15 month old refuses to eat

ais567

Tue, Dec 10 2019, 5:58 pm

So my ds 15 months old, refuses to eat ANYTHING!!!!
I am still nursing him approx 3-4 times a day, but that doesn't give him much at this age.
He used to eat a little bread or yogurt or cereal here and there, but lately past few weeks its only getting worse, to the point that today all he had was a lick of peanut butter off the bread!!!!
Any advice PLEASE?

ectomorph

Tue, Dec 10 2019, 6:00 pm

Basic blood work stat. Make sure no anemia. It can be a cycle at this age - not enough food w iron makes anemia. Anemia makes you not have an appetite.

ectomorph

Tue, Dec 10 2019, 6:01 pm

You could try weaning. I have not had much success with that, it led to weight loss and lots of doctor visits. Start offering food every half hour. Bamba, snacks... You want food to be a part of his life.

amother

Cerulean

Tue, Dec 10 2019, 6:32 pm

Check tonsils. My DD was in feeding therapy for months before a doctor realized that her tonsils were touching each other and she COULN’T swallow. She only ate food that went down easily like yogurt, oatmeal etc. poor kid. She’s still picky but it’s a world of a difference than before surgery.

ais567

Tue, Dec 10 2019, 6:44 pm

ectomorph wrote:

I try bamba snacks, cookies all the time, he refuses those as well.

ais567

Tue, Dec 10 2019, 6:46 pm

amother [ Cerulean ] wrote:

Well he doesn't want to eat anything, even things which go down easily....
I try and waste at least 20 foods a day....

amother

Scarlet

Tue, Dec 10 2019, 6:48 pm

ais567 wrote:

Well he doesn't want to eat anything, even things which go down easily....
I try and waste at least 20 foods a day....

I had exact same issue with my baby. Till I let him feed himself. He makes a wreck eating by himself but now at least he is eating. (Until now, he was only drinking formula bottles)

meeze

Tue, Dec 10 2019, 6:51 pm

ais567 wrote:

I'm a first time mom as well with a 16mo. I had a similar complaint. After trying so many foods with no success, I went to dr. They did a blood test (finger prick). The dr said that baby is low in iron and looks pale and thats why there is no appetite. Secondly, I gave too many bottles and he was refusing food because of this. She said to limit the bottles to max 24oz a day and he will start eating. And sure he did.

ectomorph

Tue, Dec 10 2019, 6:59 pm

Just be aware that sometimes there is an underlying issue. So if you restrict bottles / nursing and baby does NOT replace the calories within a week, and starts losing weight, stop restricting food and go do blood work and get a feeding therapist evaluation. You do NOT want to end up with a feeding tube.

ais567

Tue, Dec 10 2019, 7:09 pm

amother [ Scarlet ] wrote:

I had exact same issue with my baby. Till I let him feed himself. He makes a wreck eating by himself but now at least he is eating. (Until now, he was only drinking formula bottles)

No, tried putting foods on highchair tray in front of him, he just throws it all straight onto the floor!!

ais567

Tue, Dec 10 2019, 7:11 pm

meeze wrote:

I will speak to a natural doctor I know who douses and can tell me if he is low in iron.
But the issue is definitely not too many bottles because I nurse him he doesn't drink much from bottles.

ectomorph

Tue, Dec 10 2019, 7:15 pm

ais567 wrote:

I will speak to a natural doctor I know who douses and can tell me if he is low in iron.
But the issue is definitely not too many bottles because I nurse him he doesn't drink much from bottles.

I keep on telling you to do blood work. Why on earth would you do a dousing instead of blood work???

amother

Yellow

Tue, Dec 10 2019, 7:17 pm

Do blood work to rule out anything medical. Meanwhile, make an appointment with a feeding therapist for an evaluation. This is the kind of thing that gets much much much harder to treat as they get older. You really need to intervene now.

ais567

Tue, Dec 10 2019, 7:21 pm

ectomorph wrote:

I keep on telling you to do blood work. Why on earth would you do a dousing instead of blood work???

Because wouldnt dousing tell me if he is anemic?

ectomorph

Tue, Dec 10 2019, 7:29 pm

ais567 wrote:

Because wouldnt dousing tell me if he is anemic?

No. Please go to a normal pediatrician. Only a pinprick or blood test can diagnose anemia accurately, although very severe anemia (the type that causes long term issues) often has other symptoms.
Anemia can affect appetite before it affects anything else, so it's important to rule it out. A 14 month old should be hungry for food.

amother

cornflower

Wed, Dec 11 2019, 8:38 am

My son refused all food and we discovered he had silent reflux. Enough pain to not want to eat, but not enough to be an unhappy baby.

amother

Chocolate

Wed, Dec 11 2019, 8:42 am

ais567 wrote:

Take your baby to a pediatrician asap.

amother

Pink

Wed, Dec 11 2019, 8:44 am

Is he in childcare? My son wouldn't eat hardly any real food until I put him in daycare at age 2. They offered him a bottle there, but he saw all the other kids eating real food and wanted real food too. Peer pressure at its best.