We got the results back from Sophie's bloodwork and, as predicted, everything is normal. Turns out she's just small. Go figure. Of course, then I start to think that maybe she's a primordial dwarf. That's what I get for watching that Oprah show.
At any rate, the sleeping thing seems to be getting better. She slept through the night three times last week and 6, count em SIX, times this week. Hallelujah! But now that I'm alert enough to focus on the bigger picture, I'm increasingly aware that we have another problem. The girl won't eat. I mean, she eats, but not nearly as much as she should and she has gotten to the point where pretty much the only thing she'll eat is YoBaby with cereal mixed in.
Before you suggest different foods, I have tried pretty much everything. She'll take one bite, if I'm lucky, and then turn her head away. At this point, I have thrown away so much food, I could have saved a whole village of those starving kids in Ethiopia my mom told me about as a kid. The doctor suggested I give her Pediasure mixed in with ice cream or something. Well, she won't eat ice cream. And Pediasure is all sugar. Sure there are healthy things in there, but her teeth will rot out from all of the sugar. We're still nursing, and she drinks cow milk at mealtimes, so I feel reasonably confident that she's getting a fair number of vitamins, but clearly she needs more.
So help me out, moms. What do I do? Please tell me that this kind of thing happens all the time. It's a phase she's going through and will grow out of it. I know that kids can be picky eaters but I just wasn't expecting it this early. Is this just another example of my own badness as a kid coming back to haunt me? For the eleventy millionth time since I got pregnant: I am SOOO sorry, Mom.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
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Xander goes through spurts where he wants nothing to do with food. Maybe her hunger will change once you wean her. Until then, since she is drinking milk, and eating yogurt & cereal AND still nursing, I wouldn't worry about it. (I know--WAY easier said than done, right?) Keep offering her new tastes, and at some point, she'll try them and maybe even like them. And CONGRATS on the sleeping thing!! What did you do?? Xander STILL gets up a couple of times a night for a quick drink and a cuddle!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't stress too much about it. When kids need it, they'll eat. My two boys have little bird appetites, and I'm always pulling the "starving kids in Ethiopia" bit on my oldest, especially since I've seen those kids with my own eyes! (I'm sure he's tired of hearing it)
ReplyDeleteAnd I did pediasure with my boys when they were younger (and in the 3rd percentile for weight). They didn't have any teeth problems. Never have had a cavity.
Well, I know it can be frustrating when your child doesn't eat. Mekhi is in the 5-10% for weight and basically he is just small. No biggie. I have found that stressing out about the food he eats or doesn't eat really doesn't help matters. When I find something that he will eat I roll with it. I get annoyed when I want him to try new things or he refuses but I do know when he is hungry enough he will eat.
ReplyDeleteKeep feeding her what she likes, continue to experiment with other foods and it will all work out.
Trust me, I know how you feel. The food battle goes on daily in my home (yes, I need to take my own advice!).
I go through this every so often with my 2 youngest.
ReplyDeleteThe tween, of course, eats every effing thing in front of him and some stuff that's prolly not even edible.
The 4 YO and the almost-2 YO, however, different stories there. One week, they hork everything down like it's their last meal. Other times, I couldn't get them to eat with a crowbar and chocolate. Now that I think about it, when the tween was younger he did the SAME THING.
I say it's just a phase. And, really, as a woman do you *want* to be large? NO.
Tiny Bean = Future Supermodel.
Rest assure that it is the age. Around a year old, kids start to exert their independence and one thing that they can control is what go into their mouths. Is she able to feed herself? If not maybe its time to try. Cut a variety of foods into small pieces and let her go to town. That way she is doing it.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry but I don't have much experience with picky eaters. So I really don't know how to help. I would say maybe mix the foods that she doesn't like with foods that she does. Also make sure that she is hungry at meal time. I had an issue with Quinn where he wasn't eating food, well it was b/c 20-30 min before the meal he was drinking a cup of milk/juice/water. So he didn't 'feel' hungry. I started taking their cups away 30 min before meals. It seemed to help.
Well thats all I got. I hope some of it helps. And (hopefully) this too shall pass.
CRW loves yobaby w/ cereal too. I agree with above comments. Tonight I noticed CRW eats better when I am not sitting in front of him. I walk around and do other things, and of course keep my eye on him. He takes breaks, messes around then starts again. He seems to stay in the highchair for about an hour, I keep offering him different things. Some days he eats lots, others hardly at all. But if I don't stress it seems to work out. The one thing I can say is: it takes LOTS of patience.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of teeth does she have? Is she cutting any right now? Babies tend to veto food when they are cutting teeth, so that may be part of what's going on. Twelve to EIghteen months was all teeth management for us. Just keep introducing stuff. Really soft stuff in case she's blowing like four teeth at a time or something. My kids eating habits have had a LOT to do with what the teeth situation was. (How many they already they have and what might be coming in.)
ReplyDeleteMy kids go through fazes too. My mom always used to say if they eat their body is growing, if they aren't their brain is growing. I know that there are days where Summer doesn't seem to eat at all, and then others she eats and eats and eats.
ReplyDeleteI guess I would just go with if she is hungry, she will eat! At least you've got milk on your side!
I wish I could suggest somthing--but it sounds like she will start eating more when she's ready! I do notice that Pickle eats way more when she doesn't drink any milk. She loves milk and is constantly asking for it--but it definitely makes her eat less.
ReplyDeleteGood luck w/ everything and yay on the sleeping!
Yeah, I've got 'that kid' that my mom 'wished on me' too. lol.
ReplyDeleteI don't see that you have too much of a problem with Sophie's eating. I mean, she's eating SOMETHING. Let her just eat that...whenever. Mine all went through the same thing (early on) One ate only mac and cheese, all three meals. One only cereal. One ONLY grilled cheese.
Sometimes if you oooh and awww over what YOU are eating...she may wanna try it.
You can lead a kid to water, but you can't make them drink. Or is that a horse? Same premis.
It's funny, when I first started reading these types of blogs I went through like... EVERY SINGLE POST of dooce's that was labelled 'Leta'. And I remember giggling at how she couldn't get her daughter to eat anything but toast with Nutella on it, or something similarly horrible sounding -- so I assume it is just normal for kids to do that kinda thing :]
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it's stressful that her eating attentions are fixated on one particular thing, but as long as she's eating, she's fine. I assume. Not that I have one yet myself :[
Honestly I'm not sure I'd be worried. My daughter's appetite is really variable and everytime I ask I'm told the same thing. "She won't starve". She's also really picky and we throw out a lot.
ReplyDeleteTold ya she was just a sweet bundle of beautiful petiteness.
ReplyDeleteMy youngest eats like a horse some days...then others, barely a biteful. Yet she's growing...she's healthy...so somethings going right. My mama always says, "They'll eat when they eat..." OK, then. Good to know!
I've got a teensy, particular babe, too. Supposedly he chows down at daycare - maybe it's peer pressure. Will Sophie eat more food on playdates?
ReplyDeleteSomeone on my blog suggested smoothies with yogurt and fruit. They haven't worked for us, but maybe you'll have better luck.
Sometimes, Axel will only eat small pieces of food. Other times, he'll only eat big pieces - give him half a sandwich and he happily tears it up while ingesting 1/3 of it.
I just keep trying to offer a variety of stuff and take deep breaths and focus on this: in the long run, having a kid who likes healthier food or who has a harder time putting on weight is good, right? As an adult, Sophie will be very healthy!