Children are the most important thing in life, their health and the welfare of their parents always worry more than their own goods.
Every mother is faced with the problem of refusal of the baby to eat, because the appetite is quite unpredictable.
Then the question arises about what methods can be used to return the child to a normal diet. At a certain age, the reasons for not eating can be different. From unconscious reflexes in infancy to quite conscious “FU!” At a higher age. Let's look at all the situations.
Baby does not eat breast milk (refuses to breast)
Mother's milk is a storehouse of useful microelements and vitamins, and, in addition, the lactic acid bacteria necessary for normal development. Breast failure can manifest itself in several ways:
• Complete failure to feed.
• Feeding only in a dream.
• Intermittent food (that eats, then throws).
• Pushes away a breast or turns away from it, etc.
In some cases, it is necessary to contact the antenatal clinic to determine the exact reason for refusing food. Sometimes only a specialist will be able to correctly compare all the factors and find the optimal solution to the problem. But most often the child refuses to eat for quite banal and easily avoidable reasons.
The main causes of failure of the breast and how to solve them
1. Change the taste of milk. The main reason is consumed products (spices, herbs, garlic, onions, cauliflower, etc.). Some medicines can also affect the taste of milk. In the case of products, it is enough to simply change your diet, and you should consult with a specialist about the cancellation or replacement of a medicine.
2. Specific nipple shape. Failure due to flat, small or slightly inverted nipples. To solve this problem, you can try special nozzles for feeding or, in the process of feeding, pull out the nipple.
3. The child is wrong to capture the chest. It is easy to notice, because during feeding mother feels discomfort, pain. Proper capture should be taught from the first days:
• The mouth girth of the entire breast aura, not just the nipple
• Lips should not be wrapped inside. The baby’s lower lip completely captures the nipple halo below.
4. Abuse of pacifiers and bottles. The child quickly realizes that sucking from the breast is much harder, begins to do so with reluctance. If the mother was engaged in decanting before, then the baby can switch to bottle drinking at all.
5. Excessive breast tension due to which milk does not flow well into the baby’s mouth. Because of this, the child may simply not understand that he is being fed. Therefore, feeding should be done in a relaxed state, in a comfortable position for the child. You can not hurry, speed up the process or customized baby. Feeding can return to normal after:
• Easy breast massage.
• A warm shower.
• Changes in feeding posture.
• Stroking the breast while nursing.
But there are two reasons for which medical consultation may be required:
1. The most unpleasant thing is of course the indisposition of the baby, which is expressed not only in the fact that the child does not eat anything, but also in other symptoms - crying, general lethargy, fever, tense tummy, etc. Therefore, you should carefully consider this issue and consult with your doctor. Perhaps he is disturbed by something completely different: pain in the ears during inflammation, bloating in the stomach, etc.
2. Maternal breast disease. For example, the same mastitis changes the taste of milk, makes feeding difficult for the baby process. It is better to first take a course of treatment, and then try to return to breastfeeding.
If the child does not eat complementary foods
Before giving complementary foods, you need to think about whether you really need it. There are general recommendations of domestic and foreign health care professionals, leading pediatricians, professional experience of a district pediatrician, but even they cannot agree on one opinion. Now they offer to master new food from 6 months, but sometimes even a one-year-old child refuses it.
First of all, it is necessary to turn to a pediatrician who, after studying the history and main indicators of development, will precisely determine whether there is a reason for panic. It is possible that the child gets enough of the necessary substances with mother's milk. This is not always convenient for a mother who cannot miss or even replace one feeding. From 6 months of introduction of complementary foods is recommended, so it is better to consult with a specialist if the baby absolutely does not want to use even a small part of it and loses / does not gain weight.
A child may refuse to eat a new food for various reasons:
1. Lack of interest in adult food.
2. Emotional shocks.
3. Lack of progress in the development of internal systems (GIT).
4. Teething.
5. Hot weather.
6. No need, etc.
If the cause of failure is non-medical in nature, then you can use the following tips:
1. Feed the food on an empty stomach.
2. Strictly observe the diet.
3. Add some puree milk or baby formula to the puree.
4. Determine taste preferences.
5. New products should be introduced gradually (first one, and after another week).
6. To put the kid at the table with the family, because children like to repeat as adults.
7. You can teach a child to eat by dipping his favorite nipples in the primer.
Perhaps the reason lies in something else. For example, when artificially fed to a child, the mixture may simply not be suitable. For many babies, this can manifest itself in the form of a gag reflex during a meal. Then you should change the mixture, try alternately others.
Child year does not eat anything
If a baby up to this age did not eat anything from complementary foods, then it is worth starting to accustom him gradually. To do this, you can use the tips presented above. But the opinion of the pediatrician in this case does not hurt, especially if there are comments about health.
And to understand whether there are these problems is quite simple. Look at your baby and choose from two options: He does not eat anything, but behaves as usual (plays, laughs, crawls, etc.), or does not eat anything and at the same time is sluggish (or restless), often crying Sleeps longer than usual (or vice versa less than usual). With the second option, of course, you need to get a pediatrician consultation. At the first - you just need to establish the correct mode and diet. To do this, use the tips outlined below.
What to do if a healthy child does not eat anything
If the baby is developing well and has excellent health, then the issue of eating can be resolved in several ways:
1. Select a clear diet (eat strictly on the clock).
2. Between main meals do not give snacks, sweets.
3. Try not to feed the child alone, let all family members eat at the table.
4. Walk more in the fresh air.
5. Do not limit the child in activity.
If the listed tips did not produce results, then you need to contact a pediatrician who will identify the exact reason for refusing food.
Child two (three) years - does not eat anything
Refusing food at that age can also be medical and behavioral. First of all, you need to look at the well-being of the baby, because it is possible that he refuses to eat because of illness, but can not explain what it hurts. In this case, you must contact your pediatrician.
But more often than not, the problem is that a child at this age becomes more discriminating about food, and also that he can formulate his “FU!” More clearly and moreover, he can already defend his point of view. Therefore, if a child in two years does not eat anything (or rather just eats little), then the reasons may be the following:
1. The taste of food (products that do not like)
2. Physical characteristics of food (come across lumps, very hot or cold), etc.
3. The child is already full, and the parents continue to “shove” everything that remains on the plate.
4. Lack of a clear meal schedule (not getting hungry)
5. Low physical activity and, as a result, reduced need for food.
6. Bad mood (or stress) in a child. Yes Yes! Mood can affect a child’s appetite in the same way as an adult.
What to do if a child does not eat anything in 2 or 3 years
As a rule, the stronger the parents insist, the more stubbornness wakes up in the child. No need to force or threats to try to get the baby to eat everything that lies on the plate. This will only aggravate the situation and may cause a mental refusal to eat, therefore it is necessary to find a more rational solution.
Eating is best organized in the family for pleasant conversations. Try to present any dish beautifully to warm up the appetite of the child. It is necessary to know the products that the baby does not like and try to replace them with equivalent ones, and not to make large portions. Here you can do as with lure - enter gradually.
The more active the child, the faster he gets hungry, and sedentary - they eat much less. It is important to strictly observe the diet and allow eating sweets before meals. It should be remembered an important rule: if the baby is not too much, but in terms of weight it is steadily gaining, then you should not breed panic. After all, this means that it only seems to you that the child does not eat anything, and in an effort to stuff more food into it, you will only overfeed it.
Lack of appetite and refusal to eat is relevant for children of any age and various factors can cause such behavior. It is necessary to listen to your child and notice every little thing, because he can not always tell about what worries him.
