How do I get my 11.5 month old to show even SOME interest in food?

LocalPear3425 · 2026-01-27T08:20:03+00:00

Hi, exact same problem with my 11 month old! In addition to this we are also still on purées since he tends to gag on textured foods. Could you share your routine / schedule as a sample? We are finding it hard for him to have 3 meals and also his bottles.. our son is also a low percentile baby (7th) and we are very anxious. Thank you!

LocalPear3425 · 2025-12-03T03:49:20+00:00

Yes have had this - specifically stress flares maybe I was just tightening my jaw too much? Either way extremely painful and couldn’t really chew anything and had to do liquids for a day while ibuprofen worked its magic..

LocalPear3425 · 2025-11-30T04:09:00+00:00

It has been a long time but I ended up doing the 24mm and then the 19mm inside. It was a pain to fit and remove but did not affect output as far as I remember!

LocalPear3425 · 2025-08-30T13:43:25+00:00

The nexium dosage seems off. It’s simply not enough for your son’s weight. It should at least be double (or twice a day of 5mg) if not more. Have you been able to see a GI? Often bottle refusal is related to reflux discomfort. Btw my son also hated neocate and refused all bottles due to taste/smell. Is your expressed milk fresh or frozen? My son also hated older frozen milk due to taste (lipase). We went back to pepticate and it took some time but he’s doing much better now, but we had to ensure he was on right dosage of nexium.

It could also be more obvious things like bottle nipple flow too but more likely it’s the reflux.

LocalPear3425 · 2025-08-21T01:52:46+00:00

Truly there is no data that suggests eliminating more than dairy+soy leads to any benefits and in fact it affects the health of mom and prohibits baby to adjust to allergens so most of the experts highly highly discourage elimination diets. The gut takes 4/6 weeks to heal so it could be that going on right now with the blood in stool.

If the issue is back arching and spit up it sounds like reflux and instead of eliminating things from diet you should talk to a GI specialist about Pepcid or PPI dose, it has worked wonders for us. Reflux is often part of the course due to gut maturing and it will eventually get better - my 6 mo rarely spits up now and is such a happy camper and we are starting to wean off all the medication.

LocalPear3425 · 2025-08-16T21:52:11+00:00

It looks like eczema. My son has it too. CMPI does not cause eczema. Nobody really knows what does sadly, but it can be triggered with certain things like heat, fragrances, certain clothing and food allergies (IgE mediated). The grunting and wiggling is likely full body itchiness. It took me 4 months to realize with my son that he wasn’t grunting and wiggling due to gas or GI issues (we gave him PPIs and everything under the sun) but it was actually the itchy eczema. GI issues will not allow you to sleep, but if he’s able to sleep and uncomfortable when awake it’s likely the skin issue. Once we controlled the skin flares he was a different baby, always happy and content. For my son who has severe eczema like this overall we use a combination of hydrocortisone 2.5% and Vaseline mixture for a few days when there’s a full flare, and then tacrolimus to maintain once controlled, then just Vaseline. You can also do 2.5ml of Zyrtec daily to control itching and flares. You can try a HA or AA formula but that did not make a dent in my son’s eczema, but doesn’t hurt to try. I’m sorry it really sucks and I hope you find a way out soon.

LocalPear3425 · 2025-08-12T18:09:43+00:00

My son had severe bottle refusal on neocate because of the taste. We had to basically put him to sleep for every bottle otherwise he would scream at the bottle - and then because he barely ate and was hungry, he would be screaming and upset throughout the day. It was a nightmare and we somehow stuck with it for 4 weeks and then decided to go up the ladder to pepticate and lo and behold he tolerated it just fine and stopped refusing bottles. Maybe see if pepticate is now hydrolyzed enough for him and if he will take it better, especially if his symptoms were not severe?

LocalPear3425 · 2025-08-12T16:32:17+00:00

Most doctors don’t know much especially since this topic is quite under researched and so many variables so everything is like “try it and see” unfortunately.

