My Baby has stopped eating!

[robynv]

I recently started my 5 1/2 month old baby on food.  He is doing ok with the food but he has stopped drinking his bottles.  He used to take 6oz at a feed and now I am lucky to get him to take 2oz.  I am not worried about him becoming malnourished as he is over 22lbs but it is sooooo frustrating. 

Has anyone else experienced this?  He is not on a schedule right now but we are starting the EASY method tomorrow.  Hopefully it will help.

[taygensmom]

How much food is he taking? He really needs all or almost all of his nutrition via milk right now. Any solids should be limited in amount and only supplemental. Even if he is over 22 lbs it is not healthy for him to only be taking 2 oz. per feed when he was taking 6 oz. How much is he taking of milk per 24 hour period? I would really recommend limited how much he gets of the solids and giving solids only 1 time per day and right after a milk feed (as opposed to before a feed or 1-2 hrs after a feed) as this will increase his motivation for liquids.

[Freya'sMum]

Ditto to the pp - your lo is still very young and right at the beginning of his solid food journey, and even if he loves his solids foods, what he actually needs is milk, milk and more milk!

At this age, milk has all of the nutrition a baby needs, solid food really has few of the nutrients he needs for his health and development, so you introduce them just so he gets to learn about different tastes and textures, and to develop his oral muscles and skills!

He needs to fill up on milk, then you could offer him a small amount of solid food just after his milk feed, so that he's digested a bit of milk to make room for a bit of solid food, but not so he 'eats' too much and then isn't hungry for his next milk feed!

Once a day, probably after his mid-morning bottle, is a good time to offer him this solid food - you do it early in the day so that you can keep an eye out for any allergic reactions throughout the day, and so that if his tummy doesn't cope well with what you offer, it doesn't disrupt his night sleep too much!

If you are offering your ds significantly more solid food than this, or more often in the day, I would seriously consider reducing the amount and frequency until his milk intake increases again!

HTH?

Ax

[robynv]

I pretty much stopped the solids when he stopped drinking his formula.  He is taking about 24 oz in a 24 hour period.  I have tried to encourage him to take more but it is not working.  I guess as long as he is not losing weight, we are ok.

Thanks for all the information.  I appreciate all the help.  I will keep trying 

[Freya'sMum]

24oz in 24 hours is fine! The recommendation is for between 20 and 30oz in 24 hours, all babies appetites vary!

Ax

[mayas-mama]

i started my 4mo on cereal early cause a cold was making it hard for her to bottle feed.  anyways, now at 5mo, she has been eating so much less of her bottle.  she too went from 6oz to 3.5 oz. you're not alone!!  thanks to freyasmum, i too will try giving the cereal after the bottle instead of before.  but will there be any room for cereal after? how do you know when to switch? after the whole bottle?

[Freya'sMum]

Mayas-mama,

When you say switch, do you mean go back to solid foods before bottle? If so, this isn't until around 9-10months, when the quantities of milk and solid foods even themselves out a bit!

Most parents offer the solid foods about 30-60 minutes after the milk feed, so enough has been digested for her tummy to have some space for a bit more, but not too much space so that she fills right up again and then isn't interested in her next milk feed!

4 months is currently considered very young to be beginning to offer solid foods (altho I know that this was common practice a few generations ago) - your dd really has no nutritional need for her cereal, so if you wish to continue to offer it to her, a small amount very infrequently is sufficient!

Ax