Help, My Son Isn't Eating

Hi K.,
Maybe he has an allergy to his formula or the milk he is drinking? Something to look into...
E. K.

Try to back off the nursing, it fills them up. I know if he is not eating real food then you want to nurse so he is getting FOOD and nutrition. try other foods, not meat baby foods they are grouse!! Try fruit it is sweet, maybe a banana, etc. Good luck!

M.- SAHM and WAHM and loving it!

http://www.WorkingGreenMoms.com

You are right that nursing 3 times a day is not enough for a child this age. A lot of kids have conditions like "failure to thrive" and although this doesn't sound as serious, you have reason for concern. Have you considered that he may be having issues with textures? My son had this - nothing lumpy - he would not go from Stage 1 to 3. You could try yogurt (no fruit) and in his case I would not go for low fat! He needs the calories. Make smoothies for his sippy cup if he will use one. You could add soft, easily blend-able fruit like bananas. For now, I wouldn't use anything with seeds that he can detect (e.g. no strawberries). Self feeding is a good choice if he just wants control. A lot of kids start with finger foods younger that your son - not sure if he has the fine motor skills necessary to pick things up, but it would be great if he would try it. Reliv's Now for Kids is outstanding and balanced, and it comes in vanilla or chocolate - you can mix it in milk, water, anything he will drink, and add fruit and/or yogurt if you want. That will give him all the nutrients he needs in an absorbable form. Go to www.reliv.com and click on "the foundation" to see what they are doing for malnourished kids worldwide. It's better than supplements like "Ensure" because they are full of emulsifiers and are hard to digest even for adults.

You could also look at location for feeding - if your child doesn't like sitting in a high chair, you could let him sit on your lap and feed himself. Try holding him as if you are nursing, but giving him a sippy cup with more high calorie foods. My girlfriend had a child who would NOT sit in the high chair, but if she put the high chair tray on the floor and sat her daughter down next to it, the child ate! I think you should experiment with different options and see if it is texture, position, location, constraints, etc., that are bothering him. Good luck!

The same thing just happened to me with my 15 month old's well check up - no weight gain from 12 months. So like others suggest I continuously offer a variety of foods and TRY not to obsess about how much he eats. I'm a big fan of the grazing idea (http://www.wholesometoddlerfood.com/toddlergrazing.htm) He is getting milkshakes and smoothies, along with more peanut butter, butter, etc. We did stop nursing at 7 months though.

I also agree he might be ready for more self feeding. Here is a list my mom sent me with food suggestions for this age:
Breakfast:
Cheerios, of course
Those mild microwave sausages, cut into bits
Various fruits (micro the apples for a few minutes to soften)
The little dollar sized pancakes
Hard boiled eggs
French toast (also available in microwave form)
Lunch:
Grilled cheese sandwich
Really any tiny pieces of lunch meat with some bread
Don't know if you're ready to try peanut butter sandwiches
chunks of cheeses, raisins, for snacks
Vegies for a side dish...(canned are fine and soft enough already) green beans, carrots, asparagus tips, peas if you want to watch him chase them!
Dinner:
You've discovered the meatballs already
Meat loaf
pork loin
chicken
pasta
Cut up boiled or baked potato (don't forget a little butter for the fat)
Vegies again, zucchini comes canned, also individual frozen servings are available now
More fruit for dessert
Again, these are the finger foods so when you want to sit and feed him, you also have soups, rice , mashed potato, applesauce, oatmeal, stews etc.

Good luck, I"m sure you're crazy now like I am!

Make sure you offer plenty of nutritious fatty foods like full fat yogurt, avacadoes, nut butters, and veggies & fruit & whole grains so that the food he does eat is full of nutrients. Give him a liquid multivitamin if you're worried about deficiencies. Have you tried to go back to stage 2 pureed food? My dd reverted back to full purees for a while at that age, not sure while. Ask yourself these questions to try and figure out if there is something medical going on vs. just a phase: is he pooping normally? Does he vomit? Seem to have belly pain or is his belly hard? Is he drinking fluids? Is he as alert and playful as he normally is, or is he starting to get lethargic? Good luck, i hope this is just a phase that he will soon grow out of!

Could he be teething? You could try some baby ibuprofen and see if he eats a bit better an hour or two later and then you'd know if its caused by his mouth hurting.

Are you trying to feed him yourself or are you letting him trry to self feed? At this age he probably wants the independence of doing it himself if you have been doing it for him. He also could have sensory issues and not like the texture of some of the foods that you're giving him. Is there anything he IS willing to eat?

