My 9 Month Old Wont Eat!

Like others have said, some kids are just small. If he is healthy and active, you probably don't have a reason to be concerned. However, I do know of a little boy who wasn't eating very well and that was his only symptom. Finally after months of this going on, the doctor used a scope to look down his throat and founds a lot of damage and scar tissue in his esophagus from acid reflux (GERD). They put him on acid reflux medicine and he started to eat really well.

formula has more calories than baby food.. so if you want calories give more formula.

dont worry he will grow.

If you are going to give solids make sure you choose higher calorie foods. At 9 months avocado, cheese, whole milk yogurt, and bananas might be good options.

Yes, please listen to the person who warned that Pediasure is not a supplement to infant formula! Please don't do that unless your doctor specifically tells you to.

Do ask the doctor what else to do, maybe extra bottles instead of extra-strong formula. But keep cool: I don't want you to go through what our friends did: Their son was tiny. He ate and ate and ate and by age two was still very small but developmentally fine. Doctors sent the family to pediatric gastroenterololgists to see if he was digesting properly, to this specialist and that specialist and in the end some doctor referred them to an eating disorders program at a university -- which they found was aimed at teens with disorders, NOT at toddlers at all. That's when I think they realized this was out of hand, and doctors were not at all sure what to do. Then one doctor finally looked at the parents and said, basically, your kid is small because you're both small, and he's fine. Both parents are, frankly, short; and the dad is both short and very, very slim; he eats like a horse all the time and remains very slender and small. Nothing wrong, it's just his build and his metabolism.The kid is fine but just is small like his dad and always will be --- genetics will always win! But early on, doctors didn't know what to do with a baby and toddler who wasn't fitting the stereotype of an infant who's plump and getting plumper. In other words -- listen to doctors, absolutely, and if your son's developmental milestones aren't coming along as they should, definitely have the right tests done and soon. But be aware that not all children are little butterballs, and once they are very active, they get very slim sometimes, especially if predisposed to being smaller kids. Take a look, too, at the genetics -- are you, or is dad, or is a grandparent, slim and/or short and slim? That could be a clue. So is the fact he was a little premature -- has your doctor talked to you about how long it takes even slightly premature kids to get onto the "percentile" curves?

So don't dismiss any real worries, but if he is otherwise healthy, do not be unduly worried either.

Just a thought, does anyone in your family have Celiac's (gluten intolerance) That can cause failure to thrive in a baby. Does he have any other stomach issues. Gluten intolerance is so common now, it may be something to look into. If not then I would cut back on the solids and do as your doc says. Formula has tons of calories and should help him to gain quicker. Good luck!!

If he won't take what the pediatrician suggested, you need to call back and tell the doctor or nurse that. If your son was bigger, this might be an appropriate place to ask, but he's so small. My 9 month old is 21 and a half pounds, and he is in the 50th-75th percentile, not even at the top! He eats plenty, and only gained 2 lbs between 6 and 9 months. Is your son crawling or moving? They stop growing so fast when they start burning off the calories they are taking in.

Breast or Formula? I would stop with the solids, he will get more from the breast or formula. If it is formula talk to the pedi about changing it - maybe it is not digesting well in your son and that is the problem - either way TALK to your doctor about this, not us.

PEDIASURE IS NOT FOR INFANTS DO NOT GIVE YOUR CHILD PEDIASURE - TALK TO THE DOC OR FIND A NEW ONE

start with yellow veggies-thicken them with rice cereal-tiny amounts-he''l catch on-

My daughter was 3 weeks early and never cared about her bottle but she did like to eat though. When she was almost 3 months I started adding rice cereal to her formula. She loved that and she started gaining weight. Her doctor didn't recommend it but I listened to the Mother's in my family who had experience and told me to do it. You will have to do what you think is best sometimes when caring for you baby. Your doctor doesn't seem concerned with him being under weight. Since he;s so active there may not be a concern. Good luck and hope he begins to eat.

This is probably a dumb question, but are you talking to your pediatrician about this? What does he/ she say? Are they concerned? Will he eat baby cereal? I don't have any experience with this, but if you really are concerned, be sure to be in touch with your pediatrician to ensure there isn't anything "medically" wrong. Hang in there! Keep us posted.

I had the same problem with my daughter who's two. It turns out that she has food allergies. We put her on an elimination diet (took the top nine most common food allergens out of her diet), and she started eating much, much better. Now, we have her off gluten and dairy and, as an added supplement of both calories and nutrients, she drinks 16 oz of PediaSure Peptide each day. It's super-expensive, but our insurance covers it. I hope I've helped a bit.

Isn't it true that pediatricians want a baby to triple their birth weight at 12 months of age? It looks like your son has already done that at 9 months. My youngest daughter is 9 1/2 now and has always been really small and healthy for her age. She is just now 50 lbs. She has never let her size get in the way of anything that she has wanted to do including sports, which she loves.

The key is whether or not your son is in good health. If he is, try not to worry about size. Kids seem to have days when they eat a lot and days when they eat very little. At 9 months your son is probably really interested in moving around and getting ready to walk. And if I remember correctly babies tend to not gain as much weight at this point because of their new mobility.

Best wishes! Hope everything turns out fine!

We went through a similar situation and can relate to how stressful this is for a mother.
At the same age as your son, our doctor took our daughter off of all solids, which she was enjoying, and had us add extra powder to her formula. He wanted us to try to force feed her, and I felt he was overly focused on her small size. What resulted was she started to reject even the bottles and hardly ate a thing. Then he changed his mind and had us restart the food, and by that time she wasn't interested anymore. We changed doctors, and the new one told us that our daughter was fine, just small. Like someone else said, you can't cheat your genes...her father is tall and thin.
Nine months is a crucial time for children to start exploring food and making some of their own decisions of what they like/don't like, want/don't want. My suggestion is do what you can, but don't force it. He will eat what he needs in the end. Best wishes to you!!

If he is still very active, he should be fine. My oldest is very tall, but has always been in the bottom 5% for weight. If your son becomes lethargic, or is not interested in the things he usually likes, or seems too weak to move, then you need to worry. But if he is pulling up and laughing and following you around the room and doing all the normal baby things, he is just small. Small is OKAY. Keep offering the food, because you never know when he will take you up on it, but don't stress out if he doesn't want to eat it. Just refrigerate and offer at the next meal. Try offering food before a bottle, and let him decide. My youngest went through a phase where he learned a lot faster than he grew, so he only ate one thing of baby food and 2 and a half bottles a day for about three months. But then one day, he decided he was hungry, and ate all month long. :-) Don't worry. Small babies are fine, as long as they *act* healthy. Blessings!