EEN how do you??

[farmerswifey]

I'm just thinking ahead to when and if we will need to start EEN with our 9 year old..have you had to do this with kids so young and how on earth do you keep them from eating? I am thinking of my son at school and how he is going to avoid temptation if I am not there...

He loves his food, maybe I'll keep him home for 8 weeks with me:ybiggrin::ybiggrin:

 

[Farmwife]

Hi,
We have a wonderful sub-forum here called Diet/Cooking for children with IBD.
On there you will find helpful info on EN and when the time comes on recipes that will be safe for them and taste yummy to children and moms alike. Press HERE!
Also great tips on how to help your children through this time of no food.
Sorry to hear your little man has to go through this. So hard at any age!
Farmwife

 

[Farmwife]

Also, I'm sure more parents will be able to offer advice on how to handle the school "thing".
Yes I agree, be able to keep them home would be great!

 

[farmerswifey]

Thanks lovely, if only I could keep him wrapped in cotton wool and all safe and sound xx

 

[my little penguin]

IT is very doable.
DS was 7 almost 8 when we did EEN over thanksgiving/christmas.
IF he is drinking orally- I would recommend these http://www.target.com/s/stainless+steel+water+bottle

SO they can be kept in the fridge at school and no one knows (ie classmates) that he is on formula.

We did two pepatamen junior in the morning. Two for lunch ( filled one water bottle) then two for dinner with a before bed snack of one shake.
He was very full all day from that.
HE aslo had water during the day.

We got the ok from the GI to let him have pure sugar (ie dominos) and dum dum lollipops since kids with EoE (similar gut rest) are permitted these things.

With pure sugar I was able to make cotton candy.
Here is a cheap machine

http://www.target.com/p/nostalgia-s...=appliances&ci_sku=12329356&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw=


This meant I could make Cotton candy cupcakes for treats to take to school /birthday parties plus his birthday.

He had a no foods cake.
Two boxes decorated with lots of hand wrapped trinkets inside candle on top to look like a cake.


We also made sugar cookies.
Sugar + water +silicon mold= sugar cookies for christmas:thumright:

Here is a link
http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/free_food_allergy_recipes.html


DS has life threatening food allergies so the school never ever gives him any food- I would insist on a note from the doc to educate the school.


For chewing skills- WE had a piece of gum but mainly snow cone shaved Ice I would prep at dinner for him to chew with his drinks. We also added a small amount of sugar if he wanted.

He may have had about 3-4 tbsp of sugar extra a week not a daily thing.


Drinking it was hard in the beginning taste wise but we treated like all his other meds not really a choice. He survived thanksgiving, christmas, his birthday and valentine's day so it an be done.

It was the best he felt was well.
Do not be surprised if he has liquid stool. It does not hurt and is not true diarrhea just liquid in = liquid out in most kids.


good luck
let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Tesscorm]

I can't add much to what was said above!

My son, Stephen, was older, 16 when he did EN, so his understanding of the treatment's necessity certainly helped. But, we were allowed clear fluids which included broth, freezies/popsicles, jello, etc.

If you are also allowed these liquids... I sent Stephen broth at lunch to 'eat' with his friends and he had broth for dinner and I arranged to have freezies kept for him at school as well.

And, if broth is allowed, even this can become quite 'boring'... I used different spices when heating up the different broths (basil, rosemary, even some chili peppers ) but made sure all the spices were strained out before giving to him.

Also, "distraction" was important!!! As Stephen did his formula through NG tube, he didn't eat all day (other than the fluids). Although the overnight formula (plus broth, freezies) satisfied his 'physical' hunger most of the day, he was hungry by early evening... he found distraction helped at this time.

And same here... liquid in = liquid out

Good luck


MLP - what a GREAT mom!! I love the 'cake' idea! :Karl:

 

[emmaaaargh]

I was 11 when I was on EN! I am probably the biggest food lover in the world plus it was quite close to Christmas so I was afraid I'd miss Christmas dinner. I think what kept me going was that at the end of it, I'd finally get a proper meal (I finished my course of EN on December 23rd!). My parents also took to threatening me with an NG tube since I was terrified of one at the time. (Everyone else is so lucky - I was only allowed the formula and water on my EN! Not even clear liquids.)

It wasn't that hard, though. Once I got over the taste of the formula it was just like any other juice carton and I just kept drinking throughout the day. I didn't get hungry since I was ingesting enough and I'd do all the normal things like sit down and drink one at dinnertime with the family, or pack them in my lunchbox to school and take them with me.

Basically all I can say is that it's quite hard to do, but in the long run it'll be worth it - and so will his happiness when he gets to eat again

 

[Twiggy930]

My son did exclusive EN for 6 weeks this past spring. He did it via an NG tube that he inserted himself every night. It all went amazingly smoothly for him. He did find not eating hard. He was allowed clear fluids, hard clear candies and small amounts of gummy bears. I sent him to school with a can of Sprite and a bag (small) of candies for lunch. The other kids were GREEN with envy. We also used bribery and distraction at meal times, at the end of the 6 weeks we got him a new fish tank and he spent mealtimes researching the fish that he was going to put in it. The whole thing was really not that bad and we would definitely do it again if need be.

 

[crohnsinct]

6 weeks exclusive here to. My daughter was 12 and it was the end of the school year with all the celebrations, confirmations, weddings and mitzvahs. It was hard as she was only allowed water and one piece of chewing gum a day but distractions and bribery work every time. Also, her school was great about it. Lunch time was the hardest so her guidance counselor (young and cool) let her have her shakes in her office at lunch. It was a great perk for her as she spent one on one time with the counselor and was the envy of everyone and now she has someone in her corner to help her along the way. A perk at home was that she could drink in her room or in the family room while watching tv so she didn't have to watch the family eat...although she often sat with us and even went to restaurants with her shakes.

O was deathly afraid of the ng tube so she choked down all her shakes. I think after the first two weeks it got easier and the desire to feel better was her driving force.

Also we took it day by day. She knew it would potentially be a 6 week thing but from the first day she tried we just said lets see if we could do it today. Then the next and the next. We never looked at the long haul as that could be overwhelming. All along we let her know she was driving the bus and could quit at a moments notice. After she got a few weeks under her belt she was too invested to quit.

Good luck!

 

[Tesscorm]

Also we took it day by day. She knew it would potentially be a 6 week thing but from the first day she tried we just said lets see if we could do it today. Then the next and the next. We never looked at the long haul as that could be overwhelming.

I actually did something similar, I always just told Stephen it was 'approximately' six weeks, never actually giving him the 'final' day... I thought having a specific date would seem very far away at the beginning and very challenging to continue those last couple of weeks! Until the last few days, I just kept telling him I had to 'calculate' the final day

 

[farmerswifey]

I appreciate your replies x