My 5-Month-Old Baby Won’t Eat Much? Reasons and Remedies!

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Mom’s Question:

My 5-month-old baby won’t eat as much as she used to. I’m only getting about 15-20 oz into her every day this week.

She shows the normal signs of hunger, but will only finish up to half of her formula before refusing the rest. I started her on 1 tsp of rice cereal 2 weeks ago. She seemed fine with it at the start but now refuses that as well.

She shows absolutely no signs of teething or illness. I’m afraid she’s not getting enough to sustain herself, but she’s generally happy otherwise and sleeping well. What should I do?

Sarah

Baby Helpline:

Tips When 5-Month-Old Baby Won’t Eat

How much food is too little

It is worrying when your baby doesn’t seem to eat enough. However, babies go through growth spurts when they seem to eat all the time, then at other times; they seem to need very little. If your daughter is healthy and hungry, she would be crying and showing signs of wanting more to eat.

A rough guide to a baby’s milk needs is to multiply your baby’s weight by 2.5 oz, so a 13lb baby would drink roughly 32.5 oz in a 24 hour period. However, this can vary a lot depending on whether or not she is well, teething, about to do a growth spurt and just normal variations too.

You don’t mention how much your baby’s weight, but even if she weighs less than the average for her age, drinking 15-20 oz per 24 hours does seem quite low. How much did she use to to drink before?

Usually by six months, on average babies have doubled their birth weight, but there are huge variations to this too.

If your little girl has been putting on weight gradually, a plateau is nothing to worry about. If you are really worried, then take her to your health nurse, but if she is happy and feeding until she chooses she has had enough, then I think you can trust she will let you know when she is hungry.

Who knows, next week you could be up half the night with extra feeds while she catches up!

My youngest was just like that. Some weeks he was breastfeeding around the clock and other times he ate almost nothing. When he was a baby, he had me worried many times until I realized this was just his hunger pattern. I took him to his health nurse for weighing on several occasions and he was always just fine. :-)

There is also some interesting research that indicates heritability in appetite. So if you or your daughter’s dad is a slow eater or generally not a very hungry person, her appetite can also simply be due to genes.

The one sign to worry about in the short-term is if she is showing signs of dehydration. In such a case, take her to a doctor immediately for examination and advice.

Possible reasons why a 5-month-old baby won’t eat

Now, in addition to dehydration, which is something to look out for, you can try to find out if there are other reasons but a plateau for her lost appetite.

Teething

While teething, the pain and itching may lead to a loss of appetite. Both the tooth eruption and the inflamed gums can make feeding uncomfortable and painful. So do check her mouth for any signs of teething. You can find a number of teething remedies here.

Constipation

You mention that you introduced rice cereal a couple of weeks ago. While filling, this can also lead to some degree of constipation. And constipation can make feeding uncomfortable, with a loss of appetite as a result.
So, if your daughter is at all constipated, stop feeding her rice cereal and see if it helps.

A sore throat or an ear infection

Sometimes a throat or ear infection is mild enough to go more or less unnoticed by the adult, but it can still be painful for the child. With a sore throat, the appetite can, of course, be affected. The same goes for an ear infection, which can make it painful to swallow.

Check if your baby’s throat glands are swollen or if she jerks when you press them since that would be an indication of pain. Check her throat too if possible. And, of course, take her to a doctor if she seems ill.

Too much other fluids

Since your baby is so young, I’d assume you don’t let her drink a lot of water? Small amounts of water can be fine in really hot weather, but since your baby’s appetite is low, I’d recommend cutting out water completely and only feed her milk. Drinking a lot of fluids can, of course, affect a baby’s appetite.

The feeding situation

Sometimes the feeding situation can be stressful for the baby. If you are very stressed due to the poor feeding, your baby can feel it and lose even more of her appetite.

In the same way, if the feeding has turned into a power struggle between the two of you, this can certainly affect your baby’s willingness to eat.

In such a case, changing the feeding position, environment or even the person feeding her can help.

Also, take a deep breath and try to get rid of any negative feelings regarding her eating before starting the feeding. Smile at her. Put on some soothing music or some TV-show or whatever. And decide for yourself that you will not try to force your daughter to eat at all.

Healthy children do not starve themselves.

How to improve a baby’s appetite

In addition to, of course, making sure that your baby is not ill, teething, constipated or generally stressed by the feeding situation, here are some things you can do to increase her appetite:

Play with her! Any activity, laughter, and movement will improve her appetite.

Go outside! Daylight and fresh air are great for the appetite as well as for sleep quality. Take her to a playground or just for a walk or into the garden. If your back allows it, carry her in an upright position face out in a baby carrier for sometimes, to let her discover the world.

Play around with feeding frequency and schedule. Some people are naturally less hungry in the mornings. Some in the evenings. Many young babies tend to be more hungry in the evenings for some reason.

If you really do all you can to avoid making the feeding stressful, then nothing stops you from offering the bottle frequently. A sip now and then in between meals can make a big difference in terms of the total amount of milk.

You’ll find another thread with a baby refusing to eat here.

I hope this helps. Once again, don’t worry, but do look for signs of illness and have your baby checked up of you are at all worried.

Good luck!

Paula

Who else has a baby that won’t eat? What did you do? :-)