not eating when teething

[buttercup]

my ds is 9 months old and he has always been a bit of a fussy eater. But recently (for about the last three weeks) he's eaten almost nothing (unless seriously distracted or disguised as pear which is the only thing he really loves). Its coincided with his first tooth. Have others found teething has such an impact on appetite?

Yes, my ds would only eat soggy rusk and pear for a while whilst he cut his teeth. Appetite soon perked up afterwards though.

My dd ate absolutely anything all of the time until she was 2 when she became fussy. Ds (who is 10 mths) goes for days of eating lots and days of eating nothing, particularly when he's teething. My Mum gets v. stressed about this. I don't mind as he's thriving. It's just frustrating whene you've spent hours cooking, blending, mixing etc!

My dd ate absolutely anything all of the time until she was 2 when she became fussy. Ds (who is 10 mths) goes for days of eating lots and days of eating nothing, particularly when he's teething. My Mum gets v. stressed about this. I don't mind as he's thriving. It's just frustrating when you've spent hours cooking, blending, mixing etc!

Obviously this lack of eating is causing me concern - I've told you twice! Ooops

My ds now 3 went through something similar whilst teething. I was worried and asked my HV who suggested it was due to teething and advised me to try cold things like yoghurt or milk ice lollies if he found it too difficult to eat anything else. This did help, seemed to cool the gums etc and although no substitute for a balanced diet at least provided him with something while his gums were so sore.

Just to let you know buttercup - going thru EXACTLY the same with dd at the moment (10 months). Discovered her first tooth a few weeks ago, and feeding has gone downhill since!!

ds is 17 months old and cutting molars. it's been the same with every bout of teething - he goes right off his food. sometimes it gets scarey because he stops putting on weight, yet keeps growing, so he actually gets skinny enough to count his ribs. once the teeth come through he eats like a horse and quickly catches up on his weight.

i make sure that he has plenty of fluids (all that dribbling can dehydrate) and give him vitamin drops to make up for what he misses in food. also prunes (fortunately he loves them) because dehydration and not eating much can cause constipation.

don't get trapped into feeding ANYTHING in the hope that something will go down, because afterwards, once appetite has returned, you may end up in food fights when you want him to eat broccoli but he expects cake.

remember that babies are designed to go through this and it doesn't harm them. good luck!

it was great to read all your replies and find my ds is perfectly normal. Takes some of the worry away - at least I know there's a chance he might resume eating again one day!! Thanks for advice about not giving any old thing just to get them to eat. He found a chocolate raison on the floor and loved it so much I was tempted to give him the whole packet!

Has anyone tried giving their little one liver? My Mum said I used to love it but I wouldn't touch it now.

by the way, which kind of vitamin drops do you use?

buttercup - i tried dd with liver, and she did love it (when she was in her 'enthusiastic for food' stage!) - must say I haven't tried it recently, so maybe I'll give it another go as it was such a hit first time round. I fried it in a little oil with some onion, then pulverised it. I added some milk, as it was quite a thick consistency, and also a bit of sweet potato.
I get my vitamin drops from my GP surgery - they sell them cheaply - just 'mother and children vitamin drops'. However, I did run out last week, and ended up buying some from the pharmacy at Asda - think they're called Abidec - but they do the same job.

the vitamin drops mine gets are called Baby Plex. i get them from a local health food shop as it's closer than any chemist!

liver is also a hit with him (and with me yum yum am i weird?). I fry onions with loads of dried basil, then add the liver, whole if it's chicken/turkey, but cut in strips if it's any other type.

maybe it's the firm but not chewy texture that appeals when the babies are teething.

oh yes, one more thing: teething can be a good time to encourage self-feeding (fist, not spoon!) as everything gets chewed on anyway.

wmf. Its interesting what you say about self-feeding. I have tried to encourage him without much success - but today I came back from work and the child minder said he had eaten spaghetti and carrots left in lumps on the floor. A first for eating carrots voluntarily though whether anything actually made it into him tummy I dont know as he still doestn have teeth!!

I just have to say that I keep mis-reading the title of this thread.

eating when not teething!

Help. My freaky 4 month old ds is teething - yes - unreal & freak of nature but true i.e. gums are white & he has been chewing a lot & has lost his appetite.

I'm trying not to panic about his intake but hard not to since he used to down 30-35 ozs of milk pre-teething. Now he is down to 25 ozs a day plus a tablespoon baby cereal & a couple of teaspoons of pear puree (have started him on solids as he hated drinking from bottle - it seems to irritate his gums).

Help mums who've been thru' this, will their appetite come back. Should I be alarmed at lower quantities & potential weight loss. How do I cope with an early teether?

Pena I thought my ds was the only one, he is now three so it's a bit of a hazy memory.

When he was almost four months he started to display behaviour that I now know is teething. I was breasfeeding at the time and basically I became his teething ring!!! Have to say after a bad spell of cracked nipples in the early weeks this was the last resort and the breastfeeding was abandoned. Due to this I obviously did not know how many ozs of milk etc he was taking.

He got his first tooth at 5 1/2 months and until he got his last tooth at two years went through the same pattern. Crying, grizzling, red cheeks, dribbling and going off his food, don't worry about it too much he will make up for it in the space in between cutting teeth. Ask your HV to weigh him if you are worried. I did this with ds and found that most of the time he had actually gained weight and was probably eating more than I realised.

As everyone else has said once they start eating with their fingers things get a bit easier, they don't seem to like the spoon in their mouth if it is sore. I would imagine the situation with the bottles should improve once your ds has his front teeth but in the meantime I'm sure he will make up for anything he is missing at times when his gums are not hurting.

thank you demented - & I thought that I gave birth to the spawn of dracula. It is so reassuring to hear that things like this happen & than ds will still thrive. I'm just upset at the mo' since he has been growing so well & to have that interrupted by teething hell. Oh well, we soldier on.

pena - 30 - 35oz milk a day is quite a lot, so don't worry if he's reduced his intake a bit. so much milk might have put him off his solids, anyway.

your ds is old enough now for you to try spouts instead of bottles, and he might prefer them when he's teething - mine certainly did. (someone told me that the hard sucking makes the sore gums worse.) trouble is, the anywayup-type cups need strong sucking. heinz do a cup with a soft chewy spout, and a good soft narrow feeding spoon as well.