Suggestions to help Mum eat

[jude50]

Has anyone any suggestions of things I could try to help mum eat. As I have said in previous posts Mum has had a down turn in her vasD and she looks at food as if she's not quite sure what to do. She also finds softer food easier to eat. I do try to prompt her and they do help her at the Day Centrewhere she has a cooked 2 course lunch but has anyone any advice on I can give her when I get home from work .instead of just sandwiches.

Thanks

Jude

 

[legolover]

we use the meal delivery service W.... Farm foods and it works really well. THey do a lot of soft choices in the basic range and even complete puree meals too. They seem really tasty when I try them. Takes about 10 mins to heat up in the microwave so she has one every evening, husband pops in on the way home from work to do it

 

[tre]

I find sometimes it can either be the texture or the amount is offputting. The little ready meals that are designed for small children seem to be acceptable but I do not tell my husband he is having childrens dinners. I have also found that although he used to not care for sweet food that this is now acceptable. I found he was not drinking his coffee and without telling him I have put a spoon of sugar in and now it gets drunk. It seems the AD affects the sense of taste.
Tre
Tre

 

[Nebiroth]

Indeed it does - it's a very common theme on here to read that tastes can dramatically change and nine times out of ten that change is towards sweet things.

 

[jude50]

Dear all

thanks for that and it's probably why Mum isn't drinking her tea as she never used to have sugar in it. I'll try it with a spoonful and see how we go and I never thought about childrens meals and the adults are too big for her appetite.

Jude

 

[alicejude]

Hi Jude, my mum loved anything sweet, ready brek with milk and lots of sugar, pureed vegatable soups and stew's, ice cream with full fat cream, and lots of chocolate bun's and cakes. I found that when she was no longer interested in foods if I put the soups, ice cream and porridge in a beaker she would drink it,( obviously not all together ) if she was spoon fed she would spit it out. xx

 

[Jerrie]

Getting My spouse to eat

I have run across the same problem with my husband. If its sweet and soft, he'll eat it. I spoke with the doctor because of my concern that he was not getting any nutrients from what little he ate and he advised to give him either Ensure or Boost. He really likes the chocolate shakes and I know he is getting some vitamins. I knew the taste buds changed but the texture of the food can affect their eating? I wasn't aware of that.

It is nice to read that other people are having the same problems that you are. I've known for a year my husband had the early stages of demenitia and it was a really big blow expecially since my mother passed away just two years ago from it. This is much harder.

 

[FifiMo]

I think if the person is losing weight through stopping eating then it is a case of getting nutrition into them, ANY nutrition. You could think of...

Home made custard made with full fat milk and evaporated milk. Serve on its own or with bananas etc. If chocolate is preferred then look in the supermarkets because you can buy chocolate blamange powder instead of custard powder.

Home made rice pudding, made with full fat milk, cream, add some sultanas etc.

Bread and butter pudding, with cream and eggs and sultanas in it.

Ice cream with tinned fruit. You could put this in a meringue shell to boost calories.

Jelly and fruit. If making jelly at home then you could add a small can of evaporated milk then top up to the 1pint with water as normal. This will set in two halves with ordinary jelly underneath and cream jelly on top.

Home made trifle would give the jelly and some sponge and custard and cream.

Tapioca pudding - make with full fat milk - or buy it ready canned then add some cream to it when heating it up. This might be one of those foods, which although not popular today, is eaten heartily as it harkens back to childhood.

Banana sandwiches on soft white bread.

If some savoury food will be eaten then you could try something like mashed potato with gravy - make the mash with butter and cream to boost the calories. If this is tolerated then you could another day make cheesy mash by grating in some cheese.

Soup, home made soup is good and if you get a stick blender then it can be made smooth. The lazy way that I make mine is that I buy a roast chicken from the supermarket hot food counter - take it home - put it in large pot of water and boil for hours to get the goodness out - strain that into another pot (don't do as I did once and strain it down the sink!), then add vegetables (onions carrot and swede) together with some red lentils - boil until cooked, then blitz with stick blender, season to taste. Make a big batch and then freeze it in small portions. You could serve it with a swirl of cream for added calories.

Beans on toast (or on a slice of buttered bread if chewing is a problem).

Macaroni cheese (i'd make my own so i can boost the calories - the canned stuff is vile).

For added protein you could add ground almonds as a topping to rice puddings etc. Check also whether reason for not eating is because food is not salty enough. This was my mother's problem because she was from the "pile the salt in" generation.

