This request is actually for my sister-in-law. My nephew is 10 months old and has a bad dairy allergy. He has been breastfed since he was born, and because of the dairy allergy, she has not been able to get him to eat solid food. This was okay for awhile cause the breast milk satisfied him, but now she is pregnant again and her milk supply is drying up. He has lost weight because he will not let anything go into his mouth, and he doesn't drink the non-dairy formula she has tried either. We have tried everything we could think of to get this baby to start eating solid foods and now we don't know what to do. If anyone has been in a similar situation or has any suggestions of how to get this baby to eat, please help. They have tried rice cereal mixed with breastmilk, and all kinds of different baby foods, but he still refuses it.
I totally agree with Julie W. on this one, despite what dr. tell you, there is no reason to lose milk supply. There are so many other things you can do to increase it. I would increase my milk and feed that baby! Maybe he has yeast overgrowth in his tummy, I've looked it up recently, it is real!~
I'm a grandma to a 1 year old that is the same way and we give her regular table food that we eat and she does very well no she never has had baby food and is growing just fine. she was on the light side for the first couple of months but is now showing that everything is going where it should. You are doing a good job and your baby will be fine.
good luck
Hi J.-
The best thing to do first would be to talk to your Pediatrician. Food aversions are generally liked to texture, which many children out grow, so, just keep offering. It may be tough, but he will eat. Make sure that it is a pleseant activity, and not a stressful situation.
Good Luck!
what about sweet fruits i know sugar is bad but hey food is food, oatmeal maybe, i think persistance is the key though, he will eat if he gets hungry enough, i know it sounds mean but it works everytime my kids ever get or got stubborn, i offered food when we ate at mealtimes and if they wouldnt eat i would wait a couple of hours and try again then it was another meal time over and over and over but they do eventually eat, try smoother textured foods too maybe he doesnt like the feel of the food
I agree that you can nurse through pregnancy. Lots of times your supply dips around 20 weeks but nursing on demand can help it back. http://www.kellymom.com/nursingtwo/faq/index.html
There's something called an oral aversion for babies who want nothing in their mouths. Maybe he has that with relation to a spoon?
What's the ped. say?
My daughter also refused baby food, so we started her with actual grown up adult food. Whatever we were eating that we could get her to take a little of. It worked much better for us than baby food.
Good luck.
C.
Hi J.,
This situation has me pretty stumped!
I'm not sure why your nephew is so resistant to eat solids. But the same hormones that maintain pregnancy CAN cause a lower milk supply. And at 10 months old, he should have already started on solids anyway-- not necessarly for his main source of nutrition- but just here and there, as snacks.
By now, most babies his age are snacking on Cheerios, etc. That he refuses everything is odd.
I actually wonder if maybe trying something sweet would help. I know that's probably like a sin to some people--
but if he's actually losing weight, who cares WHAT he eats, as long as he starts eating. Something like applesauce might be appealing enough that once it's on his tongue, he'll accept it. Hopefully, once he starts accepting ONE solid, he'll start accepting others.
Another possibility, if that doesn't work, is to force feed him. I have a disabled daughter who can't drink out of cup--she can't get the right lip closure-- so she only gets her fluids by sucking through a straw. But, when she's sick, she won't suck. So the only way I can get fluids in her, is to squirt them in her mouth with a medicine doser. I use a medicine syringe and just squirt it in her mouth.
With one of the larger syringes, your sister in law could do the same thing with a thinner consistency rice, oatmeal or barley cereal. You don't actually squirt it down they're throat-- you put the syringe over to the side, sort of over where their lower molars would be and just eject a little at a time. It's back far enough that the natural instinct to swallow occurs, but not far enough back that they gag. You have to put it a little further back in the mouth, because when you just put it at the front of the mouth, that's when they can just spit it out with their tongue. But when it's farther back, the natuaral instinct to swallow usually takes over. But again-- you put it back and to the side.
Hopefully, once he starts swallowing it, she can back the syringe up, closer to the front of his mouth, until she can even try it with a spoon.
But either way-- she definately needs to check with a pediatrician too.
Another possibility, is to check with a speech therapist about doing some oral stimulation. That might sound wierd-- but his problem could possibly be a physical one, and not just that he doesn't want to stop nursing and is refusing solids.
When we eat, our tongues move the food side to side in our mouths-- it's something that just develops on it's own. But especially in disabled children, that often doesn't happen.
I realize your nephew isn't disabled-- but there may be somekind of physical thing going on. A speech therapist, because he/she knows how the tongue and mouth work in eating, works with disabled children with feeding problems. She could watch your nephew as your sister in law tries to feed him, and may notice somekind of physical problem.
Keep us posted!
T.
my son is disabled and we went to a chiropractor for him who is also a naturalist and he said that our son was allergic to milk so he told us to give him goats milk and carrot juice. We have him on pediasure as well as my nephew who refuses to eat as well. They definately need their vitamins and minerals and these taste like milk shakes. You could definately give it a shot.
You should read about delayed solids on kellymom.com. That is my number one breastfeeding info site...second is La leche League. Most cultures other than wacky westerners know that a baby who has his "virgin gut" has a better immunity than others...Babies don't even wholly need sold food until 2 years if breastfed...and can't even digest most food until 9 months....very interesting stuff. I'm delaying solids with my 7 month old until one year (I have food allergies). Even then I will mostly breastfeed.
You can nurse right through pregnancy, but she may need help in the form of a galactagogue (Mother's Milk Tea from Wild Oats works amazing and is only $3)She might want to try "Alfalfa" Tablets (which is what they give dairy cow)and its great cause it increases iron absorption. There's all kind of other stuff to increase milk supply and there's really no reason to "lose" you milk supply.
She can also get milk from a milk bank although it is kinda pricey...but worth it!
hello,
J. has sent me your replies. Thank you for your suggestions. We have tried many things; different textures, sweetness, mixing breast milk with food, methods of feeding (spoon, finger, bottle, syringe and chunks on his tray) He has refused everything. Most kids with allergies like my son's refuse solids until 12-18 months, but we don't have that kind of time. I have tried many things to increase my milk supply, but so far no real difference. I will check out kellymom.com. That is website with which I am not familiar. I will have to look into the yeast thing. I have heard about it but not in this context. Thanks again for taking the time to care about someone else's kid. We do appreciate your suggestions and anything else you might think of.
