Why won't she eat?

[newmamalizzy]

LO is 6.5 months old and all this week has been thoroughly disinterested in eating. She's in a relatively good mood, though clearly teething, and had several nights of uncharacteristically bad sleep. She's had a frequent dry cough for a long time. Other than that, she seems pretty normal. What on earth could be causing her to take <18 ounces a day?

[LadyCatherine185]

My DS always refused to nurse when he was sick/getting sick. I have heard others say that teething makes their DC eat less.

[Abraisme]

It's a really common age to be distractable from nursing/eating. Both of my kids went through a phase around then where the world was much more interesting than eating. The best thing that I found want to take them into a dark room with ZERO stimulation and nurse. Forget trying to nurse while out in public or if a new person was around! Both of my kids got over the phase pretty quickly, my son nursed until he was 3.5 and my dd is still nursing strong (and in public) at 14mo.

[sewchris2642]

Originally Posted by newmamalizzy

LO is 6.5 months old and all this week has been thoroughly disinterested in eating. She's in a relatively good mood, though clearly teething, and had several nights of uncharacteristically bad sleep. She's had a frequent dry cough for a long time. Other than that, she seems pretty normal. What on earth could be causing her to take <18 ounces a day?

Several things:

1) she's 6.5 months old. Has she shown signs of being interested in solid food yet? All of mine were grabbing food off my plate by that time and shoving it in their mouths. And she is more distractable right now. You could try to nurse more at night when she is less distracted by what's going on around her.

2) she's teething. Her gums are sensitive and that means she's less interested in nursing.

3) she has a dry cough. Her throat could be raw and irritated so nursing hurts. Are you using a humidifier at night? Warm, moist air helps with that kind of cough. Sitting in the bathroom with the shower running also helps. Sucking on ice or popsicles (i.e. frozen fruit purees/juices) also soothes the throat.

Also most children slow down their nursing at about that age because their growth rate slows down. Their appetite is self-regulating. They haven't learned to eat just because the food is available.