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bjrose,
Thank you! You have not only given me some of your valuable experiences, but have also given me the couragements I needed to move on.
I will keep you all posted on DD's eating improvements... but maybe I will have some more questions to ask
Moms are the best things in this world. I think it's such a lovely gift that I could be a mom and experience what a mom has to sacrifice for their children. It has made me more grateful towards every mom!
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Carmen. A few things I thought of:
~babies are less likely to choke on finger food that they feed themselves than purees as they control what goes in as opposed to having to take what is on the spoon
~place newspaper under her highchair to catch food and wrap up for the bin after a meal
~I would cut down her meals if u are feeding her- say 20 mins.
~if she feeds herself, stay close by but let her explore the food and squish it etc She will eat what she needs to. You don't need to worry about time then!
~If it drops, leave it there (unless she has none left and get her some new supplies)
~Her gums chew the food, not the teeth until quite a bit later
~Steam or parboil the food- not so that it is hard but not mush either
~Leave it quite whole- don't dice it up. The 'tree' or brocolli is good- she can hold on to the stalk and it is completely edible if she wants it!
~ Food is for fun until they are one! I love this saying. So true- they are exploring food at this age- and will make a big mess but that's ok. Their main nutrients still come from milk until 12 months.
~Try pasta, carrots, cucumber, bread, pumpkin, zucchini, cooked chick peas etc Try to introduce a real variety so she gets used to texture and flavour. I would nearly leave out the cereals. Unless some ground oats, millet or other good cereal mixed with fruit for breakfast.
If you go to the part on Bellybelly (underneath baby and toddler discussion) called Breastfeeding, Bottlefeeding and Solids, there is a subsection called Infant Lead Weaning. This is all about baby feeding herself what she needs. There are a couple of good threads for you to read:
Infant led weaning (by Falguni I think) last post 7 May 2008, and
Babyled solids- where on earth do I start, last post June 8, 2008
These threads may be just what you need!
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I just wanted to let you know that even though they have the gag reflex, they can still choke. One of the reasons to keep food soft. It comes back up easier if soft.
I just wanted to warn you. But she should be fine.
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Today has been a semi rough day.
I gave her some finger veggies and everything ended up on the floor... and guess what, my chihuahua has learned to be around DD during her meal times so she could catch bits and pieces from the floor.
I cut down the amount of food during meal time as well as the time we spend on the meal. At the same time, I introduced her some mashed banana. The look on her face wasn't a pleasant one (I guess it's because it's a new food that she's not used to). She wanted to gag the first mouthful or two, and then it's gotten a little better afterwards. I didn't want to push it too much as it's our first day.
I don't know exactly what happened today but it seems like her reflux has acted out as she threw up twice (not large amount). Then I start asking myself if she's full. Well, she's only taken 26oz of bottle (equivalent to 780ml) - that's not too much formula for a baby of this age. As for her three meals, it's been three meals of 4 tbsp/meal. Also, her feeding time has been quite apart, at least 4-4 1/2 hours apart from each meal. Bottle 1 hour or 1 1/2 hour after her meal. Still, she threw up... DD had a reflux problem earlier, but it has been settled...
I will begin some soft finger foods for her tomorrow and see how she goes about. Hopefully it won't be like today... she's gotten 3 baths... had to clean the messy floor along with her soiled laundry from the vomit.... not the best day!
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Hey Carmen, sounds like you're beating yourself up a bit over this
Just wanted to add my experience. My bub refused food at all until she was well over 9months old. And then she was nearly 12 mnoths before she was having 'three meals' a day. They don't actually 'need' any solids until after 12 months - it's just an experience.
Maybe she just isn't ready if she's still gagging and unusually slow to take to it.
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Each baby is different from one another which makes it hard when it comes to trying to understand for a new mom.
For a few days now, I have been trying the advices. At this moment, I think DD is interested in everything that she could get her hands on... eventually, it goes into her mouth. She loves it for a few minutes and then she gets distracted by something else. I was so discouraged at the beginning because I have tried so many things and putting in so much efforts to a point that I feel like a total failure in motherhood. I asked myself how come DD is so different from other babies... she just doesn't like to eat/drink. The reason why I started her on pureed food was because she was not so interested in her formula.
I tried keeping her just on the formula thinking she might not be ready for pureed foods yet. But I don't think this is the case right now. She seems so difficult to please. When she takes a nap, she usually takes her bottle but only after she sucked on her pacifier for a few seconds. She wasn't like this when she was younger... I don't know why she's turned out this way, but I just kept with her pace so that she will drink enough to keep up with her output and weight gain.
I spoke with my doctor and she didn't seem to say much of it. And being a first time mommy only puts more stress on me since I don't know if it's normal for DD to be acting this way. I think I worry too much but then again I still find myself worrying and thinking about these issues the moment I get a chance to.
These few days, I have tried to let her eat her biscuits, mashed bananas, and bread. So far, she has been okay on them. She like the bananas more (I feed her the mashed bananas on a spoon) and she drops the biscuits and bread often. She also like to suck on the juice of tomato and unfortunately, I can't let her hold it as it will create a big mess. The rest of the food, I let her eat, drop, and explore since it won't create such a mess. I am waiting for the avocadoes to ripen so that she could try on those. Oh, as for the brocoli, she didn't really chew on them... she looked at them and it all ended up on the floor.
Right now, I feed her 3 times/day (food) and then bottle an hour after her meal (on average she drinks 26oz). Do you think I should alter the feeding time. I kwow most moms prefer to feed bottle then food but it didn't work on DD as she would reflux the milk up... what should I do?
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I think the reason they feed bubs food after the bottle is coz bfing or ffing is the main source of nutrition for the first 12 months.
It is more important than solids, so it is better to give it after, or bubs can be too full from the food to take the formula feed.
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I would let the chihuahua go, less cleaning up for you!
Can you buy or make an art smock for her? If it has elastic at the wrists and ties up close around her neck and covers most of her legs, it should catch most of the mess. Then you might only have to do hand and face washes before you let her free.
Another alternative is to have one 'messy' top each day that you put on for meals. It beats changing her after each meal.
Hope things are looking up,
Kate
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I introduced her some mashed bananaHun, banana can cause heartburn, thus it could have been what caused her the reflux that day?? Also try to limit her tomato intake. Tomato is an acid and can cause reflux and also some diperrash. I had a colic/reflux bubba, so I learned the above the hard wayI don't know exactly what happened today but it seems like her reflux has acted out
Seems like you are doing great!! And do try the avo, my dd just LOVES avo. When I introduced it, she used too suck it straight off the bread and leave the bread for me to eat (no chihuahua)
Just to make you feel better ... I have always said that I will start dd on fingerfood when her teeth comes out. Well she was a little late bloomer and started getting teeth at almost 12 months!! And then I started giving her stuff and saw that she actually eats like a little cookiemonster with those gums!! So do give her stuff to self-feed. The girls had great ideas, rusks, toast, biscuts, soft veggies. You can even try some over-cooked pasta spirals later when she has the veggies under control.
Goodluck and keep up the good work
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You are doing a really terrific job. There is no need to stress about what is normal. Normal doesn't exist. All our bubs are different and many are not eating full meals or even three meals a day until 12months. Your GP mightn't have said much as they may be no problem with what your daughter is doing! She sounds perfectly fine playing with her food, being a monkey etc I would really stick with milk feeds first then solids half an hour afterwards for about 10-15mins (if you are spoon feeding). If she is not taking it she doesn't need it and is not hungry. My DD has only a tablespoon of solids some meals and she simply doesn't want more. Keep up your super work!
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