Child 1 year refuses. Why the child refuses to eat and what should mom do

Appetite problems can occur in babies at any age. However, an infant, like no other, needs to receive all the components necessary for proper growth and development. Moms and experienced pediatricians should quickly determine why the baby does not want to eat. There are many reasons for this negative situation. Most often, the situation occurs against the background of a change in the taste of breast milk or formula. At an older age, the baby refuses to eat when trying to introduce complementary foods into his diet.

Problems with basic nutrition

From the age of a year, a child develops his own individual preferences in food. However, before that, refusal of breast or formula can cause serious concerns for the health of the baby. If the child does not want to eat, then all the components necessary for proper growth and development cease to enter his body. The newborn may refuse the mixture. This situation should not be left unattended. She speaks of the presence of serious problems with digestion or in the work of other internal organs.

Mommy should carefully monitor the baby during the feeding period. If he does not properly grasp the breast, then air will begin to enter his esophagus along with milk. This situation will lead to pain and spasms. The baby begins to spin and become very irritated during the period of absorption of food. After feeding, such children spit up profusely. If the mother has doubts about the correct capture of the nipple, then she should ask the health visitor to observe the process. If violations are found in the position, it will help to quickly and effectively eliminate them.

During breastfeeding, the baby may be uncomfortable with a strong stream of milk. This situation is observed in the case of accumulation of a large amount of liquid. The baby begins to choke and may even choke. A strong flow is guaranteed not to please, so he will begin to refuse food.

You can eliminate the manifestation by decanting a small amount of fluid before starting the procedure. To date, special nipples are also very popular, which, due to their design, reduce pressure.

Experienced parents know that the taste of milk directly depends on the diet of the mother. The child does not eat if he feels negative changes. That is why it is recommended to exclude sweet and salty foods from the diet for a certain period. They change the taste of the drink in a negative way.

Mom should interest the child in food

Various pathologies

The baby refuses to eat if he has a congenital pathology that interferes with this process. It is far from always possible to consider it at a routine examination in the maternity hospital. Because of the baby can not properly capture the nipple. This situation can be resolved very quickly by conventional surgical intervention.

If, then he is suspected of having certain problems in the work of the intestines. At the same time, he can refuse both the bottle and the mother's breast. In this case, it is necessary to understand the reasons for the negative clinical picture:

Newborns are at increased risk of colic, which can lead to malnutrition. This clinical picture is observed in almost all children up to four months. Teas help to get rid of the symptom. With their help, it is possible to minimize gas formation. Mom is also recommended to lay the baby on her tummy or regularly perform special massage exercises.
Babies experience discomfort in the tummy if dysbacteriosis actively develops in the intestines. Immediately after the birth of the intestinal microflora, it will still take a certain period for the formation. The disorder can be diagnosed through laboratory tests or visual assessment of stool consistency. If there are obvious green impurities in the stool, then you should immediately seek the advice of a pediatrician. Taking probiotics can quickly and effectively eliminate the situation. Only a doctor can correctly prescribe them.

A small person can refuse the next meal in case of a migraine. Loud noises and weather conditions also play a negative role. A wet handkerchief or Nurofen can eliminate an unpleasant manifestation. Tablets should be given only when absolutely necessary.

Quite often, children become distracted when eating food. Thus, they try to study the situation around. That is why outsiders should not enter the room during the feeding period. Through this process, it will be possible to give intimacy. The child will be able to concentrate and eat well.

The baby often sleeps and refuses to breastfeed if he feels unwell.

Against the background of painful sensations of a different nature, the child may refuse to eat:

If your baby takes in a lot of air while suckling, it could be that he has a stuffy nose. It must be released by means of flagella or an aspirator. Thanks to this, the baby will be able to breathe again in full.
With various diseases of the ears, the child's discomfort increases during breast sucking. Refusal of food occurs during otitis media. Parents will be able to diagnose themselves. To do this, you need to slightly press on the tragus. If there is inflammation inside the ear, the baby will begin to cry a lot. In this case, the parent is recommended to immediately visit the Laura's office. The baby should not be left hungry. It is best to feed him with a spoon.
A negative clinical picture is observed in a child with thrush or stomatitis. At the same time, he has small white spots throughout the oral cavity. They can also be dyed red. Treatment at home will not give the desired effect. It must be prescribed by a doctor. To eliminate pain, it is recommended to wipe the inflammation with a weak solution of baking soda. To prepare it, one teaspoon of powder should be diluted in 200 grams of boiled water.

period of tooth growth

The baby may refuse to breastfeed due to excessive swelling of the gums. The situation is considered characteristic during the period of tooth growth. The kid not only refuses food. His general well-being is aggravated by the allocation of a large number of teeth. You can normalize the situation with the help of a gel with an anesthetic effect.

