When most babies are born, they drink milk and grow very quickly, which is a great achievement for parents. However, between 4 and 6 months of age, more than 50% of babies experience anorexia. Why do babies become anorexic? What can I do if I don't drink milk? Will it affect your baby's health? How can I get through anorexia?
What is anorexia in babies?
Anorexia in babies refers to a sudden decrease in the amount of milk consumed by babies, or a sudden change in the amount of milk consumed by babies, and is a symptom of the normal growth and development of babies. There are usually two types of anorexia: pathological anorexia and physiological anorexia.
Pathological anorexia: If your baby has health problems, such as chronic illnesses or acute infections, he or she will show that he or she eats less, sleeps less and has poor energy. This is a pathological anorexia and needs to be taken to the doctor for diagnosis and treatment.
Physiological anorexia: In contrast, physiologically anorexic babies are characterised by normal development and good vitality, with only a temporary reduction in milk most and a return to appetite through time.
Anorexia commonly occurs between 4 and 6 months of age, with some babies even experiencing anorexia as early as 3 months. The duration of anorexia varies from person to person, ranging from 1 to 2 weeks to 6 months.
The two stages of physiological milk aversion
Stage 1: Around 4 months of age
At 4 months old, your baby may have added complementary foods, preferring new flavours and temporarily losing interest in formula milk.
Secondly, your baby's body starts to lose lactose enzymes, the taste sensation of the tongue also starts to produce changes and the appetite starts to change.
In addition, there is a breakthrough in the baby's hearing and vision, which makes him more interested in the outside world.
Stage 2: 6-10 months
Most babies are teething at this stage. Due to itchy gums, babies tend to focus on nibbling on the teat during feeding, leading to anorexia. Causes of physiological milk aversion in babies.
1. Curiosity
Curiosity about everything around them makes them easily distracted and unable to concentrate on drinking milk.
2. Aversion to the old and the new
When your baby accepts other foods and experiences new tastes, he or she will no longer like milk and will want to try other foods.
3. Bad eating environment
Noisy or distracting environments, too much clothing, hot and stuffy homes, scolding, etc. may make your baby feel uncomfortable or unable to concentrate on eating.
4. Slow growth
Because the growth rate is not as fast as when the baby was born, the demand for nutrition and calories is not as great as when the baby was a newborn.
Physiological aversion to milk is not actually a change in the baby's physiology, but as the baby grows older, the baby's sense of sight and hearing gradually improves and he/she becomes more sensitive to the outside world.
Basically, physiological aversions are more common, so it's best for parents to put more effort and patience into observing and caring for their babies, as they can't express themselves yet and it's up to them to understand the reasons and meet their needs.
5 tips for dealing with physiologically anorexic babies
Parents are always anxious when their babies become anorexic, hoping that the days of breastfeeding are longing for a war to pass. "Doing everything you can to get your baby to eat" is the choice most parents will make, and the following are some practical references for parents who are suffering from milk aversion:
1. Find the right bottle teat
There are so many different shapes, models and materials of teats on the market to suit the needs of different babies, so make sure you find the most suitable one.
2, try to change the milk powder
For not baby does not like the taste of milk, you can try to change the brand of milk powder, but must pay attention to one thing: to gradually and gradually change, that is, the new brand of milk powder and the old brand of milk powder first alternate to eat, and then gradually reduce the amount of the old brand of milk powder, not all at once to change the brand. In addition, do not change frequently, if the effect is not good, to find the reason from other aspects.
3. Create an ideal eating environment
The most basic thing is to observe under what circumstances your baby feeds best, and instead go about creating an environment that is most appropriate for feeding. Most babies are more likely to concentrate on breastfeeding in a quiet, less dry place.
4. Stretch the time between meals
You can arrange the time between breastfeeding and complementary feeding according to the age of the month, do not feed too often, do not give your baby anything to eat at least one hour before breastfeeding and do not drink too much water;
5、Increase your baby's exercise
Take your baby out and about regularly; use some tools when moving around indoors: usually more commonly used are baby pools, baby gyms, dalon balls, etc;
Spend some time on your baby's exercise: you can do touching after bathing, you can teach yourself a little baby massage, you can do the safe and good local "chiropractic", and you can also do passive baby exercises for your baby.