He wont eat

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

About a week ago Gage stopped eating solids and as a result up at night to eat. Anyway, I have managed to get SOME food in him by making him laugh or by making goofy noises. But let me tell you that this amount is VERY little. We are talking 3-4 spoonfuls 3 times daily. It seems unfair to him that I am basically making him eat and he doesnt want to for whatever reason.

I have been feeding him homemade blended foods- Carrots, appples, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, cereal, and pears. His ped. said he can have table foods.... just no meat or pasta. Doesnt leave a lot left huh I have also tried to give him the food in hopes he wants to feed himself. Nope, he just plays. I just dont know what I am doing wrong (what now ).

Any ideas or insight?

[*Natasha*]

How is he going with his bottles is he drinking them all?
How many is he having and how much for each bottle?

Big Hugs to you i know you have been through a rough couple of weeks but we will try and help you fix this problem 

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

Hi Natasha! Gage is drinking his bottles with the help of a larger nipple and a 10 min break. phew! But if I dont give him some food during the day then he wakes at night. right now I am feeding him dinner about an hour before bed and it works great for the night wakening. We are also trying to get rid of the catnap, so our routine is kinda weird right now, but here it is.

3am 6oz (this is rare, and happens if he doesnt eat solids)

7:15 wake ( I took advantage of daylight savings, but it is usually 6am)
7:30 6oz
8:30 very little solids
9:30 sleep

11:20 wake
11:30 8oz
12:30 Very little solids
Outing tired him out 
2:20 sleep (long nap is unsual)

4:20 Wake
4:30 8oz
6:20 40z ( We divide this bottle which has really worked for us, but is getting hard to do because of getting rid of catnap. It is usually after catnap.)
6:40 solids 2oz 
bath
bedtime routine 3oz
sleep 7:20 this is reallty pushing it


Everday is different, and I just wing it.

[Shdef]

Maybe he is still stuffed from the milk

We do it that way:

07.00 am 8oz
10.00 am one jar of solids (usually homemade, sometimes bought), one wee bottle of very diluted pear juice
01.00 pm 8 oz
04.00 pm one jar of solids, another wee bottle of very diluted pear juice
07.00 pm 10 oz


It works really well  because he's actually hungry for the solids...

[LŠuren]

gage's mom

Is it a watered down 6oz for a night feed or a normal bottle, it seems like a vicious circle, he won't take solids or much of his 1st bottle possibly becasuse of the night feed. Then he won't eat much the rest of the day, then gets up for the night feed.

Alice, I have just totted up that Gage takes 33oz inc the n/f. I found with Calum (they are roughly the same age) that a few weeks ago he was taking between 30 - 33oz between 7am & 7pm and 3 meals, however 9/10 in the day he would be really, really sick. My health visitor did keep saying to me that he didn't need to be taking this much milk + 3 meals per day, but I though OMG  he won't sleep through the night as normal if I don't give him that amount. I decided last week to ut down on his formula for a while, there was a couple of days he took 5oz each at his first 3 feeds then 10oz at his bedtime bottle + whatever was in his meals (cheese, milk, pasta, rice, yogurt, etc...) = 25oz, he still slept though.  Only gradually he has increased some of his feeds up to 6oz, in the last 2 days  - but he is still nowhere near 30 -33oz that he was taking before and being sick.

What solids are you offering him? I give Calum pasta and rice he loves them both, I have moved away from total pureed food and mash a lot instead, I also offer her finger foods.

We are both going through the same issues with the cstnap as well, Calum was awake from 1430 until 1915 testerday we tried twice to put him down for a nap, he wanted to play 

Scott Maw, you've just beaten me to it 

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

Oh my word! I bet that is totally it, Calums mum! I feels so dumb. If it is not enough formula, then it too much. Boy, these little guys are so dang complex!! The middle of the night feed is unusual unless I cant get any solids in him.

The other prob is that I am afraid of Gage choking or feeding him the wrong types of food. I know I need to change it up, but I am unsure as to how/what to make. I was going to order the Annabel karmel book, but I think some of the ingredients to her recipes are rare or hard to find (that is what I read in the critiques of the book). Anyway, I think I just need to order a book as his ped. isnt that helpful in the way of "details". I am going to the book store right now.

So, how should I decrease his intake ladies. Any reccomendations on a format?

I am sorry you going through the same catnap dillema, Calum's mum. It is kind of a pain.

Thanks ladies for pulling the blind fold off. I mean duh. Gage's is going to think I am really dumb when he grows up

[*Natasha*]

Sounds like you have already recieved some great advice 
I definatly agree with the others he is getting to much milk intake during the day and the reason for not eating solids he isn't hungry and also you are only giving 3ozs before bed as is probably the reason for night waking. I always make sure that Catherines night bottle is her biggest. Anyway looks like you have the nap situation sorted out so you could try something like this:

7:15 wake 
7:30 6oz
8:30 Breakfast
9:30 sleep
11:20 wake
11:30 6oz
12:30 Lunch
2:20 sleep
4:20 Wake
4:30 6oz
5:30 Dinner
6:00 bath
6:30 bedtime routine 8oz
7:00 Bed

That gives you a total of 26ozs of milk in his bottles then their is the extra ozs you probably put in his solids and calcium from any cheese or yoghurt you are giving him.
Don't think you are dumb this is a challenging next few months with trying to fit in solids, bottles and dropping naps. We are still trying to fine tune Catherines routine with her naps as her awkae time is getting longer.
Good luck hope this is useful for you 

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

Thanks Natasha, I will give it a go tomorrow. Off the subject, what do you do when it is too early for bedtime and Catherine needs a nap. I have found no choice but to give Gage one and postpone bedtime. I have tried an earlier bedtime but Gage already gets up so early.. 5:45 am this morning He only needs about 11.5 hrs of night time and I have no idea how to balance this with his increasing A time ect.. What do you do?

[*Natasha*]

On the odd occassion this happens i have to keep her entertained Catherine will not have a cat nap she always hated having one. So i usually put her to bed about 15mins earlier if she gets to grumpy. She has just extended her awake time now so can stay up as long as 3.5hrs without getting really overtired. What you could do is go for a walk or drive to get another 30mins in so he isn't overtired before bedtime. This is a tricky time the transition from 3-2naps and can take a few weeks to iron out. It sounds like you have done a great job with the transition so far hope you can get Gage to start again on his solids.

[LŠuren]

Alice

I have posted recipes from my Gina Ford book.

I will post some recipes from the Annabel Karmel book soon, I personally don't find any ingredients hard to find. 

Lauren

[LŠuren]

P.S - I agree with Natasha about the catnap, sometimes Calum has a huge A time before his bedtime and refuses sleep. I bring ibedtime forward 15-20mins






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[Shdef]

Scott Maw, you've just beaten me to it 

LOL

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

Lauren , Thanks so much for the recipes! I gave Gage just 6 oz this morning and he STILL would barely eat breakfast. I will keep trying

[LŠuren]

what are you giving him for breakfast?


it may take a few days for his new feeding to make any noticeable improvements or he may be hungrier towards the end of the day (hopfully not overnight  )