Getting kids to eat drink stuff they despise

[Livvies Mom]

I just posted on "Your Story" and am posting a few questions separately.

Livvie (15) was just diagnosed with Crohns. She has a very sensitive sense of smell and taste and has always been picky about what she puts in her mouth. She will physically gag when she tries to ingest something she dislikes. The CT scan prep was really tough for her, we almost resorted to an NG tube to get 32 oz of contrast media into her, and she spit up some of it.

She is scheduled for a colonoscopy and endoscopy on the 21st and I am very concerned about her getting the 64 oz Gatorade/Miralax down.

A recent attempt at a soft/liquid diet also proved impossible. She tried Ensure Chocolate but vomited it up so now she won't try it again. Strawberry grossed her out by smell alone. She agreed to try Vanilla mixed with ice cream. She liked that, but got sick (probably from the ice cream), so now Vanilla is associated with to stomach pain and she won't drink that either. We tried broth, applesauce bananas, yogurt but she takes a couple spoonfuls and quits. She became so weak so fast we had to go back to regular food just so she would get some nourishment. She hasn't lost her appetite for chicken fingers or pasta.

Help!!! I can't imagine how hard it must be with even younger kids.

Does it get better for kids after they come to grips with the fact they HAVE to eat drink things they don't like to stay alive? Because we definately aren't there yet.

 

[my little penguin]

EEN is a treatment of formula only some use boost / ensure
But some can't handle the whole proteins and need more broken down ones.
DS drank peptamen jr with no foods for 9 weeks as EEN.
It can be used instead of prednisolone to get the inflammation down .
He still drinks 2-3 a day with food and has for the past three years since dx.
This lets him grow and gain weight like all his peers.
He grew over 8 inches and gained 36 lbs in three years since dx after not gaining ( losing some for two years prior to dx).

You have treat things like they are meds period this includes the formula.
It's not easy or fun most kids and parents cry ...
But after you get past the first few things improve.
Something's are not optional - helmets seat belts etc...
This is the same - not optional .
It sounds mean but if the kid thinks its optional at all
Probably not going to happen
That said after week DS was fine and now he can down two shakes in under give minutes.its an acquired taste
Good luck

 

[my little penguin]

DS is only 10 btw

 

[Clash]

My son was dx'ed at 15 as well and could never stomach the boost or ensure. He would always throw it up or gag it up. For him, it was the texture.

Due to him not being able to gain weight properly the GI finally pxed Enteral nutrition(px'ed formula). It isn't very palatable so my son inserted his ng tube every evening and received the required amount of formula while he slept then removed to tube each morning. This worked very well for us. The first two days were rough because the DME company sent the wrong kind of tubes with no guide wire. Once we got the right size tube(size of a spaghetti noodle) and the stylet(guide wire) there was nothing to him placing it. It took less than a minute.

There are some great you tube vids of kids inserting the tube themselves, some as young as 9 years old.

Good luck, I know it can be overwhelming at dx with med choices, malabsorption issues, pain and all. Hope everything improves quickly.

 

[Maya142]

My daughter was diagnosed at 16 and also is very picky. She lost quite a bit weight and had trouble eating when she was diagnosed, so was told to drink Peptamen Jr. She hated them at first and there were lots of tears but eventually got used to drinking them. We did bribe her for a while so that she would drink 2 a day.

Eventually she lost so much weight, that she had to get an NG tube because she wasn't able to drink enough Peptamen to keep her weight up. She was very against the NG tube but her GI insisted and now M is SO glad she got it and really prefers it to drinking Peptamen (it's much easier and I no longer have to nag her!).

There are a number of different formulas besides Boost and Ensure (Peptamen, Pediasure Peptide) but Boost and Ensure are the most palatable.
Good luck!

 

[Sascot]

My son isn't usually a picky eater but he just couldn't stand the Modulen he had to drink. We ended up with an NG tube - it was so worth it. Made drinking it so much easier. Good luck for the prep

 

[Worried mama]

My son is also quite sensitive to taste and smells. He does manage to drink 2~3 boosts a day. I treat it like medication. What also works for him, is if I show him a yummy brownie...ahh, but you have to drink a boost first . Or, you want to have a friend over? Drink a boost. May sound awful, but it works. He too vomited up the boost first few times. Also I don't make him drink it all at once. 1/2 before school. 1/2 after school. One after dinner, before bed. All meds are taken with boost...cause it's a med too. Good luck. I tried mixing it with ice cream but he said that made it worse... Now he just sips it from the bottle with a straw.

 

[Brian'sMom]

Livvies Mom, How many would you like her to drink a day? I might suggest drinking them slower. My son drinks Pediasure 1.5 cal (vanilla)... He is used to them now, but in the beginning it bothered his stomach if he drank them too fast. Our gi suggested he drink them in small amounts. Split the can into 3 amounts. I drank one real fast to see how it felt. I do not have IBD... but it made my stomach feel wierd too. My son also has said that when they are cold they don't seem as thick. If all that fails and she really needs to have them... NG tube is the way to go. It's not as hard as you would think... and a bit of a relief to kids that really are struggling with drinking something they don't want to. Best wishes and hugs sent your way

 

[Henrietta78]

That's tough, I get it. My son is the EXACT same way with the super sensitive gag reflex and very particular about what he is willing to eat or even taste. He is 5 and he will only drink water. We did the Miralax prep a few months ago, and even though I bought every non-red Gatorade variety under the sun to find one he would drink, in the end we just mixed it with water. It was thick, but no taste, and he got it all down with no throwing up, which was a concern. As MLP said, he had to understand it was not optional, and we bribed him with Lego sets after each round. and a large one to work on after the prep was all ingested to distract him from his growling belly.

 

[Jenn]

My son was super picky too. Ensure is too thick. My son liked Nestle's Resource Breeze, it's more of a fruit juice, but he got sick of it quickly too. Honestly, his appetite and pickiness didn't improve until his meds made him feel better.

 

[Livvies Mom]

She had her Endoscopy yesterday and had some hiccups with the prep, which I'll share in case it helps someone. She had no problem with the taste of the Gatorade/Miralax, but after an hour and a half and with 2/3 of the mix down she vomited. The doctor told us to take an hour break then resume, but it was two hours before she felt she could keep it down, right after she went to the bathroom for the first time (4 hours after starting drinking). After that she cleared out in about an hour and went to bed.

No new attempts at liquid nutrition. She has been eating better so I am waiting for the doctors appointment tommorrow for his recommendation. That gives her a little break from my nagging, and then I willl have the full force and effect of the doctors authority behind me if he tells her it is necessary.