14 Month Old with No Appetite! Please Help! I Am Worried to Death!!!!

Updated on December 18, 2008
C.T. asks from Orange Park, FL
19 answers

My 14 month old daughter has no appetite. It's a long story so let me give you the short version. My daughter was never sick until she was about 10 months old, she also loved her food. Then at about 10 months she started getting ear infections and viral infections. She was constantly sick up until about 1 month ago. During this time her appetite slowly decreased. Month after month, day after day, I noticed her eating less and less. Now she has absolutely no interest in food. A normal day of eating for her is a little bit of dry cereal, a few crackers, and maybe some pudding or applesauce. I offer her all kinds of foods and have tried all types of ways to give it to her, (high chair, sitting with us at the table, her own plate, feeding her, letting her feed herself) She still has no interest in it. Also, for weeks her stool has been soft and green, or she has diarrea. I know it's nothing she has eaten because she is hardly eating anything. (Sorry don't mean to give TMI, just trying to give you all the facts) I am really worried. I have taken her to two doctors. I was not happy with her first pediatrician. She had lost almost a pound in a little less than a month and they just wanted to monitor her condition so I switched her to another doctor and they have asked me to take stool samples, which I have and I am waiting for the results. Last thing, she actually ate some yogurt yesterday and squash but immediately had projectile vomitting. I am just so worried and don't know what to do. Please help!!!!

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D.G.

answers from Boca Raton on

See a specialist immediately. Also, could it be teeth related. That could also cause diarrhea and vomiting.

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B.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

I am a family wellness coach. I recommend this to my clients. http://liveitdontdiet.isagenix.com/us/en/isaleanshake.dhtml I have kids from the age of 6 months haing one shake a day with huge notices.

Want to chat?

B. B.A.:B.Ed.
Family Wellness Coach

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T.C.

answers from Boca Raton on

Hi C., I sympathize with you. My little boy is a picky eater too but he changed at 10 months also because of those stupid vaccines, which I will never, never, never have them given to him again. I had him exempted by the Palm Beach County Health Department for religious reasons and there's nothing they can do about it for him starting school. They have to let him go to school. No government can force shots on a child and I feel strongly about this because I know those first initial shots effected my son's speech and his eating habits. The medical world would never admit it. Sorry to be so blunt about everything but I honestly think it's the vaccines. Those are unnatural to our babies' little bodies and even most pediatricians don't give them to their own kids. Anyway, that's my opinion. I don't know a solution except that if she stopped eating after getting vaccines, that could be a cause.

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C.B.

answers from Daytona Beach on

Hi C.. I'm so sorry to hear that your little girl is not feeling well! I'm wondering if she has had any behavioral changes in addition to the change in eating and bowel movements? I also just wanted to let you know that vaccinating is dangerous to a healthy child. If your daughter's gut was not up to par when she was vaccinated, you could be looking at a whole host of gut issues because of that.

Stay as natural as you can with treatments. I highly recommend some good quality pro-biotics to correct the balance of good "germs" in her belly. Get her off of dairy as quickly as you can. I use rice milk and calcium suppliments along with Vitamin D. My boys both have gut injuries due to vaccines. I know this because we have had them tested extensively and can prove it with their test results. My younger son has the most injury. He was diagnosed with Moderate Autism at 2 1/2 yrs old and his gut injuries contribute to that.

It is not as uncommon as you think for children to end up on a feeding tube for a time because of vaccine injury so be careful. I am only telling you all of this because I wish every day that someone had told me when my boys were little.

It IS fixable so don't panic. You just need to get "natural" with your care for her. Research the subject. You are her best advicate because you know her best.

You can do it! Contact me if you have any questions or would like to talk!

C. B

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G.G.

answers from Orlando on

If she had ear infections it sounds like she could have a milk allergy, so I would avoid dairy products all together. Was she breastfeeding or formula feeding? Was there dairy in your diet if you were breastfeeding?

Pediasure is liquid vitamins and sugar, it's really not a healthy source of calories. I would instead try an *organic* soy or almond milk based smoothie with high calorie whole fruits like bananas, oranges, and pineapple and then add some walnuts or avacado for fat.

You may want to invest in a good blender like a Vita-mix and make healthy fruit smoothies a daily part of your families life. We do green smoothies here with spinach, soy milk, blueberries and organic cocoa powder. My kids also eat salad every day, so they are getting plenty of green foods daily. Greens are important for digestion and strong bones. Cow's milk actually drains calcium from the bones and causes inflammation in the body. The dairy industry is big business in this country, do some research and you will see how harmful it is.

I highly recommend you take her in to Dr. Lisa Ramey in Oviedo. She has a small practice and takes a wholistic approach to health. Her website is www.integrateivepeds.net.

Hope that helps,

G. G., MBA, CHE
Wellness Coach
www.totalwellnessmentor.com
Winter Park, FL

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M.C.

answers from Daytona Beach on

I agree - you need a specialist if the answers to the lab reports don't come back asap.