Some children may well be satisfied with a small portion of milk. Such circumstances must be taken into account by the mother. At the same time, the baby remains cheerful and cheerful. He continues to enjoy life and is gaining weight normally. In this case, you should not worry about his malnutrition.

Appetite in infants worsens during the period of teeth growth

Problems with the introduction of complementary foods

The nutrition of the child every month should become more extensive. Otherwise, he will not be able to eat his mother's milk or formula. Unusual tastes and a solid texture quite often provoke a significant decrease in appetite.

For proper growth and development, the body of the crumbs must receive a sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals. As they mature, the intestines become ready to digest new varieties. That is why the child is increasingly asking for vegetables or fruits.

If the baby begins to suddenly refuse mashed potatoes and cereals, then it is urgent to find out the reasons for such a negative manifestation. Sometimes crumbs refuse complementary foods in case of strong psychological stress. For example, they are used to milk or formula, so they don't want to eat anything else.

Pediatricians advise introducing any new product into the diet gradually. First, you need to add a small amount of milk or mixture to it. Thanks to this, the baby will receive an additional period for getting used to the taste. The intestines will also not experience much stress and will not suffer from the load. If there is a refusal to eat food, it is best to temporarily remove food from the diet. However, in this case, the volume of the main food also increases.

A child can be capricious if he is not satisfied with the consistency of a particular dish. Food should be quite liquid, but not thick. In this case, he is guaranteed to eat it with great pleasure.

The baby tries to be as similar as possible to its parents. That is why it is necessary to show the child by example how to eat right. At breakfast, you should not eat sandwiches, but serve yourself porridge, which is in the child's plate. If the whole family eats right, then he will be able to get the most out of this process. It is recommended to eat porridge in the morning without fail.

You should not force the crumbs to eat everything to the last spoon. Even puree is quite a heavy food, so it can have a negative impact on a young body. Additionally, it should be noted that saturation occurs even in the case of absorption of a small portion.

The baby menu should be designed in such a way that it has the maximum variety. For example, if the baby is not delighted with pumpkin puree, then it should be temporarily removed from the diet. Be sure to give the child porridge. If he did not like a particular look, then it is quite possible to replace it with another one. Some crumbs protest to the last against the introduction of complementary foods into the diet. In this case, it is recommended to periodically return to milk or formula. After a certain period, the baby will get used to it and will begin to ask for its favorite dishes.

It is recommended to invite the child to independently perform all actions.

Equally important is the observance of the diet. The baby should be fed at a certain time. His menu should also roughly repeat itself from day to day. It is best if there is porridge for breakfast every day, lunch - soup, and after sleep - cottage cheese or fruit puree. After establishing a specific schedule, the child is guaranteed to develop a sufficient level of conservatism.

Directly in itself, the process of eating should be exciting and interesting. Psychologists recommend involving the child in the process of choosing a jar or a separate type of porridge that mom needs to cook. Thanks to this, it will be much more interesting for him to eat later.

Display dinners also help to accustom a child to new foods. In this case, you should gather all family members who will absorb dishes with great appetite. However, they should be exactly like mashed potatoes or porridge. Otherwise, the desired effect will not be obtained. Most often, such meals attract maximum attention.

In infants, food refusal is most often temporary. The reason lies in the growth of teeth, poor health after vaccination. Appetite worsens against the background of a weakened body due to colds or viral diseases. Worsening weather conditions can also play a negative role. Parents note that their children often eat poorly in case of low activity during the day. After all, then there is no need to make up for the lack of energy.

1. Do not let your child eat in front of a TV or laptop. If the baby watches his favorite cartoon or any other program, he will definitely become distracted from food.

2. Too active babies need to be calmed down during meals. This is an interesting book. The kid needs to read a short fragment from the fairy tale, and when he calms down enough, you can offer him food and promise that then he will hear the continuation.

