First of all, you all need to stop saying how much you are going to miss me. Just about every time I read that I either get misty or I feel like a heel.
And when I think about continuing as a parent without my panel of experts (my reading friends) I get a little panicky! Honestly. I’ve thought more than once – what am I going to do when I have a parenting question and I don’t have my blog? You all are the best advice givers. And I know the advice you give helps others as there are lots of moms with little ones who read here too.
So… help!
First thing… After doing some reading online I think we have determined that we have a high needs baby as it relates to sleep. By that I mean the normal bedtime routine route that everyone says should work, doesn’t. She is so curious about everything that it is like her brain will not shut down. I think the fact that it is light so late probably doesn’t help much either. I remember being like this as a child so maybe she comes by it naturally. She has to be almost exhausted before she will take a bottle and go to sleep. I know everyone says you shouldn’t put babies down when they are asleep, but at night it is almost like we have no choice. Anyone else have a baby like this and care to offer suggestions?
And the other thing… Caroline has no interest in anything beyond her Stage 2 baby foods. Tried Stage 3 a few times and she either gagged or looked at it and wouldn’t even open her mouth. I’ve tried Cheerios, those baby puff things, food off our plates… Nothing. I’ve tried eating with her, giving them to her to play with… Nothing. This is a child who loves to eat and puts everything in her mouth. So is she just not ready? She’ll be ten months next week and I’d love to get her out of baby food soon!
Thank you in advance from two perplexed parents!
You’ve gotten lots of advice. So, I won’t add any to the list. What I’m going to do, is pray for you this evening–that God will give you wisdom. I pray that He’ll give you and David peace about parenting your sweetie and that your trust in Him will deepen because of dependence on Him in these trying times.
My firstborn son who is now 2 1/2 also had sleeping issues. I finally got the book The No-Cry Sleep Solution. It was a great help. The book had all kinds of ideas to try for many different sleep issues. It wasn’t a one-solution-works-for-everyone type of book.
My son also refused to eat mushy baby food. He didn’t eat a significant amount of solids until he was well over a year old. Being a first-time mommy it worried me and I finally borrowed a book from the library called Child of Mine – Feeding With Love and Good Sense. It was a huge help. The main premise of the book is that the parents should choose when and where the child eats as well as what food is available and the child should choose how much they eat, even if it is nothing. I think it is because of reading that book that my son is now a great eater and eats almost any type of food.
Karen
Lots of good advice here. We use the CIO method and it works for us. The thing about CIO, though, is that it’s something you only need to do for a few nights until they figure it out. Not a prolonged method, thankfully. The only other thing I’ll add is that you need to do it sooner rather than later if you’re going to go that route. Don’t wait until she can climb out of the crib on her own. She’ll cry, and follow you right out of the room.
My first son had a hard time with texture. Our docs also say to skip the stage 3 and go straight to real food. Their natural instinct is to swallow it the puree, not chew it. That’s when they gag. I also had to cut his food very small until he was 18 months.
Good luck!
Our child went from breast milk only to mashed up real foods (banana, sweet potato, cooked carrot, & some cereal) and then to table food ground by a mouli. A cost-saving way to introduce foods like meat is to cook the beef or chicken, puree it, and then freeze the puree in ice cube trays.
At any rate our child began *trying* solids at around 9-12 months but probably wasn’t eating them in any quantity until between 18-24 months. All along, our child was still nursing & probably received most nourishment through that; you will still be giving Caroline formula or milk – both very nourishing things — so she won’t be lacking for sustenance.
It’s frustrating sometimes — toddlers especially seem to live on air — but the secret to developing good eating habits seems to be offering them a range of healthy foods and *letting them choose to eat* but not forcing them.
Me again – sorry, forgot to add:
After the puree stage, we began offering bits of real table food, especially when our child had mastered the pincer grip maneuver; toddler-child especially was more likely to eat things when allowed to feed himself whether by hand or utensil. As others here have said, don’t forget that small children & even babies have excellent senses of smell – they can tell when you’re cooking something delicious. Assuming it’s healthy enough (i.e., not spicy-hot, sugary or whatever), why not give them a taste?
Have you ever seen those little things in the baby section that have a meshbag and a plastic handle in the shape of a circle attached. YOu put the food, we would usually do a peice of fruit, like bannana, peach, avacodo, in the bag and close it up and give it to Ellie at the table…..it was a mess…..a big mess, but introduced her to new tastes. It is my opinion that solid food before a year is for experience, not nutition.
AFA the sleeping, I recommend the No-Cry-Sleep solution by Elizabeth Pantly as well.
(((hugs))) remember she won’t be an infant forever…… 🙂