Please help, my 8 month old has developed a feeding aversion, failure to thrive.

[Anonymous]

Reflux, possible esophagitis may be complicating the issue. Prevacid has done nothing, different formulas have done nothing. Under the care of a ped GI. Anyone else went to a feeding clinic or some such to get help? Not sure if there is some sensory issue stuff going on. At my wit send. Daily intake is about 12 oz. we realized the nanny was force feeding and that may have contributed. Baby refuses solids.

We have changed location of feeding and don't coax but baby starts crying when bottle is brought close by even when starving. I am constantly in tears. I stopped pumping at around 6 months and it's been horrible since.

Tried so many different formulas, finally on elecare and Gerber soothe partially since taste is not baby's liking.

[Anonymous]

Honestly this sounds serious enough you should be getting advice from every doc who will talk to you -- not so much DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Would you be willing to try to relactate? Look into donor milk?

[Anonymous]

Big hugs! Not too much advice other than to continue to work with GI, they will help you figure out if/when to do a feeding clinic or if maybe just staying in the hospital for a few days with an NG tube would be a good move. We weaned our little guy from 100% tube feeding to 100% oral eating between 2 months and 10 months. Overcoming aversions is hard work!!! The biggest thing is not to stress her out. She is old enough you could try a cup or putting milk on a spoon if she doesn't want a bottle. FWIW, my 16 month old still will not let a bottle near his mouth. Smear some yogurt or fruit puree on the table and let her play in it, maybe she'll get some in her mouth. I'm sure she can feel your (understandable) stress. You can try distraction - play with a favorite toy at the table while offering milk in a sippy/straw/spoon etc. This article really helped me with how I approached my son at mealtime...
http://www.feedingtubeawareness.org/Blog.html?entry=the-mealtime-approach-part-1

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine had a preemie with feeding issues. Not exactly as you describe but it had to do with muscles not being strong enough for sucking and swallowing and even then sometimes there were severe issues with choking etc.

They ended up putting in a GI tube. I'm sure you want to try everything to avoid that but he was able to get nutrition that way without worrying about food issues. He started kindergarten this year so that was several years ago, but it really was the best thing they could do for him.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP, you need to consult a medical professional. 12 oz a day is less than half what your baby needs.
My 7 month old was previously tracking the 5th and then fell off the growth charts. Doc said not to give too much solids; milk has more calories. Food is just to develop his palette, so don't worry about solids for now.
Have you tried giving milk in a sippy cup or spoon-feeding milk?
My baby doesn't have bottle aversion, but cheering and clapping and yelling "bravo" whenever he took a bite or drank from the sippy cup made him more enthusiastic to eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reflux, possible esophagitis may be complicating the issue. Prevacid has done nothing, different formulas have done nothing. Under the care of a ped GI. Anyone else went to a feeding clinic or some such to get help? Not sure if there is some sensory issue stuff going on. At my wit send. Daily intake is about 12 oz. we realized the nanny was force feeding and that may have contributed. Baby refuses solids.

We have changed location of feeding and don't coax but baby starts crying when bottle is brought close by even when starving. I am constantly in tears. I stopped pumping at around 6 months and it's been horrible since.

Tried so many different formulas, finally on elecare and Gerber soothe partially since taste is not baby's liking.

Follow your pediatrician's advice and this will eventually pass. My son had a nutritionist at a bit older when he stopped eating solids. Is your son old enough to increase the formula:water ratio? If not, use premie formula. More calories per feeding.

[Anonymous]

And I second what another pp said about solids - don't worry about that right now. The formula is a balanced diet.

[Anonymous]

Going through something very similar with my 8.5mo. Until last week he has refused absolutely everything but breastfeeding (no pumped milk, bottles, solids of any sort). Going through testing with GI right now. Last week he accepted a spoon with a little chocolate pudding, and then a little sorbet, and we're thrilled. (GI said we should try everything and not worry about nutrition; goal is to get him eating something in order to avoid feeding tube.)

Suggestion: if you haven't tried it, we had a little success getting him to take milk with a syringe this week (like a kid's Tylenol syringe). While he rejects all bottles and cups, he tolerated the syringe enough to get a couple of tablespoons of milk (a big success for us).

Good luck--I'm right with you as this is a stressful, frustrating and scary thing to be working through.

[Anonymous]

I am so sorry - I went through something similar and it was truly awful so I completely empathize. We saw GI docs but we had a breakthrough with a speech pathologist that specialized in baby eating issues. Our problem was the sucking (though there were theories of food aversion and allergies too - ended up being incorrect for us), which might not be your issue. But it's worth a shot to see a feeding specialist speech pathologist or a pediatric ENT. We went to Sheila Skinner at Georgetown, but I'm not sure she's still there. I understand that Children's has a feeding clinic and there's Kennedy Krieger too - we were about to go down that road before we were able to turn the corner. My child was a preemie who was on an NT tube for 2.5 weeks post-birth, but we eventually moved past our problems so there is hope, even if it feels overwhelming now.

So, my advice is to ask the doctors if a speech pathologist or ENT might be worth a try.

[Anonymous]

14:10 here - to clarify - we had DD off feeding tube at 2.5 weeks, but feeding problems lasted until around six months when we saw the speech pathologist (after seeing at least six doctors). Baby had starting crying at the sight if the bottle. It was devastating (and I think people who don't go through it don't really understand sometimes) and I too cried a lot over the problems. But it did get better and now DD eats a wide variety of foods and drinks as a toddler, so there can be a light at the end of the tunnel.

[Anonymous]

OP, was your child taking pumped breastmilk from a bottle then started refusing when you started giving formula? Did he ever take formula? Maybe it's the taste? Do you have any breastmilk you can mix with it? If its the reflux, have you tried hypoallergenic formula? I'm so sorry, this must be so difficult to handle.

[Anonymous]

Dairy allergy?

[Anonymous]

Feeding Clinic at Kennedy Krieger.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried sippy cups? I've known BF'ing babies who REFUSE the bottle but will drink from a sippy. I'm so sorry you're going through this. I wish you the best of luck.