She's STILL not eating!

two2luv wrote: As I mentioned in my last post - Belle decided that the Cheerio diet was for her. BM and Cheerios. That's all. Well, it continues. I was able to get her to take w whole jar baby food the day before yesterday but now she wants nothing to do with it again. What do I do? I keep trying everyday and she clamps her mouth shut and waves her arms around....then eventually gets fed up with me trying and will cry and hit her hands on the sides of her head (what's that all about anyway?) She did have an ear infection but has been on antibiotics for over a week now. She's teething but you would think then that she would get upset when she nurses too but she doesn't. I am so confused and starting to get concerned that she is so far behind every other baby that we know. I even tried feeding her the small soft stage 3 fruits and veggies that are cut up really small- she doesn't want anything to do with those either. Should I take her to the doctor?? What should I do??

aspenblue1 replied: I would probably just call and check but I know when Isabella is teething she doesn't like to eat a lot.

kit_kats_mom replied: How old is she again and is she meeting her milestones so far? As long as her curve is still going up and she is meeting the milestones for her age group, try not to worry.

As a mother of a TERRIBLE eater who's growth curve went the wrong way, I understand what you are going through. However, forcing her to eat will just stress everyone out. I really had to make myself understand that and control my temper. I finally realized that she is not rejecting me when she rejects the plate of food I put in front of her every night, she is either not hungry or she's holding out for Nummies.

Cheerios aren't bad for her, let her have as many as she wants. Try to introduce something each day but don't be suprised if she loves something one day, then rejects it for the next week. Some other tricks that worked for Katherine and I....things that she can dip into other things ie: grahm sticks and yogurt, chicken nuggets and ketchup, etc. I also started just putting some food out on her table and she would graze all day. this child will rarely eat a normal meal but it seems like she is always putting something in her mouth. Also, a change of scenery worked for us too. Katherine never ate more than a few bites in her high chair. We got her a kid sized table and chairs and she will much there quite happily. A video helps distract her sometimes too and she will eat more. She also really likes to sit in her booster seat at the table when DH and I are both there.

Focus on calorie dense foods such as peanut butter, avacados etc. I'll try to find the link to the post I made about that if I get a chance.

A few months ago, she finally started gaining weight. I don't know what her hangup was but we made it through it with determination and lots of high fat foods. LOL

Katherine always wanted to nurse more when she was teething too. It's normal. You are her comfort and nourishment. I was actually wondering why K was off of her feed this week, then a tooth popped through. DUH MOM!

Good luck! Feel free to IM me or email me if you have any other questions or just need to vent. You can check out some of my vents from last year on this board. I was truely at my wits end.

kit_kats_mom replied: This may be a long post. Here are some of my old posts about feeding and Katherine:

Katherine won't eat out of anything but our dishes. I have my Great Grandmotbers set of china and it came with the regular plate, bowl, cup & saucer. But it also has a soup bowl, and two sets of smaller bowls, one holds about 1 cup of food, the other .5 c. Katherine mostly eats out of those bowls and uses our silverware. To keep the bowls from slipping on the table, I cut some of that shelving liner...ya know, the puffy kind with holes?

Katherine eats about 2 Tablespoons of PB a day. It's about the only thing she will eat. I just warm some up and put it on a spoon for her. It takes her awhile but the spoon is usually clean by the time she's done. I made her a grilled PB sandwich tonight and she seemed to like that too.

Gosh, I know how that is. Please update us after you see the specialist. I'm interested in hearing what they have to say. It's great that she is eating for you though. If you aren't already doing it; custard style yogurt, peanut butter, avacados and butter on everything are what K is eating right now.

NOV 03 _ 14 mos
Gosh, thanks for asking.
She still has hardly any appetite but she has been eating a tablespoon of food off and on all day for the last few days. She may be up to about a half a cup of food a day. Still eating peanut butter, avacado, ground beef etc. She liked mashed potatos the other day but not today. Wierd thing is that she has been eating better since after her illness. It seems like it is getting better though. Maybe she is just a grazer? I'm just offering all the time and she'll take a couple of bites then be done. She is nursing alot though and we go for another weigh in next month. I'll keep you posted.

