Doctor Evka's Feeding Handbook about Children with Limited Diets

Dr Kamilah Marie (PIvot & Bloom podcast) joins me today, and this episode is so good. It talks about how we can turn to unhealthy eating habits when we are under stress. Many of us experience stress when we have a child with reflux, excess crying, food allergies, FPEIS, feeding challenges, or other special needs. This episode also talks about how we can break free of out not-so-healthy diets more easily. It talks about how certain diet plans can be used as medicine for both our brains and our bodies. This episode is jam packed with information, and I certainly hope you listen to it. .

Many children though to have reflux may actually have something else going on. This is especially true if we are discussing pathological reflux. We are not talking about those children who spit up or hiccup every once in a while.  If a young child has vomiting, excessive crying, and weight changes, we are not talking about run-of-the-mill reflux. We are talking about something else. Let us discuss the very definition of reflux as well as some of these mimickers of reflux. If you have been told that your child has reflux, listen up very closely. Free list of diagnoses that mimic reflux: https://www.doctorevka.com/refluxy-diagnoses/ Free course on histamine blockers which are used in reflux: https://www.doctorevka.com/free/

Some of us were highly successful professionals before we decided to leave the workforce in order to help care for our children. We spent time with them in hospitals, attended therapy appointments, or took care of their special needs. Whether they had significant feeding challenges, severe food allergies, or something else, our priorities became our children. What if things have gotten easier now? We want to reenter the work force. What are some ways to do that? Join me with the founder of Maven CEO - Dr Ronke Dosunmu - a pediatrician and serial entrepreneur. We discuss this career transition.

Patience can be so hard. Day in and day out our children say mean things to us, ask us to feed them a specific food but then do not eat any of it, make a mess without cleaning up, or talk back to us. How do you not go nuts when your child is losing their bananas? Let's discuss. What's your secret to making it all work for you?

I want to provide a better definition of colic when it comes to your baby. Let us break colic down into a definition like the following. First, colic is prolonged, frequent, and persistent crying of a specific character in an otherwise healthy infant (baby).  Second, colic is an uncommon group of behaviors with a characteristic pattern that is seen in young infants (babies) who may become hypertonic. It is poorly understood. 

Sometimes the words that we use can make a big difference. Sometimes, what we say can make a huge negative difference, and sometimes it works in the opposite way. You get a positive result.  Let''s discuss what the secure attachment style is and how to help foster it. Let's figure out how to help your child to develop a relationship around food and feeding that is based upon this secure attachment style. A relationship that is positive and that will help move them forward on their fooding journey where they are learning to recognize their love of good, nutritious food!

When most of us go into parenting, we have a very specific goal in mind: not to irrevocable screw up our children. There's no perfect way to parent, but parents tend to fall into four different types of parenting: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved. I gave you examples of the permissive (this) and authoritarian (that) parent. Now imagine how they handle feeding?

Researchers say that they have found a link between ADHD, autism, and allergies - especially food allergies. Some people link this to the role of mast cells, macrophages,and other immune cells. I want to discuss that controversial topic further. If your young child has food allergies, are they more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD or an autism spectrum disorder in the future?

Workplace bullying is on the rise, and one of the groups most likely to be bullied is parents who need to also be present for their children. When you have a demanding child and a child with special needs, food allergies, or significant feeding challenges, you may face bullying. What do you do about it? We have Adam Harrison (a physician turned lawyer and life coach) with us today to discuss this very topic.

Children with food allergies, picky eaters who drool, and babies with feeding tubes are prone to rashes. Today I bring on a dermatologist to talk all about what you can do about your baby's rashes and share some interesting tidbits. We talk about sensitive skin even in the context of a diaper rash. https://www.doctorevka.com/commonbabyrash/. The guest is Dr Steffi Campbell (derminabox.net)

Want to know the ins and out of the medication epinephrine? It's used for IgE mediated food allergic reaction. It's also known as adrenaline and is produced naturally by the body when a bear is chasing you. Listen to useful tidbits all about the epinephrine that might have been prescribed to your child.

