A happy mother is one who every day watches her child eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with appetite. However, despite the persuasion of parents, children often refuse to eat. Loss of appetite in an infant may indicate that he is not feeling well. Therefore, you should not take the refusal of food only as a whim, it is better to do everything possible to identify the true cause.
Kid eating
Possible causes of decreased appetite
Every woman is guided by the instinct of feeding her offspring. Therefore, when the child refuses to eat, the mother, not understanding why this is happening, feels anxiety. She perceives the situation as a threat and strives with all her might to feed the baby, showing her ingenuity:
- distracts the baby with cartoons;
- runs after him with a spoon;
- threatens with punishment and swears.
In fact, parents are often themselves to blame for the child's loss of appetite, which makes the situation even more difficult - not all adults can admit their mistakes and correct their own behavior.
Food selectivity
If we are talking about a baby, 6-7 months old, who refuses vegetable puree or kefir, do not panic, it is better to leave thoughts of introducing complementary foods for another two weeks. Pediatricians argue that the baby's refusal of an unknown taste indicates that he is not yet ready to get acquainted with new products, and not at all that his appetite has begun to disappear.
Refusal of complementary foods
If a child older than 2-3 years old goes through the dishes, eating one with pleasure, refusing the other, parents can solve the problem in two ways:
- reconcile and feed what the toddler loves;
- not pay attention to selectivity and offer only what the adults see fit.
Interesting. When hungry, the child will eat broccoli soup, borscht and stewed vegetables with appetite, without looking at the ingredients. Therefore, the question of what to do if the child has lost his appetite should be solved simply: leave him alone until the next meal.
Frequent snacking
The fault of the parents is that they allow snacks in the intervals between main feedings. Because of this, the body constantly digests small portions of food, unable to accumulate the necessary amount of enzymes in order to cope with the main course. The result is that the child does not have a feeling of hunger, which he would seek to satisfy at dinner.
Decreased appetite due to illness
A kid at any age loses his appetite if he experiences an acute period of the disease. Therefore, before you force a child to eat, you need to pay attention to his appearance and behavior.
Symptoms indicating a violation of the general condition:
- pallor of the skin;
- shortness of breath;
- high temperature;
- lethargy.
Important! A sick child should be fed according to appetite. The mother should drink plenty of water to reduce the risk of dehydration.
Adults need to determine if the child is unwilling or unable to eat. It often happens that the baby greedily grabs the breast, but after a few seconds throws it. In such situations, we are not talking about the fact that the child does not have an appetite, what should parents do in this case - to look for reasons, among which may be:
- painful sucking due to teething;
- inability to breathe due to nasal congestion;
- an undeveloped mother's breast or a blocked nipple hole that makes sucking difficult.
A sore throat, increased intestinal peristalsis during sucking in infants and seasonal temperature changes can reduce appetite.
Eating by force
The desire to feed the offspring by any means comes down to the fact that parents, for the sake of their own peace of mind, are ready to do anything to determine the required amount of food in the child's stomach. Some mothers scream, threatening that the baby will not leave the table until the plate is empty. Others are ready to put a feeding table in front of a TV with cartoons so that spoon after spoon can be put in a keen child until the mother's conscience calms down.
Such behavior on the part of adults is unacceptable. Nutritionists note that children who were force-fed in childhood suffer from inability to eat properly in adulthood. If a child was forced to eat stewed vegetables or fried liver, then with age his love for these dishes will not increase, on the contrary, unpleasant associations will subconsciously arise.
Appetite is different
When the baby has been eating well for a long time, but suddenly, for no apparent reason, the child's appetite has disappeared, parents wonder what to do. Pediatricians explain this by the spasmodic production of growth hormone. When a sufficient amount of it is released, the activity of enzymes increases, and metabolic processes are accelerated, which improves appetite. During periods of decreased production of growth hormones, the child does not need a lot of energy, and therefore, his interest in food decreases.
Common mistakes parents make
The first thing that affects appetite is the process of introducing complementary foods. If the mother first introduced the baby to the apple, pear and curd, he is unlikely to want to try zucchini, turkey and cabbage later. Therefore, do not neglect the recommendations of the pediatrician, who asks to start complementary foods with unsweetened kefir and vegetable purees.
The second significant mistake of adults is the early acquaintance of the child with chips, crackers, soda and sweets. Having learned their taste, children no longer want to touch soups. Therefore, when there is a lack of appetite in a child, the reasons must be sought in the family's eating habits.
Chips
How to improve appetite
In order to increase their children's interest in food, parents should adhere to three rules:
- observe the hourly feeding schedule;
- exclude snacks in between feedings;
- to ensure the active waste of energy in outdoor games.
In addition, mom should pay attention to the taste of the dishes. Children do not like too salty or sour foods. Therefore, it is better not to add salt to food than to oversalt it. Dad will always be able to add salt to his portion right on the plate, if necessary, and the child will not choke on food that is not tasty for him.
Additional Information! Children often refuse food because they are served hot or cold. To avoid conflicts on the basis of nutrition, mother should be careful about the temperature of the food served.
Is there a risk of malnutrition
Insufficient nutrition can lead to problems with the development of organs and tissues. Children need a certain set of vitamins and minerals every day. Lack of magnesium will inevitably lead to disorders of the nervous system, and lack of calcium - to the fragility of bones and teeth. In addition, there is a risk of developing dystrophy - a violation of the metabolism of substances, which can occur against the background of improper nutrition.
Medical help
If the child has a lack of weight or developmental delay, the pediatrician will definitely notice this at the next scheduled examination. Of course, children after 3 years of age are not taken to polyclinics for prophylaxis several times a year. Therefore, only parents can notice the presence of health problems. Typical metabolic disorders will manifest in:
- brittle hair;
- delamination of nail plates;
- fragility of bones and teeth;
- sleep disturbance.
At the first suspicion of health problems, you should contact your pediatrician, who will prescribe a clinical and biochemical blood test. Based on the results of the study, the specialist will give a referral for treatment to a gastroenterologist, endocrinologist or psychotherapist.
Doctor Komarovsky about poor appetite
The popular pediatrician Komarovsky is sure that any problems with appetite can be solved in a maximum of 2 days. To do this, parents must adhere to the rules of compliance with the feeding regime. This means that if the baby refuses breakfast, you do not need to swear at him, he needs to be released to play before lunch. When parents receive a refusal in response to the invitation to the table at lunchtime, leave the child alone until dinner. Hungry for the day, he will eat with pleasure.
Family breakfast
Adhering to the diet, avoiding snacks between feedings, parents will smoothly and without violence come to the fact that all family members, without exception, will eat with pleasure and on time. In addition, it is very useful to strengthen family ties several times a day for the whole composition to gather at the table, where children will follow an example from adults, and the latter will enjoy the good appetite of their children.
