Poor appetite in infants Komarovsky. Milk problems. If the baby is teething

Lyudmila Sergeevna Sokolova

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Article last updated: 02/04/2019

The birth of a child is a long-awaited event for every family. But the happiness of motherhood can be overshadowed by various problems that accompany the baby in the first year of his life. The basic needs of a newborn are food and sleep. Many parents face the problem of poor children's sleep. Some children, on the contrary, sleep often and for a long time. Parents at this time can relax and do all the housework. But if the baby sleeps a lot and eats little, this is an alarming sign indicating a violation of his health.

Norms of food intake for a newborn

Every mother wants to know if her baby is hungry, if he is full, if he has enough milk. To do this, you need to know the norms of food intake for newborns.

In the first days of his life, a breastfed baby can eat very often - about 10 times a day. In this case, one feeding in time can take 10-40 minutes.

A newborn has a very small stomach (approximately 7 ml), so 1 teaspoon is enough for him for the first feeding. Colostrum, which the child eats on the first day, is very fatty and nutritious, it is released in small quantities, sufficient for the baby. For the first day, the child eats about 100 ml.

A baby 3-4 days old eats 20-40 g in one feeding. A child born a week ago eats 50-70 g of milk at a time, and a two-week-old baby -60-80 g. A monthly baby should eat 90-110 g of milk, and two-month - 110-140 g. These figures are averaged. They should not be taken as a rule, but can be used as a guideline.

The amount of milk consumed depends on many factors: the weight of the baby, the state of his health, the time of day, individual nutritional needs and the degree of fat content of milk.

Pediatricians assure that with proper attachment to the breast, the child cannot eat too much or too little, since exactly as much milk is produced as he needs.

To calculate how much mixture an artificial baby should eat at a time, you can use one of two formulas. In accordance with the first formula, you need to multiply the baby’s age in days by 10. To find out the daily intake of food for crumbs, you need to multiply the number of days he has lived by 70 (if he weighs more than 3 kg 200 g) or 80 (if he weighs less than 3.2 kg).

According to another formula, you can divide the weight of the baby by his height in cm. The resulting number will be the approximate amount of food eaten at a time.

One of the easiest ways to check how well a baby is eating is to count the diapers described per day. If there are 12 or more of them, then there is nothing to worry about.

Why does a newborn sleep a lot and eat little?

Cases when a newborn sleeps almost all the time and eats poorly are not uncommon. The baby needs sleep, as in the first days of his life he adapts to the world around him and rests after the difficult process of childbirth. His mother, most likely, rejoices for her “hearty” milk and a calm, quiet baby who rarely asks for food. In fact, the baby is quiet not by nature, but due to lack of strength.

A baby who is not even a month old from birth should eat every 1.5-2 hours. He has a very small stomach that cannot hold much food. Rare attachment to the breast leads to problems with lactation, the occurrence of mastopathy in the mother, the lack of vital vitamins and microelements by the child, and dehydration of his body.

Most modern pediatricians recommend feeding children not by the clock, but on demand. At the same time, the “first demand” does not have to mean screaming or crying. A sleepy baby may somehow signal his desire to eat in a different way, and the mother may not understand this signal and think that the baby does not need anything, since he does not scream.

So do not wait for the hungry cry of the baby, it is better to offer him food when he sleeps. To do this, it is not necessary to wake him up. You can just take it in your arms and poke it with your nose in the chest. The baby will hear the smell of milk, open his mouth, find the breast and feed, and then continue to sleep.

Reasons why a baby may rarely feed

The most common reason for a baby not eating well is improper attachment to the breast. To date, not all maternity hospitals help to establish breastfeeding.

