WTF is wrong with my kid???

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she won't eat but for a couple of spoonfuls of regular food. She prefers her mandarin oranges, peaches or applesauce or when we offer her a cookie, she'll gladly accept. We have to feed her something.

And she will not nap and she pitches a fit over going to bed at night.

do we need a child psychiatrist already?

and just because I have AS doesn't mean she does. I'm very tired of people thinking she does because I do. That's ridiculous.

Holw old is she? Mine all went through picky eating and not sleeping well. It was just a phase. Some people may scream bloody murder about my suggestion but it worked for me. When mine were having so much trouble sleeping that I couldn't get any sleep myself and they were constantly tired and cranky all day, I gave them a small dose of Benadryl at night. It helped them sleep. I wouldn't give that to a baby or a very young child, but it's a safe medicine and it helps them get the sleep they need. I wouldn't do that every night by any means, but occasionally I would have to give it for a few nights to help them get back into their sleeping routine.

As for the food, kids won't starve to death. They will eat eventually. I would just offer regular meals and make sure to have things around that she will eat as well. Does she like milkshakes? You could make a milkshake with lots of nutrients in it. Also have you tried Pediasure? It's like Ensure but for kids.

This too, will pass.

PaganMom

Yeah Its hard to answer without knowing the age of you child. I have five kids....two with Aspergers, one Bipolar, and one Autistic..I also have Aspergers. Its not really far fetched to think you child might have autistic qualities because you have Aspergers. Anyway...even "typical" kids go through eating problems and sleeping problems. They are learning to regulate their little bodies. Sometimes kids will eat next to nothing for weeks and then eat everything in sight. And even kids who arent hungry will eat sweets...Ill even do that LOL. My son who is bi polar would wake up in the middle of the night and do things like light things on fire but he slept well when he was a baby and when he was really young. All my other kids slept well except my 7 year old Aspie son...hes always been difficult to get to sleep.

I don't think there is much wrong with her. Fruits are after all very healthy anyway. Before psychologists try just small variations in the number of spoons until progressing to all them meal.

she's 28 months

My lil one is only 17 mths, and like your case a lot of people are assuming she'll be an aspie too.

We've spent the last 3 weeks on a restricted diet. Cooked 3 seperate meals at dinner time for her one day this week and she wouldn't eat any.
She will eat:

Unlimited baked bread I make.
A few bites of apple
Organic carrot crisps for babies
Sometimes rice cakes.

That's about it. I am desparing trying to keep her healthy when she won't eat ANYTHING. I have to hope that it is just a phase, and not that she is just gone picky on me.
Sorry I can't help. Just thought I'd tell you you are far from alone with this problem.

At 28 months thats not out of the range of normal, my older son did something like that but all he would eat was cookies for about 3 months at 22-26 months so bought nuturion bars they were packed fill of extras like vitamins and minerals. Then from 28months to alittle over 3years he only slept 2-4 hours a night he was fine but I was losing my mind what worked for a short time were six hour video tapes of old cartoons my mother made for me I would sit him on the sofa and sleep next to him sitting up. After my back couldn't take anymore and I got the ok from his doctor I started giving him a warm bath at about 9pm makingsure he had gone potty and have a full tummy and had al his potty needs taken care of then I would tuck him in to bed and close his door to keep him in we reversed his door knob. If there was a fire it was a very easy lock to get undone and he had started leaving the house wearing only his underwear and his dad shoes so locking him inside his toy filled room was better then letting him run outside at 3am. After a few nights of kicking and screaming he started sleeping first 4hr, then 4hrs and so on until by the time he was 3 1/2 we had him up to 9hrs a night it was great and even if he was up playing at night I knew he was safe and I was able to get some sleep.

My daughter had extreme issues with sleeping and eating from the time she was born. (you could look at my blog or previous posts for details.) After a bunch of testing we discovered she has an intolerance to gluten which was causing her severe migraines that interfered with her ability to sleep and also resulted in strange food choices. Right now she is taking zinc suppliments and is on a gluten free diet and has shown GREAT improvement. I do want to stress that her problems probably do not represent the majority of childrens or the majority of aspergers kids, but, if you as her mother see a connection between really strange eating and really poor sleeping you might want to talk to your pediatrician.

FYI - Take everything I say with a grain of salt, we are still learning the extent of what is going on with my child.

Sounds like the "terrible twos" in progress. I've seen it with all my nieces/nephews and great-nieces/nephews. Out of 10, only one seems to have AS traits so far, and he's from my NT brother.

In the food category, you might just have to consider bribing for the moment: "Just eat two more spoonfuls of peas and you can have all the Mandarin oranges you want." If she refuses, put all food away. Eventually she'll eat those two spoonfuls--she will not starve.

As for bedtime, just put her to bed. If she screams, let her scream. She'll get tired of it eventually after she realizes that it's a futile gesture.

At this stage, she's learning how to navigate the world quite rapidly. If she learns now that she can get whatever she wants through tantrums and manipulation, you'll have a real mess on your hands in a few years. Better to suffer a couple weeks of hell now to correct her bad habits (and these sound only like bad habits that most kids that age go through).

The key is to be consistent with your reactions, and your reactions should always be calm and logical, and your decisions just and final. Explain once and once only--if more "Whys" come, the correct answer is, "Because I said so," and the "discussion" ends.