The total amount of weight loss will be critical. Hopefully you have a record of her height/weight since birth. Carry that info with you. It will either reassure you that there is nothing too serious wrong - or it will alert the doctors, because this is critical data. (That's why they would never manage not to measure and weigh a baby. Heck - they even do it with us grownups.)

God Bless.

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S.B.

answers from Orlando on

What is she drinking? I had to switch my daughter to soy milk and she has done much better, sounds like your daughter may be allergic to cow's milk..i hope you both get the answers you are looking for and the sleep and peace of mind that i know you need soon. Dr. Chaban's office - Hunt Club Pediatrics and you may want to find a ped gi doctor, it would ease your mind and trust your gut. I have found Hunt Club Peds are wonderful. Please let me know what you find out. AlSO, how much does she drink? Is she always thirsty or more thirsty than interested in food? Let me know if that is the case please, we can talk more?

Luv, S.

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T.S.

answers from Tallahassee on

C., I agree with all the responses here. I would definitely try the health food store suggestion and the Pediasure immediately - that was the first thing that came to my mind as well as I read your story. Get nutrients in her immediately. The gastroenterologist seems to be needed here. Persist with your pediatrician. Moms have a sense and doctors know not to ignore it. Don't worry about being bothersome to them! This is your baby and she needs you to persist! Please let us know what they find. I will pray for her and for you!

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K.W.

answers from Orlando on

First, kids go through phases and most don't eat much when they don't feel well. I can always tell my son is sick because he stops eating.
How long has she had the diarrhea and vomiting?
it sounds like she may have ended her bout of sickness with another illness--the thing come to mind-for me rotavirus...which can be pretty nasty especially with a 14 month old. It's a very common virus that causes diarrhea and vomiting (and sometimes a runny nose), but unlike other stomach viruses that clear up in two days--it can last up to two weeks. So keeping a young child hydrated is very important and can be difficult--try peidalyte, gatorade, white grape juice--in that order--water is not enoughno apple juice or red grape juice--both cause diarrhea. Look for signs of dehydration and if she shows any take her to the Dr. or ER immediately. With the rotavirus, she will not eat, will lose weight, but will also gain it back when she is feeling better (my son lost 3lbs at 18 months--which is a lot but gained it back in a few months).
Cut out dairy and first introduce the BRAT diet--Bananas, Rice, Apples (apples/applesauce is good while apple juice is not) Toast. Once she can eat that reintroduce other foods--lastly milk (cheese and yogurt are much easier to digest).
For more info on the rotavirus see:
http://www.cdc.gov/rotavirus/ or google it.

Second--look into a possible milk allergy-if she is vomiting just yogurt, she may have a dairy allery.

Finally, try to find something pro-biotic that she can keep down when she is on antibiotics...
Antibiotics can not tell the difference btwn good and bad bacteria and there are bacteria in our stomach we need to keep things right--taking pro-biotics with antibiotics will help with this (this is also true with adults).
Continue your contact with your new Dr and keep them abreast of any changes.

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L.H.

answers from Miami on

get to a ped GI as soon as you can!
call every day & beg to know if there's a cancellation!
my COMPLETE guess is that she had or has esophogeal thrush...

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A.B.

answers from Boca Raton on

Hello, your letter jumped out at me because my daughter <now 22 months> went through the same exact thing as your child.my daughter stopped eating , green poop, vomiting etc....your child almost certainly has a food allergy. The green poop & diarreah is from {don't panic} blood in the stool,because the intestinal tract gets irritated from the food they are allergic to. The immediate projectile vomiting is the body right away discarding what it can't handle and her lack of interest in food is probably because she feels uncomfortable when she eats.I had 2 pediatricians tell me not to worry that kids go through stages of no appetite,etc.... but after doing alot of research I took my daughter to an allergist at almost 12 months old and she is allergic to dairy and eggs. Nobody in my family has food allergies so I was surprised but after completely eliminating dairy and eggs from her diet her appetite picked up and all other symptoms cleared up.She stopped getting sick and all the runny noses, soft sickly green poops and everything else stopped. The fact that your baby projectile vomited from eating yogurt leads me to suspect the dairy allergy. Most cereal, breads and crakers have dairy, but there are a few brands from the regular supermarket that do not. I would reccommend trying the silk brand yogurt instead of cows milk type and for pudding my daughter loves the"zen soy"brand soy pudding and for cheese the "tofutti" brand slices seem to be the best and the silk soy milk regular or vanilla seems to be a hit. I also use the tofutti cream cheese with much success. All of these products are available at most Publix. I would reccomend taking your baby to an allergist right away and in the interim I would eliminate the dairy from babies diet {and yours too if you are nursing} and try to keep a food diary along with notes on babies green stools.{this will help the allergist} I am not a doctor and I don't mean to be presumptuous but I have done so much research on this and your baby has ALL the classic signs of food allergy. I wish someone had told me, in hindsight I don't understand why 2 different doctors were so clueless. Before the allergist even did one test she looked at my baby's eyes and said she had "allergy eyes" which were slight lines under them. The pediatric allergist knew immediately!!!!Anyway, good luck to you ,It will get better!!!!

