Newborns are not only a sea of emotions, joy and happiness, it is also a lot of new and unknown that will excite young parents every minute. First of all, mother always worries that her baby should be warm, he was full and slept soundly.
Moms have already been able to go through a difficult stage of childbirth and now for them the most important thing is the period of breastfeeding.
Mom during this period may be worried why her newborn baby does not eat. He can completely refuse breast milk, constantly sleep or apply to the breast for just a few minutes. Let’s look at why a child behaves this way and whether or not to worry about it.
Main reasons
Basically, babies, and in particular infants, can refuse healthy mother’s milk for various reasons. Pediatricians evaluate them according to three main possible groups of problems:
- Problems with the newborn. In the first days after childbirth, the baby may be addicted to the new world. He may be weak, drowsy, and not active. It is during such periods that the baby does not want to eat at all, or he suffices with several suction times every 2-3 hours. In such cases, do not particularly beat the panic. Of course, you may think that the newborn eats little, but this is enough for him. A more serious situation arises if the child refuses to eat even after 5-7 days. In this situation, there may be several reasons or they are complexly interconnected. First of all, this may be the physiological feature of the child, namely a short frenulum of the tongue in the child or a bad sucking reflex, which will develop gradually. Often the reason why a newborn does not eat is because of a simple bottle with which caring mothers try to feed the baby. Even despite their young age, children are pretty smart. They prefer to eat only with simpler artificial devices, where you don’t have to put a lot of effort – milk or other food will be poured into their mouth.
- The physiological condition of the woman in childbirth. Another reason why the newborn eats poorly is the physiological condition of the woman, namely the drugs that were administered to the mother during childbirth. Quite often, with complex and painful birth processes, women are injected with painkillers that instantly penetrate the mother’s blood, and therefore the child’s body. Because of this, he can be lethargic, drowsy, inactive for several days after birth and eat very little.
- Features of the breast and mammary glands. The baby can be hungry due to the physiological characteristics of her mother’s breast. In particular, if it has rather retracted and flat nipples, with which it is not so easy to get milk.
Recommendations and Tips
If the baby does not eat well, do not immediately sound the alarm and panic. Perhaps the baby does not eat during this period, because he has not yet managed to learn this world. Most likely, the baby should be left near the mother for a while, so that he can get comfortable and independently find a source of nutrition. More on Breastfeeding Newborns →
You should also seek the advice of a breastfeeding specialist or pediatrician. In the future, it is worth feeding the child hourly, as doctors require. You need to do this every 3 hours. However, it is best to give the baby a breast on demand. This will protect him from possible weight loss in the first months of life.
If the child eats badly at 4 months, then most likely this is the specificity of metabolism and unspent energy in the child. A possible reason may be a gradual decrease in mother’s milk, if the baby loses weight during breastfeeding, you should immediately consult a doctor.
If your baby is older, then the solution to the problem may be hiding in another. Most likely, a child at 5 months of age does not eat well due to insufficient milk, tooth growth or a desire to try something new. In such a situation, you just need to introduce complementary foods, which will facilitate sleepless mother’s nights, allow the baby to have a great appetite and accelerate the rapid development of the whole body
It is worth surviving in those cases when the child begins to lose weight with a poor appetite. Especially if a stable and constant reset is visible. In a month, a baby should consistently gain from 300 to 800 grams. If this does not happen, you should immediately consult a doctor who will establish the cause of poor appetite and help parents cope with this problem. Feeding on a schedule, eliminating certain problems with the health or physiology of the child, in a matter of weeks will give a good result.