My daughter went from the 15% to the 1% (lost weight) at about 15 months. Pediatrician sent us to a nutritionist. She recommended various things (adding powdered dry milk to any mushy food, butter on veggies, icecream) but the main thing that my daughter liked and that worked was PediaSure. It is like formula but with nutrients for kids aged 1-10. Available at grocery stores and Wallmart, etc. When we first bought it, she would sometimes drink 2 or 3 bottles a day (the stuff is expensive, comes in little 6 packs) so she must have really needed the calories. After a while she went down to one bottle a day (in the AM upon waking). For the rest she would get regular baby food for her age and whole milk in sippie cups. We switched from PediaSure to Carnation Instant Breakfast in whole milk at age 5. She is 9 and still has one Carnation in 2% milk for breakfast. She is consistently in the 10-15% for weight nowadays. Both PediaSure and Carnation come in various flavors, but my daughter liked Vanilla the best. Good luck.

Hello K.,

My 10 month old is doing the same thing. Last night, I was feeding him his baby food and all he would do is cry and turn away. I cut up some of the food we were eating and he loved it. So my advice would be to start feeding him the same food you are all eating.

Good luck
M. (mother to 2 boys, 4 yrs old and 10m)

My now 3 year old son went through this "not eating" stage just as yours is now. My son still goes through it, some days he eats next to nothing and others I can't give him food fast enough.

Will he nurse more if you offer him more? Or will he take a bottle? Babies can't speak obviously, so we must listen to their physical signs they give us. Perhaps he isn't interested in baby jarred food...as my son wasn't. Try other things such as apples, bananas, potatoes, et cetera. If he still refuses solids but will take the breast or bottle, then I say let him eat what he prefers until he gets back on track with solids. As long as your little one is eating something, that in itself is better than eating nothing in my opinion.

Good luck and try not to get too nervous, but do stay in touch with his pediatrician if his refusal to eat worsens.

http://www.daniellewrites.webs.com

When my daughter turned 15 months she just stopped eating. It made me VERY nervous and i brought her to the doctors and all that. From what i have gathered (she is 4 now) she just stops eating when she is not growing and doesn't need the extra calories and eats when she needs the food. If i pushed the foods (and i'm glad i didn't!) she could stop recognising her body's natural signals to eat or not to eat and become an overeater. Even now, at 4, she is a very picky eater -- and can go a whole day without eating.

So... as hard as it is to do... just relax. Let him eat when he is hungry and not when he isn't

Also -- at 12/13 months kids are moving around more and they will naturally take off some weight esp if they aren't growing taller at the moment(and it sounds like your son has hit a growth hiatus)

I also have a 13 month old and i haven't fed her jarred foods in over 2 months. She gets table foods and eats when she is hungry and doesn't when she is not. After three kids i have learned my lessons about this. She also gets about 4 or 5 bottles of full fat cows milk per day

Hi K. my kids at that age never liked the 3rd foods that is when I switched over to talbe food mac and cheese noodles or even the gerber graduate meals worked well.at 13 mths they starty to develope some independence....good luck eggs are high in protien yogurt comes in great flavors babies like ....kimd mother of 14 12 9 and 2

my son has an issue with food textures although its getting better but in the meantime for your son I would advise nursing more often he may not be interested in food, have some sort of trouble w/ solids, or like my son have a problem w/ the texture of the things you are offering him.

Some little ones dislike "mushy" food. Have you tried soft finger foods? Little pieces of banana, toast, apple, etc. Avocado is good and a good fat. Also, some little ones like to feed themselves. Give him a bowl of yogurt (or whatever) and a spoon and see if he will eat. It may be messy, but he might think it's really cool and eat more. Good luck and try not to worry, Mama!

Hi K.,
My son was "failure to thrive" around 9 months. with help from a dairy allergy. So we had to really fatten him up. find what he likes- If you are a SAHM- it is easy to make his food. Bake a couple sweet potatoes( have some for your own dinner) and then scoop into an ice cube tray- then zip lock- this will last you a good month- take bananas peel cut in half & freeze( take out one night before & mix with cereral in morning. you can do this with almost any food. Start witht the sweet stuff. also I would add DHA oil to his cereal( extra fat)avocado. good luck- Also I have found all these little issues we come across as parents work them selves out in no time - but it seems like forever to a mama.

My son nursed often at that age and did not like to eat real food much. He also spit out any chunks that were in his food, and had a history of throwing up after nursing (I think he had stopped throwing up by one years old though).

In our case, we took him to Children's to get tested (not suggesting you need to do this!). They ruled out anything internal, and then said that he was texture and taste sensitive. For taste, we gave him spicier food (that's what he liked) and I can't remember what we did for texture(waited it out but I think they had a few suggestions too - maybe check online if you think this could be part of it).

Our situations do not really sound the same, however, I wanted to mention this just in case. Also, I don't think my son was losing weight during any of this (although I remember he did stop gaining so fast!) so it's good you are having your son weighed again soon.

Good luck! My son is now 10 years old and eats us out of house and home......

Will he breast feed more than 3 times per day? You could always try to increase his breast feeding so that you know he is getting the nutrients that he needs. My son is younger than yours but he and my nephews have always preferred "real" food as opposed to jared baby food. I think between the 3 of them, they keep a medium sized avocado farm running in California! Good luck.