My Seven Month Old Stopped Eating

Hi B.,

My son had the stomach flu when he was 6 mos. (six mos. ago). For about a week all he would he eat is a bottle. My doctor said to not try to feed him any solids until he was ready. The week after he was sick he started out eating just cereal and then progressed back to his regular feeding schedule. The doctor said that the formula was the best for him. That's where they get all of their vitamins and nutrients, food was just for fun!

Good Luck!

I agree and have been told numerous times that the first year the most important nutritional value comes in formula or breastmilk. I would still try to offer her the solid foods, but as long as she is getting the formula throughout the day, I would not worry too much. However, I would try some cereal mixed with the formula in her bottle and see if that works for some extra iron and nutrients. Good luck and dont worry too much!! I have a two year old son and a 9 month old daughter.

I think the best resource you can ask is your pediatrician. It's hard to get a baby to open their mouth if they are insistant on keeping it shut. Since she won't even eat fruit, which almost every baby loves, I think it is time to at least call the advice nurse at your pediatrician's office. If the nurse can't help you, then make an appt for her to see the doctor. It's normal for them not to want to eat while they are sick, but they should return to regular eating after they are feeling better. The only other suggestion I have is to try giving her some of the easily dissolving finger foods. That may spark her interest in food again, and help her accept baby food and tablefood. Gerber and Parent's Choice have the puffs in several different flavors, and also have dehydrated fruit which is also very easily dissolvable, so very little choking hazard. Parent's Choice is at Walmart, and the puffs are smaller. My daughter will always eat those even when she isn't as excited about the rest of the food. Plus, your daughter is getting to that age when she wants to feed herself. Maybe giving her that opportunity may get her interested again. Good luck!

Hey B.!

The same thing happened to my daughter when she was 8 months old..she would hardly eat anything! It lasted about 1 month (the doctors did not seem concerned she was not eating...they said babies go through phases), then she picked right up again and has been doing great. I looked on line for some nutrition packed meals for her so what she did eat gave her at least a little nutrition. Hang in there...I know it was frustrating, but if the baby is hungry enough, she will eat!
Take care,
Kim

For the first YEAR (12 months) of life, the vast majority of your daughter's nutrition should be from breastmilk or formula. I assume you're formula feeding, and it is *good* to rely on your bottle of formula! She's young, she needs it, and you'll have many many months of not needing the bottle when she is over 12 months of age. Breastmilk/formula is the most complete nutrition for her for the next 5 months, with solids to be looked at as more of "a fun thing to sample, to be social at the dinner table with mom and dad."

Though many people do it, 4 months old is *young* to be starting solids. Now at 7 months, she is giving you *very* clear signals of NOT wanting solid food right now, and I gently suggest that you honor what she's trying to tell you! She probably has a really good reason for not wanting solids right now (maybe her tummy is still sensitive after the illness). While you can ask your pediatrician, they are often not the most reliable sources for nutrition information since nutrition is not their specialty nor was it a major part of their training.

Links to some current information on starting solids is below, and it's very different from the cultural habits (like starting rice cereal at 6 weeks, which is very outdated!) that still linger thanks to our grandmothers and mothers. Sooo many people are still in the outdated mindset that solids are ok as early as 6 weeks, that after 6 months babies should be eating solids, etc -- this is simply not true. Medical research and evidence shows that there are many problems that result from starting *any* solids before 6 months, and that eating too many solids too early can result in poorer nutrition due to missing out on important breastmilk or formula.

Here is some more current information, with links to research, if you're interested in reading more:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T032000.asp
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T030500.asp

For now, the concern is for nutrition more than to get her to eat with a spoon. While breastmilk and formula are great forms of nutrition, you are the best judge of whether or not that should be all your child has.

My children would revert to bottles after an illness. I rationalized that if they only wanted a bottle, then I could still feed them... with a bottle. I didn't want to push my kids to the spoon too fast, but at the same time, I didn't want their diet to suffer from going back to only formula.

There are feeder bottles on the market that will allow your concern over the nutrition to be satisfying your daughter's desire for a bottle. This one, I found easily at Walmart
http://www.babysupermall.com/main/products/sas/sas00627.html

Even if you only use it for a week, it will ensure that your child gets the feeding you want it to have, until your child is ready to go back to a spoon.

Breastmilk/Formula are very important, however, I am under the impression that they need more food and not just milk after they past 6 months in order to get all the nutrition they need. This may not work, but maybe try offering her something very mushy, gummable, and easily digestible from your plate. My son is 7 month (hasn't been sick though) and really doesn't want baby food any more. He still loves his bottle but he also wants what we eat. Good luck!