There can be several problems with milk:

Lack of milk. When a baby is not properly breastfed, milk is produced in insufficient quantities for him. A lactation consultant can help solve this problem. To increase the amount of milk produced by the mammary glands, it is necessary to put the baby to the breast as often as possible, the mother must establish close contact with him. To restore lactation, it is worth decanting more often, drinking more fluids, and drinking special teas based on fennel. If the baby is gaining little weight, you will have to switch to mixed feeding. First, the mother offers the baby one breast, then the second, and then supplements with the mixture.
Too much milk. When there is too much milk, it hits the baby's mouth with a strong stream, he begins to choke, get scared and refuse to breastfeed. To solve this problem, you need to express a little before feeding.
Change in the taste of milk. It can change its taste if mom eats something spicy, salty or sour. The same can happen after taking medications, pregnancy.

If there is some kind of pathology, then the child may not be able to suck at all, but such problems are usually detected even in the hospital. A short frenulum of the tongue (a membrane that attaches the tongue to the lower part of the mouth) or a cleft palate can prevent milk from being sucked out. It may not be completely split, but only in the depths of the mouth, which at first may not even be noticed. Some babies are born with a weak sucking reflex that develops gradually.

A newborn may not take the breast well if any medications were used during childbirth, such as the painkiller Promedol. It enters the mother's bloodstream, then into the child's body and after childbirth is not removed from it for a long time, affecting the baby's ability to suck.

When the baby is sick, he sleeps a lot, as the body loses a lot of energy in the fight against the disease and replenishes it. If he has a cold, then the stuffy nose does not allow him to suck milk.

The baby will not be able to eat normally when he has colic, dysbacteriosis or otitis media. But in this case, his sleep will also be disturbed.

Feeding problems occur with thrush (stomatitis). It is painful for the baby to suckle, so he may refuse the breast and sleep for a long time due to loss of strength. To diagnose the disease, it is worth looking into the baby's mouth. There you can find white spots, increasing in size over time, and under them red mucous. A baby can become infected with stomatitis from the mother during childbirth. This disease occurs due to damage to the mucosa or microbes entering the mouth from dirty objects (a pacifier or a toy that has fallen to the floor). The disease requires treatment prescribed by a pediatrician.

At home, you can independently prepare a cure for stomatitis. To do this, add a teaspoon of baking soda to a glass of cool boiled water. The resulting solution is treated with the mother's breast and the child's oral cavity.

Do I need to wake my baby up for feeding?

Normally, a newborn knows for himself how much time he needs to sleep and when it is time to feed him. But deviations from the norm happen very often.

If the baby was born prematurely, his body is in a relaxed state, he constantly sleeps and does not ask for food, as he cannot wake up on his own. In this case, the mother must feed him without fail. The same applies to children who are affected by medications administered to the mother during childbirth. The mother must wake him up and feed him until he recovers and begins to demand food on his own.

Some children can be awakened very easily, with others it can be much more difficult. It all depends on the situation and the individual child. You can raise and lower the baby's arm. If he somehow reacts to this (eyelids twitch, arm muscles tense, etc.), it means that he is in the phase of fast, superficial sleep, you can safely wake him up. If the pen remains soft and relaxed, then now he is in a phase of slow sleep and it will not be easy to wake him up.

Co-sleeping is ideal for a mother whose baby sleeps a lot and eats poorly. The child can sleep with the mother and eat without even waking up. The baby sleeps peacefully, and the mother does not need to get out of bed several times a night and run to the baby for feeding or motion sickness. So both the child and the mother can sleep, rest during the night.

If the child does not want to wake up in any way, and it is time to feed him, it is worth removing the blanket from him, undressing, changing the diaper. The baby can be hugged, stroked on the back, picked up and transferred to an upright position. You need to start talking to him, you can show a bright object, a beautiful rattle or sing a song to him.

The state of the body of a newborn, his sleep and appetite can be influenced by the atmosphere prevailing in the apartment. If parents swear, quarrel, insult each other, shout, loudly sort out the relationship, the baby finds himself in a stressful situation. Try to avoid conflict situations, walk with the baby on the street more often, surround him with love and care, and everything will be fine.

