Monday, April 4, 2011

Feeding Problems

My daughter C, who was feeding herself impressively for about two years now, has dropped that skill cold turkey.

The switch coincided approximately with changes I made in her diet. I had been giving her a "freestyle" version of the Modified Atkins Diet with some success. That's a diet which has been proven to help control epilepsy almost as successfully as (but with greater ease than) the Ketogenic Diet. Since starting it some four years ago we haven't had to raise her med dosages even once. But after listening to a lecture from the guru of that diet, Dr. Kossoff, which I received one month ago thanks to an epilepsy mailing list run by Michael Koski, I tightened the perimeters of the diet. Dr. Kossoff recommends reducing carbohydrates (i.e. vegetables, her only source of carbs) and increasing fat for best results.

From the first spoonful, her facial expression indicated unequivocally that she wasn't happy with the changes (mayonnaise was my new major source of fat). But since her seizures diminished as a result, I persevered nonetheless.

Now, I am stuck with an adamantly anti-eating child. I resort to forcing her mouth open at times though mostly I just feed her instead of her feeding herself. It was the one activity she did independently and afforded me great pleasure. (Tip: I wrap masking tape with sticky - side exposed around the handle of the bent spoon and fill the spoon with food myself, then she lifts the spoon and places it in her mouth.)

Has anybody else encountered this difficulty with the MAD diet? Any suggestions?

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