Infant Eating Disorder

Well ive heard of kids doing this. But I wouldnt say its an eating disorder yet.. And I doubt she cares or is obsessed about her weight or food. I would just ask a doctor about it I have heard of kids doing this.

Toddlers can get very fussy & be amazingly determined - the problem may be to do with any number of things - like she doesn't like being fed by her parent (or not being able to feed herself), doesn't like the food eating implements or plates doesn't like the food being mixed together (or separated!!) doesn't like the colours - wants more variety or less - her system may be telling her that she can't eat certain foods - people with gluten intolerance are often 'told" by their body long befoer they're diagnosed.

Yes, our Pediatric GI doc thinks our daughter may have infantile anorexia. Some women balk at this diagnosis as they think it is weight-related. Obviously it is not as a 16 month old is unable developmentally to understand weight. There is little literature on it but you should google infantile anorexia and read what is available. My daughter in particular seems to have developed it very early. She was a preemie and it hurt her to eat as she suffered from GERD. She began to self-regulate or limit her intake to minimize the pain and never developed a clear understanding of her hunger cues or satiety cues. Her father and I were extremely stressed about her not eating and the looming diagnosis of failure to thrive so we tried to feed her constantly--which further created an aversion to food. Now she is 16 months old and we have tried every kind of food, changing of locations in which she eats, bargaining and game playing, feeding with the tv, etc. Everything we have been doing has been purely out of the love and concern of two parents. However, as we have learned, all of these attempts actually exacerbate the condition.

Because her recent blood work came back with a showing of anemia and she continues to be underweight, we have sought the help of an infant mental health specialist. Food is a complicated issue, hence the usually strong reaction especially from women when they hear the words "infantile anorexia." The function of eating is primate and wired to our brain and for young ones it can sometimes be a struggle. I suggest you seek the help of a professional even if it is just to rule out the diagnosis. If the condition goes untreated, it can lead to failure to thrive and childhood and adult eating disorders. Also, there is no other time more important than now in a young child's development for her to receive the appropriate nourishment for proper brain and other development.

Hi Mayka. My 10 month baby has just been diagnosed with this feeding disorder. He was also a premie and he didn´t nurse well. We just started feeding therapy with a specialist.
I wanted to know how did you baby went??? He is better now?? How was the therapy with him. Please write me

I so appreciate your posting. My 3 year old son has just been diagnosed with this. I sent you an email because I am trying to create an online support group for mothers going through this. Please reach out to me if you can. Also if anyone else sees this who has a child struggling with this condition, please feel free to send me a note.

Hi, My 2.5 yr old daughter is also underweight and has had tube feeding for 6 months. Now being off it, she slowly looses weight again. It's emotionally so very difficult to cope with. We try to not intervene, and have her decide what to eat. But then I get moments where I panic. Boy, is it ever tough
Mary

Kids at this age often refuses or have difficulty accepting new foods offered to them .This cannot be termed as eating disorder,what matters is really the quality of food and not the quantity.Make sure she is offered foods that are nutritious and if she is fussy ,you can try with foods of variety in colors and shapes.

Majka, I've read your story and it sounds exactly like that of my son and our experience with him when he was your daughter's age. He is now turning 13 and thankfully no longer suffering from eating issues. However, he is still on the small side and we are still seeing various specialists with concerns regarding this matter. I wonder how your daughter is doing now, as I realize you posted your message a year ago. I hope your eating issues have resolved. At almost one year, our son had suddenly stopped eating all solid foods. And like you, we as concerned parents, tried everything imaginable to try to get him to eat. Quite frankly, we heard all kinds of advice from well meaning friends and family, but no one really understood the severity of the problem, nor the fact that it was NOT a psychological problem - not at 9 months old! Slowly, the issue finally resolved itself when my son was about 2 years old or so. It ended as mysteriously as it came. I cannot say that he is a huge eater today or that he even of average size, but he is well and a very bright and active boy. What is hopeful today, is that I now see more information available then there was back in 1998. I had never heard the term "infantile anorexia" back then. And the internet was itself in the "infantile" stage. I do still wonder whether this early incidence has had any long term affect on his size today.

She's contributing to the Newer SLimmer America! =D

It is so great to find a site like this with people having the same issues. My 2 yo has just been diagnosed this finally after 2 years and it is very much real. She has had feeding issues from birth and is tube fed 23 hrs per day thru a transpyloric tube into her intestine and tubing into her stomach makes her vomit. Without the tube she loses weight at a rapid speed. She can eat but only hen pecks, being that she is protein allergy makes the situation a little more difficult. Any information anyone has on this or has dealt with this would be fantastic to hear

This must be so frustrating for you. Our 4 year old grandson is still eating baby food. He refuses to eat solid foods at all. We know the next step would be tube feeding if our daughter could not get him to eat baby food at least. He is big and tall for his age but and needs the calories. He was only diagnosed with low mucscle tone at birth and that is supposedly what they attribute this to. He has been to every specialist and has had eating therapy. He just laughs at them when they work with him. I pray he grows out of this and will finally willingly eat solid foods some day. He has other delays also and has been in pre school with special therapists for over 2 years now. Please hang in there. There are many out here going through similar situations with their children.

Dear Sir/Madam i have a 3 year old son in the philippines who has an eating disorder,it started 18 months after he caught a vomitting virus for a week and just vomitted evertything he ate, he has now been diagnosed with premonitis a chest condition,he still wont eat very much and only drinks his milk no solids,please could you help me with this problem as he is losing weight! and his mother is at the end of her tether doctors in that country dont seem to be qualified to handle that please could you help me with this problem

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My 20 month son has been refusing to eat all foods and has since birth. He won't take a sippy cup either. . he only wants to nurse. This is the first site I found with other children like mine. He is now in the 3rd percentile and diagnosed failure to thrive. Drs keep saying they think there is something wrong developmentally with him because he doesn't want to eat, but he isn't slow. . .Don't know what to do.