Hi All,

I know there are various threads on here about eating, but just wanted to get some advise as Max will be 2 on Fri (26.2.10).
I seem to have got myself in a bit of a rut, as I know what he can eat, but I am too scared to try him on anything else due to consequences! I feel maybe I am holding him back.

Can anyone give me some advice…so far he eats :

Breakfast - mushed up Rusks
Midday - skips, yougurt
Dinner, either homemade dinner (seriously blended) or Stage 2 (7 month) Hipp jars
Midday - Prawn crackers, 1/2 chocy button at a time
Dinner (same as lunch)
Snack - Mini milk

He just seems to eat the same thing day in day out and I am bored feeding it to him, so I am sure he is bored eating it!! Any ideas for the next stage?

* Max History - Born by c-section at 42 weeks, weighing a massive 9lbs!! had small gap & OA repaired at day 1, sedated for 6 days, kept in NICU for 4 weeks, then had stretch at 5 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 4 months, 6 months & 15 months, none for past 8 months touch wood!!!

Hiya,
Beatrice is 10 months but sounds like eating wise is a similarish stage to Max. Some things that she manages are OK are for breakfast - weetabix with plenty of milk so its really mushy and quite loose, readybrek again with lots of milk, for snacks banana blended with youghurt or very ripe pear mashed well with a fork and yoghurt, or apple heated with a bit of water so it breaks down or the organix snacks (carrot sticks, sweetcorn hoops or tomato wheels). We have tried fingers of toast which she loves but it does tend to get stuck a bit - we have cut it out completely at the moment as we think she is getting a stricture and she is having a contrast next week. We have tried pieces of very ripe pear which again she can cope with but sometimes get stuck.
I know its really difficult but you just have to go for it!! If he struggles then leave it a few weeks/months then try again.  We only try new things when both of us are around and we have plenty of time (just in case!!).
We have been using the annabel karmel books which are really good for ideas.
Good luck
Rachel xx

Hi

My little man (short gap, 4 dilatations so far) is 17 months and is getting stuck in his ways with food. He likes biscuits with cheese and would eat the same thing all the time. He also eats dry cheerios that he steals from the cupboard. I have given him things like fish fingers and fish cakes and they both went well. He also likes roast potatoes. He manages veg cut up small and I try to give him something he can feed himself at least one meal a day. Tinned bolognaise is good too. I try to be relaxed about it and if he wants to try things mostly I let him. Last week he had half a hot cross bun and a slice of toast. (I nearly had a nervous breakdown).We are rapidly realising that he is a lot more capable than we think!

Good luck.

Carol (mum to Reilly 17 months)

We have success with lasagne. I make bolognase sauce then blitz it so it is quite smooth and runnier than my other kids would like.  Then cook tiny pasta, the stars are great & mix this in with the sauce.  Then I make a cheese sauce (loads of calories) for on the top.  This sounds like a pain but i put it in little ramekin dishes, bolognase on bottom then cheese sauce on top, wrap them in cling film and freeze them. I do 20 or so at a time they are a great meal and quick to re-heat.  On good days i give him peas or green beans on the side but only when he is well and not coughing.
He also loves ritz crackers with cream chees or cream cheese and avocado mashed up. 
Fish is always good because it is so soft.
Good luck and just keep trying but don’t push too much.  I find that we still have to revert to very safe foods when Barnaby has a cold as nothing seeme to want to go down.

Thank you all so much!! You are so brave with things you try your little ones on!!

....well, I printed this out and gave it to my mum and dad who look after Max during the week while I am at work, have come home today and low and behold he has eaten a whole malted milk biscuit and a lump of cadburys dairy milk with no problems!! I had my heart in my mouth the whole time!!! I think I have definatley been holding him back!!

So worried about the whole bread, toast thing though…scared it that gets stuck how do you get that one to wash down ???

Hi
Someone once gave a tip on here about toasting bread then splitting it through the middle and re-toasting to give a really thin crispy toast, with lots of butter, and I think that’s a good way to start for TOFS kids. Isobel was better with crispy toast and dry cereals like rice crispies and coco-pops that are easier to chew and dissolve in the mouth more than stodgy bread. She has progressed to sandwiches though over the last 6 months, and only gets into difficulties if she takes too big a bite-but she usually spits it out rather than trying to swallow it. Also try diferent brands of bread- we find Hovis ‘best of both’ is less stodgy than other makes of white bread.
I think as mums and dads we are sometimes cautious, for the best of reasons, as Isobel did exactly the same as Max with a custard cream biscuit at a playgroup- I had just explained to the carer about her eating issues and said she couldn’t manage biscuits, and she promptly took one from the plate and ate it!
Thanks for starting this thread Shelley, as I was feeling that Isobel had got into a rut with eating the same things everyday and was reluctant to try new things,but after reading this I tried spagetti bolognase again for the first time in 4 months and she ate it two days in a row- we had cheers!
Hope things continue to go well
Joanne (mum to Isobel age 3 long-gap OA/TOFS and gastric transposition)