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1K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  JamieCatheryn 
#1 ·
Hello Everyone,

My 13 month old daughter is driving me crazy. I love her to pieces but she is nothing like her brother. My son walked at 9 months, talked at 6 months by one year was on the sippy cup walking talking telling me what he wanted for lunch. He's already a year a head if not more in school we have him with the pre-kindergarten class which he's not supposed to start until next school year. So he's always been advanced in everything...

My girl...She's average. Which is fine. She's done everything "on time" (roll over sit up etc). She didn't crawl right away. She's not walking yet. She cruises holding onto things and has taken like 12 steps at one time max. So she's getting there, but it seems like such a slow process with her. I do not enjoy the baby stage very much. I'll be honest. I love the toddler stage. I like the terrible twos when they are arguing with you. I enjoy the challenge. So I'm struggling. I'll admit. I'm struggling daily with my girl.

Any ideas on how to get her to take the sippy cup? She throws it. We have every different type of cup out there and she won't take to them.

Any suggestions on what to feed her? She'll eat stage two veggies and stage three fruits, but if I give her a banana and mush it up for her she gags. If I give her chicken or pizza or eggs or noodles or rice or anything that's "adult" food she spits it out. We are still doing four to six bottles (6 oz bottles) of formula a day. (I had to give formula. My boobs never made any milk. Happened with my son as well, so this time I was prepared.) Plus three feedings of baby food. She's sleeping through her morning bottle right now so I think today I'm going to skip it and try and give her an early lunch and see if she's hungrier if she'll take to the adult food. (Which I've done before but she's older now so I'm going to try again.)

She was also had colic as a baby which was pretty bad and she still randomly has screaming moments for no reason that we can tell, but it's not often and doesn't last long.

I'm so glad she was my second baby, because if she was my first I would of never done it again. Any suggestions would be welcomed. I'm sick of being stressed about this. I keep trying to tell myself she'll eat when she's ready. But I know if she eats more she will sleep through the night and I would love so much to not get up at night. She's taking one or two bottles every night and even though my husband feeds her I'm still awake.

Sorry for the rambling.

Thank you
~Melissa
 
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#2 ·
If it's a texture issue and she likes the foods pureed, you can take foods like sweet potato, green veggies, meat, avocado and puree them with water or milk so at least you are not buying jars of food. There could be things going on where she has food sensitivities, so is deliberately limiting what she eats, but this could be a normal pattern of development for her. You might want to check out the book "My Child Won't Eat" which I've heard good things about.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the info. When I puree the food myself she won't eat it. She likes her preprocessed foods. IDK. I'll check out the book.
 
#5 ·
Hi Melissa,

It sounds as if she may be rejecting the food due to possible stomach upset. You mentioned the colic, and continued occasional screaming - she may be having a challenging time digesting certain food. Are you open to consulting with a natural health practitioner who can offer assistance with what foods to eat and natural remedies? We consult with such a practitioner over the phone, and have gotten very helpful recommendations and results. Her name is Nicole Tucker, her website is www.NicoleAngelaTucker.com.

All the best,

HHM
 
#6 ·
Quote:
I keep trying to tell myself she'll eat when she's ready. But I know if she eats more she will sleep through the night and I would love so much to not get up at night. She's taking one or two bottles every night and even though my husband feeds her I'm still awake.

Sorry for the rambling.

Thank you
~Melissa
You should focus more on that first sentence, and forget the rest. She will eat when she's ready, and eating more solids isn't necessarily going to suddenly make her sleep through the night. Thinking that is just going to make your nights much harder to bear.

My youngest didn't sleep through the night until...well she still mostly doesn't. Starting her on solids didn't stop the night waking, night weaning didn't stop her from regularly waking, getting her into her own bed didn't stop her from regularly waking, and weaning entirely from the breast didn't do it either. The only thing that has changed night wakings has been time and maturity. She's now to the point where most night she sleeps through, some nights she wakes 1-3 times, and rare nights she wakes up a lot. She's currently 2.5.

My eldest stopped night waking a majority of nights between 1.5-2 years. She weaned from the breast at 1, and was mostly night weaned a few months before that.

Then some people who have babies who sleep through the night after a few months. They're all different.

I agree that investigating the possibility of food sensitivities isn't a bad idea.
 
#8 ·
Maybe try a GAPS approach to solids intro, in case it's a food intolerance/gut problem? Stop everything you're feeding now and start from the beginning if she's having tummy issues. Do freshly homemade as much as you can, the foods lose less nutrients, there's no additives, and it eases the transition to "real food". They say slowly over 10 weeks to go in this order, adding something new every few days and continuing the earlier stuff: homemade broth, veggie juice, well cooked veggies, boiled meats, natural plain yogurt, avocado, egg yolks, fruit puree, butter, nut butters (made into pancakes http://www.plantoeat.com/blog/2012/04/gaps-introduction-diet-week-4/), raw veggies, fermented veggies, scrambled egg, fresh fruit, cheese, bread. Watch for any sign of reactions with dairy, grains, certain fruits or veggies or from nuts and stop the offending food if you see any.

Hold the cup for her if she prefers that. My 12m old loves to turn his upside down and shake it to spill but he'll happily drink when I help him. Don't push too hard for independence, it's a proud but bittersweet moment each step they take away from needing/wanting us.
 
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