3. Do not force the child to eat if he does not want it at the moment. When he gets hungry, he will gladly eat the entire portion without suffering.

4. It is desirable that the baby has his own set of dishes. Let these be not standard plates and cups, but special ones for children, for example, with the image of your favorite cartoon characters. The dishes should be small so that the child does not get scared looking at the huge portion that he needs to eat.

5. Children love to go shopping and choose goods on their own. If you let your baby choose today's menu, buy the ingredients, and even let him take part in cooking, he will happily eat what was cooked with his help. In addition, this way you can develop the creative beginning of your child.

6. You can use a tricky way. Its meaning is simple: you need to hide the unloved children's food in what he loves.

7. Very healthy and at the same time delicious smoothies will perfectly replace the usual dishes. In addition, children are very fond of sipping their favorite mixture from a straw.

8. Do not put several dishes on the table at once. The child will eat what he loves, and he will not pay attention to healthy food.

9. To attract the child's attention to food, it must be presented beautifully. You can make a beautifully shaped dish, you can decorate it. Also, do not forget about the table setting, on which you can also experiment.

10. In no case should you yell at the child and force food into him. This will cause a tantrum and spoil the entire appetite.

11. Sweet juices should not be given to the child during meals. Let him eat first, and then drink his favorite drink.

12. For a good appetite, you need to invite your child's friends to visit more often. Of course, they will not be capricious all at once. On the contrary, they will gladly eat the prepared dishes.

These simple rules will help make meals much more enjoyable. The most important thing is to be tolerant, not to yell at the child and not force him to eat. Any aggression on the part of the parents will completely discourage the appetite of the crumbs.

Pediatricians advise parents not to feed their children immediately after coming home from kindergarten. The fact is that after the arrival of the child may be tired, besides, they are well fed in the garden. The kid will eventually get hungry and ask for food himself.

One of the many questions young parents have is what to do if their children refuse to eat.

Most often, loss of appetite is temporary, but it happens that child refuses to eat systematically. Why is this happening and what can be done?

What is appetite

The word "appetite" from the Latin appetitus literally means "desire", "desire". This special sensation arises from the need for food, the next stage is the feeling of hunger.

Before looking into the reasons why child refuses to eat let's see how this feeling is formed. The work of the digestive system is controlled by the brain, more precisely by its separate center - the food center, in which, due to the concentration of nutrients (mainly glucose), separate sections are excited - the center of hunger and the center of satiety. If under the influence of stimuli the food center is excited, you want to eat. Then impulses are sent to the salivary glands, saliva is released, the work of the digestive glands starts - and the baby begins to show signs of hunger: it opens its mouth, licks its lips, smacks, makes sucking movements, even cries. An older kid will reach for a bottle, plate or spoon. If the food center is inhibited or blocked, the appetite disappears, and then the baby will refuse to eat, even if you offer him his favorite dish.

Here are some tips to help you understand why child refuses to eat and fix the problem.

Taste baby food

Often the problem is the taste of food - bitter, salty, too sweet. Food for children is recommended not to salt or sweeten (at least up to 1.5 years). Refusal can be caused by too high or low food temperature, large pieces, especially if the child choked a couple of times and remembered it. It is usually enough to make the pieces smaller, let the soup cool, or note which flavor the baby likes the most.

Is the child healthy

There are a number of diseases that in one way or another affect the fact that child refuses to eat. In case of constant refusal to eat, the first thing to do is to visit a pediatrician or gastroenterologist.

These diseases will be revealed by examination, blood and urine tests, additional studies (ultrasound, ECG, X-ray). The recommendations in this case are extremely simple - until the reasons are eliminated, feed the child as he develops a desire to eat.

Pretty common reasons why child refuses to eat- pain during teething, especially molars, or with caries, as well as the development of stomatitis and gum problems. Sometimes it is difficult to figure it out on your own, you will need to see a doctor.

The needs of the child

Child of the first three years life is not able to describe their appetite, so parents have to evaluate it based on their experience and feelings. But it should be borne in mind that all children are divided into small children, who eat medium and large. Their metabolism is different, respectively, and the need for food too. Of course, parents are worried about the situation when there seems to be no illness, but the appetite is disturbed. However, sometimes this happens due to physiological reasons. The growth process is maximum in the first year - so the child eats a lot and often, quickly gains weight. But in the second and third year, its needs are reduced.