A good appetite in a child is a source of endless joy for parents. There is nothing more pleasant than to see how a child happily eats a cooked lunch, dinner or breakfast. But more often it is the other way around. Mom and grandmother tried to cook, and not just like that, but exactly what the little one loves. And the kid persistently refuses to eat and is naughty.

In some families, every meal turns into a real battle between the "unwanted" and his persistent parents. The child is persuaded, they try to deceive with various maneuvers and tricks, they insist and threaten that he will not get candy if he does not eat the soup. Is it necessary to try so hard and what to do if the child has a poor appetite, says the well-known pediatrician Yevgeny Komarovsky.

Appetite is different

Without food, life is impossible, but appetite does not always come with eating. Natural appetite occurs when food is required by the body to replenish energy reserves in order to survive. And electoral accompanies modern man much more often. The child wants cookies because he likes them, and does not want porridge because cookies are better.

Selective appetite reflects the real picture of needs only in an infant; at 8-9 months, he intuitively feels that he needs calcium, and refuses to eat soup. Not because the soup is tasteless, but because milk is healthier. At the age of 1 year, 2 years, children prefer dairy products for the same reason.

If a one-year-old child fundamentally does not eat meat, this does not mean that at 3-4 years old he will not begin to eat it with pleasure. It's just that for a 12-month-old baby, vegetables and fruits, cottage cheese and milk are more important. And he understands this intuitively.

Closer to 3 years, the problem of selective appetite, according to Komarovsky, is far-fetched - if a child does not eat vegetable puree and requires only chocolate and sausage, this is a common pedagogical mistake of mom and dad, and you should not look for any medical reasons for such behavior.

Why is the child not eating?

If the little one refuses to eat, he, according to Komarovsky, may have two reasons: he cannot or does not want to eat.

It cannot - this means that the appetite is present, but it is difficult to physically eat. For example, mother’s milk is tasteless (the woman ate something wrong), the hole in the nipple is too small, and the porridge is not sucked, etc. In infants, quite often, during sucking, the intestines begin to work actively, its peristalsis is activated at the wrong time . The tummy twists, the baby hurts, he stops eating and cries.

Quite often in a child, the root of the problem with appetite lies in the mouth. Stomatitis, inflamed gums during teething, microtrauma of the gums (scratches from toys that have been in the mouth or nails) - all this makes the process of eating food quite unpleasant.

Sometimes there is no appetite during colds or SARS. If the nose does not breathe, then during sucking, access to oxygen is blocked, which is uncomfortable, and the child stops eating. If the throat hurts and swallowing is unpleasant, refusal to eat will almost always follow.

Sometimes the child does not like the offered food itself - it is hot or too cold, salty or unsalted, large or mashed.

It all depends on the personal preferences of each individual child. If moms and dads managed to understand that the child wants to eat, but cannot, then it is best to consult a doctor to find and eliminate the obstacle that prevents the baby from eating normally.

If a child does not eat well or does not eat at all, not because eating gives him discomfort, then he simply does not want to eat. However, you should not immediately accuse him of hooliganism and insist that the porridge be eaten. Reluctance to eat also has its reasons:

Disease. Even if the parents have not yet noticed that the baby is getting sick, he, as a rule, begins to feel negative changes in his body in advance. In this case, a child who does not eat anything simply "turns on" the defense mechanism - on an empty stomach it is easier for the immune system to fight the pathogen. Do not force feed the baby, he does everything right, as his natural instincts tell him. But this is true only for acute infections. If a child has a long-term chronic illness, lack of appetite is a bad symptom, but this is rare.
The child's body easily gets used to new conditions for itself, and therefore, with a protracted illness, the baby begins to eat, as usual, and with some ailments, for example, with diabetes, there is even an increased appetite. Komarovsky gives certain recommendations on how to feed a sick child: no way, until he asks. And mother should not be ashamed at all that she does not feed her sick child. This is the best thing she can do now for his speedy recovery.

