Our finicky eater

We are still battling Skyler’s eating issue! We quit feeding her solid food about a week ago to rule that issue out. She seemed to be eating a little more, but still only 3 – 5 ounces. We also made sure to switch her back to Similac since that’s the kind she’s always liked. I even posted a question on Babycenter.com to other moms of 5 – 6 month old babies to see if anyone else had a really light eater. There were quite a few women that responded saying they had the same issues but the doc always said their babies were just fine. But their babies were weighing in at 17 pounds while only eating small amounts. I weighed Skyler on our scale yesterday and she is still only 12 pounds. That means she hasn’t gained any weight since her 4 month appointment. She has gotten longer though. I measured her at about 26 inches, which is an inch and a half longer. I was feeing a little better about things until I picked her up from daycare yesterday and they said she hadn’t eaten but a couple ounces all day long. They said she just wasn’t ever interested, and they tried every hour. Strange, because she had downed 5 or 6 ounces that morning. They said she was otherwise her smiling happy self and she played and napped well, and was producing dirty diapers.

I am so dumbfounded about this! It can’t be good for her not to eat, and she is definitely NOT the chunk she used to be. She has the lean body of a 3-year old, with ribs, backbone, and abs. Her daycare suggested trying a different bottle, which I know is not the answer because when she does eat, she eats very efficiently on her bottles. They also suggested trying the soy formula. She may have just lost her taste for the regular stuff, and since soy has such a different, distinct flavor, she might like it. So I got home and dug out the samples of soy formula we had received a long time ago. I made her bottle (she was fussing and acting very hungry at this point) with all soy formula and she chugged the full six ounces like it was dessert or something! I wasn’t sure if it meant she liked soy or if it meant she would eat anything after not eating all day, but at least she ate! She had another almost 5 ounces for her late bottle, then a full six again this morning, and about 5 ounces in each bottle throughout today. So, could it be that our girl is just picky and has now developed a taste for soy formula?

We’ll keep an eye on things for the next few days and see if she continues to eat normally. I sure hope so. Even though she’s not acting sick or unusual, I know she needs to eat more than she has been. Five month old babies should be pudgy and cuddly, not showing ribs and spines!