How Do You Feed a Kid Who Can't Eat?

Whether due to bad health or bad teeth, or both, getting food into Jesse was a puzzler for a long time.
When he first got sick, the big problems were the exhaustion and his GI tract not being right. He could chew a celery stick, for instance, but the energy it took was astonishing. He could only eat very small amounts for a long time. Apparently his stomach couldn't handle much all at once.
After he came home from the hospital, when we still thought he was recovering from a severe flu, we weren't surprised at his level of fatigue. I would check on him in his bed, every half hour or so (we were scared). I would get a little food into him every hour or so. Four apple slices, and water. Two quarters of a sandwich (sometimes he even ate them both) and more water. Three baby carrots, and more water. Chicken noodle soup and a few crackers. He had a few favourites and I fixed those often.
This level of (non)healing went on for many months, and got stuck there. So I kept up the surveillance, continued to fix his food, continued to monitor whether he ate it or not, and worried alot.
I doled out omega3 oil capsules, Vitamin C chewables, Siberian ginseng, and I don't know what all else back then. Did they help? Probably. Was it noticeable? Sometimes ... and sometimes not.
Much later teeth became the issue, especially having a root canal needing a crown yet, and another tooth with a temporary filling while the medication in the tooth hopefully does its magic. Essentially he can't chew on either side of his mouth, but he says he's found a way to eat. Before that expertise arrived though, it was a dicey situation, for both of us. He couldn't eat and I couldn't feed him properly, which was a real problem considering he was also sick and needed nutrition.
I made stuff that he wasn't crazy about at first. I told him that he might have to eat stuff he didn't like. It was necessary. He accepted that and proceeded to eat stuff that he would never have chosen himself.
I made stews. I would cook chicken parts until they pretty much disintegrated, and add gravy to it. He's put this glorified sauce on a piece of bread, and basically swallow it without chewing. I'd toss on some peas (like six of them, that's all he could handle at a time).
I'd cook a pot roast or stewing beef, till it was beyond tender. I'd throw diced potatoes and carrots into the pot with alot of liquid and cook it all down. He could eat this, was getting some nutrients, and to his surprise he got to like it.
He could eat hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. Not the greatest nutrition but we worked with a limited roster. I bought boxes of frozen two-ounce hamburgers, so thin that Jesse could eat them.
Cucumber slices were okay, so were cooked green or yellow beans, and broccoli. Occasionally scrambled eggs, with some ham or cheese, but too often would make him feel sick.
Pasta with fairly small noodles, and later with spaghetti, and my home-made sauce, with Parmesan sprinkled on top soon came on the list.
Recently, he graduated to pizza.
To Jesse, this was definitely a step in the right direction.

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