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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

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Original poster

HELP! 8 1/2 month old off her food

19 replies

Izabella · 12/05/2007 19:49

Am in a bit of a panic so any advice much appreciated.

DD has always been a fussy eater / feeder and only weighs 13lbs. We went away on holiday two weeks ago and she went off her food, refusing anything sweet or with lumps altogether. Now we've been back a week things haven't improved. She just seems to be getting worse. I don't think its cold / teeth / thrush as she is perfectly well & happy in herself. To make matters worse she won't take any milk apart from dream feeds (I do three a night). Meal times can last up to 2 hours (wish small breaks where I take her out for 5 mins or so) and once anytthing sweet comes near her the little mouth clamps shut tightly. I have tried finger foods (she just plays with it & throws it on the floor) and all sorts of toys she can stick in her mouth (once she's had a chew on something, she's more willing to take food).

HELP!!!! I just don't know what to do anymore. I can already see her little ribs & I don't want to risk leeting her go hungry.

Bella x

OP posts:

BandofMothers · 12/05/2007 20:01

Have you seen the HV or your GP, it could be a medical problem.
How are her nappies, wet/pooey??
Does she drink water/milk in the day??

BandofMothers · 12/05/2007 20:02

That is a very low weight for her age, and I would be very concerned.
I had trouble with dd1 and thrush and my gp was concerned that she only weighed 12lb at 12 weeks old, you should get her checked.

Original poster

Izabella · 12/05/2007 20:20

Well she was born petit at 5lbs 14oz. I have seen a paediatrition & am under a dietition but I am just exhausted with the daily grind of feeding times & becoming so upset and crying when she deosn't eat.

She normally has wet nappies & poos up to twice a day which encourages me. She is also very content and sleeps through the night so I'm not sure if there is anything else going on.

The only thing I can think of is that I got very uptight & panicky when we were away & she just wouldn't eat. I am ashamed to say I forced her little moth ope once or twice out of desperation. Feel very guiity about that.

Bella x

OP posts:

BandofMothers · 12/05/2007 20:27

It could be your stress that's upset her. I watched House of Tiny Tearaways enough to know that children often don't eat when the parents are stressing over every little bite. Tho she is a bit younger than I would say a child would be doing this.
Try to stay calm (easy to say I know), and not force her, I know you know that was not the right thing to do tho.
Don't be so hard on yourself. Try to make it fun, like putting food on your finger and playing and see if she'll eat it off your finger and stuff like that. Let her get covered in it if it helps her to actually eat some.

What did the docs say???

Original poster

Izabella · 12/05/2007 21:55

They thought it could be reflux but the medication made no difference at all. I'll give it another week and if things don't improve I might take her to the paediatrition again.

How long does it ususally take them to get over being off certian foods? Unfortunate incident whilst we were away which started it all. The hotel supplied me with a flask of boiled water as there were no kettles in the room. She went off anything with formula in very quickly and by day 3 I thought I'd have a closer look. Well as soon as I took the top off the flask it stank of coffee. The taste must have been the water (and her milk) as well.

OP posts:

BandofMothers · 12/05/2007 21:59

Could be that , like I say she's a bit young to be off foods. IME kids tend to go off foods at about 2 yo.
DD1 ate anything til she was 2. Have known babies to have preferences and sometimes refuse certain foods, but not to the extreme that your dd is.
Good idea to take her back if no improvement. I really hope you sort it out.
I would've thought you'd see reflux before this age.
Have you changed anything else??

Original poster

Izabella · 12/05/2007 22:19

Nothing that comes to mind.

She is a bright little spark & I'm sure she's picking up on my anxiety.

Will see how it goes in the next few days. I am all on my own with her as well (dh died before she was born) so that makes it more intense and exhausting for me.

Thanks so much for all your info & advice.

OP posts:

BandofMothers · 13/05/2007 10:03

OMG, how awful for you. It could well be that she is picking up on your grief, are you seeing a councilor??

belgo · 13/05/2007 10:22

Gosh how awful for you.