Refusal to eat "out of conscience." This happens with teenage children, especially with girls. If she suddenly decides that she has become “fat”, and “something should be done about it urgently”, offer the child lighter and healthier foods (salads, boiled meat, fruits, milk). If a girl refuses to eat this too, then fasting becomes pathological and is quite comparable to a symptom of a mental illness that leads to anorexia and the girl's slow death or disability. In this situation, feeding by force is also not an option, says Komarovsky, since the real cause of the hunger strike must be eliminated. A psychiatrist and an adolescent psychologist or psychotherapist will help with this.

Refusal to eat for no reason. There are also children who, without any illness, eat little or practically do not want to eat. They, according to Komarovsky, still have their own reasons for not wanting to eat, such as individual metabolic characteristics. Indeed, in one child, digestion is faster, nutrients are absorbed and absorbed faster, while in others the process is slower. Therefore, such a "slow" child refuses to cook lunch, because he still has breakfast in the process of processing.

Appetite depends on the level of hormones.

If a child grows faster (his mom and dad are tall), that is, he will be bigger and more often than his peer, who genetically “does not shine” with high growth.

The level of energy consumption also affects the presence of appetite. If a child runs and jumps in the fresh air, then he will get hungry faster than if he sits in front of the TV and watches cartoons.

To restore the child's appetite, it is enough to simply adjust the energy consumption.- walk more, enroll your child in the sports section. In the end, the whole family going for evening walks before dinner will definitely give a positive result.

Parental Mistakes

Very often, parents try to treat a non-existent disease. If no serious acute pathologies and infections are found in the child, it can be difficult for parents to admit that the child does not eat because he is not brought up that way. And the testing begins, and there are always diagnoses that “as if they don’t exist” and their treatment is a waste of time and money.

Komarovsky advises to stop dragging the child around clinics and laboratories, leave him alone and simply change the daily routine and lifestyle - introduce longer walks, cool baths, and go in for sports.

Many parents force their child to eat by force.

Yevgeny Komarovsky also refers to these actions his favorite cunning tricks: “Look, the spoon flew, flew”, “Eat, otherwise we won’t go to the park!”, “I’ll tell dad everything!”. A cornered baby under pressure will eat, but without an appetite. And this means that less gastric juice will be allocated, the liver will cope with its part of the work more slowly, digestion will be more difficult. The benefits of force feeding outweigh the harm.

We, parents, often think that the child eats little. Grandparents are especially worried about this. They think that their grandson is thin, pale, because he eats badly, and they try to feed him more satisfying and more.

Such an opinion is natural. The universal statement that a good appetite is a sign of good health lives firmly in the mind. In the old days in Rus', workers were chosen by food. According to the principle: eat a lot ─ will work a lot.

Weight gain

The situation is different for newborns. Babies are born with a sucking instinct, their small body has not yet learned to overeat, so the baby absorbs as much as required, no more. If the parents think that the newborn is not eating enough, check if the baby is gaining weight.

In pediatrics, special norms have been approved that stipulate how many grams a baby gains weight every month, every week, every year. Referring to the norms, parents will understand whether the child is eating properly, whether he has enough milk or whether it is time to introduce complementary foods. The tables show weight gain during the month for boys and girls who grow and develop differently.

The increase per week is almost not noticeable, only 70-190 g, but the monthly baby grows already by 760-1340 g. In 2 months, the baby adds 1720-2640 g. by 4 months, the baby adds only 2980-4270, although he eats well, and much more than in the first days. Therefore, it seems to us that the child does not have enough nutrition.

Weight gain rates are calculated for the average child, you should not follow them to the nearest gram. Each person is individual in external parameters, internal processes are also different. If an infant with good health is alert and active, weight gain is observed, then parents have no reason to worry.

Baby doesn't eat well

Sometimes it happens that a newborn does not eat well. This happens infrequently, but in some families it happens that the baby is really weak suckling or refuses to breastfeed at all. When a baby does not eat well or does not take a breast ─ it is scary for the baby, for the mother and for all family members. A hungry baby wants to eat, screams from hunger, quickly loses weight and weakens.

