Charlotte was six months old when she began to show an obvious dislike of food. She would move her head from side to side, turning away from the food. Mealtimes were stressful and upsetting for Charlotte and her parents, Sue and Mike. She would only breast-feed, and always rejected solid foods and other fluids. Charlotte stopped gaining weight and dipped below the expected weight curve.
By this time, Sue and Mike were exhausted and extremely concerned. They contacted numerous health professionals to find out why their daughter wasn't eating, but didn't feel that anyone understood the problem. 'They just said that Charlotte wouldn't starve herself to death. It was like coming up against a brick wall,' says Sue.
At 16 months, Charlotte was referred to the Children's Society's Feeding Matters Project. A practitioner visited the family's home and, following a period of listening, observation and assessment, a programme of health and support for the family was agreed.
The first step was to increase the calorie content of food and drink offered to Charlotte without at first increasing the quantity. Her parents were encouraged to establish a meal and snack routine for Charlotte to help her distinguish between mealtimes and playtimes and to send out clear messages to her about eating - for example, not to give her lots of attention for refusing to eat, but to praise her when she did take food.
This programme worked. 'We enjoy mealtimes now, and our lives have changed dramatically. We no longer worry about Charlotte's eating - mealtimes aren't a battle anymore,' says Sue.
Alex
Alex's feeding problem was even more stressful. At 11 months, he was so underweight that it was affecting his development, and he could only just sit up. Sometimes Alex coughed while being fed, and after the meal he would vomit. His father no longer fed him because he would get very upset.
Mealtimes were lasting up to an hour and a quarter. Alex's parents, Jim and Samantha, were very stressed and feared that he would be 'taken away'.
Alex's parents were encouraged to keep a diary of what he ate and mealtimes were videoed so that they could see what was happening. The Feeding Matters worker showed Jim and Samantha ways to encourage Alex to eat and drink, such as not leaving food and drink around while he was playing. Alex got used to a mealtime routine of three main meals a day with a morning and afternoon snack at regular intervals. After six weeks, Alex had begun to feed himself and his development was beginning to catch up.