worried about babys intake of food

[xxkaty23xx]

My baby boy is 1year in under a week and he is nowhere near eating the amount of food other children his age are, i mentioned to my health visitor that i thought he wasnt eating enough but she seemed very uninterested and said he was fine with his milk, he is now on full fat cows milk and refuses to eat anything he just wants his bottles, he has 9oz bottle at breakfast and i can sometimes talk him into eating maybe one mouthful of cereal and a bite of toast, he then has another 9oz bottle 2hrs later then goes for a nap, he then wakes and i try for 4hrs to coax him into eating something and he very rarely does and if he does it is only maybe one mouthful of something then he has a 9oz bottle before bedtime, im really worried as my 1st baby took to solids brilliantly and he has a great appetite still at 27months old, i have tried cutting out his bottles to make him hungry so he will eat something but he refuses and i end off giving in, i have tried as many different vatieties of food i can possibly think of but nothing works, im out of ideas, i hope someone can help!

[Michaela's Mom]

I have the same problem with my 8 month old. She weaned herself from the breast at 5 months when i introduced cereal and bottle purees. Last month i introduced yoghurt which she loved. For the last two weeks however, she has stopped eating the purees - just closes her mouth and refuses to eat it, then last week, she suddenly went off the yoghurt as well - so now the only solids shes's eating is her cereal! She's such a healthy lo, and i don't want this to affect her health!

Her top gums are a little swollen and have been bothering her somewhat - could this be the cause?

Sharon

[xxkaty23xx]

Well my eldest tended to go off his solids when he was teething so its very likely that could be the problem, he used to go back to them once his gums had settled though. But my little one has been like this since he was 5months old he liked solids for 2days then changed his mind, it feels like hes trying to stay a baby for as long as possible as he isnt interested at learning to stand alone or walk either 

[Tamara]

Firstly - big deep breaths - in and out.

Your LO is ok, he will learn to stand and walk - there is NO RUSH, repeat after me, there is no rush 

Re: the eating.

Instead of witholding his bottles - why not cut them down to 6/7oz initially???  If you give him a 9oz bottle - I don't think you can expect him to eat  - his belly will be full.  (9oz is a pretty hefty amount - try thinking about how big his belly acutally is in comparison to a 9oz bottle). 

Try feeding him his breakfast first, bottle second, or if he's too desperate for his bottle to try his solids, then a 3/4oz bottle then half and hour or so later, his brekkie.

DO NOT, i repeat, DO NOT compare his food intake to other children AT ALL.  Everyone's different.  Heck, when our friend with her 8 month old came to stay - I can guarentee you that he ate at least 4 times more than DD did at that age, to be honest, he ate more than she does now, and she's 3!!!  But she's healthy, not losing weight.

You cannot MAKE him eat - so try your very best not too stress.  If he starts losing weight, then perhapsyou could start seeking help.

Try reducing his milk intake (although keep his overall luid intake up in this hot weather  ) and keep us posted

[xxkaty23xx]

i have tried cutting down his milk to 7oz but he screams himself purple until he gets more and even sometimes does it after a 9oz bottle, i tried cups but he refuses to use them and just wants bottles, ive been trying to get him to take to sippy cups since he was 6months old and he still doesnt like them. I will however continue trying to get him to eat but i dont hold out much hope  he is a very clingy baby and he doesnt like change of any sort i attempted to change the colour of his cot sheet last week and he screamed blue murder when i left him alone, so i had to go out and buy more yellow sheets. He will not sleep unless he has a certain teddy in the bottom of his cot, and he will not take a bottle unless he is sitting on my knee still being nursed, its as if he doesnt want to grow up, its his 1st birthday tomorrow but it feels like i just have an extremely large newborn to take care of still

[xxkaty23xx]

i've tried those too and i get the same reaction, my doctor just said keep trying and that there isnt a whole lot more he can do and to watch and if he starts refusing bottles too then take him to casualty, but apparently he can survive on cows milk until he realises its more fun to eat real food, but i dont see how a 1year old baby can survive on just milk

[Lucysmom]

Hi -

I thought you might be interested in reading this thread I started back in April.  https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=59287.0

I was dealing with similar issues and it was hard feeling like no one understood or could help.  I hope that reading the posts is some comfort to you.

