6 Months Old and Not Eating Well

babies are all different, and they are all great at eating when they are hungry. your son has probably just gotten over a growth spurt and is eating less because he needs less, as long as his growth continues normally, he is probably fine. my son was always on thickened formula too for reflux, and i think that 4 oz was all he ate at one time at this age. around 8 months he moved up to 6 oz and that was because we were able to thin his feedings a lot at this age. he is a big healthy boy, and im sure yours is also. my daughter was not on thickened feedings, but she never ate as much formula in a day as the ped said she should and she is healthy and grew well. all kids are different.

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The best thing my mother ever did for me was to buy me a baby scale. My son was a preemie, and the hospital told me to wake him up to feed him every two hours, but he never wanted to wake up. She went and bought the scale and told me to weigh him, and that the second he began to lose weight, I could worry. He never did, and I never woke him up to eat again. Babies eat more when they have a growing spurt, less when they slow down, and less can seem like almost nothing sometimes. If he is not losing weight and seems to be getting better, cold-wise, he's probably fine. You don't say how old he is now, but since he's on baby food, he's probably big enough that not getting enough to eat won't hurt him in only a few days, so it's not an emergency situation, it's more of a wait and see one. If you notice him losing weight, by all means take him to the doctor right away. Same if he's not getting better from the cold or if he's way more fussy, lethargic, or spits up alot more than before. But if he's just eating less, it's probably fine.

My second daughter had projectile vomiting from birth until she was probably 8 or 10 months old, then threw up more easily than the other two all through childhood. I took extra cloths for both of us everywhere we went. But she kept growing and gaining weight, and I had several friends who were doctors who said she'd be fine as long as that was the case. A friend of ours had a baby with the same condition and he ended up having surgery because he was losing weight and getting dehydrated (he's now 19 and 6'5", so he did just fine.)

Rule of thumb--babies shouldn't lose weight generally, and if they're growing and gaining, they're likely to be fine.

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Hi B.,
My son never has much of an appetite when he has a cold or is getting over a cold. Just think of yourself if you have a stuffy nose and/congestion- it sometimes takes a while for your smell to come back 100%. The sense of smell gets the appetite going, and if your smell is diminished, your appetite is too. I wouldn't worry too much unless he isn't eating at all. Just make sure you give him plenty of fluids. I hope he gets back to normal soon!

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As long as there are no other symptoms, he is probably just going through what I call the 'resting' phase, which means he'll soon be going through another 'growth' phase. Both of my children would go through periods of eating more when they were growing, then they would slow down and back off the food a bit. I still see it in my son who is now 5 1/2 yrs. old ....when he is hungry ALL the time I know he's growing and will soon be outgrowing all the clothes I just bought. My daughter is now almost 10 mos. old and recently went from 7-8 oz. bottles back to 5-6 oz.(along w/ baby food) and she recently outgrew all of her sleepers. 18-23 oz. a day is still very good, especially if he is getting baby food as well. My guess is he will soon be eating more and growing like crazy!

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If he is not feeling well......then he is not going to eat well. My son has gone through this a couple of times and it is nerve-racking for a mom. You just want to make sure that they don't get dehydrated.......as long as he has tears and drool then he is ok as far as that goes. My son was sick at Christams and hardly ate anything but was fine when the cold went away. Just hang in there and if you have any questions call his Dr........Not much can be done for a cold unfortunately and you just have to ride it out but I wouldn't hesitate to contact the Dr to help ease your mind....I do it all the time. Hang in there......:)

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