The baby may eat little, but if he behaves actively, does not act up, does not cry, then most likely everything is in order with him

Sometimes a baby is born weak, especially premature. Such a baby sleeps a lot and eats almost nothing. Pediatricians advise in this case to switch to a free method of feeding, that is, to feed when she wakes up. Do not wake a sleeping baby: in a dream, the baby is gaining strength. Gradually, the baby will get stronger, and nutrition will improve.

Feed a small baby not by the hour, but on demand. Let him eat little by little, how much he will eat, then he will learn to eat more. To help the baby, express milk. Supplement with expressed milk with a spoon or in another way.

If there are no congenital pathologies and ailments, the baby eats as much as the body needs. If the child does not have enough food, he does not feel well, the issue is resolved with the attending physician. The pediatrician will examine, collect an anamnesis, prescribe treatment. According to indications, it is recommended to take tests and consult specialist doctors.

Why the newborn eats little: the main reasons

With fever, colds, colic, infections, otitis, stomatitis, the baby eats little or even repels food. At the same time, he may be hungry, but severe pain or fever, which makes the baby lethargic, immobile, does not allow him to get enough. It turns out that the baby eats a little, he does not have enough strength for growth, there is no weight gain. That's why he cries, cries, looks weak.

Whether the baby’s appetite will be good depends on many factors: on his mood, on the taste of breast milk, on the correctness of the baby’s grip on the nipple, on the smells around, and even on the psychological climate in the house.

In addition to pathologies and diseases, there are many other reasons for a baby’s poor appetite, each crumb has its own problem.

With the wrong position of the baby during feeding or the wrong shape of the nipple, the amount of food eaten decreases sharply. When the nipple is not completely captured, air instead of milk enters the mouth and stomach, gas, colic, problems with the tummy are obtained, but there is no saturation.
As paradoxical as it sounds, a baby can be in a bad mood. It happens that he woke up, cried loudly, called his mother, but his mother did not come right away. The baby was frightened, agitated. Now he cannot suckle, he needs to be given time to calm down, only then feed.
There are such happy mothers who have a lot of milk, it splashes heavily into a small mouth. The baby cannot cope with such a flow, it simply chokes, coughs, cannot swallow. It is advisable for such mothers to express a little milk to ease the pressure. Then the little one eats quietly.
A nursing mother carefully chooses the products for her diet so that the milk turns out to be sweet and tasty. If you are trying a new dish, take one small spoon, no more. Do not scare the little one, because the taste and smell of breast milk directly depends on the mother's nutrition. Exclude from the menu spicy, spicy, alcoholic. Quit smoking: it's bad for you and bad for your baby's brain.
It is known that while the mother is breastfeeding, pregnancy does not occur. Therefore, spouses are not protected during this period, but failures still happen. The onset of pregnancy makes the milk bitter, unacceptable for the crumbs. The baby refuses such food, mom, urgently introduces complementary foods. From this day, breastfeeding ends, the period of artificial feeding begins.
brings another problem. Even with excellent, tasty milk from mother, the child will not want to suck hard at the breast, if the hole in the nipple on the bottle is large enough, the food is sucked out easily, without effort, without tension.
Another point that repels the baby from the chest is cosmetics and perfumes. From the time of intrauterine life, the baby knows the mother's native smell. Therefore, always use the same hygiene products. If you try a new perfume, do it very carefully so that the new fragrance is not felt, but slightly guessed. A tiny child tends to rely on the senses, including the sense of smell. The baby may not recognize you by smell and will not accept your breast and even a bottle with a pacifier from your hands.
It has been said and written more than once that an important factor in the correct, full-fledged development of a newborn is a healthy psycho-emotional climate in the family. When there are strife, screams, scandals, and even fights in the family, it is unlikely that the baby will have an excellent appetite. Try to establish mutual love and kindness, address the baby affectionately, gently, approach him only in a kind, calm disposition.

