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Attachment Parenting
I think my mother thinks I'm starving my kid
She does not get BLW (and I haven't sent her the links, because I haven't found anything medical-related to back me up). I'm so sick of her comments like "I know you want to eat that, poor baby." (He gets food just fine, I find it in his diaper thankyouverymuch AND he's gaining weight fantastically - 4 to 8 oz a week.)
He's not even 6 months adjusted yet! He doesn't even need solids.
So I guess I'm venting and asking - is there any good research out there on BLW?
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Re: I think my mother thinks I'm starving my kid
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Ugh. Ugh. Now you got me started on this, lol.
I had a conversation the other day with someone I actually really like, and the whole thing really upset me.
There I was telling her all about how Wes will no longer let himself be spoon fed and how we're trying this (BLW) and just letting him feed himself whatever it is we're eating that is healthy (he's had carrots, parsnips, celery, banana, breads and bagels and pastas and stewed beef, rice and beans, etc. -- these are NOT unhealthy things for the love) and all I got in response were comments/questions like yeah, but you're still doing purees right, for the nutrition and the vegetables, etc. because the assumption is that with BLW they're not taking in that much.
I didn't think I needed to explain to this person that my son still consumes close to 30 oz. of milk, from which he derives most of his nutrition.
And even if it is true that they eat small amounts, that's just for now as he practices, but carrots go in and I've seen carrots come out, thankyouverymuch. As he gets bigger and better at chewing, he'll consume larger portions. He's barely 8 months old! This is a boy who will eat anything -- anything! even bananas for which he shows no great love, he eats, if with a grimace -- is in the 75th percentile for weight and >95th percentile for height. Does he look like a child whose nutritional needs are not being met???
Rant over. I'm going on the hunt for some research now.
ncbelle, good idea on talking about bm being the primary. I will get that.
momq - I appreciate your rant! And lots of ditto! Jack is perfectly healthy and in a great weight range even for his non-adjusted age, so I am happy. My mom did concede that he's learning motor skills this way, but I am SO SICK of it. I also think I'm sensitive b/c he was a little guy (a bit over 4.5 pounds) when we brought him home and had to monitor every drop he ate, and take to pedi almost daily for two weeks for weight checks.
Well, then your mom would definitely think we're starving DS. I think twice he has eaten 5 bites of something we've offered. We started almost a month ago and I don't even offer him solids everyday because he has so little interest. I just don't think it is worth the effort or the wasted food because he just doesn't care.
We're not doing BLW exactly, but we aren't feeding purees either. I've just been offering him soft foods (sweet potato, banana, avocado, etc) on my finger, on a spoon or in a mesh feeder. He will accept 3-5 bites (if that) and then he's done.
He doesn't need the food for nutrition, so we're just taking it REALLY slowly. I'm sure he'll eat someday. :-P We started offering solids to DD at 6 months, and she ate. But she didn't act like she enjoyed it until she was 7.5 months.
Heck, even Gerber will say that BM should be the primary source of nutrition for a year. Also, have her look at the nutritional "value" of purees. I was feeding some to a kid I babysat and truthfully, they're a majority water and have little to no calories nor vitamins. Once M broke teeth we get the solids question all the time so I'm gearing up my research for the next few months ; ) I'll always hand M something to hold during dinner just for the textures and he has NO interest in putting it in his mouth.
Jack had very little interest in solids until 11 mos, andeven now he's soso depending on the day. He wouldn't let me spoon feed him anything 'til last month (so now he gets yogurt and soup!) - he was essentially EBF until about 10 months. I gave him whatever was on my plate and let him play/gnaw, but he didn't really eat much at all.
My stepMIL made TONS of comments about how she knew Jack wanted to eat and I needed to feed him. She even started buying purees and force feeding him at her house.
Then, when Jack was 13 months and got a nasty cold (or swine flu. I don't know, he had all of the non-nausea symptoms), my bioMIL (stepMIL raised DH) who is freaking MACROBIOTIC and supportive of BFing told me that Jack's immune system must be compromised because I didn't give him purees and he needs those. I was like, um...13 month olds don't tend to get purees, regardless.