Yesterday was a bad eating day. In her defense she got a flu shot and had an appointment with Audiology, both of which had her crying uncontrollably.
We realized something the last few days. She not hungry. EVER. Even as an infant (as seen in this picture ->)
Arianna has never told us when she wants to eat. Once she starts eating she'll say 'more'... but she has never initiated the eating process. She eats wonderfully when we put her in front of the TV - but that's because she doesn't notice us shoving full fat foods into her mouth.
I would think that, by age 2, a child would be a pretty self sufficient 'self feeder'. They will take food and put it into their mouth, or will use a spoon and eat with it - right?
Arianna does neither of these things - we have to sit with her and hand feed her every meal. If I give her the spoon or leave finger foods with her she'll throw them. Her nanny and I are convinced that she'd go all day without eating...
The craziest part is that she put on 3 lbs. since her GI appiontment in October. I know this is due to the eggnog we were stuffing her with - but you can't get eggnog in the store anymore.
She really has me frustrated. I'm also tired lately so I know that has alot to do with my patience concerning her eating but I would think it would get EASIER and not harder.
At least she would hold and drink her own bottle as an infant...
What do you do to get your child to eat? I'm open to all ideas because I'm at my wits end...
5 comments:
Hi Jennifer,
I have no ideas or great insight, just big hugs. I know how hard this eating thing is, and how little sense it all makes.
I guess I do have one idea: can you guys make your own egg nog off-season? I think it has a lot of whipped cream in it and nutmeg and they sell those ultrapasteurized eggs in boxes that are safe for pregnant women and such... I'd check out the foodnetwork or marthastewart.com and play around with recipes. Then the weight gain can continue and hopefully someday the hunger mojo kicks in!
gosh abby, why didn't I think of that?! I'm just not thinking I guess...
off to research...
Feeding therapy is the only thing that has ever worked for us. Good luck!
i would concur that feeding therapy does help.
personally i feel that "feeling" hunger falls under the umbrella that is sensory processing dysfunction as my son (6 on Friday) still does not consistently "feel" or recognize and express hunger. i have leanred to keep him on a predictable meal and snack schedule and also try to pay attention to his cues that might suggest he might be hungry: acting out, acting tired, etc. it's funny but those times when he is frustrated or annoying one of his siblings or acting like he is sleepy he actually inhales the snack i offer him. as time has gone on i have started suggesting to him when he is annoying or cranky or tired that maybe he is hungry too as a way of reinforcing this to him to (hopefully) help him recognize these hunger cues. frankly none of this has been easy and it took a long time as he grew and developed. you are on the right track and i must say you are doing an awesome job too.
Thanks guys! I appreciate the support of folks who have 'been there, done that'... I sometimes feel like I'm butting heads with my husband and family regarding all of this.
Unfortunately she doesn't qualify for the feeding therapy program here, according to her GI doc, unless she was off the growth chart... we're hovering at 10 - 25% right now...
...but at the current rate we'll probably be in 'qualifying' range soon enough!
We did have an encouraging session with her new nutritionist so we'll see how the next few days go with our new 'protocol' and hope for the best (not terribly optimistic, of course)
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