I have a 28 moth old who has never been the best eater even as a baby he never took in more than 4oz of milk at a time except for an occasional 5 oz, any more than that he would projectile all over the place, it was always worse when teething. When he started on solids he did better except when teething he had to be put on previcid for a while due to vomiting every time he ate. After the teething it got better for a while ( he would eat just about anything, lentils, peas, he would even take my salad and eat it) but once he turned 18 months his eating took a turn for the worse, and all he wanted was milk ( he was drinking up to 30 oz of milk a day sometimes but usually 24oz) which was right at the time his canines started cutting through. Poor fella has been teething nonstop. His last tooth is at its final stages of cutting through and I pray that he starts eating again. But now over the past couple weeks if I even mention food or if he sees a certain food he will gag and sometimes throw up.. all he wants is milk. He will barely eat 1 meal a day and has even gotten to the point over the past week where he wakes up in middle of night asking for milk. ( I am sure he is hungry) I don't know what to do. I can't force him to eat because he will just gag and throw up. I don't know if his reflux has flared up because of the teething or if there is a more serious issue. He will only eat yogurt ( 1/2 - 1 a day) nuts, chips, pretzels, apples and dry cereal (SOMETIMES) I MAY be able to get him to eat a piece of pizza or a hot dog occasionally. He was up last night every hour asking for milk. I don't know what to do anymore. has anyone ever experienced this before? Any suggestions? Thank you!
You really need help from a professional
Ask the ped to send you to a feeding specialist. I'm not kidding.
Your 2 year old needs to see his doctor ASAP. I really haven't heard of a kid reacting to teething quite like you are describing yours.
Doctor now.
Meet with the pediatrician to determine if there's a medical cause. If not, request feeding therapy for your son. My 22 month old has been in feeding therapy for choking, gagging, texture issues, and general picky eating for the past 6 months and it has helped tremendously.
I would consult with his doctor. Obviously all the nutrients he needs are not in a glass of milk. In the mean time perhaps they will recommend he drink ensure or some other nutritional supplement. Best of luck!
Contact your doctor as soon as possible to speak to the nurse and set up an appointment to discuss this.
I would also consider contact EI (Early Intervention) to have him evaluated. They have wonderful Occupational Therapists and Speech Therapists ( as well a many other professions) that specialize in these types of issues with youngsters. They can offer ideas and support to you and your family (once the pediatrician has concurred).
A friend had a similar experience. Her child had reflux that lead to a food aversion because he associated food with feeling sick. He went to a feeding therapist as a toddler and it helped a lot. Ask your pediatrician if she thinks it might help your son.
Can you expand your post to let us know what the discussions have been between you and the pediatrician so far? What does the doctor say about 24-30 ounces of milk a day in a child this age? It's such a poor source of overall nutrition, I'd like to know what the doctor recommend for supplements and a behavioral strategy. The nuts and apples are good, and the yogurt has more in it than just milk, but the chips and pretzels aren't helping. It's interesting that he can and will eat those, and even pizza or a hot dog, but not other things.
If there was a change at 18 months and he's now 28 months, what else have you tried over 10 months. Has he seen either a pediatric nutritionist or a pediatric gastroenterologist? Have any other meds been tried (if in fact testing indicates a medical issue)? If not, what behavioral techniques have they asked you to try?
Welcome to mamapedia!!
You have a 2 year old. Once they hit two years - it's YEARs -NOT MONTHS.
Your son needs to be seen by a doctor. He might need to be seen by an otolaryngologist to see if his uvula is too long and might need to be trimmed.
Get him to a doctor.
see the pedi. if the child is throwing up a tthe sight of certain foods then the childs dr needs to get involved and refer you to the proper specialist that can help your child.
smoothies.
khairete
S.
His reflux may be partially due to food allergies so I'd add that to the list of things to test for along with having him looked at for food aversion. Grandson #2 was taking medication for reflux until his mama researched on her own and found that he was allergic to some component of milk. Removed milk for his diet and no more reflux
Mine never were bothered by teething much, but they did drool more and maybe yours feels like he's gagging from the excess spit.
If it were me, I'd take him in to the pediatrician ASAP. We lived next to a little girl who had problems swallowing textures. Her parents just kept giving her soft foods that she liked. By age two all she ate was yogurt and cheerios, and the rest of the time she drank milk. You don't want to end up like that - so I'd get him help now. A relative of mine works on a pediatrics team - she handles the nutrition/diet side of things. They also work with specialists if there's a physical or psychological problem with eating. Your pediatrician can arrange this.
In the meantime, what about smoothies as others have suggested or are their any drinks (I'm thinking like Boost, for kids?) he could drink that have more vitamins and nutrients? I'm not sure if they make those - but worth looking into.
Hope they can figure it out soon
Have you had a pediatric dentist examine him to see if there is something in his mouth that might be contributing to this?
Our pediatric dentist diagnosed Geographic Tongue on our girl. Once we knew what the problem was we were much more compassionate when it came to her eating habits.
My youngest grandson just went and had his tongue clipped because that's what the pediatric dentist found when he examined him for similar issues, he couldn't chew up his food all the way.