QUOTE (Schnoogly @ Nov 1 2003, 02:24 PM)
You know I've always suspected reflux but our ped doesn't really listen to me about this. She says just keep trying with the food and someday he'll start eating it. I am doubtful about this. His next appointment isn't until january (1 year checkup) and if he isn't eating by then I will be more pushy about it. I actually think it's a major control issue--he doesn't like anything in his mouth (you can imagine why--he's had enough stuff shoved into his mouth in his lifetime). He was just starting to eat some pureed stuff when he got really sick back in September and since then, nothing. He has gotten a LOT of meds since then, and I think he resents anything being put into his mouth. Also, I suspect a slight oral aversion anyway since he doesn't really put toys in his mouth either. I don't really worry about him choking on things because he never puts anything in his mouth! I have to give him jarred foods because I can't get table foods pureed smooth enough for him--any tiny chunks and he gags and spits them out. It's infuriating!!

Hmmm. I would mention this to your ped and ask if maybe you can try a round of the zantac to see if it makes any difference. Tell her that he chokes and gags on foods, even purees and that you'd really like to try it. there aren't any side effects for healthy babies but I'd double check with her since he's been ill in the past.

My ped will be checking K's anatomy next checkup to make sure that she doesn't have some sort of throat wierdness going on that makes eating solids uncomfortable.

K doesn't put anything in her mouth either. The occasional crayon but she isn't really an oral baby either. I think hers may be a control issue too.

Poor Iain...Katherine's "attitude twin"



I feel your pain. It's just so hard to believe that these kids won't eat when we enjoy food so much. I'm doing alot of reading on this subject right now and I actually will be meeting with a nutritionist tomorrow morning to discuss this. My 2 biggest worries are that 1. is my dd anorexic? I know that she isn't really but it sure seems that way sometimes. Anorexia is a disease that stems from control and I think that control and stubborness are at the heart of our eating problems. 2. Will I lose my mind one day after preparing the 5th meal for her (which of course she won't eat) and create some sort of long lasting food problem? Food and eating are tied so much to emotions that I find it hard to distingush when I should push it for her own good and when I should just let her win.

One thing I just finished reading was that it is not YOU they are rejecting. I know from experience how hard it can be to realize that when you have just made a meal specifically for them and they might lick a piece and toss it on the floor. It is maddening.

The AAP :sample one day menu for a one year old is:
breakfast:
1/52 c iron fortified breakfast cereal or 1 egg
1/4 c milk
1/2 c juice
1/2 banana r 2-3 strawberries
snack:
1 slice of toast or wheat muffin
1-2 T cream cheese or Peanut butter
1C whole milk
lunch
1/2 tuna/egg salad/peanut butter or cold cut sandwich
1/2 c cooked green veggies
1/2 c juice
Snack
1-2 oz cubed cheese or 2-3 T dates
1C milk
Dinner
2-3 oz cooked meat
1/2 c yellow or orange veggies
1/2 c pasta rice or potato
1/2 c milk

Im lucky if K eats one meals worth of this menu each day.

I'll post tomorrow if I get any useful info.

Good luck and I'm so sorry you are having to go through this too. A video does help sometimes. It distracts her enough for me to get a couple of spoonfuls in before she notices what I'm doing. I also give her one spoon or fork to feed herself and thenI try to shovel in bites in between.


The chocolate boost is our store brand of ensure. I basically went through the grocery store with a calculator and bought anything with alot of calories in a little bit of food that seemed somewhat healthy. For the peanut butter smoothie, I just made it up. 1/2 a banana (very ripe & sweet), 1/2 c smooth peanut butter & enough whole milk to make it drinkable. I suppose you could use yogurt too.
Good luck & congrats on the weight gain Corey. Great job mom!


K is so darn picky that I usually make a large batch of something like mac & cheese over the weekend and she just snacks on that during the week. I don't really cook for her but I do spend the bulk of my day in the kitchen. Since she eats so little at each sitting, we have 6-8 mini meals every day. I try to offer her at least 1 veggie, 1 cheese/yogurt/meat, and a grain of some sort at each sitting. I spend a lot of time washing bibs, rags etc too.



