Said It Here

Why won't my baby eat meals or sleep for naps?

Babies with feeding and sleeping difficulties often graze on food instead of eating full meals, resist being laid down, and treat naptime like playtime. This constant struggle leaves parents completely exhausted and constantly questioning whether their baby's behavior is normal.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Following methods like Rowena Bennett's for bottle aversion
  2. 2
    Tracking wake windows and sleepy cues
  3. 3
    Increasing time between feeds
  4. 4
    Transitioning to a baby-led weaning approach for solids
  5. 5
    letting the baby sleep without waking them up
  6. 6
    maintaining a lenient schedule
  7. 7
    Using oral gel
  8. 8
    Offering chilled teethers

In their words

Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.

“Feeding has been a huge source of stress for me.”source ↗

“He doesn’t really eat meals—he’ll take a bite here and there, and that’s about it.”source ↗

“The second I lay him down, he’s twisting, rolling, trying to get away, fussing, and crying.”source ↗

“He’ll be tired, but when I put him down, instead of sleeping, he wants to play in his crib.”source ↗

“I love my baby more than anything, but I am exhausted.”source ↗

Apprehensive_Pea354 · r/Parenting · 5 upvotes

“Ive read that babies around 7 months, mine is 7.5m, should sleep around 14 hours total and my baby definitely gets more than that on some days.”source ↗

“is this normal?”source ↗

Efficient_Animal117 · r/Parenting · 2 upvotes

“My second is now 8 months and is screaming, crying constantly. Doesn’t seem to be hungry. Refuses bottle but just screaming 😭 I’ve tried oral gel but doesn’t help much. He doesn’t want any of the chilled teethers too.”source ↗

fangsfive · r/Parenting · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

r/Parentingchild developmentinfant careinfant sleepparenting

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