In addition, you should objectively assess the child's lifestyle - how much energy he spends, how much he walks, runs, jumps, how warmly he is dressed, whether he sweats. Appetite is affected by energy costs - in the summer, in the heat, fewer calories are spent, there is no need to heat the surface of the body. Therefore, in the summer child refuses to eat more often than in winter. An active fidget will spend more than a calm, quiet child, which means that they will eat differently.

There are objective signs that the child has enough nutrition:

age-appropriate physical development, weight gain;
proper neuropsychic development, cheerfulness, activity;
normal exercise tolerance, without fatigue (the baby runs on the street on a par with everyone else, he does not have shortness of breath, he does not sit for a long time next to his mother, resting);
a balanced character without lethargy and hyperactivity (both a lack of nutrients and an excess of proteins and fats disrupt nervous activity);
smooth skin, elastic muscles;
regular stool and urination.

In pediatrics, there are about 200 indicators of children's health, ranging from weight and height to the amount of salt excreted in the urine. Each has limits on acceptable fluctuations, and parents are very worried when a child does not fit into all parameters. However, the norms are just conditional guidelines. A strong deviation will force the doctor to examine the child in more detail. But this does not mean at all that your baby is obliged to add exactly 10, and not 8 or 12 kilograms, by 1 year, and there are exactly 250, and not 150 or 300 grams. Each baby is individual, and each has its own norm, which is known to parents and the doctor who constantly monitors him. This is the norm that you should adhere to, not comparing your child with the neighbors.

A little higher, we talked about signs of health - if the baby grows, develops, he is happy and satisfied with life, then his appetite is adequate to his needs, even if, according to his parents, he eats little.

What to do if the child refuses to eat

Often, young parents, after listening to the "valuable" advice of relatives and friends about the lack of fatness of the child, do their best to cram as much as possible into the child. In the course are games, persuasion, threats, dances, bribery and even performances. Each spoon is a holiday, and refusal to eat is grief and anxiety. As a result, eating turns into a battle.

Such feeding, unfortunately, brings little benefit, and most often only harms. It is better that the child does not begin to eat, but usually he simply refuses to eat at all. The fact is that appetite is not just a desire to eat, it is also evidence of the body's readiness to eat: the production of a sufficient amount of digestive juices in the pancreas and liver, activation of intestinal motility and its release from the previous portion of food. If you force feed a child, most of what you eat will not be digested and food intake can be considered useless. A big problem is forming - the digestive system is overloaded, and the child is trying hard to feed, no matter what.

Do not focus on selectivity in food.

Parents often complain that child refuses to eat, avoids certain foods, such as dairy or meat. However, changing preferences is quite natural. Children under 2-3 years of age obey mainly instincts, so selectivity in food reflects the real need of the child at the moment. For example, giving up vegetables or meat in favor of dairy products in the first year of life may indicate a need for calcium during tooth growth. You should not worry, although it is still necessary to offer other products from time to time, perhaps after some time the baby's preferences will change.

Give the right to choose

Even the smallest ones already have their own preferences - someone likes pumpkin, someone likes potatoes, and someone likes cottage cheese. If the child is picky - offer him a choice, from the realization of his own participation he will eat with great pleasure, even if he is only a year or two. It seems to many that this is difficult, but in practice it is simple - get the baby cottage cheese and fruit puree for an afternoon snack, whatever you want, then let's. For lunch, offer two options - meat puree or porridge. Go from the opposite. If the baby does not like porridge, and you want him to eat vegetable stew, offer porridge and stew - against the background of one unloved dish, the second looks more profitable. Or add to the rejected foods that the child will eat willingly. For example, if he likes pumpkin, add it to porridge or soup, it will give a familiar taste to the whole dish.

Let the baby take part in the preparation of food as much as possible - this will interest. If a child refuses to eat- it means that he is simply not hungry yet and you need to offer to eat a little later.

Avoid Mistakes

Eating will become more enjoyable if mom takes into account a few simple things.