Nutritional problems before and after a year

Starting from the sixth month after birth and up to a year, complementary foods are gradually introduced to the baby. Mom's milk is the most delicious and healthy food in the world, but over time, the baby grows up to other foods. By this time, the gastrointestinal tract is formed into an almost adult, ready to digest more coarse food. Therefore, only on mother's milk the baby is hungry. Since that time, the crumbs have been fed.

Frequent causes of “littleness” of children are their overfeeding by mothers and grandmothers, as well as the fact that they simply do not have time to get hungry properly.

This is where the problems begin. Here are some of them:

Many mothers have been looking for “their” mixture for a long time, which would suit the baby, would not cause allergies in him, he would like it. But, before making a choice, most have to try at least a few brands.
Prolonged breastfeeding. Often it leads to the fact that at 8-9 months the baby does not accept complementary foods at all and does not eat anything except breast milk.
The baby refuses to eat food that seems to be familiar to him - a mixture or complementary foods that his mother has already tried with him. She wonders why she doesn't eat, what to do about it. For a month he ate well, opened his mouth, and now refuses. The reasons are banal: either the portion is too large (the mother overfeeds the baby), or the little one simply did not have time to get hungry. With age, the regimen for children changes, and parents do not always have time to fix this: they feed and put the children to bed according to their usual rhythm, while the baby has already “outgrown” it. So, you should reduce portions, do not feed when you do not want to, otherwise the baby will not get used to new food in a year.

Important: Pediatricians and infant nutritionists believe that over-large portions and force-feeding fight off nutritional interest in new foods. It is unlikely that this situation will change in two months or a year.

Then other problems begin. Do not think that you will mark the anniversary date for 1 year, and all problems will be a thing of the past. Now you are offering an adult peanut other food ─ solid. If for 3-4 months he ate from a bottle, now he begins to eat purees and porridge with a spoon. If the baby has not learned to eat solid food in a year, help him. Offer soft food: banana, strawberry, delicious puree, cutlet. While he has a few teeth, knead hard foods with a fork and give a little.

Finally

So, we looked at some aspects of newborn nutrition. If there are problems, do not delay, consult a doctor. If everything is in order with the baby and mother, then the suspension from food is temporary, it will soon pass. Learn to understand the baby, pick it up more often, talk, sing songs, walk with the baby more often. Soon the baby will learn to eat well and will delight you with a good appetite again.

Why does appetite decrease?

Children of all ages, from newborns to teenagers, may gradually lose their appetite. And each age hides its reasons for the decrease or lack of appetite.

Poor appetite in the first year of life in children, the main causes

Usually newborn children, if they feel hungry, then they only eat, and they have a good appetite. After all, the developing body of a small child requires more nutrients than older children, so one-year-old children rarely refuse food. But if a newborn is breastfed for a short period or refuses mother's milk altogether, then there are reasons to wonder what could have caused this.

Poor appetite in newborns - what is caused and what to do?

One of the most common causes of poor appetite in infants is a feature of the structure of the mother's nipple (for example, an inverted or flat nipple). Such an irregular shape of the nipple interferes with the feeding of the child. The child will be hungry and show it in every possible way: constant anxiety, crying, smacking lips, sometimes protruding lips. Mom will have to find a way out of the situation: either express milk and bottle feed, or feed in a suitable, not always comfortable, position so that the child can receive food and the appetite returns to normal.

Another reason for the lack of appetite in newborns is a runny nose, nasal congestion in a child. Since the baby breathes through the nose when sucking on the mother's breast, it is important that the airways are not blocked. Otherwise, the feeding process becomes impossible, since the baby has to breathe through the mouth. It is possible to normalize appetite after eliminating the causes of the common cold.

Pain in the tummy of a child is another reason

Colic in the baby's abdomen occurs due to lactose deficiency (when a child has intolerance to milk carbohydrates). Pain can also occur due to dysbacteriosis and due to the fact that during breast sucking, the child could swallow air.

