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4.3
Common Feeding Problems
in Infancy
Summary
●● E●a rly feSeudminmgadriyffBicuulletiteesdmLiasyt be related to slow ●● Better attachment and positioning may help
development of feeding skills or with breastfeeding problems.
neurodevelopmental delay.
●● There are several specialist infant formulas that
●● The most common feeding problems in infants can be prescribed for formula-fed infants with
are colic, posetting and vomiting, gastro- specific conditions.
oesophageal reflux disease, diarrhoea and
gastroenteritis, food hypersensitivity,
constipation and faltering growth.
Many parents have concerns and anxieties about coordinate their suck, swallow and breathing.
feeding infants. In breastfed infants, poor feeding Without adequate fluid intake they can dehydrate
may be a consequence of poor attachment, as quickly and may need medical intervention. They
discussed in Chapter 4.1. When seen in bottlefed may lose more than 10 per cent of their birthweight
babies it may simply be a consequence of slow and may take longer to regain their birthweight.
feeding skills development. Most feeding problems Breastfeeding mothers find this distressing and
resolve with time but those that may need support are often persuaded to change to bottlefeeding,
from healthcare professionals and possibly which is a more passive mode of feeding for the
intervention include: infant.
●● oromotor delay For some infants, poor feeding may be the first
indication of oromotor delay or neuro-
●● colic developmental delay. In research, about a fifth of
mothers reported poor appetite and oromotor delay
●● gastro-oesophageal reflux in their 6-week-old infants (Wright et al. 2006).
●● persistent diarrhoea and gastroenteritis Slow development of feeding skills is evident in
weaning infants that take longer to manage solid
●● food hypersensitivity food and may be much slower moving from smooth
to lumpy textures.
●● faltering growth.
Unsettled Infants/Colic
Slow Development of Feeding
Skills and Oromotor Delay Many young infants have a period during the day
when they are unsettled and cry with discomfort
Difficulty in feeding and food refusal is but appear not to be hungry. This is often referred
commonly seen during infancy. From birth, some
infants are slow to develop feeding skills and