Hope this helps,

Fiona
x

 

[jude50]

You are all brilliant. Thanks for the great ideas and as it's now snowing quite heavily I found some pudding rice so it's a rice pudding for tea. snow forecast to turn to rain though in cardiff. Hope everyone else is warm and snug.

Jude

 

[Darcy]

Hi jude. My mother has Alzheimers. She is now in late stages, almost stopped eating entirely, so been where you are. You could try soups. We started wit Big Soups and then heinz tomato etc, scrambled, boiled or poached eggs. Fish pie, shepherd pie. Also made cheese and potato pie with mashed potato. Also gave finger foods as she lost the abiity to eat with a knife and fork. Finger foods.

Has anyone any suggestions of things I could try to help mum eat. As I have said in previous posts Mum has had a down turn in her vasD and she looks at food as if she's not quite sure what to do. She also finds softer food easier to eat. I do try to prompt her and they do help her at the Day Centrewhere she has a cooked 2 course lunch but has anyone any advice on I can give her when I get home from work .instead of just sandwiches.

Thanks

Jude

 

[hollycat]

Years ago we had this problem with dad.

We tried various methods and the one that seemed to work the best for us was food that SMELT LESS, LESS SMELLY.

e.g. Cold rice pudding instead of heated in a pan or microwave.

Cold soup instead of hot soup.

It really is a shot in the dark as I have never read anything about this.

This is going to sound terrible, but my hubby would make himself a sandwich and sit and eat it in front of dad. When dad saw him eating, hubby would have a spare plate under his own and would split his sandwiches with dad. Would then of course make somemore.

Because dad seemed to have it in for any ladies in the house (me and mum) we found he would mentally respond better to a male encouraging him to do things.

While mum and I were in town hubby would pretend to steal the likes of maltesers and eat them before the wicked witches got back (dad called us wicked witches).

Again, I have not read this from any book, just sharing a different approach.

It might seem like playing mind games, some may even say cruel but it worked for us.

The other thought is, do our loved ones need to be taught how to eat ?

Do they loose the reasoning ability of why to eat ?

Do they loose the functionality of eating ?

Hope these questions may provide a few more answers from others with more experience.

 

[Margaret W]

It is similar with late-stage cancer sufferers. Sweet, salty and soggy seems to work. You don't have to spend hours cooking, though the idea suggeste by FifiMo are good ones, i.e. half supermarket and half home added ingredients to get the nutrition levels up.

Trifle is a good one - tinned or fresh fruit in the jelly, plus a jam swiss roll, custard with full fat milk, and double cream on top.

Scrambled eggs with finely chopped ham, cheese and chopped tomatoes, just on its own, no toast unless mum likes toast.

Bread, cheese and milk soaked and heated, with maybe added cream. A pinch of cinnamon or a clove might add flavour.

Soups - all kinds - with lentils added for protein and flavour, you can't find them once they are absorbed into the soup - and grated cheese on top.

If you don't want to cook from scratch, cheese is a tasty addition to a lot of canned soups or mixed with sardines. Tuna and mayonnaise.

Maybe three small courses will work - soup, tuna and mayonnaise, trifel. Only a little of each.

Hope it helps.

Love

Margaret

 

[SWMBO1950]

My mother went off her food........................

.....but after treatment for a bowel blockage followed by a chest infection I think we have turned a corner.

However during this time she would always eat the pudding!! Bananas & custard, trifle, jam rolly poly and custard et al. If that is what she would finish then so be it. She would also always enjoy Heinz chicken noodle soup so that was another staple.

Good luck

Has anyone any suggestions of things I could try to help mum eat. As I have said in previous posts Mum has had a down turn in her vasD and she looks at food as if she's not quite sure what to do. She also finds softer food easier to eat. I do try to prompt her and they do help her at the Day Centrewhere she has a cooked 2 course lunch but has anyone any advice on I can give her when I get home from work .instead of just sandwiches.

Thanks

Jude

 

[Nels]

Any ideas/help would be appreciated. Mum has not been well since Christmas, the chest infections have cleared but she is not eating, she will take a couple of mouthfuls of jelly, rice pudding etc, a couple of sips of tea/juice. She is having complan, and we are managing to get half a sachet into her, sometimes the other half later in the day. She is very sleepy and wobbly, now needs to be moved around in a wheelchair. Her INR level is up and down also but seems to be going the right way at present. Very withdrawn, although when I did her nails today and gave her a manicure she did smile. Just keeps saying why am I here?

 

[Aquamanda]

Could you try different flavours of build up drinks to see if there is anything she likes? They will have plenty of calories etc which would be useful as well as the Complan.