Dinner time blues

huzzahuzza

I swore up and down that I would never! EVER! make special meals for J.  He was eating what we ate and that was that (outside of those "he really shouldn't eat that" situations).  Low and behold, guess what I'm doing!!!!! HELP ME STOP!!!!

Backstory- J didn't STTN until, oh, 11 months. And even at that point, the child has RARELY ever slept past 7:00am.  At 11 months, however, he was at home with me during the day.  I saw how much he ate, he had a consistent schedule, I knew what was up.  Then I went back to work in September and we struggled a little bit to get in the routine of DC.  J stopped eating dinner efficiently and thus stopped sleeping through the night.  We started giving in and giving him bottles, telling ourselves that he would work things out and get on a schedule and we would be able to stop.  Well, here we are, two months later, and we are now catering to our child just to get him to eat dinner so that he'll STTN!!!!!! AND with all this catering, he's still not STTN.  

I don't want the bottles and I don't want the catering.  How do I stop this madness!?!?! 

ETA: We sleep trained at 10+ months with CIO.  We've tried it with this situation and he cried the longest we've ever listened to him cry at 1 hour... then I gave in and fed him a bottle and listened to him gulp down his milk and listened to his empty belly fill up.  It was heartbreaking!!!!!

jesselayne8

Will he not drink all that milk from a straw cup or sippie? Is he getting formula bottles or WCM? You just have to both make a commitment to hold firm your expectations. Say he doesn't eat dinner a few nights and maybe you have a bad night or 2 but he will get the idea after a few days. My kids usually make up for not eating dinner with eating a huge breakfast the next day. Kids won't starve and I am saying this as a mother of tiny kids (5th and 7th %tiles for weight).

huzzahuzza

Sooooo I'm taking your advice ladies.  We figured since we'll be in for it anyways with the clocks changing we would stick to our guns this weekend and tell J no specific meals.  He ate nothing for dinner tonight but did have a "bottle" before bed.  

So I should clarify a few things.  J doesn't really drink from a bottle any more @jesselayne8.  It's a sippy with a softer top.  I think the packaging said it was a transitions sippy cup because it still has a softer top. It's WCM in the bottle when we give it to him.

Also, I'm not completely against serving him something different, @2013sarabelleATX, if he tries it and doesn't like it but he has stopped trying anything.  Tonight we had skillet lasagna, a meal that he has enjoyed in the past.  He pushed his plate away the second he got it and signed that he was done (a "trick" he has pulled in the past to get chicken nuggets).  

DiFazette

Owen gets his own dinner every night since we get up so early (5:30 am), He's ready for dinner by 5:30 or 6. We play when H gets home for a bit, then bathtub and bedtime. Eventually I'd like to eat as a family, but right now it doesn't work for us. Last night we made Owen a big batch of meatballs (his favorite) and will serve that different ways this upcoming week. He gets well balanced meals at Daycare for breakfast and lunch, so if dinner does go to hell I don't stress too much.