Refusing lunch

[annieb73]

My lo is 7.5 months old and I am following Gina Ford (am I allowed to mention her?!!!) book of weaning.  She has been doing just great and eating really well.  Last week I dropped the 11am b/f as she has been having protein for lunch.  She was taking only small b/feeds at 11am and 2pm so now it's just solid lunch at 12pm and a big b/f at 2pm.

Here's our routine:
6.30am wake, 6.45am b/f
8am brekkie - oat/wheat cereal, yoghurt, fruit
9.30am-11.30am - nap
12pm lunch - chicken casserole, veg or similar
2pm b/f
2.30pm-4pm - nap
5pm tea - rice cereal/fruit or veg
6.30pm b/f
7pm bed

However, she has suddenly started refusing her lunch.  I am stressed.  So by the time she gets to 2pm she is ravenous and tired, has a huge breastfeed and then passes out.  She eats a few spoons so it isn't that she doesn't like it.

My thoughts are:
- could she be having too much breakfast - 2tbs cereal with water, 2tbs yoghurt, 2tbs fruit puree
- could it be teething - she already has one tooth which came through no problem but she is drooling a lot
- I think she has hayfever as she is rubbing eyes and nose a lot
- she isn't pooing very regularly, just hard nuggets so maybe she's constipated
- maybe she only likes things really pureed as the casserole is a bit more lumpy whereas brekkie and tea are quite smooth
- maybe I should try her protein at 5pm insteadk?

We're going to the doctor tomorrow just to check ears and throat, etc.  She seems to be sleeping more than usual this week.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated, thanks ladies!

[*Natasha*]

What was she having for lunch before you started her on protein? Was she starting to refuse lunch around the time you changed her lunch? My DD goes through phases where one day she likes her breaky then the next harldy eats it. It is the same with the other meals. You said she isn't pooing regularly do you give water with meals?

[annieb73]

Yes, she started refusing lunch when I added chicken/lentils.  Before that she was having rice cereal and heaps of different veg.  She was OK when we did a ratio of more veg than protein but now it's more protein than veg she doesn't like it!  Having said that, I've just given her chicken casserole for dinner and she ate all of it over about half an hour!

As for poos, yes I give her water but not sure how much?  She has a few sips with lunch and dinner.

She really whines and grizzles at mealtimes now and rubs her face a lot.

[annieb73]

She has cut another tooth overnight so maybe that was the problem!  First one came through no problem so that's what threw me a bit.

Another question, if she isn't eating much protein, maybe I should go back to 4 b/f a day?  I am reluctant to do this as she loves b/f and would rather do this than eat so it might be regressing a bit.

[debo620]

Anne, do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions? my ds is now 8months, very similar schedule but I am struggling with bf/solids, one night feed.
here is how it is:
wake 6:15am, bf at 6:15am bf well >10min
bf at 8am-3-4tbsp oat cereal with 3tbsp fruit, handful cheerios
nap 9:15/9:30 for 1.5hrs
bf 11:00am  bf fairly well
solids 1pm-3tbsp yougurt, 2tbsp fruit, 3tbsp veg, handful of cheerios, few cubes cheese
nap 2:15 or so for 1.5hrs
BF at 3:45--quite hungry
solids 5pm---does not eat as much
bf at 6:45pm ---bf poorly
night feed at 2:30am or 3am with formula 4oz, watered down to make 5oz.
 So i wonder if I change to schedule more similar to yours if he would take more solids at dinner time and bf better before bed, and thus take in more bm overall and stop waking hungry at night?  Is that crazy? How did your lo adjust to not BF after 1st nap---it is so routine isn't it?

[annieb73]

Yes, it's hard isn't it!  I keep saying to my husband that I wish we could keep on with b/f forever, it's much easier!!!

Anyway, your routine looks similar to mine but just more milk feeds.  I think (and I'm no expert at all, maybe mods have a comment?) that you could probably drop the 11am b/f and bring lunch forward to 11.30am, even 11am then push it back by 15 mins a day until it's at 12pm.  Then do a b/f at 2pm, then nap.  It may take a while to adjust to the different nap time.

