A long-awaited event happened in your family - a baby was born. At first it seems to mother that the difficulties are behind, but it turns out that the child is already a person, like you, with his desires and preferences. He himself cannot talk about it, he just screams. And very often and loudly!
The main thing here is not to get nervous, but to try to sort out the problem.
There are situations when your infant eats very poorly - both the mother of the first-born and a more experienced woman may face this. Let's take a closer look at different situations and try to find out the cause of poor appetite.
Why the baby does not eat well and what to do in this case
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Breast problems
You still notice in your maternity hospital that your child is eating poorly. The reason for this may be improper attachment to the chest. Unfortunately, not all maternity hospitals teach this. (how to apply the baby to the chest)
- Milk problems. Milk is missing. The child willingly takes the breast, sucks, but does not eat up, because the mother has little milk. How to be To try restore lactation: drink more fluids, decant after each feeding, drink lactogon tea based on dill seed. It is more to be with the child, to establish close emotional and bodily contact with him (“skin to skin”). And if the milk still disappears, feed the baby with the mixture. Only one breast is given first, then another, and then the mixture. It is advisable to consult a pediatrician before switching to mixed feeding.
- A lot of milk. If there is a lot of milk, and it hits the baby’s mouth with a strong stream so that it begins to choke, this can also reduce the baby’s appetite. What to do? Strain a little before feeding, loosen the stream of milk.
- Milk Can Change Your Tasteif you ate some new food. The child may refuse to drink it. What to do? Closely monitor the baby’s reaction to your food (what can I eat with HB lactating mother).
Congenital pathology
If the child is physically unable to suck, that is, he may have some kind of pathology. For example, a short bridle. But this will become known immediately in the maternity hospital. Specialists are taking measures.
Tummy ache
- The baby takes a breast, sucks a little, and then begins scream heart-rendingly "Onion". Most likely, the baby has normal colic, they are also called physiological. The baby’s digestive system is imperfect. The movement of food causes swelling in the intestines and pain. The child refuses to breast at the time of the attack, screams strongly, he has no time for food. What to do? - Reduce or reduce colic. Usually for months to 3-4 colic go away;
- But it happens that the baby also takes the breast, begins to suck, then throws with a cry. It is possible that the baby has dysbiosis and the stomach hurts. This disease is confirmed by special tests. And the treatment is prescribed by doctors.Dysbacteriosis can be suspected if you were treated with antibiotics (after cesarean section), if the baby also underwent antibiotic therapy for some reason. The color and smell of the baby's stool changes from yellow to green with mucus. The doctor must be told about this necessarily. More details about dysbacteriosis in infants
Headache
If your family has weather-sensitive people, then the baby can also respond to changing weather by refusing food and screaming. If such symptoms are pronounced, it is better to consult a specialist. Moreover, if the fontanel on the head at this time greatly swells, pulsates. This may indicate increased intracranial pressure. It is necessary to take medicine.
Curiosity
By 4 months, the baby begins to be distracted by others. He notices what you are wearing, that dad or brother came up, music played somewhere, etc. Feeding stops, the child is no longer ready for food. How to be in this situation? Lock yourself in a room, be in silence, without harsh light. Then the probability of feeding the baby increases.
Got sick
- The child wants to eat, takes his chest, starts to suck, throws and screams. Pay attention to his nose: does he breathe freely or sniff heavily. Do not be alarmed if breathing is difficult. What to do? Try clean the nasal passages;
- Ears may hurt.. When he begins to suck and swallow, the pain intensifies. In order to prevent him from starving, we express the milk in a clean bottle and give a little from a spoon. How to check if your ears are sick? Slowly we press on the tragus (the protruding part of the ear to the cheek), if the child twitches, screams, then it is necessary to call a pediatrician and begin treatment;
- White spots appeared in the mouth (thrush or stomatitis), which may increase in size. Under them is a bright red mucous. Be sure to treat, because a child may refuse to eat due to pain. Infection may occur:
- from mother during childbirth,
- if a woman does not wash her breasts before feeding,
- if dirty nipples, toys get into your mouth,
- if the oral mucosa is damaged.
It is necessary to see a doctor, because with stomatitis, there may be an increase in temperature. In order not to lose time, the child’s mouth is wiped after feeding with a gauze swab with a solution of baking soda. The solution is prepared as follows: 1 teaspoon of baking soda is taken in a glass of chilled boiled water. The mother’s breast is treated before feeding. Read more about thrush in the mouth of a newborn baby.
Teeth are cut
Another reason to refuse food. Pain in the gums during teething reduces appetite. In this case, the baby’s gums are lubricated with special gels before feeding. These drugs are bought at the pharmacy. See article on associated problems during teething.
Little girl
It happens that an infant eats badly because it is naturally a “little one”. Eats a little and gets better too little. If there are no deviations in the functioning of the central nervous system, then it means that your child is just that on its own. If he is in a good mood, he is active and joyful, then there is no reason for concern.
Bad mood
It so happens that the crying baby did not come immediately as he woke up. The kid begins to scream louder and louder. When mother nevertheless picks him up, he is unable to grab his chest. What to do? - reassure. Give him a dummy, and after a few seconds offer a chest. If he doesn’t take it again, return the dummy and let it sleep for a few minutes. The baby calms down, then wakes up and eats calmly.
So, we tried to understand the main reasons why the baby is eating poorly. If the baby is active, then the appetite could disappear temporarily. And if the baby’s condition is worrying, see a doctor immediately. You can call an ambulance. The main thing is to learn to understand your child. It’s not so difficult if you constantly watch him.
On this topic:
My son ate breasts well, but the pikorm from 6 months - flatly refused. Especially during teething (Thanks for such a detailed selection of tips!
My granddaughter also ate badly, and still feed the child is simply not an achievable task. Fed all together, with persuasion
Probably many mothers are faced with a similar problem. Personally, I already understood it all depends on the child himself and the state of health. If the child is sick, do not stuff him. And there is a category of children who just eat little, there is nothing to be done. My oldest daughter, when she was little, ate for 2 and I did not force her, and then abruptly stopped eating. Checked turned out to be problems with the stomach, and all because of inexperience did not limit the child to some food.
We had a difficult birth, after which both my son and I were in intensive care, on the second day I started going to his perinatal ward and tried to squeeze the milk out to the maximum so that my son would not get used to the mixtures that fed him in my absence, as soon as we reunited, immediately started breastfeeding, persistently offered him a chest, not a nipple. As a result, the son perfectly ate my milk for up to 1.5 years, but we eat complementary foods without hunting.
Our appetite was good from birth and what it means does not take breasts - we do not know! Probably just lucky! Well, if there is a problem with this, maybe then there is not enough milk or the tummy hurts ?! We must look for a reason!
A child at 3 months eats half the norm, ——- It turns out that his eyesight has improved and he is not interested in milk —– The solution is simple, we put a paper towel in two and close our eyes, hold the head with a towel in our eyes with one hand and the other hand feed, WORKS Hurray.
Rody was heavy, were in intensive care. We took a course of antibiotics, everything was well eaten 110 g of the mixture. And now when antibiotics were canceled, he began to eat worse. Roars when you feed. Eats 80-100 grams sometimes and 50-60. We are 2 months and 1 day.
What to do? Doctors say the main thing that would gain weight.