Formula and no solids at 1 year question

[Anonymous]

Hi Friends,

I haven’t been on this board in a long time. My baby was very sick with reflux until 9 months old and then it vanished overnight. She is on Neocate only and no meds.

She is turning One in a couple of weeks and is still eating no solids at all. My GI is terrible. (My third one!) My daughter is not interested in eating at all. What little bites she has, usually upsets her stomach.

I don’t have a clue what is wrong with her…protein sensitivities, food allergies, an eosiniphilic disorder, ??

For those of you who have had the awesome privelage of going to see Dr. Putnam or any other great GI doc, is it okay to just keep her on Neocate indefinitely?

Should I move her up to the Necate +1 or Neocate Junior when she turns one? Nobody seems to know the answer to this question.

I am so worried about her health and fear she will never eat real food. We have never had an endoscopy but I fear that will be coming soon now to see what is going on inside of her. I just kept hoping she would outgrow this.

I just don’t know if Neocate is enough calories to keep her on it after one year. Yet, switching a formula when things are stabilized seems crazy.

She drinks about 25-30 ounces in a 24 hour period. She weighs 18 lbs, 6 ounces.

Anyone else have advice or in the same boat? The dr’s are all worried she isn’t eating, which just freaks me out more! It’s like, what do you want me to do, force it down her throat (as if that’s possible!)

p.s. Ignore my signature…it’s not updated yet.

Angie2006-5-27 22:33:2

[hellbennt]

this might help?

This group is all about elemental formula:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/neocate/

what if my baby is having feeding problems and won’t eat? https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4385

I’m not trying to send you away!

I’m very interested in the responses you recieve….

~laura

[Anonymous]

Angie

I responded to your other thread about EE disorders… i had a lot of questions there… hopefully to try and understand what is going on. Couple of more things:

– between the ages of 9months and 18months or something like that, the calorific requirements of your baby are really almost unchanged. So if your baby was eating the same amount than she was at 9months or so, then it should be OK. I think that after that, you add about `100 cal per year… it is not a science, but that is what my ped said…

– changing from Neocate to Jr. Well i have no idea but couple of things: most of the Jr formulas i think are 30cal per ounce? Maybe want to check that? I think that most peds are ok with the new concentration vs less than 1 year old babies (most of them prefer not going above 24cal per ounce, but my GI is ok with 30cal per ounce). Check teh calcium too – at least in Spain most of the jr formulas have about 1.5 times the amount of calcium as the regular ones because teh requirements change.

– Matthew is pretty sensitive to foods but i dont think he gets reactions from them. We have been doing peas now for a couple fo weeks and only now is his stomach settling. This has happened with most of teh foods we have given him… there is an adjustment period where he is cranky, he is gassy, he passes a ton of gas and his stomach is bloated. But i followed my ped’s advice and stuck to teh foods and he is fine… what re the reactions she is having?? How do they upset her?

– as i said the endo is prob the only way you can know what is going on

Sorry you are gionng through this… it is hard. Have you had her evaluated for swallowing… your signature is outdated but she had dysphagia?? I guess you saw an OT for that… are her oral and fine mtor OK and she has the ability to eat well??? Sorry just hinking about possibilities here

[Anonymous]

Angie,

I’m sorry that you’re going through this. If it helps at all, we’re in the same boat- Hailey turns one next week. It’s very hard. I know you say that her reflux is under control, but is it possible that she is still bothered and that’s why she’s not eating? When did you first start offering solids? What does she do when you offer it- does she take any at all? does she try it then spit it out? does she turn her head away or cry? Does she self-feed at all? What if you give her a spoon with some puree on it? I’m asking because there could be a lot of reasons why she isn’t taking solids yet and it helps to get some background just to get a clear picture. You’re right… definitely DO NOT force her, despite any bad advice you might get to the contrary. I also wouldn’t worry too much about calories, my daughter only takes half that amount of formula and doesn’t yet do solids, and she continues to grow little by little. I don’t think that the calories are as much an issue as the experience with solids, and getting things established. There is a mum on her (Alex’s mum) who has posted about her now two year old who had a feeding aversion- he grew and thrived on solely formula- she posted recently under toddler reflux issues. I’m not telling you this to scare you, but to reassure you that she’ll get enough calories from formula. Refluxers tend to be slower with solids, so I wouldn’t worry too much- she’ll get it eventually, but it would be a good time to get started.

Given the fact that she’s almost a year, like you, I wonder if further testing is warranted at this point. These docs really tick me off… They like to throw comments out there and get you worried (like “she should be eating solids by now. just give it to her, and let her go to town”… courtesy of our doc who clearly doesn’t understand the term FEEDING AVERSION!). Anyhow, I also think it would be beneficial to look into some feeding therapy. I’m not sure what’s available where you live. A feeding therapist could check her out to make sure there’s nothing wrong from an oral-motor point of view, and assess her to find out why she doesn’t want to eat. Then they can give you strategies to help you to move forward. It’s too hard to go through this without help. Good luck to you. I hope that all of our little one’s start eating soon!

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