Getting Back to Eating After Being Sick

How about blending up the food to liquify and then putting in a bottle. I have 4 children and
I do this with fruit for a nice drink or veggies when they were younger.
Today we use a juicer and have fresh carrot, beet, apple, etc juices. I have found this to also be a great way to get them their 9 a day, 5 veggies and 4 fruits.

shes only 8mo dont worry about her eating solids as most of her nutrition should still be from m. milk or formula. dont worry! when shes ready she will eat!!!!

I agree with Tonisha. I have 3 kids and all of them I would put the baby food in a bottle mixed with a little formula. Don't push it and give it time. If you force it they will not want it more. All most all babys LOVE yam or sweet potato, try the baby off with that. put some in the bottle with some breast milk or fomula and then slowly introduce it to her with a spoon and in a bowl. try feeding her a spoon or two of the baby food and try to get a one more spoon then the day before. But remember keep in MIND DO NOT FORCE IT OR THEY WILL NOT TAKE IT AND IT WILL CAUSE AN EATING DISORDER TRUST ME ON THAT ONE. Good luck.

I had the exact same problem with my son who is now 4. We ended up taking him to a nutritionist. She recommended we put Carnation Instant Breakfast in his formula (it's packed with vitamins and calories). She also recommended that we put as many fats and oils in whatever he would eat (for children under two, fats are necessary for brain growth). That helped keep him healthier while we worked on the eating. He did start eating more once he could have table food chopped up real fine. I think Gretchen's suggestion of mashed-up table food is a good idea, as this was what got our baby to eat as well. I think the baby food just tastes too bland.

Unfortunately, he's never been much of an eater and it's still a struggle. He's very small though as my husband's family are all really small people. I think maybe he just doesn't need as much to eat as other children his age. He definitely is incredibly energetic.

I started giving my 3 week old at the time baby food through her bottle. The early stage. That was my way of introducing her to the different types and for me to see which ones she liked. Eventually she started to eat it without a bottle. That was the trick also you could put her food in a bowl along with her formula just so that she could taste it and let her see you put it in her bowl. You would be surprised how smart they are at that age. I hope it works. It worked for me.

Now that the baby is better it is possible that now she's teething , I think that was part of the problem in the begining, you'll be surorised to know what kind of changes a baby go through while teething. Babies love sweet stuff. So...... you need to find something that is sweet but yet has the proper nutrition the baby needs. Try oatmeal, it's very healthy for the baby as well as it has a good taste. I don't know if this is a method you still use, most people don't think you should still heat the baby's food up, but you should warm it just a little bit. Exspecially when they are teehing they are afraid something is going to disturb their sensetive gums while they are teething.

I hope this helps
From P. A P.
Your Mamasource Sister

never tried the food in the bottle. i have six kids and they each have very different feeding patterns. my 17 month old twins love feeding themselves and it gets messy a lot. i end up doing hobo baths(strip them almost and wash them in the bathroom sink) most every meal these days.

one of my kids wouldn't eat more than a tablespoon of oatmeal and a tablespoon of applesauce until after 10 1/2 months. She's 5'10" and still growing. i never bought baby food except the cereals. and i usually mixed them with regular cereal, like cheerios. try cheerios and other foods that go mush pretty quick when mixed with saliva. my kids could gum a lot of foods. use maple syrup for sweetener if needed-it's a high source of calcium as well.
some of my early foods include
canned green beans
frozen peas
cheerios
bananas
canned pearspeaches-sliced into almost sticks, i would dry them a little with a paper towel if they were feeding themselves

i used a baby food grinder and ground up whatever meat we were eating, with some mashed potatoes. pretty quickly i could just shred it and they liked it that way.\

hopefully you'll get some easy to fix meals going. in the meantime, if your little one isn't fussy from being hungry try not to get too stressed. LaurieK

Not to judge, and if it worked for some... however, any pediatrician will tell you not to mix food in the bottle. Babies are inquisitive and will like a spoon - or they have little dippers, that small hands can hold on to - put some fruit or veggies in a bowl, and let her go - I agree - at 8 months 99% of their nutrition is in their formula - let them play - it makes a mess, but it will be more entertaining and a baby is more apt to eat - but don't push it. Good luck!

