I have a little personal experience with this.  My current 17 mon old boy
is very small and up until this week seemed to be refusing all solids.
He wanted to sit at the table with us and play with food but he very
rarely ingested any of it.  He seemed to have had a bad experience with
carrots a few weeks ago.  I think they made his mouth itch or hurt
judging by the way he ripped at his mouth after forcefully spitting them
out.  I also suspect some other allergies and possibly asthma ( the child
coughs all night all the time)  I removed all solids and denied him food
to play with for almost two weeks, and now he seems eager to eat.  I
really think it was the bad experience that turned him off to solids.  So
have this baby checked for allergies!  If his mouth itches or hurts who
can blame him for not wanting to eat. I should note however that Ben is
still a huge nurser, and although he is very small ( 20.5 lbs now at 17
Mon) he is very developmentally stable - speaking, running, climbing,
etc.

:)(o) Jenni - [log in to unmask]
Wife to Jay, mom to Paisley-8, James-6, Mariposa-3, and Benjamin-1, LLLL
"When you are dealing with a child, keep all your wits about you, and sit
on the floor."
-Austin O'Malley
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/park/5219
http://www.paisleysplace.com

You write:
I had a call yesterday from a nurse on the "Feeding Team" at our local
Children's Resource Center  (CRS) regarding a 17-month old child who
refuses
to eat solids, and will only breastfeed. This child is receiving 5-6
ounces of
pediasure per day in addition to "constant" breastfeeding.  He will take
no
solids, and is close to being hospitalized due to Failure to Thrive.

This child was referred to CRS by the pediatrician, who didn't know what
to
do.  The GI physician at CRS is telling staff that this child needs to be
completely separated from the mother for at least one week - the Dr. says
he
doesn't care how the separation takes place, be it hospital, even the
Crisis
Nursery.  The point is, this child will be forced to eat if mom is
nowhere
around.

Mom is an educated woman of mexican decent, and I'm told she is very
quiet and
compliant when she is at CRS. Last month the Dr told her she must
completely
wean her baby, and she nodded her head and said OK, no problem. At the
follow-
up call one month later, she told the staff that her child cried for 2
hours,
and that her husband said to feed the baby at the breast because he
didn't
want to hear the crying anymore.

Evidently, all medical and behavioral issues have been ruled out.  They
called
me for advice. I suggested that one of the public health nurses from the
health department be contacted to conduct a home visit to this mother,
and
assess feeding/behavioral  issues in a new way.  CRS thinks that might be
a
good idea.  I personally can't believe they haven't done this yet, but I
guess
they don't have resources to do it.

Have any of you dealt with this type of issue before, and can you help me
offer other suggestions?  Thanks so much.

Brenda Phipps, BS, IBCLC
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