You should wait for an audible eructation in the child after each feeding, holding him for about fifteen to twenty minutes in an upright position. You can hold him in this position (or put the baby on his shoulder with his tummy) for five to ten minutes if suddenly the baby begins to refuse breast milk as soon as you start feeding.

You can normalize the appetite with special mixtures devoid of milk protein if the child is lactose intolerant.

Poor appetite of a newborn can be caused by inflammation of the mucous membrane in the oral cavity. It is also called thrush of the oral cavity, which is characterized by the appearance of ulcers and white plaque on the cavity, as well as a noticeable reddening of the mucosa. It is necessary to get rid of the infection in order to normalize the appetite.

The appearance of the first teeth

And even such a natural process brings very uncomfortable sensations in the child and affects the decrease in appetite. This process resolves on its own, and the inconvenience passes with time. But at this time, the child needs special care and attention from you.

A change in the taste of breast milk can affect the change in the appetite of a newborn baby. Suddenly, if you want to try some product that you haven’t eaten for a long time, think about whether it will change the taste of your milk. For example, after eating garlic, the baby may refuse your breast. Therefore, you should be careful when you decide to diversify your diet. Also, failure can be caused if the mammary glands are inflamed (lactational mastitis).

With inflammation of the breast, the mother feels seals and pain in the mammary gland, the temperature may rise. With mastitis and its first symptoms, you should consult a doctor immediately.

With a decrease in thyroid function, there may be no or only a decrease in appetite. In other words, a decrease in thyroid function is called congenital hypothyroidism. Its main symptoms are: retardation in mental and physical development (children sit down later, start holding their heads later), lethargy, endocrine disruption - hair loss and dry skin. If you suddenly develop these symptoms, you should immediately consult a doctor. Only a doctor can make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe treatment.

The state of appetite in newborns can also be affected by an unusual environment - a new place or too noisy. Try to change the situation to a more calm one - turn off the radio or TV, or feed the baby in the absence of strangers.

A healthy baby eats well and puts on weight. He is active, sleeps peacefully and cries a little. If the baby does not eat well, you need to understand the reasons.

If the child does not ask for food or refuses to eat, then the parents immediately have a question why this is happening. The most common reasons why a baby does not eat well are the following.

If the problem arose during breastfeeding, then perhaps the reasons are that there is little or, conversely, a lot of milk. If the mother has little milk, then the baby refuses the breast and does not ask for it. In this case, you need to introduce complementary foods. If there is a lot of milk, then it can enter the baby's mouth with strong pressure. He will begin to choke, and this circumstance will push him away and reduce his appetite.

If the child stopped eating at night, he may simply not want to eat. At the same time, the type of feeding affects the timing when this happens. At what age do babies stop eating at night? Babies who eat formula at night may not eat as early as 3-4 months. When breastfeeding, the baby can hang on the chest all night.

If the baby eats only breast milk for a year and day and night, you need to start weaning him from this. In this case, you can try to follow a few recommendations.

Every day you need to give more food, milk, he must drink such an amount that is equal to the daily norm. Before going to bed, you should have a hearty dinner.
You need to communicate more, play and pick up the child in the daytime.
A baby a year goes to bed earlier than his parents, and before going to bed you will need to wake him up to feed him. In this case, he will sleep longer at night and wake up a maximum of once.
It is necessary at the same time to wean the child from joint rest at night. It is better if the baby sleeps in another room.

You can start weaning from feeding at night from 6 months. In a year, the child will no longer ask for anything in a dream.

How many times a day does the baby eat? In the first months, a child who is breastfed should eat up to 12 times a day with an interval of 2 hours. And he can only eat in his sleep. How long should one act of feeding last? The time spent at the breast can be 15-40 minutes. But you should not increase it, as the child falls asleep and simply begins to play with the breast in a dream.

