Eating disorder?

[karenj2000]

My daughter stopped eating at 9 months and now, over 2 years later, is kept alive by a tube in her stomache which feeds her prescription milk through the night.  We are under GOSH and she has been tested for all sorts of illnesses/diseases and the only thing they have found is that she has a balance translocation on 16 and 22 chromosomes but as she is not mentally retarded they have ruled this out as the cause.  She really tries to eat things with us but after a couple of spoons of 0-3 month food she gags and vomits.  With yet another Xmas round the corner I find it really hard to know that she won't be sitting at the table and eating with us (it bores her and she goes off to play).  Apart from the eating she is perfect and very bright!  Her 2 older brothers eat as if it was their last meal!!!  Has anyone gone through a similar thing or know of anyone that has?  If so - is there light at the end of the tunnel?

[willow74]

The only thing i can compare it to is my sister growing up.  i am much older than her but she was so distracted that she would never eat.  My parents had a nightmare with her but in the end we all played a big part in ensuring she ate. 

In her case alot of it was because she was the baby and could get away with murder.  She was pampered and made a fuss out of.  We probably were not all strict enough with her and perhaps my mother did not say 'sit here and eat' firmly enough.   In the end we all basically eased her into eating.  Mum made dinner times fun and active.  For example: We all had meals made out of faces for years. 

Now she is 22 and eats alright.  I won't say she is fantastic at eating still. She basically has one or two varieties of meals and no more but she eats everyday and clears her plate.  The funny thing though is that her favourite meal is mccain smiles (the potato face) so she still eats face dinners.

[KEJ2000]

Oh my gosh, your user name is so similar to mine, yet we are two different users.  How did that happen???  Everyone will think that we are one and the same, yet we are not.

[Kay]

Karen,I know you must be worried but your daughter is getting the nourishment she needs from the milk via the tube.My oldest son (Now 34) used to gag on his food from the age of 3 so ate very little and I was given sachets of supplements for him to drink with milk through a straw. 2 years later he was eating normally so there's always light. Im sorry you did'nt get any help from KEJ 2000,who's more interested in the ID than aiming to help others. Take care.

[Hgrove]

Have you tried to look for support groups on the internet?  If you can find one, these groups usually have a lot of useful info to share, that you can't normally get from doctors.

[tracymort]

Actually i don't think being strict is the answer in fact strict scheduled feeding (aka the gina ford way grrr)  has been linked to eating disorders like anorexia.  Scheduled feeding teaches babies to over ride their own instincts so they don't eat when they are actually hungry and there is also control issue. (off topic but it has also led to serious cases of dehydration in some babies)  Was she fed on a routine at all?  Did she start solids too early (too early being before 6 months).  How was she weaned?  Was it the usual spoon feeding mush way or baby led weaning.  Baby led weaning being where you let them decide when they are ready to eat and then let them do it themselves, no mushing or puree involved.  Many babies are force fed before they are ready, thats why you see them pushing food out with their tongue.

I'm no expert but personally i wouldn't force the issue at all.  Just eat meals as a family all together at the table.  just let her decide when she wants to join in the fun and eat.  Don't make an issue out of it.  You may have already tried that but in my experience if a child knows you want them to do something and that you are stressed about it then the longer you have to wait for them to do it! 

[karenj2000]

Thanks guys for all your help.  KEJ2000 I don't know how it happened but I have been using the ID since 1999 on all sorts of sites and nobody has had any problems so far! 

With regards to my daughter she was breast fed until I went back to work when she was 4 months (she was never taking loads though) and then bottle fed.  She was weaned at 5 months and really enjoyed her food (she never appeared to like the milk) until 9 months when she suddenly just refused everything and was in hospital for 5 weeks as she had dropped off he bottom line of weight in the baby book.  She had a nasal-gastric tube inserted as she was losing weight every day and could not sit up or even smile anymore.  I know that I was clutching at straws posting this question but I love my daughter so much that I wanted to see if anyone could come up with something that hadn't been thought of yet by the hospitals and have seen that AB people are a wealth of knowledge. x

[tracymort]

Where was your daughter when you were a work? Maybe there was some incident that made her want to stop eating, maybe a choking incident or maybe being made to eat when she didn't want to.  Did anything happen at 9 months.  For example did you increase your hours or change her caregiver?  I ask because i have read (i have a casual interest in infant mental health) that sometimes if there is a problem with attachment or with being seperated (and 9 months is a time where babies really don't like being seperated) they can refuse food in protest.  seeing they have no other means of communication just yet other than crying.  Out of interest did she suffer from reflux or was she a very possety baby at all?

Have you tried any alternative/complimentary treatments? I'm a big fan of homeopathy and cranial osteopathy.  Maybe even something like bush flower remedies could help.  You have nothing to lose in trying these things.  quite often health insurance will pay out for these things too.  I have hsa and they pay half.  I always try such things before conventional medicine, and i've never had to resort to conventional medicine yet!

[Kay]

ab ed,why has my reply been edited?