Morgan is a fussy eater. Hell no - he has an eating disorder. There I've said it. It has been going on for so long now that we accept it as normal for him - but to an outsider he is by no means a normal eater and it is a recent event that has made me do something about his problems.

But - like anything - I need to start at the beginning. Morgan stopped having breastmilk when he was 16mths old. I was ill and I needed to wean him quickly. So with DH's help he went cold turkey for two nights and that was it. It wasn't as bad as it sounds - as he has already cut down to fairly infrequent feeds by then. But it was about this time that I noticed how fussy he had got. He had cut down to eating a limited amount of food which over the following few months went down further as his reliance on white carbohydrates and milk increased.

So now we are in the position - over 4 years on!!! - where his diet is extremely limited.

A day in the life of Morgan typically looks like this:

• Breakfast
• Cup of milk
• Chocolate Crispies and milk

• Break time at school
• Milk and packet of mini cheddars (refusing the fruit that they get offered)

• Lunch time
• Packed lunch of white-sided white bread and margerine sandwiches
• Water

• Snack when home from school
• Water and oatcakes

• Tea
  • Toast with margerine
  • Cup of milk

• Supper
  • Cup of milk
  • Rich tea biscuit

That's it - so he drinks over a pint of milk a day and eats lots of very white, very plastic bread. Very occasionally he will add in a yoghurt - but it has to be a certain type, colour and flavour.

Other things he would consider eating sometimes:
Bagels (white with marg in - not toasted)
Breadsticks (plain, no bits)
Ice-cream (plain vanilla)
Chocolate (milk or white - no bits)
Milky ways (usually after swimming)
Crusty baguette (the inside or the bottom bit - not the top half (too crusty))

Things he would not consider
Fruit
Veg
Meat/Fish
Pasta
Potatoes
Pizza
Chips
Crisps
Sweets - hardboiled/chewy sweets - except Chuppa Chup lollies
Fruit Juice

I've taken him to see the Doctor a couple of times but as his weight and height are fine they haven't recommended anything except seeing the Health Visitor (HV) and waiting to see if anything changes. I thought he might re-wean with Ruaridh - but 2 more kids down the line and he is still not interested. The HV came up with things I'd tried already. We have a vegetable patch here and Morgan is heavily involved in the planning, planting, gardening of it. We grow peas, onions, apples, damsons, herbs, peas, beans, rhubarb, potatoes, pears... and he loves it. But won't eat them. He cooks - loves it in fact - and is getting really good at it - but eat it? No way.

Anyway, last week - he had tea at a friend's house. They had sugar snap peas in and were having fun using them to make silly faces - eyebrows, moustaches and so on. But then the others started eating them and Morgan couldn't and began to get uncomfortable with the whole thing. My friend asked him why he didn't eat them and he couldn't tell her!

It seems to me that this is an oral problem Morgan has (for example he will not take any form of medicine despite knowing it is good for him when he is ill). I don't know why it has started but I feel he is finding it harder and harder to turn back. I went to see my new (lovely) Dr again this week and asked for a referral to a psychologist. I also have spoken to the School Nurse and this would have been her recommendation too. So hopefully we are moving this forward.

Oh - and while at the Doctors - he was weighed and is on the top 25% for height and weight - so it's not affecting his growth.

I just hope they can help.