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K.Z.

answers from Gainesville on

I don't think anyone can diagnose this kind of problem from symptoms only because there are so many things that can cause gastrointestinal problems, from allergies to autoimmune disorders to an infection or a disruption of the natural microflora (like after a bout of antibiotics).

Make sure to keep her hydrated. Dehydration can be an emergency if it gets bad enough.

There was some bad vaccine information on here I wanted to correct. Almost all (93%) of pediatricians follow the vaccination schedule for their own children. Between 1991 and 2001, there were only 128,717 bad reactions reported out of almost 2 billion vaccine doses given out in the US. This includes ALL reactions - the majority are fever or rashes, soreness at the injection site, etc. There is also no way to know if the vaccine CAUSED the problem, so many of these reported problems are probably unrelated, except that they happened to occur around the same time. It is not logical to assume that because 2 things happen at the same time that one caused the other. Health problems from vaccines do happen but they are VERY rare. Your child is much more likely to become seriously ill without vaccines than they are to become seriously ill from vaccines.

Sorry for the rant, but as a public health professional and mother I can't imagine not vaccinating, and I feel the need to correct any misinformation.

I hope your daughter gets well soon!

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M.M.

answers from Fort Walton Beach on

If your child does not improve quickly, please change doctors again because your child is in danger of dehydration, electrolyte imbalances and other serious problems. (It may be necessary to take your child to an emergency room for immediate treatment.) However, it is important to note that all doctors will probably give your child antibiotics, so you will have to give your child acidophilus to replace the "good" bacteria that the antibiotics wipe out. It would also be quite helpful to see a chiropractor who adjusts babies to stop the projectile vomiting. Good luck and continue to do research on this.

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C.M.

answers from Miami on

Get your baby to a Pediatric Gastroenterologist immediately. Please don't wait ... this isn't something you want to wait on.

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J.A.

answers from Jacksonville on

I wouldn't be too worried about the lack of appetite by itself, kids go through phases and as my daughters doctors have pointed out more than once, small children don't need much food. The green stools may or may not be reason for concern and I am glad to hear they took a sample. I would call the second doctor back and advise them of the vomiting, see what they say. In the meantime I would let her eat whatever she wants and not be too focused on "healthy" foods, anything is better than nothing.

I had one daughter who ate only cheese hot dogs and ice cream for almost two months, the doctor said not to worry, when her body needed something else she would crave it and eat it, and he was right. My four year old looses her appetite on a regular basis. I let her graze on chocolate and sure enough in a day or two she is eating me out of house and home. We go through this cycle at least twice a month.

Good luck and please let us know how it turns out.

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S.L.

answers from Boca Raton on

Until she starts eating again, you can keep up her calorie intake by giving her something like NextStep by Enfamil. My son was not a great eater, and this has always been a way to make sure he gets his daily calories and nutrients. This should help keep her weight up while you get through this period of not eating with her. (My son has always been off the chart in both height and weight and VERY healthy so I know this stuff works!)

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E.P.

answers from Boca Raton on

hey there. you def need to get another opinion. i would call a pediatric gastro to have her looked at by a professional. my daughter is 16 months old and has never had a good appetite. mainly because of a blood sugar issue she was born with. but i have supplemented with pediasure for months. i put it in her bottle or sippy cup before her nap during the day and before bed. i spoke to a nutritionist about my daughters eating habits and asked what nutritionally she needed, and she was the one who told me to use pediasure. it has taken alot of stress out of meal times becuase i know she is still getting the nutrients she needs regardless of how picky she is. but the poop and vomitting sound scary to me. i would def find a ped gastro right away.

hugs

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R.A.

answers from Boca Raton on

I agree with Shelley, Gretchen and Cindy. Cow's milk is sooooooo harmful to human bodies. Check out www.notmilk.com you don't' say if you were nursing or using formula or if that has changed or been eliminated from her diet. I'm sorry for what you're dealing with. As a mom who obviously loves her daughter, you can fix this. Just so you know, drs get about 4 hours of nutritional training through medical school and it's usually an elective. They know LOTS more about medicine, shamefully. Pills pay, food doesn't.....
In peace...

I'm adding morehttp://www.whale.to/vaccines/damage.html

"VICP has awarded damages in 1,311 of the 5,784 cases that have been filed. (Many cases stemmed from years before VICP was formed.) About 3,200 claims (60 percent) have been rejected, and the remainder still are being adjudicated. $1.1 billion to more than 1,300 vaccine-harmed families since 1988. (USA)."  Yet they still say 'Vaccines are Safe' .  information to correct some misinformation about the 'safety' of vaccines.

Several other very informative sites are www.thinktwice.com and www.vacinfo.org

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A.G.

answers from Mayaguez on

Have you had her on Pedialyte for 24 hours? ALWAYS AS PEDIATRICIAN FIRST. Then start her back on milk, followed by rice cereal, instead of veggies. Applesause is good, also gelatin. If she's had viral infections, her tummy could still be sore, so take it slow. She'll soon spring back up, you'll see.

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