Both food allergies and reflux in babies can be associated with vomiting. However, some people say that food allergies and reflux are not related. A more accurate statement is that the vomiting in these conditions can be due to different mechanisms. Let's discuss more about this vomiting.

Parental intuition is real. It can be a good idea to trust your intuition as a parent, and here is why. What's the scientific explanation behind intuition, and how can it really help you to parent your child?

Let's talk about your child's five love languages. Let's define the way that your child most wants to receive love from you. As parents or as mothers whose children have challenges around food or feeding, I also want to discuss how a child that feels loved may be more amenable to feeding.  

Caregivers of children with food allergies, feeding challenges, or other special needs get bullied. Find out how.. I surveyed mothers in multiple groups about their experiences with bullying when their children have special needs.

If you ask me what the Super Bowl and American football have to do with feeding and food-related challenges, think food. Lots of it being consumed while watching television for hours and enjoying the game... or the commercials... all of it! There's excitement in the air, and I will spend this episode talking about what the football game and the very act of becoming a football player in the NFL have to do with your child's feeding. The one paragraph to sum it up that the life doesn't always turn out how you would predict even after you have achieved a particular goal. When you get to that place where you think you have achieved success and life doesn't quite turn out like you expect, you have choices to make about what you will do. Some of those choices may surprise you, but don't make those choices out of fear. The fear of the unknown can be worse than reality. Not always but often enough... 

Let's talk about the mealtime table and the importance of a family eating meals together. For some, eating a meal with the family has changed in meaning since COVID-19 started. Regardless of this, there are multiple reasons why families are told to eat together.. You and your child sharing a meal!  

Your child has food allergies. Does having a food allergy affect mealtime behavior? Are children with food allergies more likely to not like eating, become picky eaters, not want to go to the mealtime table, or show a low appetite?

Answers to popular questions that moms with young children might find important about the COVID-19 vaccine and COVID-19. Two COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the United States: Moderna and Pfizer-Biontech. What are some common questions that local moms have about the vaccines? Remember that I am sharing information that can change as we learn more about the vaccine, and I am not your doctor. This is for informational purposes only and includes some of my personal opinions.

Your child eats so slowly that you often wonder, "Is there such a thing as a slow eating disorder?" You research the question, "How long should it take for a toddler to eat?" and discover that your child is taking way too long to eat. Your child eats more way more slowly than the 30 minutes that is considered to be a "normal" for finishing a meal. As you wonder whether your child is the world's slowest eater, you come up with two new questions. The first is question is, "How do I get my child to eat more quickly?" The second question is "How do I get my child into the Guinness World Records?" I want to explore this topic more! What does it mean when your child eats so slowly that it's like watching paint dry or grass grow? How do we define slow eating? What does slow eating mean about the child and their future? https://www.doctorevka.com/

At the beginning of the year, many of us make New Year's resolutions. Yet many of us don't make it through the whole year while holding on to these resolutions. Life gets in our way. What happens if you have all of these goals for this year, but it is hard to find the time to do them? I will give you one technique to reach more of your goals this year. This is even if your child only dream feeds, has a feeding tube, is an extremely picky eater, takes a long time to feed, or has other challenging mealtime behaviors. This technique can be used if you spend a lot of time at medical or therapy appointments. https://www.doctorevka.com/

What happens when your life makes a 180 degree turn? Prior to the birth of your baby, you worked a lot. The people who you saw the most - who made up your community - were the other people with whom you worked. Then your baby is born. Your baby has food allergies, colic, picky eating, a feeding tube, dream feeding, or so on. You have unexpectedly become a stay-at-home mom, or you spend so much time with your baby. How do you form that new community? How do you touch base with others who are having a similar experience to what you are? https://www.doctorevka.com/

Thank you for listening to my 10th episode! In this episode, we discuss the difference between being alone and being lonely. So many new parents feel lonely. In fact, it's been said that parenthood can be a busy time of profound loneliness when you are never alone. We discuss parents of children with picky eating, food allergies, challenging mealtime behavior, FPIES, diminished appetite, and other challenges around food. They can feel especially lonely. We discuss why and what can be done to help empower those who feel lonely. Great episode!

