Answer Summary

Members rallied around a parent struggling to help their underweight 5-year-old with moderate autism gain weight, offering creative solutions... Read more

Members rallied around a parent struggling to help their underweight 5-year-old with moderate autism gain weight, offering creative solutions to work around extreme pickiness and sensory sensitivities. Several members suggested mixing unflavored protein or collagen powder into tolerated foods, blending Carnation or Pediasure with ice cream to improve palatability, adding calorie-dense milk powder to regular milk with flavoring like Nesquik, and allowing some junk food when a child simply won't eat healthier options. A recurring theme was the shared frustration of balancing nutrition with a child's limited food acceptance, the importance of consulting medical professionals when growth becomes concerning, and the understanding that sometimes getting calories in any form is better than none at all.