Baby 7 months stopped eating... teething or sensory issue?

[LeeMiller]

7 month old baby, EBF. Started weaning at 6 months with mostly finger foods, sometimes using a spoon (he liked feeding himself using a spoon too) for stuff like yoghurt, soft cheese, porridge. He took to it well, and from the nappies was clearly swallowing stuff. Chewing well, some gagging but never longer than a second. Didn't like everything but liked a decent range.

For the past 2 weeks he's barely had anything. This coincides with two top teeth breaking through the gum. Before they broke through we had a few days of not breastfeeding well. Since then he is gnawing and biting everything except food... finger food he brings to his mouth and then recoils as soon as he tastes it. If he does eventually take a bite, he leaves it to sit in his mouth for ages (5 minutes +) before letting it fall out or swallowing it with dramatic facial expression and minor gagging.

Does this sound teething related? or something more sensory? I'm worried we've traumatised him but there haven't been any incidents. It's the same with finger food/spoon fed by himself/spoonfed by us. The only thing he wants is water (and breastfeeding). Any advice other than just waiting?

I'd say his gums are a bit sore or swollen. Try offering cold foods and giving teething gel before meals. Babies at this age tend to find that playing with foods is better than eating it so don't worry as long as he is having full nappies and seems to be growing and generally staying nice and healthy. He will be back to himself soon but in the meantime if you have any worries about weight gain or his general health speak to your HV.

I dont think its sensory or that you've traumatised him but you may want a GP to check his mouth and throat in case he has a sore throat or similar. It could equally be the teething. Have you tried calpol 30mins before a meal so he isn't in pain?

Teething. We had times when DD would only eat solids and times when she'd only eat purees. Don't worry, he gets most of the nutrients he needs from milk at this age. I'd give him a vitamin supplement with iron while he's off his food.

Thank you, I feel reassured now. :-)

He seems less keen on cold foods than warm or room temperature ones. I will try gel or calpol before a feed though to see if pain relief helps, thank you.

I forgot to mention he seems to have a bit of reflux/spitting up. It's happening on days when has only bf too so I don't think it's a reaction to a specific food. He is bf a lot at the moment so I wondered if he sometimes takes in a bit too much. He has always been a bit slim (due several episodes of diarrhea following rotavirus vaccine) but has gained well in the past few weeks so I'm not worried from a weight perspective, it just feels like this has been going on for ages.

Does he need iron at 7 months? I thought the stores depleted later...

DS1 did this when teething too. Actually only seemed to want harder foods, so would happily chomp on a breadstick but not interested in fruit, veg, pasta etc! DS2 went off the spoon (and on a breastfeeding strike!) when he had hand foot and mouth but was back to normal within a few days. Any chance it could be that?

I think from six months on they need to get iron in their food as well. Personally, I don't bother as I've found a supplement DD likes for vitamin d but it doesn't have iron in.

Don't stress too much and be careful with the teething gel- it must be applied correctly or you risk some very nasty side effects.

CrackOn really, what kind of side effects? We haven't ever used teething gel (just cold flannels and occasionally calpol) but that is off putting! I thought iron levels were ok till 9/10 months, but I'll check and look into vitamins. He loves his vitamin D drops, luckily.

tappity no sign of redness or ulcers or anything in his mouth, and no other symptoms. If it goes on much longer I'll ask the doctor to check his throat.

I'm increasinglly convinced it's tooth-related though. This morning he had a bite of avocado but it just sat in his mouth, it seemed like the biting part was ok but he's not interested in the chewing or swallowing. He has been biting his teethers like crazy and jamming his thumbs in the sides of his mouth, also today he's fussing a bit at the breast as if he can't find the right position. It's a bit early but I wonder if the lateral incisors are coming through.

Thanks for the advice, I will try not to stress too much!

It's the lidocaine.

'Infants can be harmed if they accidentally have too much lidocaine or swallow too much of the drug. Reactions can include seizures, brain injury, heart problems and death.'

Apparently.

Sorry, link

www.aappublications.org/content/35/8/32.1

Regarding iron, 'Full-term healthy babies receive enough iron from their mothers in the third trimester of pregnancy to last for the first four months of life.

If your baby is breastfed: Human milk contains little iron, so infants who are exclusively breastfed are at increased risk of iron deficiency after four months of age. The AAP clinical report, Diagnosis and Prevention of Iron Deficiency and Iron-Deficiency Anemia in Infants and Young Children 0 Through 3 Years, recommends giving breastfed infants 1 mg/kg/day of a liquid iron supplement until iron-containing solid foods are introduced at about six months of age. When you add solid foods to your baby's diet, continue breastfeeding until at least 12 months. Check with your child's pediatrician about the duration of iron supplements during the first year.'

www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/feeding-nutrition/Pages/Vitamin-Iron-Supplements.aspx

That uses advice from the AAP- American Academy of Paediatrics

I can't find anything from the nhs (admittedly only gave a cursory glance over Google) but the nhs does say to give vitamins a and c in addition to d after six months unless they drink a certain amount of formula, so you may want to switch from the vitamin d drops at some point.

Thanks for the links CrackOn, very interesting