You know that your child has a medical diagnosis, a food allergy, FPIES, picky eating, or some other concerns around food. You try your best to help your child, and it feels like an uphill battle. You believe that your parent or other family member is trying to sabotage your efforts. They are in denial over the low appetite, the medical diagnosis, etc. They do not believe that your child is a picky eater. What do you do? You may want to please your parent or other family member, but you also want to protect your child.

How does your personality type affect your ability to handle stressful situations? What if you just left the hospital with your newborn baby and had difficulty with breastfeeding? What if the baby's doctor checked your baby's weight at the medical visit that happens right after leaving the hospital? What if the doctor was concerned about too much weight loss in our baby? What if you were given the diagnosis of failure to thrive? Now let's say that you are given 3 days to improve the baby's weight or your child goes back to the hospital. How would the personality types respond? The type A, type B, type C, and type D personality types might all respond differently. We will discuss each response and how it could affect outcome.

What happens when a mother gives birth to her baby and has difficulty with breast feeding? She may have the opportunity to see a lactation consultant in the hospital, but those visits might not go as planned. In today's episode, we explore the importance of lactation consultant visits as well as the pros and cons of seeing a lactation consultant in the hospital versus at home or in an office setting.

If your newborn says that your baby has lost too much birth weight, is the doctor right? What's considered to be "too much" weight loss? Why does weight loss in breastfed babies happen? What are the some of the medical complications of weight loss in babies?

What would you do if you just gave birth and were discharged from the hospital with breast feeding difficulties? Within a few days of discharge, you visit the baby's doctor who seems concerned about the baby's weight loss. You are told that unless the baby starts gaining weight within the next few days, you will be going back to the hospital with your baby.

Your child really needs to take a medication. You are keenly aware of what might happen if your child does not take the medication. However, your child just plainly refuses the medicine. What are you to do? How do you get a child to take a medicine when they do not want to? I will delve into this. I will discuss some of the reasons why young children refuse to take medication. I will also give you suggestions on how to help your child take a medication even if there is refusal around taking it.

Let's say that you have read tons of research papers about a specific medical diagnosis. You have gone to various websites that you believe are factually accurate and have compiled a list of research articles. You have read like there's no tomorrow. Now what? Are you good when it comes to your or your child's diagnosis?   Let's say this another way. You now have some idea of where you can get your medical information. This is not a fail proof formula as I can't predict which website you will wind up reading and what you will find. Plus, even if you had ALL of the most accurate information in the world, which is probably hard to find, you would still run into a problem. Even if you look at information from lots and lots of reliable sources, having that information doesn't necessarily mean that the information you have gathered will translate into insight.

Many of us use the internet all day long. I'm sure that many of us have tried to find all kinds of information through Wikipedia and other medical websites. The internet seems so exhaustive. The information is right there, but it might not be correct. What should we be using instead? Where are some other places online to look for information? Online search engines and online encyclopedias like Wikipedia contain a great deal of information. That's great. Who doesn't want to have a lot of information on their fingertips? The problem is that these places might not be medically accurate. You really need to read about the source of the writing. Is it someone with a doctoral level degree in medicine or science? Is it a doctor who's writing the article?  In this episode I will share with you three different places where I like to look for information.  

What I want you to focus on is fear. Here are some quotes from fear. This is fear of talking. Fear says, “What if there is not much more that you're able to do? What if the rest of the feeding therapy appointments will go poorly? No matter what you do, this fearful voice is going to be there, so how do you get rid of the fear if the fear isn't going anywhere. Today I want to talk to you about struggling through the fear. No matter how you would describe your situation, there's gotta be at least a little bit of fear going on…