18 m/o doesn't want to eat, only drink

[Gabi1023]

Our 18 m/o daughter has suddenly stopped wanting solid foods and only wants juice and water.  She is teething at the moment, but we have been giving her teething tablets for the pain.  She will eat crackers, or some banana sometimes but not like before, plus she is very clingy to mom and crying a lot.  Could all of this be related to the teething? Thank you

[cath~]

Yes, it could well be.  The canines are horrible

Would she take a smoothie or a fruit and yoghurt ice lolly?

[Proud Mammy]

Quite possibly, it is all linked to teething.
I know you've said you're giving her tablets for teething, are they pain meds or homeopathic remedy? We've found with both the boys, they appear to get great relief from the homeopathic remedy.

Have you tried any of the following?:
*Freeze fruit and give her that to eat. It'll mean she gets vitamins and food, but because they are frozen, they should numb her gums and allow her to manage to eat some more.

*Give pain meds about 20 mins in advance of a meal. That way they'll have taken effect when she goes to eat.

*If she if getting relief from the crunch of crackers, etc - maybe try some cheese/ nut butter on top to make it more substantial. You could also try some other "crunchy" textured foods. I slice potatoes thinly and put them under the grill - crunchy, healthy, potaoes.

Maybe try smoothies, there are lots of recipes that you can pop in some spinach/ kale/ carrots/ beet root/ etc so it would be nutrient-rich but not tough on her poor gums.

Would any of those be a go-er do you think?
My dad always says that teething is so unfair - "all that pain & then the teeth all fall out again"

Posted with cathn:)

[creations]

My dad always says that teething is so unfair

I'm with your dad - teething is the PITS! Awful awful awful, why do our little loves have to go through so much pain!

Mine liked bread sticks to crunch on when he was teething, like the crackers he seemed to get some comfort from the hardness on his gums.  His food intake went right down and I just gave him whatever he wanted (still healthy but not really balanced), so he got more sultanas and fruit for several days.
Will she have milk rather than juice?
Great advice from pp. Pain meds before meals can help but sometimes you have to decide if you want the meds for eating or sleeping.

Tracy's tip was a clean wet muslin put in the freezer, let them chew on that.

When the worst has passed she will likely eat your fridge clean to make up for the missed meals.

[Proud Mammy]

I still use Tracey's trick of the muslin!!
I cut up muslin squares to half size of face cloth. Then dip half of it into EBM and then lie them out flat to freeze. Both boys get great relief from that too.
Hope the tooth makes an appearance soon and gives some relief.

[Gabi1023]

Great suggestions, we have not tried most of those.  What is muslin, and what is EBM?  She will eat crackers, yogurt, juice, milk, a little pasta, we have not tried fruit smoothies or anything like that, but that seems like a good idea.  We give her homeopathic teething pills, usually 3 of them before meals and before bed. They seem to help her, although she still declines to eat a lot of the foods she liked before. 

[weaver]

Her tummy might be a bit funny with the teething too, particularly at that age, perhaps her molars are coming in.

Soups can be good too, if she likes dipping, then perhaps she'd dip some bread and get some nourishment from the soup.  Breadsticks and hummus are great too, if she is enjoying breadsticks.  Cucumber's a good one too, straight from the fridge, cooling and a bit crunchy.

EBM is expressed breast milk.  A muslin is a piece of light cloth that lots of mamas carry about to mop up spills etc, and often babies adopt them as lovies.

[Proud Mammy]

Muslin is just a cloth. EBM is expressed breast milk.

Smoothies just struck me that  at least you could make them nutrient dense and it would relieve a little of the worry for you.

Oops! Posted with weaver

[creations]

If you don't have muslin cloths you can use a cotton terry face cloth, or any clean cotton cloth.

[Gabi1023]

Thank you for all of the suggestions and help.