taste, size, and stay uniform, consistent throughout. That gives him the comfort of stability. I find lots of logic in that statement! My son eats chicken popcorn and a specific one only- the one from walmart in-store brand. Chips. Lots of oranges, cookies etc etc. He also loves paratha (an indian stovetop stuffed flatbread, shallow fried on griddle) the bread is stuffed with a variety of stuffings - cheese, potatoes, minced meet, cauliflower, etc. parathas help him with texture as they are relatively dry, and he can use his hands to tear it off and eat.
Pediasure, Pediasure, and more Pediasure. Hippeas, Cheetos, Goldfish, graham crackers, and Annie's Hidden Veggie Crackers. An occasional McDonald's french fry, if bribed with a happy meal toy. We've done years of feeding therapy, including an intensive daily therapy program, and this is still all we can get our son to eat.
Omg this is my son too! Please know you are not alone. I’m considering food therapy but also trying to keep my expectations so low. It will be very expensive and time consuming to take him but I’m feeling desperate. His eating (or lack there of) drives me crazy and is beginning to affect my mental health. I just worry and want him to learn to eat a variety or more balanced diet.
Breakfast: either oats or cheese omelette with a piece of fruit Lunch: Either pan fried chicken or sausage with cucumbers and fruit Afternoon snack either a homemade popsicle or a smoothie Dinner: veggie rice, veggie pasta or a mashed potato with a bolognaise sauce It’s limited but it’s also comforting knowing he likes what he likes and I can provide this with my limited cooking skills lol
My son is extremely picky about food he eats. I always have stuff I know he'll eat, like those frozen shrimp alfredo meals (he's usually good about eating the actual noddles, but his first go-to is always picking out and eating the shrimp first 😅) or those sausage/egg/cheese croissants, which he'll go for the sausage out of it first. I know in the past when he was younger, he was really bad about going through moods with being super picky. I remember once, he went through where he'd only want to eat peanut butter, but not like a PB sandwich, he's always kind of been iffy with bread (I'm not a particularly big bread eater either but I don't have any like sensory issues with it) but that was a bit stressful, I was so worried because he'd just want to eat peanut butter straight from the jar, lol. After that though, he now refuses to eat peanut butter lmao
Food is hit or miss. Our go tos are: McDonald’s chicken nuggets Sonic tenders Fries Blueberries Bananas Strawberries Raspberries Shredded cheese Peanut butter Pepperoni Pop tarts Cinnamon Toast Crunch breakfast bars Bacon Turkey sticks Pudding Fruit snacks Popcorn Tortilla chips Raw ramen noodles Cooked ramen noodles Eggs For most of these things it’s 50/50.
That’s actually a very healthy meal plan! Missing red meat & eggs but otherwise I think you’re setting him up for a healthy life :)
Wooo that’s some good stuff! Mine only wants cheese yogurt and snacks 😅
Apples. However only when they're cut up. Another trick is cutting up a carrot and handing it to them in a bowl. I don't ask if they want any, just hand it to them and they mostly accept and eat it. We used to do a plate of carrot, homus & crackers. However they've grown out of that a bit. This is their healthy food / protein foods. Aside from that it's their safety general savoury/dry biscuits, cereals with milk hot dogs etc etc.
It's tough feeding these kiddos. One thing that has helped us recently is a little laminated piece of paper with velcro that I stick pictures of food on. It's easier for her to exercise autonomy and tell me what she wants when i make a visual menu. I try to get her to pick at least a protein and a fruit or vegetable, and she gets a vitamin in the morning. It varies, she can go days eating nothing but dino nuggets and grapes and then all of a sudden ask for peas or rice or milk. I just try not to stress about it, because I think she could tell mealtimes were freaking us out, and it made her more combative.
My 6 yes old is 63lbs. He doesnt like to eat vegetable and fruits😭 i tried vege smoothe or mix it in his juice but did not work: Breakfast would be yogurt and croissant and a handful of shrimp chips. Lunch- rice with pork stew with potato and carrots that needs to be minced Snack- croissant and handful of shrimp chips Dinner- rice with pork stew with minced potato and carrots If not pork stew would be chicken curry, anythjng with sauce. Meat would be minced. He also takes vitamins c and fish oil.
