but she is hungry - so why not the food

[legend_018]

I already posted before about my LO and how she stopped eating at around 7 months of age. She is 9 months and a week now. It's still frustrating at times. Doctor said during her 9 month appointment that we could TRY to limit the bottle to 25 oz instead of 30-40 oz to see if she becomes more hungry. Harder said than done. But I don't think it's because she isn't hungry. Take this morning for an example: To TRY something new when she woke up I put her in the highchair and tried to get her to take some oatmeal. I always give bottle first and than try solids a littel while later. She usually refuses ANYTHING to do with me feeding her even with distractions. I also cut up some apple pieces. Granted she is started to PICK a little on finger foods here and there. Some days she actually acts interested but all and all it never amounts to much. She nawwed at the apple piece a LITTLE. Than after being in the chair for probably almost 1/2 hour I decided enuf was enuf as she was whining. Than 5 minutes LATER since she had never had her bottle after waking up - SUCKED 6 oz back. That was a bout 7:30am. That around 9am - I decided to put her in the chair again and gave her a cut up bagel and tried putting some canned mixed fruit pieces on her tray. She played with them and she did take a few bites out of the bagel. Now every day for a long time now in the morning she has 2 bottles with only 2 to 2 1/2 hours of break inbetween. Than she goes about 4 hours before the next bottle and the rest of the night probably anywhere from 3-4 hours between bottles - sometimes the last 2 bottles are closer together. SO AFTER that 2nd eppisode in the high chair - 10 minutes later as it was nearing toward nap time - she sucked back almost 7 OZ as she wanted her bottle. See she's hungry.
TO MAKE matters worse - the last 2 nights instead of getting up 1ce in the middle of the night for a bottle she has been getting up twice. Every 4 hours she is waking up for a bottle. IF ONLY she would eat or let me feed her cereal or the purees ect...while she's picking/playing with finger foods. I feel this will never end. The likelyhood of me even getting her off bottles when she turns 1 is pretty darn slim.

[binxyboo]

How is your lo feeling lately? I know you have struggled a lot with ear infections this year.

[legend_018]

actually pretty good - she finished her medicine for her 6th ear infection December 27th I think - She had to be on it for 10 days. and so far at this point she's doing good.

[andibig]

legend 018
i followed your other thread so i know you've had struggles with the food.
is your Dr asking you to cut out btls or cut down the amts.
i don't disagree your LO isn't hungry but they do tend to fill themselves up on their milk leaving no appetite for solids .
i would try and see if you cut out the night time btls first.try reducing the amts in one of the night time btls by an 1oz every few days.
HTH
Andrea

[binxyboo]

It seems to be a vicious cycle, doesn't it? Not hungry, so you give an extra bottle, so of course then she is not hungry when it's time for the next solids feed...

I really do get how frustrated and anxious you are over this. As the Mom of a "picky eater" (although, knock on wood, things are going better now) I know how it feels meal after meal. Is your lo gaining weight well? It doesn't sound as though your doctor is overly concerned about the situation, which is good. Really, some lo's are just like this. Riley was hit or miss with every meal at that age. We generally had about 3 breastfeeds in the day, and at least one night feed at that age. Maybe the nightfeeds filled him up too much, who knows? But it wasn't until maybe 14 months he started to increase his solids. He was perfectly healthy, thriving, meeting all his milestones and I wish I had been more relaxed about things back then, because when I finally gave up and just accepted that it was my job to serve him healthful food regularly, and it was his job to eat it or not, things got a whole lot better. I am sure he sensed how anxious and frustrated I was.

Now, these repeated ear infections, do they know why they keep occuring?