Dear C.,

Add oatmeal or cereal ( Dry) to her bottle. This way she will start to get food again.

I hope this helps.

Sincerely,

G. H.

If you find anything that works I would love to hear about it! My daughter will be 8 months tomorrow, she ate baby food and cereal really well for about a month, around the time she was 6 months, and then one day she just stopped and we haven't been able to get her to eat since, she constantly has a bottle and that is the only thing she will eat! I don't know what to do or how to get her to eat again, we have tried giving her a few days break without trying any food, we have tried to try and give her food every day but have had no success! So please if you find any good advice i'd love to hear it!!

I'm a mom of three, and I work outside the home as well.
I can imagin how hard it must feel your child is not eating enough. I went through this similar thing when my daughter was 2 years old. I felt very helpless when my daughter got extermely ill from the MMR shot she had. My daughter wouldn't eat anything. I then took her to Doctor who told me never force you child to eat. Believe it or not they say it causes them to not want to eat more and causes them to have a serious eating problem...I would find seeing what made her happy to eat then start slowly introducing more foods back into her diet. I start to give her some fruits into her bottle, even some cereal.See if she will drink it. Maybe her tummy doesn't feel good still.
Also try some pedisure in place of one of her bottle milk...at least you know she is still getting the vitamins she needs and maybe she will come around. A child will get to a point where she will want to eat. If after a week she hasn't come around, see a Doctor for there advice, their the pros!!!!
Hope everything works out for you and your little one.
C.

How about introducing some whole foods like mushed bananas or avacados? These are the first foods Dr. Sears recommends and it's what I recommend to anyone struggling with getting their child to eat.

My first daughter was super picky with food, so much so that she was not gaining weight. She weighed 12 pounds at 6 months and 14 pounds at one year and that was with taking her to an occupational therapist three days a week to try and sneak a few morsels of food in her mouth when she wasn't looking! I was trying to feed her jarred food and rice cereal...have you ever tryed these things yourself? Not much taste there and really, not much nutrition compared to raw whole foods. You can also try fresh blueberries, they are great finger foods and mush up easy in a baby's mouth. Or how about plain soy yogurt? These are all foods I started my second daughter with at 5 months. Now at 17 months she eats things like bean sprouts, arugula and other mixed greens, raw carrots, brussel sprouts, artichoke hearts, asparagus...you know the densely nutritious stuff we all really need to eat to keep our cells healthy and our immune system strong :)

My first daughter is a lot less picky now at age four. If I want her to try something new, all I have to do is put it on her sister's plate.

Hi there,

do you feed her store bought baby food? If so, you may want to try and make your own food. The flavor is stronger and she may respond to it. Bananas are really easy and tend to be favorites among babies. I make all of my baby food and I notice that my daughther (8 months this week) eats a lot more when I feed it to her versus the store bought.
Hope it helps
S.

I would tease her with her favorite. Then once she gets a taste of it, say if you eat some peaches, you can have more of this. I always have something on teh dinner table that my 3 year old Loves, so i give her a little bit and more if she eats the rest of her food.
S.

She may just still feel pretty icky and not want food cause it doesn't make her feel good. I just got over something, and it even took me a while to realy feel like eating full meals again. Anyway, I think if she's getting enough formula or milk she should be ok. As some others said you can supplement pediasure, carnation, or even ensure plus (that's for older people but it has most of the same nutrients as pediasure along with a little extra fat). Also let her try a little of a variety of foods, so you can add anything she is willing to eat back into her diet. You can also mix foods into her milk. At 8 months it is not a big deal if she gets a little bit of food from a bottle. That comes later when you try to teach her to feed herself. Even then as long as she gets most food in a dish it won't hurt to have a little in the bottle or feeder cup. If you are concerned call the Pediatrician, just trust you gut.

V.