Thanks for asking. We did a "fasting blood draw" on Wednesday morning. We should have the results back by next wednesday. After my bad appt with the endocrinologist I was on the phone all day with every LC in town & LLL. I also emailed Dr. Jay Gordon & Dr. Sears. I've already received a response from Dr. Gordon. He said that from what I've told him so far, it isn't as dire as the endocrinologist said. He even reccomended that I find a new endocrinologist. He said that I need to focus on feeding her calorie dense foods (avacados, mayo, meats and cheeses) but that he doubts seriously that her growth or brain development will be stunted in any way. He wants the results of the blood work emailed to him and he will probably be requesting more info. I think that is so cool that this nationally know ped is helping us. At the very least, he is helping me feel better.

I borrowed a baby scale from the hospital and I've been weighing K after each nursing (except at night) and it does appear that she may not be getting enough breastmilk. I have the scale until Tuesday am so we will see if her intake goes up but she should be getting 2-2.5 oz per lb so about 34.6 oz min and so far she's averaged about half of that. I feel really bad that my supply may be an issue but I am just going to really focus on feeding her more solids. She is doing a little bit better.


Posted on: Oct 23 2003, 01:04 PM

Replies: 7
Views: 80 I just looked at K's weights and here they are:

Birth: 7lbs 6oz
15 days: 8 lbs 2oz
4 wks: 9lbs
8 wks: 10 lbs 5 oz
19 wks: 12 lbs 12 oz
6 mo: 13 lbs 9oz
9 mo: 15 lbs 10 oz
12 mo: 16lbs 13 oz
13 mo: 17lbs 3 oz.

11 lbs at 7mos seems small to me but I would definatly mention it to the ped.


Posted on: Oct 16 2003, 10:13 PM

Replies: 17
Views: 85 We went to dinner with my mom the other night and she was trying to feed Katherine. She ate one bean and one bite of cracker and was done. She did drink some bean juice though. This is all pretty typical and probably explains why she is so tiny. Well she started coughing when she was eating the bean and my mom asked if maybe she had some sort of physical problem that causes solids to be painful. She pointed out that K does cough alot when she eats and that she gagged horribly when we tried bottles (every single type of nipple). I mentioned it to the ped when she called to tell me when my appointment with the endocrineologist is and she perscribed zantac for a month to see if there is any change. I gave her the first dose at 6 and at 7:00 she fed herself 1/4 cup of oatmeal!! It may have been a coincidence because occasionally she will go buck wild and eat that much in one sitting but it is so rare. We'll see how it goes for the next couple of days. I have my fingers crossed.

Of course if that has been the problem all along I'm going to be quite frusterated that I never put the symptoms together so that we could have gotten her some food sooner but....whatever.


Here is a typical day for us. I've compiled this from her "food journal" that I've been keeping to see how much she is eating. By the way, she won't drink anything but ice water from a sippy cup. She usually finishes one small sippy cup of water per day. She never just chugs it though. I've tried milk, soy milk, flavored milk, pedia-sure, juice (diluted and not), melted hagen daaz & carbonated flavored water.
7 am nurse 20 minutes go back to sleep (stay attached) nurse off & on until 9. I of course can't sleep with her attached so i just read in bed until the rest of the house wakes up.
9 am wake up.
between 9am and 8pm: 3 baby goldfish crackers, 2 cheerios (spit one out), 1 meat ravioli with tomato sauce, 1/4 c. rice cereal made with water, 1/4 fish stick w/ ketchup, 1 small jar of baby food peas, 3 mandarin orange sections. 2 bites of my strawberry fat free yogurt (she doesn't like the full fat kind), 1x1" cube of cantelope, and she nurses every 2 hours minimum for about 15 minutes average.

She is NEVER going to gain weight like that, especially since she is so active. I am really wondering weather I should just withold nursing every other time and offer her food, & just deal with the screaming? Will that scar her for life? Will I go nuts? Any input ladies? Encouragement? Anything? Is this a normal toddler diet? Even just a "you are doing the best thing for your daughter" would help. Deep down I know that, and I know that she will only be little for awile but right now I'm tuckered out and I guess I just need to hear it from someone besides my mom and DH.