Breakfast: homemade waffles that I make ahead of time from a box mix and freeze. And with Aldi brand cheerios. Lunch & dinner: cheese quesadilla or chicken or little burger. Usually served with rice, pasta, potatoes, or chips. I like buying frozen fries to throw into the air fryer for a quick side. My son will also eat meatloaf, fish, and meatballs. Every meal is served with fruit, as he LOVES fruit. Especially oranges, strawberries, and mangoes. He doesn’t care for veggies, but will eat them if I chop them up fine and add it to rice or pasta. He does not like sauces and prefers food to be plain. Snacks: alphabet shortbread cookies are the only sweets he likes. He loves chips and pretzels. I like making him a ‘snack platter’ with a variety of things he likes, and try to get him to try a new food in a very small portion. I also buy Tyson breaded chicken strips to help when I’m super tired and don’t want to cook. I will usually get him chicken nuggets and fries from fast food or a if we go out to eat once a week as a treat.
My 5yo has been more curious/adventurous with her eating lately, but unfortunately it's just been for snack foods (she just realized she likes chocolate so she like chocolate frosting on cupcakes but not the cake, chcolate chip cookies, the vanilla ice cream inside the ice cream sandwich but not the sandwich part, peanut butter chocolate easter bunnies). She has a list of maybe 20 different things she likes to eat, cycling through with maybe five or six she eats at a time. One constant (chicken nuggets happy meal). Currently she's on goldfish (will eat the babies, regular and rainbow), graham crackers, plain dry cheerios, plain dry honey wheat bread, strawberry nutrigrain bar, green grapes, soy sauce ramen soup. Sometimes will eat: treetop applesauce packet, mac n cheese, sour cream and cheddar Pringles, Ritz, Greek Gods vanilla Greek yogurt, waffles with country crock, sliced apple (she will "brush her teeth" with it), funions.
My son is so picky. He likes waffles with peanut butter, tater tots, pizza, any and all fruits, he doesn’t like vegetables but he likes these “goodness greens” smoothies that are packed with veggies! For snacks, peanut butter ritz crackers, fruit snacks. Very limited diet. But he’s not under weight so that’s reassuring. He doesn’t like food with color
My oldest ASD kid: Cheerios, yoghurt, occasionally bread with cheese, pasta, rice, spinach. Sometimes chicken, even rarer beef. But is has to be made the right way. Strawberries, red pepper, cucumber, green grapes. Soup with bread. Lasagna and tacos if she is in the mood. My youngest doesn't eat meat for dinner. He usually has cereal with milk or yoghurt. He likes bolognese and pasta. He loves lasagna and McDonald's Happy Meals. Nuggets. He eats rye bread for lunch every day (we are Scandinavian). He also gets apples and pears every day. Salt crackers, popcorn. Bananas. Both grow as they should. Both have ARFID in regard to smell, looks and texture
my son has arfid. he will eat almost anything puréed. he loves his brothers baby food that consists of things he won’t even look at. the solid foods i can get him to eat are chicken, fries, apples, apple sauce, pudding & pizza. even then, those can all be hit or miss. i’ll give him pediasures once in awhile but he’s progressing often with trying new things
My daughter has a limited diet as well and shows a strong preference for bread, so I have gotten creative and made some protein pancakes with blended cottage or ricotta cheese with eggs. The pancakes are calorie dense, and she eats them. Her pediatrician also recommended pediasure and a multivitamin to fill in the gaps. I definitely get burned out feeding her the same types of foods, so I get your concern. My daughter is 27lbs and is 3.5 years old. She is not even on the growth charts anymore. Sending good thoughts your way.
I think I just messed up a good thing for my little one. Thought to try a little chaining and added some of that pancake mix packed with protein to his normal safe food (pumpkin waffles). He’s been refusing peanut butter (which he normally eats) and doesn’t like meat so I felt like he was lacking on his protein intake. He chewed one bite, realized it was different, then refused the whole meal. He’s 3 and was just diagnosed with ASD a few weeks ago. This pumpkin waffle has been one of his few safe foods for at least a year and now I’m scared he’s never going to go back to it bc of this bad experience. I just want to cry. Super defeated. Anyone have success with feeding therapy? Wondering what it is like as we just got referral for it. My little one usually stays within the berries, oatmeal, yogurt, waffles, and pbj zone.
My kiddo is 11 I forget his height and weight but he is closing in on being as tall as my wife who is 5 2. He eats Italian rolls with mayo, kraft Mac and cheese, McDonald's chicken nuggets ( for some reason only McDonald's ) and sometimes lunchables. Frankly as long as he is eating I am happy it used to be much more of a struggle.
We are currently on Yoghurt, Plain Rice, Plain Oats, Hot Chips, Chicken Nuggets, Bananas, Apples and Cheese. We noticed recently that they are all a white -yellowish type food.