feeding

kimberley wrote: you'd think being my 5th i'd be a pro but my memory has gone by the wayside and i am losing faith in my aging ped.

we have been trying the cereals for a few months with no success. he thinks they are vile and i don't blame him. just before christmas, we tried applesauce and he thought that was the stuff! he will only eat it when he's in the mood.. which is never at meal time and has rejected other fruits and the meat/veggie mixes (which the ped is pushing now).

question: how do i get him to eat something other than applesauce?
he shows interest in table food but even a couple of grains of mushy rice is too solid for him and he gags it up. advice appreciated!

~Roo'sMama~ replied: Andrew had the opposite problem when he was around that age, and gagged on anything with texture... actually cereal he didn't do so well with either. But I think if Riley is interested in table food, I'd give it to him. Do you think he'll eat it mashed up a little, or will he gag on that too? Otherwise, if all he ate was applesauce and is nursing that's probably fine too! He certainly isn't having any weight gain problems!

coasterqueen replied: How old is is? My girls didn't have solids until well after a year and didn't care about them. They just wanted to nurse. They turned out fine......well mostly.

PrairieMom replied: Have you tried any other foods? Like other fruits? Maybe you could mix apple sauce with other foods to start sneaking them in? thats how I get peas and carrots into Charlie. LOL. He gags on them by them selves, but If I mix carrots with sweet potatoes they go right down!

I have heard of people who do baby led weaning who just skip puree foods all together and go streight to table foods. Maybe that would work better for you?

kimberley replied: he is 9mos now. he gags on everything but applesauce. Jade was bf until a year then straight to solids but i was home then. i hate the thought that Riley screams half the day cuz he is hungry and i can't pump more than 2-3ounces at a time (he refuses formula). also, marathon nursing every night after work gets tiring and sore.

i will try mixing stuff with the applesauce and see if that works. thanks!

MommyToAshley replied: Mixing it with the applesauce sounds like a good idea. Wish I had more advice for you.

A&A'smommy replied: My nephew use to gag on EVERYTHING they fed him, just keep offering solids he will eventually eat it. If he doesn't just let him eat formula/breastmilk (I believe you are exclusively nursing right? Tucker was a breatfed baby!) It shouldn't be THAT big of a deal until he is 1 stupid doctors think they know everything! That is what her ped told her to do.. but honestly tucker ate swallowed even though he was gagging he was hungry!

coasterqueen replied: Megan had a severe gag reflex to everything and still does sometimes. I just don't have any advice because with that gag reflex she nursed longer and she would mainly only nurse from me, and so that meant she didn't eat almost all day (except a couple ounces) and was miserable and I nursed all night long. It sucks, I know, especially when you work. But with Megan's weight I had no choice. Sounds like with your little guy, he's big enough it's not much of an issue for you. Have you tried mixing some formula with breastmilk? Maybe he'd take the formula that way?

kimberley replied: yes, i am still exclusively bf. and it's not really a weight gain issue.. more like a "daddy-sanity" issue lol. if i can get some extra milk this weekend, i will try mixing breast milk and formula but can't risk wasting the liquid gold during the week. Karen, i don't know how you did this so long without going a lil insane

coasterqueen replied:
Oh I went insane. I look back now and ask myself the same thing "how did I survive", but I think you just do it, you know. You are kind of like on auto-pilot and when you just give in to the fact of knowing you will be exhausted, pulled in every direction possible and that you HAVE to do what you have to do for survival of your child and yourself....it just happens. Something else you might try......just mix a little bit of breastmilk with formula and freeze them into momsicles. If he likes to mouth things like he's hungry, but won't take formula by itself, maybe it will seem more exciting as a "popsicle". My kids love momsicles. I had no milk issues with Kylie, but did with Megan. It was stressful, but if you let the stress get to you your milk will just continue to decrease. And I know it's hard having to be nursing all night long, but it's the best for your supply. You are almost to a year, then you can go to cows milk.....hang in there!!! I must say it's nice to see someone else on here know what it's like to be a working MOM. Especially a breastfeeding/pumping, working mommy.

kimberley replied: haha Karen, you were on my mind since the summer wondering how you did this with your girls. high stress, demanding job and even more demanding nurslings. pumping is the most frustrating experience of my life! and sleep... what the heck is that? how did you continually form coherent sentences? lol

love the momsicle idea! he's teething pretty badly so this might be a good solution.

coasterqueen replied:
Yeah, pumping was more stressful than any of the rest of it. Really. Why? Because there was no where completely private for me to pump. There would be an empty office I'd go to pump in No lock so I had to put a note on door that it was occupied, only to be walked in on NUMEROUS times by men....as I sat there wide open for the world to see my boobs being pumped. So I was nervous every freakin' single time (3x a day, every day) that someone was going to walk in. That part I hated hated hated.