Don't be in a hurry to introduce complementary foods. According to modern WHO standards, all children, regardless of the type of feeding, are recommended to introduce complementary foods at about six months. The enzyme system must mature and adapt to the new food, then the new food will benefit. Each new dish, so that the baby tastes and loves it, should be offered in the amount of ½ teaspoon about 10-15 times, gradually the baby will get used to the new taste and will eat with pleasure.
A strict feeding schedule should be followed - breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner should be clearly distinguished. This allows you to streamline the work of the digestive system, enzymes are activated by a certain hour and the food is completely absorbed.
If the child is excited, ran, just returned from the street, cries or is upset - you should not put him at the table. Give him 20-30 minutes to recover, calm down and switch to food. Then the process will be easier. For example, if a child is passionate about the game, you can start warning him about an imminent dinner in 15–20 minutes.
Follow the rituals, involve the baby in them - make eating a meal no less exciting than playing or reading. For example, the ritual can be as follows: first we prepare a table, the baby spreads a napkin on it (he chooses it himself). Then the baby chooses a spoon from several proposed ones, washes his hands and sits down. He will try to eat everything to see who “hid” at the bottom of the plate today. You can buy several identical plates with different pictures on the bottom, and every day there will be a surprise: who is there - a fish, a little man or a car.
Between feedings, do not give your child high-calorie foods, especially starchy foods and sweets, otherwise child refuses to eat as they discourage appetite for a long time. By the way, contrary to popular belief, juice is a very high-calorie product. It has a lot of sugar, it gives a feeling of satiety for a long time.
It is useful to decorate dishes and beautifully set the table. In addition, the place for feeding should be comfortable, matched to the height of the child and located so that the baby sees everything and can take part in family lunches and dinners.
A great way to work up an appetite is to spend a lot of time outdoors with your parents or peers, run, jump, ride on a swing, play outdoor games. Walking at least 1.5-2 hours a day is important for a good appetite.
The psychological state of the child has a great influence on appetite. When the baby is constantly forced to eat, he develops a protective reaction at the sight of the table. the child refuses to eat.

A common problem is the slowness of children. If the child does not have time to chew food, the mechanism of protective vomiting may work and there may be a fear of repeating it. To cope with such problems, you can try to draw, change the environment, tell an exciting story about food - in a word, try to break the negative associations between eating and negative emotions. The game "stubborn kid" helps a lot. Let your child feed you - and you refuse and indulge, showing what he usually does at the table, but avoiding the phrase "I will be capricious, like you ...". Such statements give a direct indication of the child and contribute to the development of negative associative connections with food intake.

Of course, the problem of appetite, when child refuses to eat, especially if it exists for a long time, will not be resolved in one day. Often this takes more than one week. Children are conservative and difficult to rebuild, including in food habits. But if you approach the issue creatively and interest the child, make him a participant in events, and not a passive executor of the will of the parents, success is guaranteed.

You might be interested in articles

In every childhood, there is a “I don’t want to eat” phase that frightens and surprises parents. The Internet comes to the aid of modern moms and dads. The main thing is to find a site or video where doctors give advice - specialists. For example, Dr. Komarovsky is popular for giving advice to adults about children, explaining evidence-based data in understandable language. Including regarding the question of why the child refuses to eat and what to do in this case.

Dr. Komarovsky talks about the subconscious feeling of love and the need for food. This is manifested in the child's question: “What did you bring me today?”, Or in joy when eating a treat. Food is essential for life. It is fuel for the body. Normally, children are required to want to eat and do it with pleasure. Indeed, in the subconscious, this law of survival is “sealed” in every person.

If the opposite happens, you need to find out the cause and solve the problem overnight. Dr. Komarovsky's opinion about food says - no force-feeding. You can't force a child to eat.

Appetite guides your baby's desire to eat. By its absence or presence, you can tell how well your child feels.

There are reasons for refusing to eat, due to external factors, and not the lack of mood of the baby:

Any disease, poisoning, colds and inflamed gums due to teething, sore throat, diseases that appear during feeding, as well as problems with the gastrointestinal tract and metabolic rate, reduce appetite.
In infants, the reason that the child refuses to eat may be uncomfortable, small or large nipples of the mother. And also an unacceptable posture for feeding.
Food that is not prepared according to the rules (fresh, salty or spicy) also causes a decrease in appetite. Too sour and sweet, hot or cold, liquid and so on. Also, the baby may refuse to eat, because he is not able to chew the pieces of food, or they are too large, or the baby is still not very good at chewing.