With your ds being so very sensitive from the sounds of it, you might want to investigate that avenue further and see if he has any sensory issues that might be impeding his ability/willingness to eat.  It might be worthwhile to take a look at the growth and development board and perhaps make contact with the moderators (maggieruth and lilah's mom).  Maggieruth was the first to bring up sensory issues with Lucy that could be affecting her eating.  As it turns out that was not the cause of her refusal, it was behavioral.  But still, it was a valid area to investigate just in case.

Also, I recently bought a book online called Poor Eaters:  Helping Children Who Refuse to Eat by Joel Macht.  It really helped me learn more about food refusal in children and made me feel less alone.  I would definitely recommend it as I had many "Aha!" moments while reading it. 

Many HUGS to you.  I know how hard it is and I am more than willing to offer support and listen. 

[xxkaty23xx]

Thank you! I read the posts and its nice to know i'm not the only one who has had this worry!

[Mum of girl, boy, boy]

Just throwing something out there. I once read that bottle fed babies can cry after their bottles. I can't remember if it was a bw thing or not but the advice was to offer a dummy after the feed, I know a few friends of mine would unscrew the bottle (to avoid taking the air down) and offer the teat to suck on. The theory was that the baby hadn't had enough sucking time it wasn't actually about the food. I know your lo is a lot older but it might be worth a try.

I don't have any experience with this particular problem but I do know both my children are complete opposite eaters. DD likes her food. Screams the house down if hungry. Gets really fusywhen teething or it's really hot and might not eat for a few days. DS can take it or leave it. Goes ages between feeds/solids but doesn't go off his food as much as was DD did. I was constantly worrying about her food (still am). There is nothing worse than trying to work her out. Somedays she'll attempt news foods the next day it was be the cause of a complete tantrum.

You really aren't alone with your worries. I hope you can work through it soon.

Good luck.

J

[maggieruth]

i haven't been able to get onto the boards all day yesterday but have been trying to get a reply down!  so sorry that you are struggling with your youngest ds.  his dislike of change must make things difficult! 
will he take any other liquid from a bottle?  is it only milk he wants?  and no milk from a sippy cup?  does he want to play with food?  is he very fussy about who holds him and how? 
i often see older children with sensory issues and dislikeing change is something that often happens when children find sensations difficult, hence all my crazy questions.  i know you read my sensory ramble on the other topic and if you want to explore it anymore i would be happy to talk with you about it.  you might already be pretty sure that it definately isn't that so i will wait to hear more...

[xxkaty23xx]

i haven't been able to get onto the boards all day yesterday but have been trying to get a reply down!  so sorry that you are struggling with your youngest ds.  his dislike of change must make things difficult! 
will he take any other liquid from a bottle?  is it only milk he wants?  and no milk from a sippy cup?  does he want to play with food?  is he very fussy about who holds him and how? 
i often see older children with sensory issues and dislikeing change is something that often happens when children find sensations difficult, hence all my crazy questions.  i know you read my sensory ramble on the other topic and if you want to explore it anymore i would be happy to talk with you about it.  you might already be pretty sure that it definately isn't that so i will wait to hear more...

He actually is fussy about who holds him, he only lets me, his dad and his grandad come near him, if you are holding him whilst standing he likes to be facing you and if he is sitting on your knee he only allows you to hold him sitting sideways so he can see the person who has him, he will drink juice out of a normal cup with you helping him but wont drink anything other than milk through a bottle, he will play with food and throw it about but he just wont eat anything, he ate 2mouthfuls of weetabix today and i was so chuffed but thats all ive been able 2 coax him into eating so far