“My child is not eating, what can I do to make him/her eat more?”
This is one of the most common questions posed by parents to Paediatricians daily.
It shows feeding their children is one area most parents struggle with; especially with the infants and toddlers.
In this article, I will share few tips to ensure children are started early on the course of healthy eating.
If you struggle with your child in this area, you should find these tips very helpful.
Feeding is one of a parent’s most important jobs. It is how we help our children grow healthy and strong.
Mealtimes however are more than just food. Meal and snack times give you a chance to help your baby or toddler
- Learn healthy eating habits
- Feel important and loved
- Feel understood and respected
- Trust that others will care for her
- Feel good about her body
Here are some ways to help your child become a healthy eater early!
1. Remember: Mealtimes are about more than food.
They are a time to connect with your child and to support her overall development. Talk with your child during meals and don’t let her eat alone. This helps build strong family relationships.
2. Create routines around mealtime.
Routines make children feel loved and secure. Establish regular meal and snack times beginning when your child is 9-12 months old. Routines help children look forward to each meal.
3. Offer 3 to 4 healthy food choices (that your child likes) at each meal.
Research shows that children will choose a healthy diet when they are offered a selection of different healthy foods.
4. Don’t force your baby or toddler to eat.
I know this is hard for some parents to take though but it is actually counterproductive to force-feed the children. This often results in children refusing the food and eating less.
5. Don’t give up on new foods!
Patience is the key. I often joke with new mums that they should add Patience as a middle name. Another good one is Perseverance. Don’t be quickly give in when the child refuses the new food after the first attempt. You may have to offer your child a new food 10 or 15 times before he will eat it. Yes!!! Please be patient. You may even have to revisit already abandoned one and you may be surprised it will now become accepted!
6. Turn off the TV (computers, etc) at mealtime.
The television can distract children from eating. It also takes time away from talking as a family.
7. Healthy eating and exercise go hand in hand.
So make active play a part of everyday family life especially for the older children
If you tried all and still have concerns about your child eating habit especially if affecting the child’s weight gain or activity level, you need to talk to your child’s health care provider especially the Nutritionist and Paediatricians so you can be further advised professionally.
REFERENCE: Here’s to Healthy eating by Zerotothree.org
Hello doc.
My 3 year old eat up to 10 times a day .every minute he keep saying mum am hungry. Sometimes he won’t finish it.will just take small and return please is this normal?y
I don’t think that is normal. A 3 year old should eat at regular meal times with healthy snacks in between. He may be seeking for attention from you and realize asking you for food is the only way to get it. Try and see how to engage him otherwise and let him eat at regular meal times.
I want to introduce Aptamil milk and Gerber or ogi baba for my baby if he’s 6 months, pls ma is it okay to give? He’s still on EBF now
It is okay. Read more about infant feeding in the first 1000 days here
My baby is 4months plus now but she doesn’t suck breastmilk very well n she reduced in her weight so I started giving her ogi ,milk n soyabeans, plz doctors in d house I would love to know some other healthy I can introduce to her, tnx
Wrong!!! Please breastfeed since your milk is flowing. You can also express the breast milk as well. You can see your doctor preferably a Paediatrician to also know why the child is not sucking well. Breast milk protects your baby from infections and the digestive system is not yet ready for complementary feeds until 6 months. Read about infant feeding in the first 1000 days here
Plz doctors,my 2yrs baby is having hotness since a day n I v been giving her paracetamol n each time is been giving to her it will subside n I do clean her body with wet towel n after some time d hotness will come back n I don’t want to go to d hospital rather than health center n today is Sunday,pls Wat should I do ,or Could it be teething problem, tnx
Sorry you should take the child to the hospital as there are many possible causes of fever and you can not know what it is until a doctor has seen. Please do not assume teething at all. That is a dangerous assumption. Read more about teething and fever here
Good morning Doc. Can I have examples of healthy snacks and biscuits for my 9 month old baby, kindly assist. New mom at 43yrs. Thank you.
Healthy snacks include fruits like banana, oranges; or nutritious food like bean cakes and smoothies. Biscuit and pastries or packed juice are not healthy snacks. Kindly read this post Infant feeding in the first 1000 days! Congratulations on being a Mom!!!
