Picky eating?
We've been having not-so-much fun during mealtimes the past couple of days. From the start, Emma was always a great eater, in terms of the variety of foods she would eat. She liked peas, green beans, squash, spinach ... all the things babies usually turn their noses up at from the start. She obviously loved most fruits, too.
I don't know what the deal is but she's just not interested in eating ANYTHING the past day and a half or so. She turns her head as far to the side as she can while I'm holding the spoon out toward her. She keeps her lips pressed together and goes, "Mmmmmmmm!" when I try to (gently, of course) sneak the spoon in her mouth.
She'll eat anything we break up into pieces and put on her high chair tray, but she turns away from anything on a spoon. I caught James trying to deceive her the other night. He'd hold out a little baby cracker and she'd open her mouth for it. He'd then pull the cracker away and sneak in the spoonful of baby puree instead. I thought that was really mean but then I couldn't keep myself from doing it the next day when she would not open her mouth for the spoon at ALL. (I've since decided that that trick is not very nice and I don't want her to stop trusting us, even if we are doing all of it for the sake of her own good nutrition.)
She's wanted to drink a lot more than usual and I've actually made her two bottles of formula in the past 24 hours. She totally sucked down 4 oz. last night after nursing.
It drives me absolutely crazy trying to feed her when she's like this. It can take up to 45 minutes or more each mealtime to get anything in her. And the best part is (and by "best" I mean most frustrating) is that I have finally started pureeing a bunch of foods for her at home instead of giving her store-bought baby food. I made what I thought was a really tasty apple-strawberry puree today but she only wanted a few bites before she slammed her lips shut tight again. I also just pureed two whole ice cube trays full of sweet potato that I'm freezing ... but now I wonder if she'll ever want to eat any of it.
Maybe she's just bored with baby food purees and wants more "big girl" food. She's great with picking up little pieces of whole wheat bread, tiny chunks of cheese and other little bits. I also gave her a few small bites of my yogurt this morning and she seemed to really like that. I have to get the full-fat yogurt though if I want to start giving her more of that.
Ugh ... the whole baby food thing is just stressing me out. I'm worried I'm creating poor eating habits in her or not giving her enough food or not giving her enough DIFFERENT KINDS of foods. I marked a few recipes in my two baby foods books and am going to try to get to the farmer's market tomorrow to pick up all the produce I need to make the purees. I don't know how some people make all their baby food at home -- I've just not been able to do that yet. I wish I could. And I'm going to try harder at it.
I guess my first priority though is just trying to make sure Emma eats enough, whether she's eating store-bought food or homemade doesn't matter as long as she's eating a good amount of it. Maybe she just has a bug right now and doesn't have much of an appetite. Or maybe she's going to cut another tooth. She didn't lose her appetite when she cut her first four teeth but maybe things are different this time. I'm going to pray. She needs more fuel in her little body than she's allowing herself. She's so active and cruising around on her hands and knees so much now that she can't afford not to eat more calories for all she's burning. We all know she's already petite for her age!
I have a salted caramel hot chocolate to drink, which by the way, is basically heaven in a cardboard cup (a Christmas cup, too ... yippee!). Not sure that delightful little hot chocolate is helping me lose the 10 pounds I'm hoping to drop by Christmas, but oh well. They make 'em with nonfat milk, right? We'll just pretend all the extra sugar is GOOD for me. It sure TASTES good for me. Good for my taste buds, anyway.
I don't know what the deal is but she's just not interested in eating ANYTHING the past day and a half or so. She turns her head as far to the side as she can while I'm holding the spoon out toward her. She keeps her lips pressed together and goes, "Mmmmmmmm!" when I try to (gently, of course) sneak the spoon in her mouth.
She'll eat anything we break up into pieces and put on her high chair tray, but she turns away from anything on a spoon. I caught James trying to deceive her the other night. He'd hold out a little baby cracker and she'd open her mouth for it. He'd then pull the cracker away and sneak in the spoonful of baby puree instead. I thought that was really mean but then I couldn't keep myself from doing it the next day when she would not open her mouth for the spoon at ALL. (I've since decided that that trick is not very nice and I don't want her to stop trusting us, even if we are doing all of it for the sake of her own good nutrition.)
She's wanted to drink a lot more than usual and I've actually made her two bottles of formula in the past 24 hours. She totally sucked down 4 oz. last night after nursing.
It drives me absolutely crazy trying to feed her when she's like this. It can take up to 45 minutes or more each mealtime to get anything in her. And the best part is (and by "best" I mean most frustrating) is that I have finally started pureeing a bunch of foods for her at home instead of giving her store-bought baby food. I made what I thought was a really tasty apple-strawberry puree today but she only wanted a few bites before she slammed her lips shut tight again. I also just pureed two whole ice cube trays full of sweet potato that I'm freezing ... but now I wonder if she'll ever want to eat any of it.
Maybe she's just bored with baby food purees and wants more "big girl" food. She's great with picking up little pieces of whole wheat bread, tiny chunks of cheese and other little bits. I also gave her a few small bites of my yogurt this morning and she seemed to really like that. I have to get the full-fat yogurt though if I want to start giving her more of that.
Ugh ... the whole baby food thing is just stressing me out. I'm worried I'm creating poor eating habits in her or not giving her enough food or not giving her enough DIFFERENT KINDS of foods. I marked a few recipes in my two baby foods books and am going to try to get to the farmer's market tomorrow to pick up all the produce I need to make the purees. I don't know how some people make all their baby food at home -- I've just not been able to do that yet. I wish I could. And I'm going to try harder at it.
I guess my first priority though is just trying to make sure Emma eats enough, whether she's eating store-bought food or homemade doesn't matter as long as she's eating a good amount of it. Maybe she just has a bug right now and doesn't have much of an appetite. Or maybe she's going to cut another tooth. She didn't lose her appetite when she cut her first four teeth but maybe things are different this time. I'm going to pray. She needs more fuel in her little body than she's allowing herself. She's so active and cruising around on her hands and knees so much now that she can't afford not to eat more calories for all she's burning. We all know she's already petite for her age!
I have a salted caramel hot chocolate to drink, which by the way, is basically heaven in a cardboard cup (a Christmas cup, too ... yippee!). Not sure that delightful little hot chocolate is helping me lose the 10 pounds I'm hoping to drop by Christmas, but oh well. They make 'em with nonfat milk, right? We'll just pretend all the extra sugar is GOOD for me. It sure TASTES good for me. Good for my taste buds, anyway.
Comments
So you like the salted hot chocolate huh? I saw that the other day, but it just doesn't sound very appealing. I suppose I should give it a whirl one of these days...it better be good! :)
And good luck with Emma! I bet once she gets a little taste of Thanksgiving, she'll be chowing! ;)
PS salted caramel hot chocolate...be still my heart. don't look online at the calories it'll just ruin it. my girlfriend looked and hasn't had one since so i'm boycotting.
This is the first time I've left you a comment, but I have to say I love reading all the updates on your precious little family! Take care!