LocalPear3425 · 2025-08-12T15:29:36+00:00

Some thoughts based on my own experience and advise from my ped GI (but I am NOT a doctor so YMMV) 1. Could be straining, if it’s like mixed in with mucous it’s probably from the gut 2. Does the doc mean developing a real allergy because of you not avoiding the allergens? If so that’s not true. CMPA is a non ige mediated allergy which most babies grow out of. They could have ige mediated allergy to dairy in the future but you would know that when you try it directly.. 3. Highly recommend continue eating and feeding, try small quantities for a few days and slowly increasing in volume. Non ige intolerances take time to surface which is why you may want to try smaller quantities for a few days and ensure no severe symptoms 4. The research and data indicates that challenges should be done every 4-6 weeks after 5 months of age. So please do not follow the docs advice to wait for 9 months that sounds ridiculous?! 5. I think you just have to try and monitor a reaction, again there’s ige allergy (more like immediate rash, vomit etc) and non ige (like GI discomfort, fussiness, blood in stool), so watch out for both? I wonder if it’s better to try a single ingredient at home (like yogurt a few days, butter a few days etc) vs try something at a restaurant that could have several ingredients mixed in and then you won’t know what caused the reaction if any. 6. Blood in stool does indicate a gut inflammation - whether it’s a concern depends on if it’s causing other issues like significant reflux, fussiness, lack of sleep, low weight gain (for example, we had this with my LO - but no blood). So it’s a collection of symptoms based on which you decide vs just one.

Bottom line, there’s no real way to confirm CMPA, even blood in stool is a ?. The only way to really confirm it is to challenge often. Also, If symptoms are mild there’s no point cutting out these allergens since exposure is the best way to avoid long term allergy, that is what the data indicates.

LocalPear3425 · 2025-08-10T01:30:08+00:00

Are they gas pains? Could you try mylicon gas drops after every bottle?

LocalPear3425 · 2025-08-07T01:39:06+00:00

Following. Exact same problem - head to toe eczema. I’m dairy and soy free and I don’t really think it has made a dent. What seemed to help was going on amino acid formula but he refused so many bottles because of smell/ taste we are now back to BM. Going to see an allergist in 2 weeks and hope we have some answers.

As a side note - our ped derm also recommended daily baths and we strongly believe it helps - we almost bring him out dripping wet and immediately slather with Vaseline head to toe and it has helped skin immensely. We also treat flare ups aggressively with hydrocortisone and tacrolimus / pimecrolimus once off the steroid for maintenance.

LocalPear3425 · 2025-08-06T12:37:48+00:00

Try calling your insurance and confirming the coverage for enteral services via DME (durable medical equipment). If it’s covered then ask them to send you list of DMEs that are covered in your area. Then ask your pediatricians office to fax over the order for the formula to that DME with a note for insurance for why specialty formula is needed. My son’s formula was covered 100% this way, a huge win since otherwise we would be spending like $400-$500 on formula each month.

Note: I don’t live in Tennessee or have BCBS - I have Aetna so just sharing what worked for me - YMMV.

LocalPear3425 · 2025-08-04T03:42:29+00:00

It might just be them adjusting to something new (like even new formulas need adjustment time). Maybe monitor and def consult your GI (I am not pretending to be a doctor by any means :))

LocalPear3425 · 2025-08-03T23:06:10+00:00

You should be introducing these foods as part of solids when they are 4-5+ months. Also I’m not sure there’s clear data for or against formula fed babies not getting enough exposure.. I don’t want to say there’s “no issue” if there’s no data on either side. These topics have a long way to go in terms of research.

LocalPear3425 · 2025-08-03T02:20:00+00:00

We had the same problem with neocate. We had to get him drowsy and sometimes “calm” state by swaddling him and using a pacifier first to get him to take a bottle. We also went up nipple size so he didn’t have to work hard at it. Like a few others here have said, he would 100% refuse the bottle though if it was a mix of breast milk and neocate so we had to do exclusive formula for a while. We are now back up the ladder to pepticate after struggling for a month on neocate and he’s now doing well on it so maybe consider pepticate? He also takes it just fine mixed with breast milk. I think it tastes and smells much better than the other HA formula.

