My 6 Month Old Won't Eat - Naugatuck,CT

This might not be the same thing, but my daughter will go through periods where she just doesn't eat. Period. Maybe a little milk, maybe a few cheerios...but that's it, for the day pretty much. Usually, three to four days later, I then sit back and watch her inhale the ENTIRE contents of my pantry, refrigerator and freezer. Babies can go through stages like this. She's 6 months old, so it shouldn't be her "stubborn streak" coming out yet. Make sure you leave lots of things around that she could munch on while she's playing - sippy cups of water, especially. You don't want her getting dehydrated. You can keep little bowls of cheerios or other munchies around, too. My baby always ate...eventually. Sometimes it was the weather that set her off - when it's hot or humid outside, she's likely to eat a LOT less. Then, when the weather turns (I can't wait for Tuesday!!!) she'll suddenly suck up everything she can find.

I hope that helps!

I also have a couple of questions to see if I can offer further advice: How long did she attend the feeding clinic? Who was part of her feeding team (occupational therapists, speech therapists, MDs, etc)? What type of things did they recommend? How long has she gone without eating? What time of day does she take the 10-15 ounces? Just FYI, I am a speech therapist who has worked with feeding issues.

Could she be teething? My DS went on an eating strike at the that age. Try motrin or camile homeopathic teething drops from whole foods and see if that helps.

Jennifer,

Make sure you rule out any heart problems. I've posted about this on this board before, but both of my twins were great eaters (drinkers?!) when they were infants. They were up to 8 ozs of formula a feeding pretty early on. Then at 4 months, one of my twins stopped drinking. He dropped bottles and the little he did drink, it took him 75 minutes to drink! I asked the dotor about it and he said not to worry. Turns out, my son was in heart failure.... He had an atrial flutter that went undetected and by the time we realized it (b/c my son was panting and his heart was racing at 300 bpm), his heart was enlarged to twice its normal size.... (He is TOTALLY fine now, though...)

Anyway... one of the classic signs of heart failure is not wanting to eat. So I just ask that you get it checked out. It's not enough to just listen to the heart beat, you need to have an EKG done (b/c a stethoscope only will hear a ventricular rate, not atrial rate....)

how long has this been going on? i breastfeed, but when my daughter was about 4 months old she started to refuse to nurse for like 3 weeks. she only wanted to nurse when she was sleeping. is it b/c your little one is too busy to eat? maybe teething? or do you feel it is something else? after those few weeks my daughter started eating normal again. she is a very busy little girl and doesnt like to slow down to eat. the only suggestion i can make is to try to feed your baby when he/she is really sleepy or just fallen asleep. just remember, babies go through lots of phases. if the dr. doesnt think there is anything "wrong" i would try not to worry. i know i was so worried, but it passed. i'm sure this will pass for your little one. good luck!

Hi Jennifer,
My son went through a short phase where he didn't want to eat. The best advice I got was from my Dad: "When he's hungry, he'll eat." I know, it sounds silly, but he was absolutely right! Your baby will not starve himself, that's for sure! Just keep trying different Stage-2 foods and rice/oatmeal/barley cereal, and eventually he'll eat. Just get ready for the next phase. Once my son started eating, he ate just about anything I put in front of him. But now that he's 9 months, all he'll eat is his cereal and maybe some Stage-2 fruit--breakfast, lunch, and dinner (I don't know how he's not bored!!)! You have to look at it this way ... as long as he's eating something, and gaining weight instead of losing it, you're fine ... and he's fine :-)
Before you know it, he'll be eating everything in sight--that's what everyone keeps telling me!

Hope this helps somewhat!

Maybe she's teething too? My (almost) 7 month old started having days when she doesn't feel like eating too much, and we discovered teeth coming in. She wasn't super fussy over the teething, so we were surprised to see two coming in!

It could be that she is teething or just too busy to eat. Many kids ids do go on food strikes. That said, "kids won't starve themselves" is ONLY good advice to listen to if you have ruled out all medical and sensory issues. There are children who actually do starve themselves due to unseen issues. It is most likey just the usual kid stuff but if it goes on for more than a few days (which it probably has, if you've been to the feeding clinic) you should insist on seeing a pediatric GI and doing some more testing. I don't mean to sound scary, it's just that my little guy also stopped eating and initially was ruled out as a refluxer. He turned out to have pretty severe case of reflux and possible eosinophilic esophagitis (upcoming tests for this). So if you feel that there is an ongoing problem, be persistent!

Jennifer,
A few questions to help respond to your situation. How long has she exhibited this new behavior? What pureed baby food is she eating, how many times a day are you feeding it to her and how much?