Feeding frenzy
I'd be the first to admit that I'm a little stressed out. In a bit of a funk. At the end of my rope.We're having Food Issues.
The girl had her 9 month checkup today. She's doing quite well, except they're a little concerned about how little she eats during the day. I can't say as I blame them, seeing as she's actually down almost half a pound from when we took her in a month ago during the baby plague days. I mean, she's no longer refusing to eat at daycare like she was for the first few weeks, but she's not exactly pigging out.
On a really spectacularly good day at daycare, she's taking a couple small meals of solids and about 10oz of milk. Which is, according to what the boy reported, about 14 fewer than she should be. Did I mention that, as I work a good 20 miles from home, I couldn't be at her appointment? It's the first one I've missed. I'm relying on secondhand information, and let us face it, the boy's not the best at knowing which are the important details. Anyhow. Yes. She should be taking more milk. We usually send around 12oz with her. When we started, we sent more, but with the hunger strike, it just went to waste.
Time to up the amount in the bottles. Unfortunately, I've barely been able to keep up with the demand as it is, and my pumping output's been doing the opposite of improving.
Worse, I'm getting an officemate soon (I was lucky to have a month without one). While I could hum a few bars and fake a space to pump, the fact of the matter is that, if I have to start limiting the time I spend pumping because I can't do it at my desk, my production's going to plummet. (Yes, I know you're not supposed to pump for as long as I do--at least 45 minutes, usually--but if I don't, I wind up with nearly-empty bottles and uncomfortable tits.) If she starts taking more via bottle, we'll probably have to try supplementing, but given her dislike of new tastes (and, if I'm honest, my dislike of the whole idea of formula, from the various marketing evils to the vile smell of the stuff*), I can't see that ending in any way but tears on both our parts.
We're supposed to encourage her to eat more protein and fat-rich solids.
She's a picky eater.
Attempts at said solids tonight resulted in very little food inside the baby.
I'll be here in the corner, banging my head against a brick wall and cursing just about everything.
* I have, in fact, fed formula to babies I've looked after. I've mixed it up, fed it with love, and never, ever, ever managed to get over the way it smells. Plus, that stuff costs an arm and a leg, and as I've already had to sign over my limbs to cover daycare, I can't really afford it.
posted by mohmlet @ 9:46 PM
3 Comments:
I don't think her taking 10 oz a day from a cup is an incredibly small amount. Eve took 12, tops. And then nursed all night, of course, but it sounds like Lily is doing that, right? I think the 10+14 amount is probably what they want her to take in in a 24 hour period, rather than just while you're at work. And of course you can't reliably measure what she takes direct from the breast. (Is your pede strongly pro-bf? You may be running up against a small bias).
As for solids, does she eat yogurt? Avocado? Those are the big fatty solids you can try safely that I can think of. Keep trying new solids! (Canned beans, mashed? Cheerios? Jarred baby foods? Canned creamed chicken?)
I'm sorry this is so hard. Is there a place you could pump and work on a laptop? I'd talk to your HR and try to find a way to make it work.
As a temp, I don't really have any real HR person who'll do anything. I'll find the space somehow, even if I have to resort to the bathroom.
Her pede is pro-BF, but the loss of half a pound in a little less than a month is not ideal. We're starting yogurt, but she's iffy about it, as she is about most foods that are neither orange nor oatmeal.
I've been buying "Yo Baby" for Ellie. It's made with whole milk and has tons of fat. It was the firsdt thing she really seemed to love.
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