One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Our success was very short-lived. Yesterday was one of the worst days for me; nothing was turning out right and I felt like a failure as a mom. I had previously decided to feed Kira formula every four hours and to feed her solid foods two hours after formula at appropriate times of the day (i.e., breakfast, lunch, dinner). The day started out that way. She had a bottle at 8:30 and I attempted to feed her oatmeal cereal and pureed peaches at 10:30. She was more stubborn than usual and refused to take even ONE bite! I tried again at 11:30, but again she refused to even try it. By the time 12:30 rolled around, I was at my in-laws' house. If I followed the schedule, I should have fed her formula, but I was so hung up on giving her solid food that I fed her 1 TBS each oatmeal cereal and applesauce. She ate all of it. Okay, small victory. But I was still distraught because she didn't have her formula. Here's how the rest of the day went:

8:30 - 4 oz formula

10:30 - failed solid food attempt

11:30 - failed solid food attempt

12:30 - 1 TBS each oatmeal and applesauce

2:30 - 4 oz formula

3-5:30 - nap (longer than usual)

5:30 - failed solid food attempt

6:30 - 3 oz formula

8:00 - failed solid food attempt

10:00 - fell asleep in the car and would not wake up

2:00 am - 4 oz formula - then slept until 7:30 the next morning

Sorry if this is TOTALLY boring, but I just need to get it off my chest. I feel horrible because as you can see by the schedule, she only had 15 oz of formula the whole day! She's supposed to have 24 oz!...not to mention she only had 1 nap, (that's a whole different bag of guilt). So, the day started out following the new schedule, but ended with the starvation method. I've learned that I really hate the starvation method and I'm never going to do it again. I would much rather force feed Kira than to wait and wait and wait.

Ok, so yesterday was a bad day. But today is a new day and I am determined to strictly follow the new schedule. I think the 4 hour interval is better than the old 3-hour interval because she was refusing her formula on the old schedule, which I've convinced myself is a true sign that she was not hungry. And as for the solid foods, well, I've decided I need to relax. If she decides she wants to eat, then great, if not that's fine. I will still give myself credit for trying.

I read something on babycenter.com that helped me come to terms with Kira's refusal to eat solids. It was a question posted by a mom and answered by other moms. One of the answers stuck with me:

Q: My 10 month old doesn't like to eat baby food or solid food, what should I do?

A: My daughter went through the same thing. I brought it to my pediatrician's attention and his response "We should get her therapy then" he was joking of course and said that we sometimes force our children to eat and then ask the questions "why does my child have an eating disorder or is overweight" he said for the first 12 months they really only need to worry about their formula - it has all the nutrients your baby needs and not to worry. Keep trying a little bit every day and eventually your baby will eat it. I tried every day - changing it up from bananas to sweet potatoes and I mix it in her cereal (she likes it thick too - sometimes consistency matters) I then nuke it for 10 seconds which warms it up a bit and she NOW loves it. It will happen.