My friends baby doesn't eat much: Advice?

Posting for my best friend. her baby is almost a year old and now won’t eat Anything except a few cheerios and like 2 bites of supper… shes tried purees and solids and once he eats two bites…he gags if you keep trying to feed him (while he is flailing about hiding his head) he will nake himself sick. what have you other mamas tried? no bashin this first time momma please.

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My son was like that. He would not eat solids. Would gag with everything so I would just give him bottle. Once he turned about 1.5 he started eating little by little. Patience momma. He’ll eventually eat just give it some time.

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I would reach out to the pediatrician

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Baby will eat when hungry. Seriously. All new mamas (including me 45 years ago) freaked out because I thought my child would starve or I was a bad mom.

Offer food in small amounts. Assuming baby is gaining and the doctor isn’t worried - don’t you worry either. DONT fall into the habit of offering snacks. Offer good food at each meal, and set it aside if not eaten for later. That’s my advice.

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She should bring it up to her pediatrician. Maybe feeding therapy could help.

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bring it up to his Dr just to be safe. My son was the same and his Dr sent us to 2 specialist at the children’s hospital. turns out my son’s digestive enzymes are close to non existence and it took 8 to 12 hours to digest his food meaning he was full after a few bites.

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Mention it to the pediatrician but don’t worry. It’s very normal for kids at that age to eat very small amounts bc their stomachs are very small. I always worried mine would starve but they didn’t.

There can be issues which is why I say mention it to the dr but don’t panic. It may be nothing and something they will outgrow as their stomach grows.

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Mine was the same way, she basically lived off breast milk solely until she was 2, wasn’t a big eater still isn’t at 3, but is finally starting to eat a little more, maybe set in front of him and let him play with it and get use to it, with some it takes extra time

Have the baby checked for a tongue tie! A lot of babies have feeding issues when their tongues are tied to the floor of their mouth. They can’t move their tongue side to side so can move food around in their mouths and then won’t eat.

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Put it on his plate. Soft pieces of whatever you are having for the meal. Let him mess. My daughter was the same way but would eat when she seen us eating.

Baby will eat when hungry. Forcing them to eat is not a good idea. They will eat when hungry. My Granddaughter had a texture issue. She is a grown Adult,Still with this issue but she is fine.

Food before 1 is just for fun. As long as he’s consuming breast milk or formula he’s fine. I’d keep trying. My youngest wouldn’t eat purees, cereal etc. I had to put soft solid chunks in front of him & let him explore the food’s texture, smell, taste. He’d play with his food & eat little. It’s ok. My son has SPD though so many that was the beginning of it? She should talk to her son’s Dr.

Could be a sensory thing, or ASD. And I say this because you mentioned flailing and hitting his head. My son has ASD and eating has always been difficult. Could be gagging because of the texture or smell or something like that. If he is this young, I assume this is a fairly new thing. My son has never been able to eat soft foods at all. He is more of a crunchy food type. Just a thought. I would talk the pediatrician and/or a developmental doctor.

Definitely bring it up to pediatrician but also it could be an independence thing as well. My daughter hated being fed. She insisted on feeding herself. She would gag and throw her head back unless I allowed her to feed herself.

Could be sensory. My son had the same thing and it was sensory over the textures. Still working on it 5 years later

Went threw this even went to doctor. Doctor said he is getting every vitamin he needs in the Cheerios not to worry One question. is he still taking the bottle? If so he’s filling up on Milk.

Have the doctor check for a tongue tie. Especially regarding the gagging. My son had the issue. He couldn’t move his tongue to move the food around which made him gag.

My boy is 3 ans still does this, we just found out he is asd but he also hates being fed, if he can’t feed himself he won’t eat

He could have a sensory issue and the texture of the foods being fed are triggering it so he would rather avoid eating. My son has sensory issues, he will gag and throw up if I feed him but he can feed himself the same thing and not gag or throw up. Try different textured food, not only mashed or puréed. Also, bring it up with the pediatrician.

Obviously speak to your Dr but if hes growing and gaining weight I wouldnt panic. Maybe hes just not ready for solids yet. Give him back his milk. Maybe try smoothies but no snacks .

They have speech therapist for this. Talk to your pediatrician and see if they can refer you to speech therapy.

Take your kid to a doctor or a pediatrician, not get advice from people on Facebook

My daughter’s foster baby was checked out at Labonnuer children’s hospital bc she would gag when eating/drinking.had to be put tosleep ,they said: her throat could be obstructed with a growth or reflux problems,not sure what all they were looking for with scope…she checked out fine.thank God.,but should be checked.

My daughter at her kindergarten physical weighed only 35 lbs !! I been telling her dr is that normal she was a very picky eater example she ordered a hamburger but will say no bread no cheese nothing just a plain piece of meat in kindergarten she would cry because the school would try to force her to eat because she didn’t like yellow cheese only white cheese or she didn’t like the food my son was in 4 th fmgrade would throw her food away when the teacher turn their backs ! We’ll always fighting with the school saying she was underweight her dr called them and told them she healthy kid and don’t force her to eat she will eat when she gets hungry! She 26 now 5’6 and healthy as can be everything she hated she loves now ! Don’t force him to eat if he don’t like it or not hungry take him to his dr and if they say he is healthy don’t worry eventually he will start to eat

I wouldn’t overthink it and I wouldn’t force them to

Try baby lead weaning, lots of different tastes and textures, let them play with food, don’t feed…let them express taste, texture, smell…anything from raw carrots, cooked spaghetti to jelly and toasted bread…time to get messy :blush:

Look into baby led weaning
Baby Led Weaning for Beginners & Beyond (BLWBB) is a great group

How much mill is he having maybe cut out some of his milk the gaging has me stumped tho ad ask a health vistor or doctor about that