Project getting baby to eat more update

mssaint · January 2012

He has gained almost a pound in about 10 days, so I think we're doing pretty well. Meals are basically a smorgasbord and we let him try new things, plus stick with tried and true favorites. I am chagrined to say that he will devour the Gerber graduates raviolis in about 2 seconds flat. So much for my dream of baby only eating unprocessed, organic foods.

We have also started adding butter to a lot of foods - his morning oatmeal, etc. He also loves guacamole, and seems to like it on crackers.

But we're still having trouble with beverages. We are nursing at night and in the morning, and on weekends at naptimes. He drinks from a bottle and sippy at daycare, will take a bottle from DH at home, but won't drink from a sippy/bottle if I'm around. I'm not ready to wean yet (I want to get through cold season). I just don't think he's getting enough to drink on the weekends since he hardly takes anything other than nursing.

How can we get him to drink more? I bought some new sippies and some straw cups and we've tried them with breastmilk, pediasure, whole milk, water and juice. He drinks a pediasure/breastmilk combo at daycare right now.

WinesNotWhines · January 2012

1 pound in 10 days is amazing! Good job, mama!

Does he not drink anything when you're around, not even water? Or is he just refusing milk-type substances? For water, you could try letting him take sips from a regular cup. It's obviously messy, so I wouldn't recommend doing it with anything other than water, unless you're braver than me. A short-term solution could be for you to go hide in another room and have DH give him the drink. Or even leave the house for a few minutes if you have to. Or have DH go out on a "special outing" with J and he can offer him the milk then. Also keep offering when you're around, and hopefully he'll accept it eventually. I know some moms of newborns have to do things like that when they want their babies to drink from a bottle.

You can also offer him foods that have a high water content, like watermelon and grapes.

It took about 3 months before M would accept cow milk from a cup (from anyone). I tried everything, but it just took time and repeatedly offering it to him. We took breaks where I wouldn't offer milk for 1-2 weeks, and then I'd go back and offer it again. Eventually he accepted it, and now he even asks for milk. I'm mentioning this so you know there is hope.

preissless1 · January 2012

Since he is open to trying new foods, what if you got one of those mesh feeders and put a frozen milk cube in there for him to gum on? It might be messy, but it might seem like a treat vs. drinking somthing other than mom.

mssaint · January 2012

WnW, he doesn't like to drink anything but bm and now the pediasure/bm mix. He thinks water is funny and likes to splash it and pour it, but drinking it is not his thing. He spits out juice. He likes pediasure and breast milk and seems pretty ok with WCM too, but won't drink them in quantity except at daycare.

We do let him drink from a real cup for the novelty of it but I don't think he gets much. He treats the sippy like a toy - he throws it, gums it, moves it around, pounds it on the table, but doesn't drink from it, at least not when I'm watching. We've tried 4 or 5 brands of sippies and straw cups.

He's a little better when I'm not around, but not a lot.

We'll keep working on it and I'll be inspired by your LO!

WinesNotWhines · January 2012

Does he know how to drink from a straw? I kind of had to teach M how to do it, and it took a little while for him to get the hang of it.

mssaint · January 2012

WinesNotWhines:
Does he know how to drink from a straw? I kind of had to teach M how to do it, and it took a little while for him to get the hang of it.

We're working on it. He's gotten milk up through it, looked surprised and then went back to chewing on it. LOL.

WinesNotWhines · January 2012

mssaint:

WinesNotWhines:
Does he know how to drink from a straw? I kind of had to teach M how to do it, and it took a little while for him to get the hang of it.

We're working on it. He's gotten milk up through it, looked surprised and then went back to chewing on it. LOL.

LOL. Someone on this board gave me the idea to put something "fun" in the cup when teaching how to drink from a straw, to give a kind of incentive. I started with lemonade, which he definitely liked, but then the clincher was one day when I had a milkshake and I let him taste it. He was a straw expert after that... haha.

kastle · January 2012

you guys are doing awesome!

and, fwiw, Sprout sometimes eats ravioli from the can. Amy's Organic makes some that I get from Target (for some reason it seems ot go on sale there frequently) that I buy but he totally prefers Chef Boyardee. Sigh.

ch ch ch chia · January 2012

kastle:

you guys are doing awesome!

and, fwiw, Sprout sometimes eats ravioli from the can. Amy's Organic makes some that I get from Target (for some reason it seems ot go on sale there frequently) that I buy but he totally prefers Chef Boyardee. Sigh.

It was on sale at Target for $1/can about a week ago. Not sure how often (or for how long) they run their sales.

smacb · January 2012

We had a hard time switching DS to cow's milk until we discovered yogurt smoothies. He loved the Yo Baby smoothies.

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