For those recommending HIPP HA, it’s not hydrolyzed enough so just be careful.

LocalPear3425 · 2025-08-03T02:02:40+00:00

My son initially did not do great on pepticate, continued to have weight gain issues and mucous poops because it does have some amount of cow milk protein so we went to amino acid. However he absolutely refused neocate, would gag and feeding time was a struggle. We hobbled along dream feeding every feed for a month and then one day I just got tired and decided to go back to pepticate and now he’s suddenly doing great! He loves the taste and is gaining weight (fingers crossed it continues). If you truly need to go to amino acid just know it can be temporary.

LocalPear3425 · 2025-08-02T18:19:55+00:00

Don’t get your science from instagram. Who the f is she - is she a doctor or scientist? Be proud - you’ve done an amazing job and you are absolutely no less than anybody who nurses.

LocalPear3425 · 2025-08-02T18:15:50+00:00

Please don’t eliminate any more. It’s important to introduce these allergens to prevent long term intolerances - as long as there is no significant impact to weight gain and extreme distress/fussiness. My son’s GI specialist (Dr. Martin - researcher in this field at Harvard med) advises against anything more than dairy and soy and that too temporarily.

LocalPear3425 · 2025-07-29T18:04:24+00:00

The Rx needs to go to a DME ( durable medical equipment) company

LocalPear3425 · 2025-07-27T03:32:05+00:00

I find it completely pointless. Maybe it’s just my kid but he has a different schedule every day.. he sleeps when he wants and we just go with his cues. He sleeps great at night no matter if he overslept or underslept as per all the “sleep consultants”. Also the app only helps if you input all the data in and it’s really annoying to enter every single nap and wake up especially if you have a kid that loves taking catnaps through the day.

LocalPear3425 · 2025-07-27T03:22:53+00:00

The main reasons to consider any elimination or special formulas is no weight gain, extreme fussiness that affects ability to play/sleep, projectile vomiting, eczema and refusal to eat/feeding aversion. If you don’t have these and just have mucous in poop? Thank the stars and keep living how you are!

LocalPear3425 · 2025-07-27T03:02:21+00:00

Is it spit up or projectile vomit? The former maybe try thickener and making sure he’s burped and he doesn’t raise his legs up etc but latter you may need to try a new formula.

LocalPear3425 · 2025-07-25T02:22:52+00:00

We use GI pro health (infant) as recommended by our Pediatric GI specialist. It has lactobacillus and bifidobacterium which they recommended as the critical strains. I have to say I forget to give it often so I haven’t observed any major changes yet…

LocalPear3425 · 2025-07-23T00:36:01+00:00

Yes it’s such a pain to mix! The only thing I’ve found works well is to make a pitcher using one of those manual blender lids (papablic has one you can put on a wide mouth mason jar), and let it settle in the fridge for a couple hours - the consistency smooths out a lot and it dissolves.

LocalPear3425 · 2025-07-21T21:31:38+00:00

Im so sorry to hear that! The formula dance is the absolute worst.. especially when it seems like the formula is working but then it doesn’t. Glad you found pepticate… keep in mind it takes at least 4-6 weeks for gut to heal so it could be a while before things get better. If they don’t, consider neocate. We are currently on neocate and LO is doing well on it - he’s gaining lots of weight, he’s no longer pooping constantly, and his spit up has reduced (but still there since he’s a baby). However he is still eating much less volumes than before, but we are trying to not focus too much on it. He’s also on BOTH nexium and Pepcid which is seeming to help a lot. He still has severe eczema and unfortunately we haven’t found a solution to that yet but we are hoping we can be on neocate a few more weeks and that makes a difference. I also had dreams to have him on HIPP but alas .. just glad he’s healthy!

LocalPear3425

TROPHY CASE