I did tier feeding to wean her off the 11am i.e. gave her milk, then solids, then milk again.  Then I cut it down by a couple of minutes every day until she was taking solids before milk.  Then after I introduced protein I cut out the milk altogether.  I think she would still like a b/f then but she has about 6tbsp protein and a couple of veg and if she eats it she's fine until 2pm.

Then do dinner at 5pm, then final b/f at 6.45pm.  Maybe you are filling him up too much earlier in the day and he's just not hungry in the evening.  Also I think the am and eve milk are the most important, and maybe if he took a good milk feed at 6.45pm he would go through the night?

Also maybe he is just waking out of habit rather than being hungry so if you could bear it maybe you could try settling back to sleep rather than feeding?  It's hard but worth it.  I think an 8 month old should be able to go through the night.

Well, that's all from me.  Good luck!

[debo620]

Thanks Anne, definately I think I will try this plan! I also think he should go through the night. It is always at different times though and I have tried resettling--I really think he is hungry b/c I haven't figured out the day feeds.  Its like a light switch went off when I saw your posted routine
PS.What is this chicken casserole?

[annieb73]

I have managed to get CR to eat lunch, I'm so happy!  I pureed up the casserole into a paste, and just put pureed carrots with it (which she loves).  She ate it all.  So I think it was the teeth that was hurting and because it was a bit lumpy she didn't like it!

Casserole is pretty easy - just fry 1 onion in olive oil and then chicken breasts (2) cubed until cooked.  Put into casserole dish with 2 sliced carrots, 2 parsnips sliced and 1 potato cubed.  Cover with filtered water or veg stock (if you can be bothered to make).  Cover and cook on 180 until veg is soft.  Then puree to whatever consistency they like.

You can also use other meats like this - lamb or beef - but we haven't tried that yet!

Good luck, let me know how you go with the new routine!

Anne x

PS do you heat food?  We have it cold and I'm not sure if it should be a bit warm!  I mean I wouldn't fancy cold casserole but she doesn't seem to mind!

[debo620]

Yes , I always heat food a bit! My son hasn't had onion or potatoes yet----maybe I will try  them soon!

[annieb73]

So how are you going this week?  Did you try the casserole?

Charlotte is being a monster again.  She hasn't worked out that food means her tummy gets full.  Yesterday she was hysterical with hunger and kept arching her back like she wanted a b/f.  I knew she liked the lunch but just refused to eat it.  In the end she worked it out, but it took 40 minutes.  She was starving.

Also she hates lumps and warm food.  Today she wouldn't eat adult porridge, baby stuff ok as it's smooth.  I guess I will keep pureeing it until whenever!

[debo620]

Things are going okay. We haven't tried the casserole yet---will maybe try this weekend. We did try some lentils mixed with veg--he did like it but I think it caused gas/nightwaking last night so I am going to hold off.

I have stuck with the three feeds---this is going well. He is actually crying and hungry for his breastfeeds now which happened very rarily before. He is doing better at night. Will usually go from 6:45/7pm bf until 5am or later. This 5am feed I am doing with a bottle --3oz formula with 3oz water to slowly wean. I find this timing difficult though b/c he does not go right back to sleep. For example, this am he ate at  5:40am---did not go back to sleep until 6:30am (which is our usual wake time).

when does Gina Ford suggest starting snacks on top of the meals/bf?

[tiki_mama]

If it's any use to you I dropped my DD's post morning nap b/f cold turkey and replaced it with a snack instead (some yoghurt or fruit or rice crakers with peanut butter, banana or cream cheese etc and LOTS of water!)

She isn't at all bothered. I feed her the snack on my knee instead of in her chair as it still allows us a cuddle (can get a bit messy though! lol) 

[annieb73]

We are struggling again with lunch.  She just won't eat anything the last few days.  Definitely not teething this week as she's in a great mood the rest of the day.  So I'm thinking of starting over with introducing the protein foods again.  Does anyone have any comments?  Maybe I should give her a small lunch and do protein at 5pm?

Yesterday she ate her lunch over 1.5 hours, then had a huge b/f at 2pm.  Then hardly ate any tea and had a small b/f at 6.30pm.

I am stressed again!!!

[debo620]

Anne, does your daughter like fingerfoods? For protien, my son likes cheese cut up, he also really likes full fat yogurt with fruit puree.