Concerned about seven month old

[summersflowers]

Hi, I have posted about this before, but I really am a bit concerned now.

Ds is seven months. At 5.5 months I asked the HV if she’d mind just giving him a bit of a check up as no one had seen him since he was a newborn. She said he dropped a centile and recommended I start to wean him.

He is now just over seven months and he has barely touched any food at all. A couple of those Ella’s melty puffs, and a few licks of ice cream (thanks DP.) That’s it.

I have tried porridge, toast, scrambled egg, courgette, broccoli, cauliflower, mango, melon, banana, pear, blackberry, various pouches and purées, chilli con carne, he’s just showing no interest at all.

He does mouth objects but not food. I can’t understand this.

And as a rule I don’t compare but I have weekly coffee with my NCT class and I know their babies, all born within a week of ds, are eating. I don’t even need to take food out with me when out and about.

One of the ladies have him a bit of avocado and he ate it but when I’ve given him avocado at home he refused it.

I know food is for fun until they are one but surely he should be eating a bit or something now? Because as he grows he will surely need more. I am concerned it’s going to affect his development.

And I'd get DH to start having his lollies or ice cream when DS is in bed as well. It's no good him holding out all day and then having ice cream

Okay, so because he is only 7 months just offer it and leave it there. See what he does. Don't get worked up or worried that he hasn't touched his food. Just carry on eating your dinner so he can watch what you do.

Where he is playing put a small bowl of food out and just place it where he is. It will be very small steps but he will get there in the end x

My first DD was like this. She just wasn't interested in food for AGES. Health visitors usually aren't well trained in nutrition and don't understand that Brest milk or formula has more calories in it then mushed carrot, hence why they recommend early weaning. DD1 was a 90th centile baby and existed perfectly well on milk and the odd bit of toast and yoghurt until age 1. She's now very tall and strong and eats a very wide of food.

Ignore the HV, honestly their training isn't up to date, give plenty of milk and keep offering food. He'll definitely eat, just maybe not for a few more months.

Actually OP as I recall I didn't even start weaning DD1 until 7 months. She just wasn't interested at all. Your DS is absolutely not behind. Your advice from your HV has actually made me quite angry, it really is not ok to give out this kind of misinformation.

DD2 by contrast picked up a sandwich off her sisters plate at 5 months and self weaned (never took a spoon just ate off everyone else's plates) and is now pain in the arse with food!!

I would just keep trying op.
Sit with him or even stand in eye shot so he can see you eating too.
It'll honestly eventually click.
He will eat melty sticks so you know he can eat it's just playing round with what he will take.
Offer a good variety, if he plays with he plays with it. They only need a fist (their fist) amount of food, so if he manages one mouthful that's great!
Try and make it fun, put some music on, be silly to make him laugh.
I sometimes had to run up and down the kitchen with the spoon and say pop once I got it in his mouth!
Your doing everything you should so just keep going

Thanks. It does worry me. I know it’s early days but the complete refusal to eat is a concern. I also worry about him getting dehydrated in hot weather.

I’d stop trying to feed him solids, but have him sitting with you when you are eating. See if that piques his interest. Both my dc started eating by grabbing food that other people were eating, rather than eating their “own” food.

If it’s any comfort, dd wasn’t interested in solids until 9 months, then she ate with gusto!

Obviously, still keep up the milk for nutrition and hydration.

Give cucumber, watermelon, melon, that kind of thing. Offer water in different cups, both mine got on well with a doidy cup (I hold it myself and don't let DD hold it otherwise water ends up everywhere )

Yeah I have thanks name , it makes no difference.

The important thing is to offer them. Keep offering even if baby doesn't eat/drink. He will eventually.

Please try not to stress about it. You can't force baby to eat/drink before they're ready so there's actually nothing you can do except continue to offer and be patient.

If he's having milk he won't get too dehydrated or hungry.

Also my two have often refused food (and the breast) when teething.

Regarding weight gain ... was he only weighed after birth and at the 5 day check? Maybe again at 6 weeks? He may have dropped a percentile but then maintained since so it doesn't necessarily mean he's going to keep losing weight going forward as long as he's taking a lot of milk.

Thank you for being so patient, I know I’m worrying too much but it’s hard not to when he clamps his mouth shut.

He was weighed after birth and he’d lost 12% of his birth weight, and that was the beginning of the end of breastfeeding as we were put on a feeding plan with formula milk.

