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A child or baby may have a feeding problem when they can’t eat or drink, or can’t eat and drink enough of the right things to stay healthy. The child may be losing weight or having trouble gaining the right amount of weight for their age.
Feeding Difficulties in Babies
Feeding difficulties in babies usually happen because of breastfeeding challenges. The baby may have trouble latching on or the mother may have a low milk supply. Most breastfeeding challenges can be solved with some coaching on how to hold the baby or on how to help the baby latch onto the breast.
Babies who are premature may not yet be able to breastfeed because they don’t yet have the ability to suck from the breast. A baby who is “tongue-tied” may also not be able to latch on and suck. In these situations, mothers may pump their milk to keep the milk supply until the baby is ready to breastfeed. The baby can still have breast milk through a feeding tube.
Some babies do not drink much milk and don’t gain weight quickly enough because of stomach problems. The baby may throw up (vomit) a lot of the milk they drink or refuse to feed. It’s normal for babies to spit up a bit after feeding, but vomiting may mean there’s a problem.
Feeding Difficulties in Children
Feeding difficulties in children can have a number of physical and psychological causes. Some of these are described in the sections below. Eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia, are not usually a problem for young children but can affect older children and teens.
With treatment, eating can become a safer, easier, and happier experience for a child and the child’s family. Treatment can also help a child to be healthier.
These are symptoms of feeding difficulties in children:
See a doctor if you notice any of the signs of feeding difficulties. Call right away if you have an infant that has stopped taking milk or is vomiting. Babies can lose too much water (become dehydrated) very quickly.
Feeding disorders (often called feeding difficulties) in children are almost always caused by some other medical problem, including:
A child will have a clinical feeding evaluation at a therapy center. The feeding specialist (either a speech-language pathologist or an occupational therapist) will talk with the parent about:
The therapist will look at the child’s mouth and face and watch the child eat or be fed. By watching children eat, the specialist can learn how they move their mouths, think while eating, and control their bodies. They can also determine a child’s general ability to eat. If the therapist thinks a child may not be swallowing safely, they will schedule another evaluation.
After the feeding evaluations, the doctor or therapist may recommend several ways to help a child, including:
Additional treatments depend on the cause of the eating problem. Treatment for an eating disorder includes both medical care and mental health care. Treatment for feeding difficulties could include treating stomach and intestine problems or fixing problems with the teeth and mouth.
Feeding difficulties may be prevented by giving a child experience with and exposure to a range of different foods. A parent can also set regular times for meals and limit snacks in between meals, so their child is hungry when meals are served.
A parent can often prevent a feeding difficulty from turning into a big problem by noticing how their child eats and asking their child’s doctor for help as soon as they notice a problem.