My 8 month old recently has not been too interested in his baby food. He recently had a double ear infection. He used to be a great eater. He would have 2 jars of vegies (Sweet Pot or Squash) and 2 jars of fruit (Applesause) a day. About 10 days ago he had the double ear infection. At first when he lost interest in his baby food was when his ears were bothering him and now he just is not interested. We have to feed him a little spoonful of water just to get him to take the next bite of the baby food. I have even tried other foods because I thought that he might not like that food anymore. I can't find anything that he likes. The only thing that he will eat besides his bottles (and even that can be a task, not as easy as it was before the ear infection) is baby oatmeal. I am able to get him to eat only 1 jar of Sqaush and 2 jars of Applesauce with spoonfuls of water inbetween each bit a day. If there is any moms that went through this with there child not being interested in baby food, please let me know or if any moms have any advice, please let me know. I hope this all makes sense. I know that I was just writing and writing.
How can I get my son to get used to eating table time foods. He has allergies with diary and soy, so we have to be careful of what to give him. We tried giving him some sweet pot puffs and he makes a terrible face. He won't pick them up, he just plays with them, or ignore that they are there. He will be 8 months tomorrow :). He is crawling, pulling up, walking while pushing something. He puts everything in his mouth.We have tried other baby foods and he will just eat oatmeal. His DR said to try soy yogurt at 8 months, so we will try that soon. Any suggestions to get him used to table time foods. He has no teeth, so I can't imagine that I could start him on table time foods. He won't eat any baby food anymore. When can you start to give baby's juice in a sippy cup? Is there anything wrong with him not holding is own bottle? He can....he just chooses not to.
He could have a sore throat. I have 3 children, of which one took a bottle only after 3 - 6 months of alternating between breastfeeding and bottle. She is the only one of my children to ever have a problem with ear infections which were almost always accompanied by a sore throat.
Sometimes these ear infections can affect taste also. Take him to the doctor and make sure he has no sign of the ear infection left.
Have you had his ears re checked? We have 2 kids, both of which ended up with tubes in their ears (my son at 12 mos and daughter at 2 yrs of age) due to repeated infections back to back to back. I would first confirm he doesn't still have an ear infection or a possible secondary infection. Something else that happened to us is sometimes after antiobiotics they can get Thrush. Which is basically a yeast infection in the mouth. It can be painful resulting in a loss of apetite all together. Just a thought. Good Luck!
Hi K.,
My first thought is vaccine issues....Please look into this with an open view! My second is, have you had him checked by a chiropractor? The birth process alone is enough trama on a childs spine to cause ear infections, colic, reflux, you name it! I would start here, the treatment is VERY safe and effective, especailly against ear infections! It gives instant relief!!!! I would add probiotics too:) If you need any info on the vaccines, please contact me. I learned LONG ago about the dangers and have seeen MANY damaged from them. I can lead you to many good resources. Best of luck to you guys!
Your baby is just getting over being sick so it's no suprise he isn't very intrested in eating. He may associoate pain with eating and drinking from the pressure he felt from his ears when he swallowed, the medication may be messing with his system and he may not feel hungry either. He may still be sick. Is he acting like he is back to normal, playing and sleeping like he did before he got sick? If not, then chances are he is still under the weather. Just relax and go with his cues. He won't starve himself, no worries there. If by a few days to a week after his antibotics are gone, and still no sign of feeling better, call his DR back to have him looked overed again. Otherwise, don't force him to eat or eat more than he'll take. He'll come back around and you won't be able to keep enough food in front of him and he'll be happy to try all the other flavors of food you have bought!!
Good luck!
S.
It's just a thought, but have you thought about making your own baby food? I never gave our son store-bought food (basically because I'm cheap!). I just took whatever we were eating and tossed it in the blender. Sometimes I made a large batch and froze it (in small jars or ice cube trays) for future use. I never worried about spices or anything after he hit about 8 months, and he loved it. Maybe the idea of something new and a little more flavorful, or the idea of eating the same thing mom and dad are eating would help encourage your son to eat again. Good luck!
K., My 9 month old has NEVER eaten baby food.
