Autism?

Hi, I’m slightly concerned with my daughter and I was wondering if some moms may have advice for me to see if it’s even worth bringing up to her pediatrician. My daughter has regressed from food tremendously. She will only eat food that is pureed, fruit, crackers, chips, or sometimes pizza or pb&j. That’s it. She won’t eat pasta, meat, mashed potatoes, chicken fingers etc. But anytime she wakes up, or we get somewhere, literally all the time, she says “eat eat” or “juice” and she’ll continuously say it and “please”, so I’ll give her something and she won’t want it, she will look at a food and cry and turn her head without even having to attempt to try it. Sometimes we’ve had to forcibly put it in her mouth for her to be like oh! This is good (it was a small brownie piece). She also does terribly with being around strangers. She will just look at people super disgusted and won’t engage with them. I guess our main focus/freak out is her eating. I mean she’s 18 months and is 19lbs.. has anyone had this issue with autism or am I overthinking this ??

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I wouldn't stress yet. Stranger danger and picky eating are very normal at this age. I would encourage you to try play and exploration with new foods, and keep low pressure around actually trying them. And I'd probably offer at least one safe food with every new food

But my daughter is definitely getting more picky in her eating lately, too. And usually takes several hours to warm up to new people

I thought his article was helpful, too! https://solidstarts.com/when-to-seek-help-picky-eating/

Something else that helps our little eat is trying it in a new environment/new way. Maybe in a bowl outside or from a fun cup or something? Low pressure, we just put it in front of her and let her lead.

Less likely to be autism if it's just changes in eating. Fyi, there is something called arfid https://www.waldeneatingdisorders.com/blog/6-differences-between-picky-eating-and-avoidant-restrictive-food-intake-disorder-arfid/

My son is in a phase that he literally needs to be STARVING to eat girl. Its stressful and gets me so worried. Pediatrician is not worried though because he keeps growing and is healthy. Is your daughter losing weight or she is following her own curve?

I’ve read that at this age kids start to get ‘pickier’.. my daughter is going through something similar but slightly less intense than your daughter. Stranger danger also increases at this age. Any person my daughter doesn’t know gets a death stare when they first meet. This doesn’t sound like autism to me, I wouldn’t worry!

@Elizabeth my friends daughter has ARFID, so I’ve been asking her questions as well. I think I’m just over worrying

Thank you all for the extremely helpful reassurance and advice!

@Ana Moore she’s stayed consistent at 18/19 lbs for a few months now. She’s getting taller and acts “normal” as far as milestones

It's understandable! I'm an audhd momma.... And I think little buddy might be on the spectrum. He's a great eater, but he definitely has some sensory differences, it seems

Seems like just normal phases, that are very stressful when they happen. My daughter had the same issues with food a month or two ago for a while and I was stressing so hard but she like bounced out of it.

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