Good day ma’am. My baby is 2months old and he takes breast only. He belches after and sometimes during meals but most time after laying him down, he throws up through his nose little portion of his meal (not immediately), have this startled look on his face, breathes noisily and like in 2 – 3minutes after he’s OK.
Is there something I should be worried about here? First time mum.
That is called REFLUX and quite common in babies at that age. The solution is to keep the baby upright for 15 – 30 minutes after feeding before putting to bed. It gets better as the baby grows older.
Hi Doc, my son of 1year 4months takes tea first thing in the morning after brushing, but the problem is he vomits it after taking it. What can I do to prevent him from vomiting please?
Stop giving tea first thing in the morning. Give regular breakfast like cereals. Tea is not meant to be breakfast.
Can a 10months old take corn flakes with baby milk
Not recommended except if soaked till very soft….Try other age-appropriate cereals.
can my 5month old baby drink ribena?.Tnx
NO! Give only breast milk to children 0 – 6 months! Don’t even give water. Do not give Ribena to children below 1 year!
Pls doc.I need list of foods that can be given to a 6mths old baby asides cereal.
Read here Infant feeding in the first 1000 days
Hello Doctor, my baby will be 5 months old by 23rd of this month and I want to know if she can start feeding on powdered soya beans and unripe plantain with pap and probably NAN baby milk. The reason for this is that my wife is complaining that breast milk is not enough for her again since to me it seems like she’s losing weight. Note that the baby was delivered on the 7th month as against her due date, so I’m afraid if this new recipe will be OK for her. Ur answer will be appreciated. Michael
Hello Michael. Kindly advise your wife to wait till the baby is 6 months. That is when complementary feeds should be started. Exclusive breastfeeding should be continued for the first 6 months. Don’t assume the babyis losing weight! Take the child for weighing at the clinic. Kindly provide me with the birth and current weight so I can advise you further. Read here about Infant feeding in the first 1000 days
Thanks madam for your advice, I do appreciate your candid response. Meanwhile I noticed some irritating rashes on my baby’s veegee, I’ve asked on what to do about it and got suggestions to use powdered, visita antifungal cream and even lessen her use of diapers. I have tried all but it seems the rashes are getting worse like red sores. Visita cream was OK the first time but I noticed that it was harsh on my baby, can you please advise on the cream or anything to get rid of the rash that is turning sores now. Thanks as I await your reply. Michael
Pease do not use any of those suggestions, you should take the child to the hospital at this stage will be to go to the hospital!
Pls ma is custard good for babies of 6months and above
Custard is more of industry produced pap with preservatives. It is better to give pap made in your own kitchen but nothing wrong with use of custard. I will however recommend you give freshly made pap when starting complementary feeds to reduce the chemicals/preservatives exposure so early.
Good evening Doctor, my baby is finding it had to poo, at time he can go 4 days max 7 days then occasionally everyday pls what can be the cause
You should have told me the age of your baby Omotola so I can advise you appropriately. Please do
Good day doc. Pls is it OK for my 21months old baby to take tea everyday
Do you mean beverages like cocoa drink? That is fine!
Please Dr my one year 3month baby takes only papa mixed with milk, he vomit any house hold food and cereal
That will not be appropriate for a 1 year old who should be on family diet by now. Read more from this article and this one on Infant feeding in the first 1000 days
Good day Doc, my baby will be 6months on the 23rd of this month ,He has been exclusively breastfeed until 11/3/2018 when I introduced cereals (Geber) and Nan to him when I realized he was loosing weight.His birth weight was 3.94 and he’s weighing 7.3kg and I learnt he should double his birth weight in 6months ,the last appointment at the hospital which was in January 22nd his weight was 6.2kg . Doc since I introduced cereals to him he wakes up at night and starts crying and stretching and it’s like he’s feeling pain in his stomach..I’m confused I really don’t know what to do .the pain started the day I gave him banana puree
Hi Deytoun….his weight is fine. You should have waited until 6 months before introducing the cereals because that is when his tummy is ready for solids. However, he may have food allergy or intolerance of the cereal you introduced…is it wheat based? You may want to try another cereal like rice or maize based cereals preferably what you made in your own kitchen. You can also give fruit purees as well. Read more about Infant feeding in the first 1000 days
Doc God bless u for your effort ma. My two month preterm baby always belches up to five times a day, b4 or after eating n she not adding weight fast, she was delivered@27weeks weigh 1.3kg when she come out of incubator now is 1.8kg is it normal ma.