Well, she is still long and lean. 29 inches tall, which is right in the 50th percentile, but only 16lbs 13oz. Her weight is way below the curve. At this rate, she will be 3 before I can turn her carseat around. Dag-nabbit! The Dr. said that she looks healthy and even has some rolls on her legs and that she doesnt look or act unhealthy but that I need to introduce her to some really high cal foods to try and pump her weight up. They did alot of blood work last time so we know that there is nothing wrong there so it is just a problem with my milk and/or her reluctance to eat solids. I just got back from the grocery store where I stocked my cupboards with alot of foods that I can't eat. Hagan Daz, cheese, bread, mayo, carnation instant breakfasts etc.

I really don't understand why she is so small. DH and I both hit 20 lbs right around 1 yr. She really doesn't eat solids very well (maybe a total of a jar of food and 1/4 c. of cereal a day) but she is still nursing a lot. I guess my milk just isn't enough? That kinda bums me out but hopefully she will start eating solids more if I cut out the daytime nursings, except for her nap.

two2luv replied: She's eight months old - weighs 24 pounds and is a little ahead of other babies her age as far as "milestones" go.... She isn't underfed by any means and is developmentally very healthy. She just won't eats any darn baby food!

paradisemommy replied: i wouldn't worry at all. my ped told me that as long as she is nursing good (well he in my case) then actually babies get all the nourishment they need in the milk and they don't even need baby food for the first year.

i would just keep trying new foods like cary said but don't worry about it if she doesn't like it. just always remember - she'll eat when she gets hungry and if she's not then she won't (that was a hard one for me to learn) but if she is ahead of her milestones like you said, just relax and don't worry! she'll eat more solids when she's ready!

amynicole21 replied: I agree with everyone else, don't stress about it. Nursing is just fine and provides plenty of the nutrients she needs. Just keep offering and she'll eventually catch on.

ediep replied: well, she is 24 pounds at 8 months....I'd say she is well nurished and thriving!!Jason is 19 months and just under 24 pounds!!
Jason was the worst eater ever!!!!! He absolutely hated all kinds of baby food. At about 10 months, I completely gave up and just gave him table food. He mostly ate pancakes, cheerios, crackers, turkey, cheese, chicken, pasta. Eventually we worked up to fruits and veggies.
I know it is stressfull, but try to relax and let her eat what she wants for now

coasterqueen replied: I think you are fine, don't stress about it. She will eat when she's ready, trust me. Kylie never got really interested in solids till closer to a year old and even now at 20 months she doesn't eat a whole lot. If she's nursing, she's getting all of her nutritional value from you, anyways. For the first year of a BF baby's life, solids should just be tastes anyways, complimenting breastmilk.

kimberley replied: ita agree with everyone else and i second Edie... wow for 24lbs at 8 months! she is thriving! and you are not alone or a bad mommy. Jade turned 8 months on Thursday and still shows little interest in anything but bm. she wants nothing to do with baby food but will eat small bits of rice or cooked veggies or crackers or cheerios. try not to worry.

A&A'smommy replied: awwww I hope you get it figured out soon! ((((HUGS))))

two2luv replied: See? I KNEW that you guys would make me fel better - I just keep hearing everyone tell me that she needs to be eating more baby food and less BM. People talk to me like I am depriving her of something. I guess that I should realize that they just don't understand because none of them had the privledge of being able to nurse this long. I need to remember that I am doing the right thing and forget what they're all telling me.
Thank you all so much..

A&A'smommy replied:
yeah I wish I could have breastfed you are very blessed to have been able to do this, and for so long! I admire you and all the mommys who did this for their babies!

mummy2girls replied: this post is a little late but i want to put my thoughts in also.... I was worried also when it came to jenna and her eating ... She refused baby foods and such for the longest time and basically lived on formula for most of the day. She would eat some baby foods and fruits but in such small protions. Now at 18 months jenna is what i call the garbage disposal. She eats anything and everything i give her. If she sees someone with food she becomes thier best friend.LOL. So dont worry she will eat when she is ready! And i agree with what the others were saying when it comes to not pushing it because it makes the situation more stressful! Plus kids wont strave themselves..they will eat when they need too. So to us it may not seem alot but kids know what they need and how much of it! Good luck!