First, I don't know (how that's for an answer)! And second, I'm not a parent nor a child - so I truly don't know.

But, that being said, you mentioned she's 28 mo. (aka: toddler). From what I understand, at that age of development, in evolutionary terms, she's learning discrimination of diet/nutrition. I've read/known that toddler's can be notoriously particular and your daughter seems to be at that extreme. Apparently their immune system is developing and maturing so their dietary discrimination can actually go into over-drive to compensate. I read one case where a toddler would eat JUST spanish rice and only spanish rice.

Like others have stated, she won't starve since her physiology will take-over and direct her to eat. But, maybe she has an imbalance or deficiency? Sometimes a trace mineral, such as selenium or magnesium, can cause weird cravings and/or rejection of more conventional foods - just cannot know.

You might Google 'Pica' which is basically ingesting that which is not food - such as eating clay (known to happen to women who are pregnant with specific nutritional deficiencies), paste or crayons or clay (little kids are notorious for eating weird things), etc. Although pica can be associated with serious mental disorders (in some adults) this wouldn't be your daughter, of course. Still, if she's not eating properly this can cause an electrolyte imbalance and that can make her sick. Maybe you could ask her doctor? Or a homeopathic care practitioner? Possibly she has a dietary allergy. A wheat allergy, or insensitivity, can make one picky, for instance. My father was allergic to barley!

The suggestion about dietary supplements (like Ensure or Pedialyte) are good, although another WP inhabitant did point out, previously, these supplements can be loaded with sugar. I guess you could just offer, or have available, healthy snacks like carrots with peanut butter or whatever else she might like to try. Seems a multi-vitamin would be requisite so she's not missing out on the essentials - might look for one that does contain those trace minerals.

Umm....ok, that didn't help. But if her health is otherwise all right and this doesn't become prolonged, she'll likely grow out of this odd trend. And there is an evolutionary basis for her pickiness. Quite like how prehistoric peoples learned to not eat bitter berries since they're potentially poisonous and learnt to choose sweet fruits.

You might let her 'forage.' Meaning, let her design her own (within reason) - like to make her own pizza but using creative ingredients of her choice.

If you want to know (confession time here): When I was little I was quite picky - still have some quirks. My father made Ovaltine Shakes with Soya (instead of dairy milk), a raw egg (yes, I know that's potential salmonella but I lived), and a banana - mix in a blender until smooth. Malt Ovaltine is tasty and has vitamins/minerals, unlike other chocolate mixes. Maybe she'd like that?

Good luck, GFCF (modified) can help sometimes too, and not just ASD individuals.

True--my previous advice presumes no physical cause for being a "picky eater."

One of my client's young daughters has severe food allergies. I'll try to ask him how he first became aware of such, and whether she exhibited any unusual food preferences as a result.

The nap/bedtime issues seem de rigueur for that age, however.

My son went through a very bad patch sleep-wise, not wanting to go to bed, not going to sleep for hours, and after he did drop-off waking up every couple of hours, and crying until someone went and gave him some water or dilute fruit juice, and was also increasingly fussy about food, ( he loved fruit too, probably because it's so easy to digest and so is less painful for a gluten-inflamed gut to handle ), from about 18 months to 2 years ... until we cut gluten out. As soon as we excluded gluten he started sleeping well, falling asleep easily, ( no more "bedtime issues" from then on ), eating widely and happily, ( and his face suddenly looked less "pasty"/blank too, we have noticed since in the photos from that period ).
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Last edited by ouinon on 29 Nov 2009, 1:13 am, edited 1 time in total.

Well the chance for AS really Increase having AS parents, but I don't see it as a problem. As for food. Try solid food, my daughter refused to eat not-solid food since 6-mounths-old.

A few things to remember:

Sleep patterns often get disrupted when toddlers are entering major developmental phases. I don't know why, but it is usually connected. When the developmental changes are finished, the routines usually fall back in place. You learn to roll with them.

Toddlers at this age are just starting to develop taste preferences and are also learning to assert themselves. The result is more picky eating. Continue to serve a variety of healthy foods, including something at each meal you are pretty sure she'll eat, and then stop worrying about it. The main thing is to resist the temptation to give her cookies just because you are desperate to see her eat. Look at her food choices over a week or two, rather than each day, to see how balanced it is.

That sound like the terrible two's, she doesn't need a shrink at this age, I know parents feel the need for one for themselves.
What worked with my sisters kids was keeping them in some sort of activity, walks or taking them to the park to play, taking
them on a play date with other kids their age.

I have just edited my post above, to say "until we cut out gluten", because the way it was before, ( I didn't realise until this morning ), sounded as if his sleep problems etc were caused by cutting out gluten, whereas they appeared/developed while he ate gluten and disappeared when gluten was excluded. Sorry for the confusion!


How long has this term existed? Is it an ancient one, loaded with centuries of experience, or is it a modern phenomenon? I am beginning to think that it is not normal at all, but is the age at which food intolerances, which are present in up to 40% of the population, ( as in the case of fructose intolerance, for instance, which causes chronic intestinal problems, bacterial and yeast overgrowth, and blocks tryptophan leading to depression ), start having an impact on functioning.

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