Komarovsky says that it is better for a child to know how much and when he needs to eat. It is necessary to take into account the characteristics of each organism. If mom or dad loves to eat and they didn’t have such problems even in childhood, this does not mean that their baby will behave in the same way. No need to force. It is enough to observe how much time it takes for your child to want to eat.

Check your baby in the clinic for various diseases of the mouth, throat, gastrointestinal tract, and so on, make sure that this is not the problem. The delivery of tests and consultations of doctors, up to a child psychologist, will convince and reassure you.

If there are no health problems, but the baby still refuses to eat, engage him in physical exercises in order to, so to speak, work up and build up an appetite. Perhaps the child simply does not use all his energy and calorie supply. Or cook something tasty, your favorite and be sure to check for temperature, salt and sugar.

How to feed a child with poor appetite: little tricks.

Feeding a baby is very difficult. This is real torture for you. The baby spits out the porridge, runs away from the sandwich, grimaces at the sight of a bowl of soup. You begin to worry that due to poor appetite, your little one will grow and develop poorly, and will often get sick.

Cause. Maybe the baby did not have the opportunity to really get hungry? If he had a bad breakfast, but then every five minutes he received a cookie or a banana, it is unlikely that the baby will want to have lunch. Or maybe he's used to playing while eating? This is the most common mistake of young mothers and caring grandmothers. The same games at the table quickly bother the baby, he begins to get angry and demand new fun, completely forgetting about food. Another reason for poor appetite is too nervous environment during meals.

Clue. Do not force your baby to eat more than he wants, otherwise he will associate food with stress. Offer your baby five meals throughout the day, always at the same time. And between them do not give anything for a snack. Also limit the amount of juices with pulp - they are very high-calorie and nutritious, after which the little one is unlikely to want to eat. Instead of playing with your baby at the table, have lunch with him. The baby will watch how mom eats, and his appetite will improve. It is also worth allowing the little one to eat on their own. This will make eating more enjoyable for him.

Why does the baby eat the same thing

Children as young as two years old can eat the same soup three times a day, or have a regular breakfast of cottage cheese with fruit or a cheese sandwich. After some time, the tastes of the baby change, and he begins to be just as jealously faithful to the next dish.

Cause. Adults like variety more, and children prefer repetition. Thanks to this, they feel more confident in a world that brings some surprises every day.

Clue. Offer the baby dishes that are similar in taste and texture. For example, if the baby is addicted to mashed potatoes, give him carrots, broccoli, apples only in this form. And don't force feed your baby. Children's gastronomic eccentricities, as a rule, pass very quickly. But if the little one does not deviate from strange eating habits for a very long time, consult a doctor: it may be necessary to give the baby vitamins.

How to get your baby to eat vegetables?

He used to enjoy eating mashed carrots or broccoli. The reluctance to eat vegetables, as a rule, appears in the second year of life. The kid turns his head away in disgust when he sees boiled vegetables or even a lettuce leaf on a sandwich.

Cause. Very often the reason for this is bad habits. Where do they come from? A baby who has already learned to walk, as a rule, is so busy learning about the world around him that he does not have the patience to eat calmly. And a caring mother or grandmother slips various goodies to the baby. So children get used to the sweet taste and show less and less interest in vegetables.

Clue. Offer your baby dishes with disguised vegetables. For example, a baby may not like raw vegetables, but will happily eat zucchini caviar or an omelet with spinach. Try to serve vegetables in an interesting way - cut stars out of carrots, make a funny face out of cucumber. Refuse to prepare vegetable purees for the little one - it is better to offer him vegetables cut into pieces. And don't forget to eat plenty of vegetables. Your example will be the best incentive for the child, because children like to imitate their mother so much.

Are you afraid your baby won't eat? Then for three days write down what the baby eats. As a rule, it turns out that the child eats enough to satisfy the needs of the body.

Good and bad calories

Is one sandwich or three spoons of soup enough for a toddler to satisfy his hunger? Then limit high-calorie foods with low nutritional value in his diet - especially sweets and potatoes. Instead, offer your baby fruit mousses, lean meats, and dairy products.