[Sca-cooks] invalid food

[Sharon Gordon]

Lots of good food ideas here.  I'll just add a couple of feeding strategies.

1) Explain to him about how he needs to eat even though he's not
hungry--that it will help him get well faster, and also feel better today.

2) Though it sounds unbelievable perhaps, when you are very, very sick,
eating even something as simple as soup, applesauce, or jello is just
exhausting.  After a few spoonfuls you can feel like you just ran the Boston
Marathon, but without the exhiliration of the finish.  So offer food/drink
frequently like every 30-60 minutes in small amounts.  You might bring a
cooler, disposible dishes,cups, straws and plastic spoons to keep things
clean and food safe while serving small amounts.

3) It may be less effort to get things down with a straw than a spoon, but
he might also need longer than you'd expect rest breaks between each straw
full for extra breathing.

4) You might start by having him feed himself and then an adult continue
with a few more spoonfuls.  When you are this sick the exhaustion of lifting
the spoon and swallowing quickly outruns the desire to eat due to hunger.

5) When you are congested it's important to avoid dairy products because
that makes it worse.  People often like acidic mucous clearing foods like
lemonade, ginger ale(not so acidic), sprite, citrus sports drinks, citrus
jello, cranberry juice, pineapple juice, citrus sorbets and sherbets(though
sorbets without dairy may be better than sherbets to start). However if
mouth or throat tissues are raw or inflamed, this can hurt like dipping
papercuts on your fingers into lemon juice. So he might do better at the
start with things like chicken soup(with olive oil instead of butter),
scrambled egg(no milk), applesauce, apple juice, grape juice, and ginger
ale.  A combo of half ginger ale and half fruit juice can be good too, or
half sorbet and half sprite or ginger ale for a slurpy type drink.  Also
check out the healthfood section of the grocery store or a natural foods
store for the bottled smoothy  drinks.  I am thinking the one with bananas
and blueberries or the red berry one may do well as most children like those
a lot.  He might also like the rice dream or soy type vanilla, chocolate,
or strawberry "milks." (but probably not the plain unflavored ones).

6) Up until the age of 9, children's bitter-sensing tastebuds are more
active than adults, so things that taste good to an adult, may taste bitter
to them.  For this reason things like cranberry juice might not taste as
good to them as mixed berry juices, ginger ale, and the other foods and
juices that children usually like.  He may be more sensitive to this at the
present as well.

7) You can also try reading him a really interesting(but not real stressful
or scary) new to him book that you only read while he is actively eating
(which I would define as at least one bite per page).

8) As the medications work, he will feel better each day, so things that
weren't very appealing one day may be more so the next.

9) Things that he likes the flavor of, but that are too scratchy, can be
made better by blending.  For instance if you make fried chicken without the
skin and a peeled baked potato (or for other noncongested kids, mashed
potatoes work), you can blend them into a thick soup that tastes just like
fried chicken.  If you like you can add some additional flavorless oil (or
for noncongested kids whole milk) to it for more calories, just stir well
before serving a portion. Thin with a bit of water as necessary to make it
easy to swallow.

Sharon
gordonse at one.net