He was very refluxy until he was about five months which was another issue.

He looks healthy, he isn’t one of those massive chunky babies but he does have gorgeous chubby cheeks and legs and arms.

@summersflowers

Yeah I have thanks name , it makes no difference.

@summersflowers

Oh don't honestly! DD1 was also a PITA with water and didn't drink it for months, just keep offering milk. They don't miraculously need water at 7 months have survived perfectly well on milk before

Neither of mine ever got chunky! They're just naturally long and slim.

Honestly your son is fine. Extra milk is the solution if you're really worried.

I sympathise, DD1 lost eleven percent after birth too and it took me months to accept I didn't have to panic about getting food into her constantly. She truly is a freakishly strong and healthy ten year old now. No colds, stomach bugs etc ever.

If say don't stress! Easier said than done I know. I didn't even start weaning DS2 until he was over 7months. Mainly because I'm lazy and we were on holiday for a few weeks and it was easier just give him milk, but he also didn't show much interest until then and he was still quite floppy. I also only started with offering food at one meal (dinner for us - again I'm lazy and we were often out at lunchtime and it was a faff, plus I liked him sat in a highchair to eat initially). However by 12 months both of mine were on 3 meals a day. Id just whack a bowl down with some bits of food - fruit, veg, toast etc, few spoons of purée if that's what you want to do at the same time and let him get on with it. He will get there, you are doing great

*Thank you for being so patient, I know I’m worrying too much but it’s hard not to when he clamps his mouth shut.

He was weighed after birth and he’d lost 12% of his birth weight, and that was the beginning of the end of breastfeeding as we were put on a feeding plan with formula milk.

He was very refluxy until he was about five months which was another issue.

He looks healthy, he isn’t one of those massive chunky babies but he does have gorgeous chubby cheeks and legs and arms*

That sounds like atypical feeding journey for a baby with Tongue Tie. Was he ever properly assessed for the reasons why he lost 12% of his birth weight?

Most of this has already been said, but...

You need to take the stress out of it. Your child doesn't actually really need food yet - yes his vitamin stores from birth are starting to deplete now but formula is fortified with all the vitamins he needs. Formula has far more calories than anything he's going to eat, so if weight loss is a concern then it's formula you need to be focusing on. Food at this stage is really about exploring and just learning to eat, so that by the time he does actually need to be getting nutrition from food he knows what he's doing.

My DD didn't actually eat anything until 9 months. I was so excited the first time there was food in her nappy 😂

I'm not clear why you're concerned about dehydration. He's fine with his formula, you can offer some water when it's unusually hot as well. Food isn't the answer, generally it's the other way around - people give high water content foods when their kids won't drink enough. In my experience food will just make them constipated in the early days so then you need to get more fluids in to them to address that.

In your shoes here's what I'd do:

• stop trying to spoon feed
• put food directly on to high chair tray, and just a little at a time so it's not overwhelming. Bowls can just be a distraction.
• cut out the junk, and I'd include melty sticks in that. Lots of baby food/snacks are sweetened with grape or apple juice. Yes it's natural, but it's still sweetened and therefore much tastier than broccoli or plain toast.
• try to relax!

FWIW, dropping one centile line isn't normally cause for concern. DS has dropped several - was 50th at birth and is now below 9th but no one is concerned (including me). Also other HCPs don't recommend early weaning for weight loss as far as I'm aware? HVs just like to give advice that isn't backed up by evidence or nice guidelines.

I wonder if having a look at Getting the Little Blighters to Eat might help you (there's a book but also a Facebook page and website with lots of free resources). It's about dealing with or preventing fussy eaters but really it's just the approach everyone should aim to take with feeding their kids, all about removing the pressure from the situation and recognising that your job is to offer them nutritious food, whether or not they eat it is up to them.

Honestly, it doesn't sound like there's anything to worry about. You say he puts other things in his mouth so sounds like his development in that respect is on track. He'll try food when he's ready.

I agree with the advice to put small quantities of normal food on the high chair tray.

Avocado is brilliant
www.feedinglittles.com/blog/how-to-serve-avocado-to-babies

But you can also just give him little bits of whatever you're eating. And when I say give him... put it in front of him. Don't bend over backwards trying to get him to eat it.

Would one of those food dummies work maybe?
They look like dummies but you can put things in them (like a strawberry for example.)
Maybe he'd be more likely to put it in his mouth if it didn't look like food? 😅