Every mother’s nightmare is seeing their child lose their appetite and weight and having nothing they can do about it. I have previously told you how Kwezi had lost weight so rapidly and the only thing that seemed to be maintaining its size was her head. The legs were stick thin and I was convinced that if strong winds found her standing outside, they would probably carry her away.

Children are an interesting lot. They are more like the weather in Kigali, unpredictable. For a month plus, Kwezi didn’t want anything to do with milk. She seemed to be repelled by the idea of it and could only attempt to try it only if she had bread to go with it. I had given up on that food and beverage chapter of her life but then, like I said, unpredictability. Out of the blue, her appetite came back and she is her old self who wanted to eat anything put in front of her. Surprisingly, her love for milk is also back and I don’t think that I have been excited about something that may seem trivial as much as I was to find out about that.

Thankfully, her weight has also come back and I can see some cheeks, and her legs and arms have some reasonable flesh on them. I have tried to lift her and I was reminded that my bones and my back are no longer what they were 10 years ago. She is way heavier than she was one month ago.

When Kwezi started losing weight at the beginning of this year, I was always lamenting about it to everyone who had ears. My mother always told me that children have phases when they lose their appetite and start losing weight rapidly. She, however, told me that the appetite would be back. I didn’t want to hear any of it.

 I was worried but mother indeed knows best. Raising a child for the first time is sometimes challenging. Like I always say, we learn as we go. I have been lucky that I have sounding boards in my family and friends but there are people out here who are doing this alone.

If your child is losing weight, don’t worry too much. It indeed is a phase. The most important thing to pay attention to is making sure that she or he has no worms, no colds and that they are still interested in eating or drinking something. As long as a child can manage to eat even a quarter of what they were eating before, you need not worry.

However, do seek medical attention if as a mum, your intuition tells you that something is off.