Nutritionist

Today I met with a nutritionist about Gwenn and her eating. She will be 9 in April, and today had a strong weigh in at 46 pounds - an all-time record. However, she used to be at the 20th percentile up until about 2 years ago, and has been declining ever since, and now is in the 1st percentile for weight. Obviously this is going the wrong way.

I learned some of what I knew - Gwenn is complex, and her eating issues are also complex. The nutritionist we saw is going to speak with a colleague about Gwenn - one who specializes in eating disorders in young children, to see what else we can do.

Our immediate goal is to add at least 500 calories a day to what Gwenn is eating. We'll do that through things like the Larabar (200 calories), ReLiv nutritional supplements (100 cals), moving back to whole milk (another 100 cals) - and trying to get more food like peanut butter into her. Personally, I feel the last one is a losing battle - all she ate for 2 years was peanut butter, and I think she is still full of it!

It's hard to watch your child not eat, and try everything to get her to take in food. Her situation is more complex, as her SPD issues make it so that she may not be getting pleasure receptors in her brain receiving the message of full or hungry, liking or loving foods, etc. So she just doesn't eat. It's pretty crazy, but my goal is that by next September she will have hit 50 pounds!