I know how worrying it is to have an underweight baby. My dd2 was 16 pounds at the age of 12 months, and I could see her ribs.

She was a very fussy eater, and only really took to solids at the age of 11 months, through BLW. Even so, it's been up and down since then, and it's only now at the age of 19 months that she is doing well. She's a very slow eater, and what she likes to eat goes in phases.

It turns out that all the babies in the family are small, but we've all grown up healthy and average size.

Just wanted to reassure you that things will get better.

Cazee · 13/05/2007 17:59

At 8 months I believe, from what I have read here on MN, most of her calories should be coming from milk, so if I was you I would not worry too much about solids. You could try cutting out the night bottles, giving her bottles in the day, and continuing to offer finger foods for fun. If you are anxious about her eating she WILL pick up on it. Have you tried offering milk in a cup?

Cazee · 13/05/2007 18:00

What centile is she on? Has this dropped dramatically recently?

AitchTwoOh · 13/05/2007 19:22

oh izabella, how terrible for you and dd. i don't really know what to advise... do you have help with her? can't imagine how difficult it must be to find yourself a single parent. good luck, i hope she forgets about her coffee milk soon.

dcb · 13/05/2007 19:26

is there anyone else that could try a mealtime for you? not only to give you a break but to see if someone else doing it would make any difference. someone sympathetic to baby led weaning would be good (so prob not mothers/mil in my experience).

my dd is an independent little thing and will only eat on her terms - try not to get too axious about it - but easier said than done isn't it.

hope you are ok

yazoo · 13/05/2007 20:31

hi,my dd is 8 and half months too and is the same with her solids.it is very very rare she is interested in taking any.sometimes she will take a mouthfull or two, others none, she jams her mouth shut,moves her head from side to side,makes whingeing noises etc so i just give up and pray the next day will be better and that she'll eventually get the idea.i would say about once a week she will have a fair amount,well, for her anyway!i try finger foods and like you she will usually play and chuck! she does drink alot of milk though.she has chubby little legs and arms etc and seems healthy so im trying not to panic too much but it is hard.will see if her weight is ok at 9m checkup.

what are you worried about the most? her solids or her milk? maybe you should work on getting more milk down her if she wont eat solids and at least then you can take it slowly with the solids and maybe you wont panic so much? i may be wrong im a 1st time mummy! but all i can say is i sympathise with how worrying it is for you although with your dd being so skinny it must be even more of a worry.
it is a real worry but i have heard that milke is the "main" thing until 1 and that "food is fun until their 1" .its not much fun for us when they dont eat though is it. well sorry for the essay but best of luck, keep posting with updates! x

Original poster

Izabella · 20/05/2007 19:41

Thanks for all the encouraging advice. DD is doing much better & and eatting almost as much as she did before we went on holiday (it must have been the coffee trauma ). The little mouth is opening much more readily now even for foods which aren't her favourite. I haven't had her weighed but I'm sure she's put on a bit of weight as I can't see her ribs anymore.

I wish I could give her an extra bottle, Oh that life would be so simple but she has absolutely refused them since the age of 12 weeks. That is why I do the dream feeds. She's never been a big feeder (just took what she wanted & that was it) & was only born on the 2nd centile at term so I know she's not going to be a big baby. My aim is to eventually get her upto the 2nd centile again. At present we are off the charts.

Will let you know how we get on. Thakns again.

Bella x

OP posts:

AitchTwoOh · 20/05/2007 21:33

good luck with it all, you sound like you're doing your very best for her. good to hear she's back on form.

BandofMothers · 20/05/2007 21:36

So glad to hear she's doing better. They wont starve themselves, or so they say.
Bless her.

Original poster

Izabella · 21/05/2007 19:20

Some very good news today. Got DD weighed & not only has she re-gained the weight she lost but she is nearly back on the charts again having put on a whole pound in 2 weeks!

OP posts:

AitchTwoOh · 21/05/2007 19:54

brilliant news, izabella.

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