If you have a baby not eating as much as usual, it may be alarming for you as a parent. When we are parents, we often seem to magnify each of our baby’s actions, trying to associate some kind of reason with each of the actions. A two year old baby may not be able to clearly communicate with the parents and that may make your circumstances even more difficult to understand. Baby loss of appetite is not very unusual. For younger babies, most of the appetite problems are associated with teething. If you have, for instance, a 7 month old baby not eating well or an 8 month old baby not eating much, you can simply associate the problem with the fact that the baby is getting its teeth out and may be experiencing pain while chewing. For a baby not eating as much, there are not many possibilities that can explain the behavior. If your baby is not eating solids, but seems to be comfortable eating semi-solids and liquids, you have an answer to your problem: the lack of appetite can indeed be pinned to teething. However if a baby is not eating enough or the baby is not eating food at all, there may be a need to explore other reasons for this sudden lack of appetite.
Dealing with the loss of appetite in babies is extremely tricky, especially because we do not understand what the problem is and the baby cannot tell us exactly what it is feeling. Babies do not understand feeding routines, and often a baby not eating well, could be a sign of nothing at all. For an 11 month old baby not eating food, the simple fact of the matter may be that it needs attention or that it is not feeling healthy. However, as parents, we are worried about nutrition and health of the child. For babies, the basic instincts rule the brain, and there is nothing more important than to satisfy primal urges. So if the baby is hungry, it will ask for food, and if it is not hungry, it will reject food.
The hypothalamus in the brain is an important organ, one that controls the appetite. There are many complex processes that are involved in the simple act of feeling hungry. There are hormones, chemical reactions, and nerve impulses that lead you to feeling hungry. If you have a teething baby not eating, then teething is the reason, but if the baby is not teething and still has an apparent lack of appetite, it is important to find out the cause. Sometimes, a baby may simply not feel hungry because all the hormones and the chemical processes that are required for the baby to feel hungry are not working correctly. Hormones like serotonin and leptin, which are ideally important to ensure that your baby’s system asks for food, are not working in tandem. This is nothing to worry about since your baby’s systems are still developing and there may still be time for them to develop completely.
For a 10 month old baby not eating or your 10 month old baby not eating solids, it is important to consider what you are feeding the baby. A lot of times, we as adults seem to think that whatever we are consuming ourselves is enjoyed by the baby as well. It is possible that what we enjoy as food may not be that appealing to your baby. As adults, we have our own individual likes and dislikes in food. Imagine if you were forced to feed on a vegetable that you truly despised just because the person who makes food in your home likes the particular vegetable. Try and offer your child something different for a change and then see the reaction of the baby. If the baby seems to enjoy the food this time, know that whatever you were giving to your baby was not working out well. For a baby not eating, if teethingis not the problem, then the possible solution is that you are feeding your child the wrong kind of food. If your baby is not eating enough formula, try and purchase a different flavor formula or try mashed banana instead.
Variation of appetite is quite normal in young children. So if your 7 month old baby is not eating, or for that matter even your two year old baby is not eating, do not start worrying. The occasional loss of appetite is acceptable in both adults as well as babies. It is only worrisome if your baby repeatedly refuses to eat. In fact, an occasional loss of appetite is considered normal thing for a growing up child.Loss of appetite may be an indication of sores or ulcers in the mouth. A lot of times, when the child has recently learned to walk or move around, the child may not be interested in food any more. There are plenty of other things that will be of interest to the baby. Sometimes, a child also refuses food just because it needs the attention of the parents. As long as the child is growing healthily and is not sick, you must know that the child is receiving all the nutrition that is required. You may get your child tested for worms or parasites just in case you are overly worried about the sudden lack of appetite in your growing child. Usually, it is only a worrying matter if the child has diarrhea, fever, sore throat, vomiting or otherwise general fatigue and malaise accompanying the loss of appetite. Parasites may be the cause of loss of appetite in a 1 year old baby not eating. While there can be a various reasons for the child to lose his/her appetite, if you find that the child simply refuses to eat or if there are any other worrisome symptoms, you must seek medical help.
Usually when the child is hungry, he/she will come to you of their own accord. However, the child may not feel hungry according to the convenience of the family, and therefore, it is important to ensure that every time your child does show interest in food, it is fed properly.
This is one of the most difficult problems to diagnose and it does not help that the patient in question is a two-year old who cannot accurately communicate symptoms to an adult. Dealing with a baby’s appetite can be quite tricky because as adults we tend to see meals and eating more like a visit to the gas station to top up fuel and move on. Understanding human appetite from a very basic perspective requires one to understand that eating is something that, naturally, is done when a human is hungry. Babies follow this exact mechanism and until they are older and understand routines and specific mealtimes by learning them, it is always basic instinct that rules their brains.
The human appetite is primarily controlled by the hypothalamus in the brain. Appetite is a complex web of processes that involves hormones, nerve impulses and other substances. Primarily it is the signaling involved in the digestive system, fatty tissue and hormonal triggers that affect the appetite and tell us to eat. There are a myriad number of hormones like serotonin and leptin that tell one part of our body that it is time to eat or that it is time to stop eating. It is important to remember that a baby’s systems are not developed enough to work in tandem correctly. Having said that, it is also important to understand that, just as different adults have likes and dislikes; your baby too has his or her own taste personality. This is a much-underrated fact about babies and most parents tend to assume that babies are pre-programmed to enjoy the same food that they do. Try to understand your baby’s specific taste preferences. One of the easiest tricks that you can always use is to spike the baby’s food with something sweet. Honey is the best natural substitute for most artificially sweetened food. Just add honey to any of the baby’s food. Remember to taste baby food yourself before giving it to your child – if you do not like it, it is doubtful that your baby will either.
It sometimes helps to cook aromatic foods as this can induce a hunger reflex. In actual fact, feeling hungry after smelling food being cooked as actually a very complex neurological response to stimuli but since your child is two years old, it is worth trying out. This will also start to train her into getting into the family routine. Another way of stimulating a baby’s appetite is by giving her a small amount of ginger but artificially flavored with honey. Both of these are very useful in settling the stomach and bringing it back to normalcy.