Snack/Food Ideas for Picky, Allergic 4 year old

[Cynful]

My 4.5 yo son is allergic to milk, soy, oats, possibly rice and has fructose intolerance so most fruits and vegetables are out (of course he won't eat most veges anyway).  I'm having such a hard time finding food for him that's easy for me.  Can anyone give me some ideas?

 

He's living on chicken nuggets right now, eggs, likes most meats, peanuts, peanut butter, etc.  Just such a small selection.  

 

Thanks,

[Farrar]

It looks like he can have gluten though? I would think that some breads could be a snack? Could you expand to other nut butters? What about hummus?

[blondeviolin]

Popcorn

[Um_2_4]

Fun shapes of macaroni tossed in olive oil or that non-dairy butter (forgot the name)?

There are plenty of dairy free muffin recipes out there. Maybe up the protein with some protein powder that suits his allergies? HEre's one: http://dairy-free.food.com/recipe/muffins-batter-dairy-free-295761

 

ETA: corn bread muffins with chopped up hot dogs in them

 

[Tanaqui]

I'm sure I make myself a nuisance by saying this, but if he has a severely limited diet (under 20 foods or so), you might do better to get a referral to a speech language pathologist or an occupational therapist. Of course, it's normalish for a child with many allergies to be reluctant to eat different foods, but in that situation you may qualify for professional help.

[snickerplum]

Almond or coconut yogurt?

[eternalsummer]

can he eat avocados?  I know they're kind of a fruit/veg but also kind of not, and they fill you up :)

[medawyn]

If he can have grains other than oats, I have made these bars with other flaked grains (rye, barley, spelt).  They are easy to make, very filling, and freeze well.  Maybe add mini peanut butter chips and/or coconut flakes instead of the dried fruit?

[prairiewindmomma]

kiwi, raspberries, blueberries, honeydew, bananas, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, lettuce---these are all low fructose fruits and veggies

 

If he truly isn't eating any of those, then I think you need to do an eval for sensory eating issues.  Seriously. There are long-term consequences to eating such a restricted diet. You do what you have to do because of the allergies, but I think you'd be served well to meet with a nutritionist to sort out a menu plan and then either a feeding/OT or a SL-P to work on the pickiness.

 

 

[Cynful]

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I think we will push for a nutritionist and speech/ot eval.  Poor guy has had trouble eating since he was born. 

[Night Elf]

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I think we will push for a nutritionist and speech/ot eval.  Poor guy has had trouble eating since he was born. 

 

Good idea. My son has been picky since he was 4 years old. It started off where he was avoiding a few foods. Then it got worse as time went by and it honestly never occurred to me that it could be fixed by a therapist. So now I have an almost 19 year old child who has a fairly selective list of foods he'll eat. And he just dropped another one that he used to like, but now he hates. He'd live on chicken tenders if he could.