How many grams of breast milk should a newborn eat? In the first days when colostrum is produced, one teaspoon is enough, and nothing else needs to be offered to the child. Gradually, every day the amount of milk will increase by one teaspoon. By the fourth day, the baby should drink 30 ml of breast milk. On the fifth day, the amount of milk needed for the baby increases to 70 ml.

If a child eats only in a dream a year, it means that during wakefulness there are many distractions (sound, light, the presence of other people). A child a year can eat only in a dream simply because such a regime is set.

Poor appetite with artificial feeding

If a baby who is being fed mixtures refuses to eat, then there may be several explanations for this.

Formula is more nutritious than milk and takes longer to digest. The feeling of hunger comes after a longer interval. How long does it take to give the mixture? Do not give formula earlier than 4 hours after the last feeding.
Perhaps the taste of the mixture is not to your liking. You can try to buy a mixture of a different brand. The main thing is to make the right choice. Carefully read the composition, take into account the age of the child.

Wrong nipple. The size of the hole in it should correspond to the age and developmental features of the baby. If the child is sick, born prematurely, then you should choose a non-rigid nipple with a large hole.
Refusal to eat may be due to abdominal pain.
Teething, oral diseases, infections also lead to the fact that the child does not eat anything other than milk or formula.

If the child eats only the mixture, then you can not overfeed him. In this case, it is better to underfeed. Correctly calculate how many grams of the mixture you need to dilute, the instructions and recommendations of the doctor will help. You can calculate on your own how much mixture you need to make in the first week of life. To do this, the number of days from birth is multiplied by 10. For example, in 5 days he should drink 50 ml.

The day should be planned so that the baby receives the mixture in 3-4 hours. It is very important how long to give the mixture at night. At night, the interval is extended to 5 hours. The mixture is absorbed and digested by the stomach harder and more slowly, unlike breast milk.

Problems with new products

Often mothers face a problem when the baby refuses to eat complementary foods. Why is this happening?

Perhaps the previous portion of food has not yet been digested, and the baby is not hungry.
The baby may not like complementary foods; you should not insist on eating the dish.
Too hot or vice versa cold dish.
You should choose the right spoon for the first feeding. It should not be too big and metallic.
Inflammation of the nasopharynx or ear also causes refusal to eat.

It happens that the child is one year old, and he does not eat anything except breast milk. Breast milk fully performs its functions only up to 6 months, after which it is necessary to introduce complementary foods. By this time, the digestive organs begin to work quite well, and the child shows interest in new products. Such interest can be easily discouraged if you start complementary foods with the wrong foods or food that the baby did not like. A large portion and feeding through force can also push the child away.

If the baby does not ask for anything other than breast milk per year, then you need to take action:

Play more with the baby, distract from the need for the breast. How much milk does a baby need per year? After the child is one year old, 500 ml of milk per day is enough for him. If he gets more, he will not want to eat complementary foods.
Remove all sweets from the menu.
Choose a dish that your baby will like.

What to do to fix the problem

After the reason that the baby is not eating well or completely refusing to eat is established, a further plan of action will be outlined.

If the baby does not want to eat or eats only in a dream, while being active, playing, communicating, it means that he has enough nutrients. You can try to increase the time interval between feedings.

Perhaps complementary foods are introduced, which are offered to the baby from a bottle. Eating from a bottle is much easier than sucking on your mother's breast. Any complementary foods are given from a spoon, all bottles and pacifiers are removed.

Any disease requires a doctor's consultation. Therefore, if the baby refuses to eat due to illness, appropriate treatment should be started. Stomatitis, cough, otitis and other diseases can lead to loss of appetite and other complications.

During teething, you should use special teethers, gels. You can massage your gums. It is not necessary to offer new complementary foods during this period.

If colic periodically begins to disturb and this leads to weight loss, you need to give the child medication, do gymnastics and massage. It helps to put the baby on the tummy before each feeding.

A nursing mother needs to adjust her daily routine and adjust her diet. Do not eat too fatty, spicy, salty foods. It is necessary to abandon products containing dyes, stabilizers and flavor enhancers.