Alice seems to be going through a "reverse" growth spurt... at least that's what I'm calling it. She goes through phases where she eats whatever I put in front of her without a problem. Her current phase, however, requires me to pinch/pull her ear and tell her to open her mouth... with EVERY bite, no matter what I'm feeding her. I was attempting to hold her head and that was just hard to do. She turns her head and rests it on her shoulder away from the food. The ear pinch/pull has been most effective. Occasionally I can get her to "help mommy" by holding the fork/spoon with me and getting it into her mouth. Once in a while I just need to touch her ear slightly and she'll open her mouth. Most of the time I have to get her by the ear and (attempt to) patiently tell her to open her mouth and eat her food. If I give her finger food, she eats some and then plays with it and makes a HUGE mess or throws it on the floor.
Mind you, her meals have been significantly smaller because I can only force feed her so much. PLUS, if she doesn't eat a good sized meal at breakfast/lunch/dinner, she wants to snack all day. She does have a fairly regular "snack" after she wakes up from her nap in the afternoon. A typical eating schedule for her is breakfast at 8/8:30, lunch at noon, nap time from 1-3ish, snack around 4, dinner at 6. One book I read said that you shouldn't be concerned about what your toddler eats in ONE day, but look at the content of their meals over 2-3 days. Clearly that's not intended for a pregnant mommy who can hardly remember at lunch time what SHE ate for breakfast, let alone what her daughter ate two days ago. Do I really need to keep a food journal for my 19 month old??
Three days til Christmas! And just for fun, here's a really cute picture of my two favorite people :-D
3 comments:
For whatever it's worth, the American Academy of Pediatrics says to not force feed, and just let your child let you know when they're hungry and what they want to eat. For my part, that's a little too child-dictated... With Lucy, if she doesn't want to eat (and she's being defiant), we eventually end meal time, but she gets that same food for the next meal, and she doesn't get to eat (much) earlier than she would have otherwise. It's okay for them to be a little hungry. Just have to put up with some crankies. But, I also know Alice is a little older than Lucy, so might be in a little different place, and there's no formula for these things (bummer for us!).
I agree with Sarah. I would worry about contributing to future food disorders by forcing or making any kind of a big deal out of food. There are places where a child wants/needs to feel like they are in control at times, which I don't think is a bad thing. If you have a totally compliant child, how will they say "no" to drugs some day? I think it's a thin line between controlling your child and letting them eventually learn their way by loosening the reins a little when it's appropriate. A strong will can be a blessing when they are faced with peer pressure, so you don't want to completely kill that spirit in them. So, if she doesn't want to eat I might let her wait till the next meal with no snacks in between. She'll be hungrier and appreciate her next meal. But as Sarah said, there's no formula but you don't want it to become a huge area of who will win. That believe it would do more damage than good. Food shouldn't be such a big deal... they always eat when they're hungry. (Hope I haven't said too much)
Thank you Sarah & Mom for your input! I think I'm mostly going along those lines. She's been doing better here and there and I figure she will eat when she's hungry. The times I'm inclined to "force" her are when she points to our food, wanting that, but won't eat her food, which is the same thing. Funny girl.
I definitely save whatever she doesn't eat and give it to her at her next meal. That seems to go fairly well, as long as I make sure not to give her a snack in between.
There definitely needs to be a balance though, so I appreciate thoughts from moms who have been there/are there at the moment!
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