It is a texture thing for him, he eats foods that would surprise most people at this age. I would try and see if he might like some different textures. Try the Gerber puffs if he has had nothing else that requires mashing in his mouth. They dissolve very easily, and can give you confidence that he is using his mouth to mash. He can also feed himself at this time with these, and my son just LOVES to feed himself. He would much rather do that than have me feed him.
Some of the first things he ate which he could hold himself were natural cheetos (wow! Loved those, and opened the door to eating other things) he also absolutely loves cheese. I give him very small pieces of cheese slices (smaller than a dime) He never had trouble choking on anything, but use your best judgment as to how he does. If he gags a bit, but continues eating, don't worry, it is part of the learning process. Cheerios are another very easy one for them to dissolve in their mouth... and cut up banana is good. My son also drinks ice water from a sippy cup during his meals, trying to do it all himself. If you want some other ideas, let me know. I have tried everything! :)
I have a bunch of other foods that he liked, but if he is in the mood to try and feed himself it may get you jump started to getting some other foods in.
Ear infections can be related to immune system weakening. If you are vaccinating, you may want to check out www.generationresuce.com or www.theeducatedparent.blogspot.com. Flu vac is ineffective and dangerous, don't do it, you could make an existing problem much worse. For now:
Try giving proibotics at night (Whole foods sells), culturelle once a day (whole foods, wal-greens) and cod liver oil (one tsp a day). Limit wheat and consider giving Almond milk with cod liver oil for fat rather than formula or milk. Cod liver oil has vit A and vit D which fight virals and imflamation, and will go a very far way to prevent the flu. If he improves over a 2 week - 1 month period, you will know the digestive issues are there. If not, you have just made him much healthier. Both my kids started the ear infections at 7 months and 13 months (not a coincidence it was 1 month after a round of vac's). The first, I ignored, and learned a very hard lesson. The second, I got smart and learned how to treat. Both are now healthy and vibrant after a return from some tough times.
Best of luck, J.
My son had terrible ear infections when he was a baby and I found the same thing happening with his appetite as well. One thing that I did notice was that when he was on the antibiotics for the ear infections he wouldn't want to really eat very much and it would take him a few days after completing the meds to finally be ready to begin really eating again. He would take his bottles but he didn't want any cereal or fruit or veggies. I would make sure he was getting his multi vitamin and vitamin c and echanacia and then give him bottles and wouldn't try the food until after he had been off the meds for awhile. The vitamins ensure he's getting the nutrients that he needs so once I started giving him those I felt better about the change in his eating. His pediatrician also explained that he wasn't going to starve himself and that between the ear infection and the meds he just isn't feeling 100% and that once he starts feeling better his appetite will come back and sure enough it did!! You just have to be patient. It's like when we get really sick. We may eat very little to nothing for a few days and then once we start feeling better we slowly get our appetite back but it takes awhile before we're really back to eating normally.
Good Luck! It's so hard when our babies aren't well and they aren't eating like they normally do! It's scary because as a parent we just want them to be healthy and happy! If after he's been off the medication for a while and if he still is showing no interest in food then I would call his pediatrician but for now I would just be patient and wait.
It's very common for babies that are fairly new to solid foods to stop if they aren't feeling 100% and go back to nursing exclusively. (or bottles - whatever)
It's like comfort food for adults - even the most adventurous of us, who love to try new foods, don't want to when they have a cold. Similar thing. Besides, there isn't any solid food that will be healthier than his milk now anyway, so follow his lead.
He may not want to eat much until his ears get better. They can make his little throat hurt due to the tubes from the ears that drain in his throat. He may even like a popcile or something else cold. Be patient with him. I am sure once the ears clear his appatite will improve. Just keep up the fluids. My daughters went thur this and in the Emergency Room we see babies brought in with this problem . If you stay concern call his Doctor,
My son did the same thing, except he just gave up baby food for no reason at all. After this I just started feeding him real food (ie-peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, etc.). I, of course, had to prepare the foods so that they would be soft enough for him to chew, but that worked great. He really enjoyed feeding himself and ate much more than before. I would cook the veggies, then cut them into small bites and put them on his plate. I can't tell you how much this made a difference. Hope this helps and good luck.