There is nothing wrong with the belching even if more than 5 times a day. However, you need to be seeing a Paediatrician to monitor the weight as the rate of weight gain is not adequate. All the best.
Doctor good afternoon,my baby is 8month plus,but can’t sit on his own,apart from corner of chair
That is not right Bukola. An 8 month old should be able to sit independently. You should take her to see a Paediatrician for further evaluation. Read more here help I have a special needs baby (1)
Please doctor my baby of 8months likes eating cucumber and Sherry (agbalumo) and sometimes like 4 moules of eba and that is all. I but she sucks time to time and takes water. I please make is it OK for her
It is not okay as I can not see protein, fats and oil in all these meals you have listed. Your baby needs to eat variety of meals from the various food groups or classes. Read more here Infant feeding in the first 1000 days
Hello Dr, my 9 month old baby does not eat ever since he finished his exclusive. I have tryed so many food like sma gold,pap, nutiborn,cerelac,beans, rice, swallow but he still not taking any of it .a times l use to force feed him with pap which am not comfortable with. What can l do
Kindly read the tips above and follow them. There is no medication to make a child to eat…sorry! Be patient and persistent….they don’t starve….patiently implement the tips above.
Hello Dr. My child is 19 month old, just refuse eating initially He will be pointing at His mouth sticking out His tongue, so I visited the clinic, he was given antibiotics suspecting sour in the esophagus. After some days I went back, they suspected malaria bcos he was running temperature mostly during the night. Am through with the medications still He is not eating. What do I do?
Kindly read the tips above and follow them. There is no medication to make a child to eat…sorry! Be patient and persistent….they don’t starve….patiently implement the tips above.
Pis doc my baby 1year and 4months have not started walking or even standing up what will I do
You can see a Paediatrician. However if the child is crawling, you may wait to see a Paediatrician if he is not walking at 18 months. Read more here
Dorctor my baby have convulsion in 3days old,but the doctor treat him and he goes within 3month,his going to 9month now he cannot sit on his own apart from chair,he can pick something and put it inside is mouth,he can use his hand to clap,he can sleep on his tummy and turn he also stand,but the hips of my baby is tight.but only he cannot sit on his own. Tanx ma
Your baby needs to see a Paediatrician…the child seens to have special needs. Read here about special needs children
Hi my son is 7 months weighs 8kg as at 6months when we visited the hospital he has stoo sucking ,he take ceralac sometimes throws up eat little home meal. How can I improve his appetite for food. My children have this problem
That is why we wrote the post….please read again through and begin to patiently apply the tips. There is no shortcut to that…patience and perseverance! All the best. I hope he is still taking age-appropriate formula. 7 months too young to stop sucking breasts. You can reintroduce the breast milk as well.
Good day doctor, pls can my six months old baby take potatoes, egg yolk with breast milk or formula all mashed together?
Yes but introduce one new food at a time not all together as some children can react to some food and you will not know which one if you gave all together at the beginning.
Good afternoon Doctor.
I observe that my 11 months old daughter always have have rashes and boil on her body. once we started administering antibiotics and baby tribotan, the skin will be very smooth. 2 weeks after she is Doberman with her medications, the rashes and boil will appear again. pls, what can I do?
That is not right Lizzy….there may be something wrong in your way of caring for the child or other things that is causing the recurrent skin rashes. I will advise you see a Paediatrician or Dermatologist for proper evaluation and further advice.
Good day doc, my child of 3mths is on Ebf and he sucks very well but just today he starts defecating greenish stool mixed with yellowish tinz, although no fever, plz shld I be worried for this
Hi Victoria….no need to worry.Just keep breastfeeding exclusively and watch what you eat as well as some can be passed into the breast milk and affect the colour of the stools as well. What is your baby’s birth weight and current weight?
