Food Frustrations

I didn't give Avonlea solids until 6 months. It wasn't some kind of weird stance or anything--it was mostly because I was (let's face it) lazy. It was just easier to cart Avonlea around without a bunch of other food and equipment, and with how my brain is working lately, I would forget half the time, anyways.

At 6 months, we started giving her solids. Purees, mostly--apples, peaches, pears, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes (of which she is now allergic). I would also give her slices of apples and carrots to gnaw on, which worked well.

She took to purees pretty well. She wouldn't eat a lot at one sitting, but she was still being breastfed, so I wasn't worried about the calories.

She figured out how to use the pouches at 9 months, sucking the food out on her own, which was nice and helpful. Again, she still wasn't eating a lot, but she was trying out new foods, and seemed to enjoy whatever we would give her (well, except peas. She hated eating peas by themselves.).  She did show signs of stubbornness--if I gave her a spoonful of something she didn't like, she wasn't eager to try anything else from a spoon that meal. It was like she didn't trust me or something.

About a month ago, she really hit her stride. She figured out how to hold the pouches, and could eat everything in it (or almost everything). I was excited because we were finally to the point where we weren't throwing food away!  She would be quirky, and one week not eat from a spoon at all, and only eat from a pouch, and the following week, it would reverse--but she was still eating.  I continued to give her bits of "real" food, too--a stalk of steamed broccoli, apples, some rice puffs, a bit of pancake, a cracker, some goldfish, some Cheerios.  She would gnaw on them, but she wouldn't swallow anything solid.  If it was too big, she would just work it with her tongue until she could spit it back out.

Well, about 3 weeks ago, she decided she no longer wanted food. Nothing. No purees, no solids, no finger foods.  She won't let me feed her, and she won't take purees from a pouch herself.  I will put some "real" food in front of her, and she will play with it, but next to nothing goes in her mouth (the dogs have learned to sit by her high chair, because she will often drop the food off the side).  If I try to put something in her mouth, she turns her head away quickly, or spits it out immediately--she doesn't even taste it.

Around 9 months, when she got on the food kick, I slowed down her breastfeeding during the day--but as a result, she was waking up every couple of hours at night to eat.  Since she's been on the food strike, I am breastfeeding her more during the day, and she's letting me sleep 5 hour stretches at night. Yes, I know she should be sleeping all night. I KNOW. I was hoping that by bumping up her calories during the day, she would sleep better--but that is blowing up in my face.

I am just really frustrated. I try new foods, she won't eat them. I try "favorite" foods, and nothing. I try purees from a spoon and from a pouch, and I may get her to eat one bite or one sip from the pouch, then she won't eat any more. She won't eat ANYTHING chunky. I have been a successful getting her to eat Greek yogurt--but if she gets any fruit bits, she works and spits them out.

We're on a strict budget, so I HATE buying food that she ends up not eating, and then I have to throw out.

Did any of you experience this problem? Should I just ride it out, or should I worry that I'll be serving my baby a pureed 1-year cake?

Mom Question

I don't know why I was so excited when Avonlea finally rolled over from her back to her front. It has caused nothing but trouble!

Since Avonlea was born, she has never slept on her front. Not on me, and not in her crib. This is partly because I was terrified by the thought of SIDS. But mostly, it was because she couldn't turn her head all the way in either direction because of her torticollis.

We have been going to therapy for several months now, and she has full turning motion now (we're still working on her head-tilt), but still acts very uncomfortable when she has to put pressure on her neck while it's turned (which is why she doesn't fall asleep on my chest or on my shoulder).

Well, this is now a problem. Because she likes to sleep on her side, but she often rolls over on to her front, and then wakes up, frustrated because she can't sleep on her front, and has somehow forgotten how to roll back on to her back.

When I put her down for a nap, it usually takes her about 15 minutes to fall asleep, and I go in every 7-8 minutes or so--usually needing to turn her over because she is grunting and fussing about being on her tummy.

But this week, with a combination of a cold and this turning-over problem, she has been up every two hours (and one night, it was every half-hour--yeah, that night about killed me).

I am not really sure how to teach her that she can sleep on her front. I will go in sometimes, and she is so tired that she is trying to sleep on her front--but she is literally face-planting in her bed. That REALLY freaks me out.  I tried to leave her that way, but she woke herself back up 5 minutes later.  I also don't know what else I can do to help her roll from her front to her back. She has done it before (she did it at 2 months, for goodness sake), but it's like she has totally forgotten.

Any suggestions, mamas

Updated to Add:  I went in to check on her, and she had fallen asleep like this.  Maybe I spoke too soon (or too late?)?

New Mommy Question

Thanks to those of you who responded here or on Facebook about the eating/sleeping issue. It has evened out in the last week. Thankfully, Avonlea has spaced out her eating more as a result. Yay! Mommy can get more done!  Her sleeping hasn't returned to normal yet. She's only going about 3-4 hours a stretch at night. And today, she didn't nap at all. Hopefully that will get better.

I now have a new question: Were any of your babies swaddlers?  I have been swaddling Avonlea since she was 2 weeks old, which has been a life-saver for bedtime and naps. It's kind of funny--as soon as you "unlock" her arms, she wakes right up.

BUT--how do I transition her out of swaddling?  I read online to swaddle her leaving one arm out, but that hasn't seemed to help.  I also bought a different swaddle than the Swaddle Me, called the Woombie, which allows for a little more motion within the swaddle position, but she seems to wake up more and then gets really frustrated.

*sigh*  How did you swaddle mamas get your kiddos out of a swaddle?

Mommy Question

The past few days, Avonlea has been sleeping all the time, and eating less.  For example, two nights ago, she went to bed at 8pm. Got up at midnight to eat, 5 to eat, and woke up for good at 8. She went back down for a nap from 9-10:30 (I know she's ready for a nap, because she screams bloody murder and won't eat), was ready for a nap again at noon (but we went to the store instead). When we got home she went back to sleep from 1:30-4, then again from 5:30-7. She went to bed at 8:30.  Overnight feedings have been longer, but during the day she is only eating from one side at a time, maybe for 10 minutes max (usually more around 5 minutes). Sometimes I can come back and get her to eat from the other side after a half hour or so, but it is killing me!  I can chalk it up a little bit to her getting more productive. But it seems like 5 minutes is pretty short.

Last night, I was so full that my stream was choking her it was coming out so fast!  Plus, she was getting a lot more than her tummy could handle, and she had major vomits--once all over me when I was putting her back to bed, the other this morning and soaked through everything she was wearing, and all the sheets.

Usually, if I'm super full I wake up and can pump a little bit to ease my supply for her, but I haven't the past couple of nights, and when Avonlea wakes up, she is ready to eat NOW.

Anyway--is this extra sleep but minimal eating normal?  Or should I be concerned?