Pre-schooler eating problem

[rvcamerons]

My daughter will be 5 in September and as of 5 days ago has decided to stop eating. This is a little girl who loved to eat and was generally in the 90 percentile category. For the past month she had been complaining of stomach aches on and off and then had something strange happen 5 days ago that stopped her from eating. She complained that she could feel the food going down her throat or that the food felt like it was getting stuck. For the first 3 days she ate 2 popsicles one day, maybe a pudding cup the next day and then the eating diminished to nothing. She is drinking juice, water and the occasional cup of milk. We have taken her to the doctors 2 times now and they have done an abdomen X-ray, blood work, throat culture to eliminate any medical problem...everything is negative. Her energy level is pretty good, not quite 100%, she is happy and plays, her BM's are basically liquid now. Her one comment if asked to eat is a response such as fear and she says she is afraid it will hurt her throat. My husband and I can't help but worry sick. We have been told by the doctor to wait it out and ignore it, but we fear that there may be some type of physological problem. We also realize that she may have had a sore throat and her tollerance to pain is very low so this may have started the problem or she possibly had a choking incident or she is working us over very good! I was just curious on how we should be handling the situation. Shall we ignore the issue and hope she breaks or are there other medical problems we should be evaluating

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

I agree with the pediatrician's point of view. She's been alarmed by the episode you mentioned, and is now wary of swallowing solid food. Mother Nature will handle this in time. So, be watchful but casual, and do not force the issue. For now, be sure she's getting some nutrition via supplements (e.g., in milkshakes) while she's going through the phase of confining herself to mostly liquids. It sounds like you've done the sensible medical evaluations already.

[tough2bmom]

I also have a child who refussed to eat under the same reason of fear of choking or swallowing.  Your story sounds so similar to mine it is odd.  My daughter is 7 and stopped eating in Feb.  She progressivly got worse and worse despite everything we tried.  We eliminated the possibility of being something physical as you did, and she just continued to get worse.  I have had her in the care of a psychologist, and she now is on Paxil.  In May she refused to swallow even her own saliva.  She was quickly going to need medical intervention if we had not put her on the Paxil.  She did begin to eat shortly thereafter the meds, but now is having terrible issues with fear of school, dying, and just general anxiety regarding almost anything.  She is still seeing a psychologist, and we are still working with her.  I am interested to hear how your daughter is doing now.