[legend_018]

not really - we are waiting until she turns 1 before going down the tube route. We've already been to 2 ear doctors. They blame anyone that she is near that gives her colds - as a cold ends up an ear infection. I luckily was able to take her out of day care - although her last one was after I took her out but also 3 days after my husbands brothers x-mas party where a cousin had a cold...she came down with a cold and ear infection. coincidence...? I don't know.

every once in awhile we have a break thru - I guess while she was over my husbands parents she ate a good amount of speggeti "homemade sauce" and had some jello. They usually deal with the same thing as far as eating goes - although she has been sort of picking a little here and there.

I guess at this point her night wakings and bottles have recently increased from 1 bottle in the middle of the night to 2 bottles in the middle of the night. Ok so it's only been for 2 nights but still. That isn't good. I think she needs food - so not sure why she won't really eat. The bottles are not filling her up enuf I'm guessing.

[legend_018]

From 4 months to 6 months she was religeously oatmeal cereal in the morning and rice cereal at night. About 1 week before she turned 6 months I started her on puree fruits and veggies. She took to them ok and as time went by I increased it to 1/2 of a jar even a very few times she eat a whole jar of fruit. That was before she went on strike. I am trying so hard to feed her solids. Example this morning she recently woke up at 8am. I tried 8:30am, I tried 9:30am. She last had a bottle at 6:30am.

[linfran]

What about your mealtimes?  Do you eat with her or does she eat on her own?

The reason I ask is that my 11mo DS (who is pretty good about food with the occasional wobbly thrown in) isn't happy in the high chair if he eats on his own.  He enjoys it a heck of a lot more if we eat with him and it's the same in his nursery - it's like a social thing for him.

He is more likely to fight about food if he's eating alone and I'm kinda watching over him iykwim?  Whereas at family mealtimes he'll sit and chatter away because he hears us talk and sometimes will want to try the food that's on our plate if it's different from his.

[legend_018]

usually with us - I tried that route. but sometimes by herself too. Sometimes due to timing and a few times recently where I tried to feed her when it was bottle time "as I try different things all the time" and my husband wasn't home yet and it was going to take me another 45 minutes to get dinner ready. so for timing reasons sometimes it's alone.

[legend_018]

I don't do this every day but I don't know how harder I can try. Today I have tried solids at 8:30, 9:00, 9:30 and 10:00am. No luck each time. maybe 1 or two very small bites. I tried highchair and sitting with me. She eat her last bottle at 6:30am and come 10:30am she's really going to need and/or want her bottle. I'm not giving into her now though.

[binxyboo]

I have been reading along, have to get ready for work now, but will post later okay?

Try not to stress about the day

[legend_018]

put her in highchair again at 10:15 and she actually ate a good part of a mini bagel that I gave her. actually I think she almost eat half of a mini bagel. actually sorry half of of a half - since I eat the other half "lol".
I still put some of the rice and melon pieces on her tray but she dosn't seem to want them. pasta seems to be one of the only things she'll eat and peas I have luck with sometimes. I do have a lot more "OK" moments where she's at least eating even if it's not much. It's usually not enuf to replace a bottle.

[linfran]

Keeping fingers crossed for you!

[binxyboo]

I have been trying to think of ways you could approach this. It is so hard to know what to do, because I know in our situation, Riley just came around when he was good and ready. You could maybe just offer three nine ounce botles a day at set times, and then offer solids at three set times. It may take a couple of days before she gets the gist of it and begins to figure out that this is the time that bottles are offered and this is the time that solids are offered. Or you could just be more relaxed about it and see what happens. When Riley turned a year old, I decided I would nurse him once a night, no more than that, and it did take about a full month after that before I saw a real increase in his intake of solids.

[sadiespetuna]

We were having a similar problem with our son when he was a little past 7 months (just over 8 months now). We ended up giving him his cereal after his last bottle and it has made ALL of the difference. He now drinks all of his bottles without a problem and he eats his 3 meals a day. We give him veggies in the morning, fruit in the afternoon and cereal in the evening. Before we would struggle with getting him to drink his second bottle and he was only consuming 16 ounces of formula! Now, he does about 24-28 plus his food.