Birth weight is 3kg and his weight at ten weeks was 4.5 he’s a preterm born at 36weeks n 5days
That’s fine….just continue exclusive breastfeeding
Thank you so much ma for all the sacrifice of timely advice,I will also like to add that my baby will be 7months on the 7th of this month,she accepts spoon feeding from her caregiver but with me at home its a tug of war,most times i am tempted to do bottle feeding,so what i do is to make feeding time fun time,i sing,and sometimes make the brother dance in front of her,with all these gimmicks,she accepts the food,so as Doctor Gbemi has said we need to be patient when dealing with our babies.God help mothers
Thanks Ope for the words of encouragement
Good day Doctor,please I need to know if this is normal or not,my baby of 6weeks(EBF) always do as if is in pain,stretching out his leg and Doing as if its hard for him anytime he wants to farts or poo and the poo is not hard.Thank you,God bless u
That’s colic and most babies have it. Kindly read more here to know how to handle colic
Thank you ma floor your good Job.God bless you ma.My baby of two years five months is very healthy.But I want her to be eating well.I do give her Emvite multivitamin before she eat well atimes.Just to know weather bore hole water that is ckean is okay for children.Thank you
Boil the water or use sterilizing chemicals like waterguard to make it safe for drinking.
Hi Doctor. Please, my baby just clocked 6 months. I don’t really know the recipes to prepare for him aside pap. I really need help
You should visit our Group and read the group discussion on practical aspects of complementary feeding. Check here
Dr my 3 months old baby refuses formula except breast milk that dosent satisfy him. what can I do to get him eating formula or milk and akamu?
Please relax and rest…drink lot of fluids and your breast milk will flow. You can watch the breastfeeding video on how to increase your breast milk production! Even twins can be exclusively breastfed. Please DO NOT GIVE PAP as your baby’s tummy is not yet ready to digest such. All the best
Good day doc. I noticed that the urine of my 3y 3m old daughter has a choking smell. Is there anything to be worried about ma
I am not sure what you meant by a choking smell…You may want to see a Paediatrician for further evaluation and management.
Good day doctor, my baby is a year and a month, He’s dad kip blaming me of not taking food for d baby except cereal and breastfeeding. Thou he takes fruits . wat shld I do ma.
I guess you did not have enough information about how to proceed with complementary feeding. Please read about Infant feeding in the first 1000 days for detailed information.
Good day Dr, please what is the best formula to give to a 6 months old baby to avoid constipation?
Keep breastfeeding while you are introducing the complementary feeds.Any formula of your choice is fine; the most important thing is to also make sure you give water to the baby after feeding with formula or other foods. Also ensure you give fruits and vegetables as part of complementary feeds; not only cereals and formula!!! That error is often what cause constipation coupled with not giving sufficient plain water to drink after feeding. Read more about complementary feeding here
Dear Doc, my baby just turned 1year. Getting him to eat has always been difficult. He cries,screams and kicks when forced to eat. No food excites him. He only likes breastmilk. Pls advice as he is so skinny and small 4 his age.
Hi Obi! Kindly navigate to our Facebook Group and watch the various videos on Complementary feeding and how to go about it.
Good day Doc.
Please can twin babies be exclusively breast feed for 6months?
Apart from putting them on EBF, what else can I give them for the first 6months?
Twin babies can be exclusively breastfed and you do not need to give them anything else apart from breast milk. To to
Just discover this page yesterday, doc you are the best..your answer are amazing
Thank you Chioma
Good afternoon Mummy. Pls i got a call from my kids daycare that they did not eat all day. i Took them to the hospital they de worm them and place them on malaria drugs. But my baby of 9month does not eat at all. still now.
You may want to go back to the hospital for follow up review. Kindly also ensure you are using the tips on infant feeding available here or also join our Facebook group
Good day Doc, my baby will be 7months on 19th of this month April, I introduced cerelac to her when she completed 6months but she keeps splitting it out and I started giving her Friso gold morning and evening, then peak 0-12 formula in the afternoon with breast milk at demand but she doesn’t eat either of them well, pls Doc is my feeding method appropriate or I should try another formula like my boy and pap
You need to really go through our material on infant feeding.
Check https://ojaadigitalmarketplace.com/index.php/paediatricians-consult-limited/
Infant feeding is not just about formula feeding! You should also read this article INFANT FEEDING IN THE FIRST 1000 DAYS or listen to the podcast INFANT FEEDING IN THE FIRST 1000 DAYS