Alright all you moms out there . . I need some ideas. So, I've got this fiesty little eight month old who has decided that she doesn't really like most baby food, except sweet potatoes and maybe a few other things mixed in with sweet potatoes . . . or, I guess she likes fruit with cereal, too in the morning. Other than that, she wants to eat small bites of things that she can feed herself: green beans, bread, pears, bananas, little "meat sticks" (which are the yuckiest looking things in the world, by the way . . . we've made fun of them with two sets of company over for dinner in the past few days) and puffs. Lately, she has been pretty hungry by the time we eat, even when I give her a bottle before. We all eat together at the table, and I eat my meal while feeding her. She gets 2-3 bites at a time on her tray, because if I give her a bunch, it will all go in her mouth at once. She has just learned how to sign "more," so she frantically signs that during the whole meal, accompanied by a lot of whining and yelling. The other problem is that she waves her arms around so much with her signing and general hyper-activity that when I try to give her a bite or two of babyfood, she hits the spoon with her hand, making the food fly all over the place. Lovely. So, there's my visual for you. Here are my questions:
1. What are some ideas of finger foods I can give her that she will be able to digest well at this point? Or, should I just make her eat more baby food?
2. What are some tactics people have used to teach her not to whine and make a big scene at the table? Technically, she is signing, which is great, but she is just making such a big fuss the whole time. I think she's just really hungry and can't get enough food fast enough . . . which is why it would be better if she would just take a whole jar of baby food in quickly and fill up her tummy faster than with little tidbits of other stuff.
Help?
P.S. Here's a picture of her with Opal the other day. I took her and Xavier to Amber's on Monday for a playdate in the sun. I just have to say that I love the Johnson's house, so I invite myself over there a lot during the summer . . . we sat Opal up next to Clara and noticed how close they are in size. Poor Opal, though . . Clara just climbed over the top of her and grabbed stuff from her. Like I said . . . our fiesty girl. :)
3 comments:
Wow Laura, you're fast! Clara is making Opal look normal in this picture - just sitting there, how nice of her to come down to her level. By the way, it sounds like Clara is a regular eater. All of my babies have gone through the same thing, just not as soon as Clara. I just go at my own speed, not theirs and make them wait for it - yes, a lot of frantic noises occur and they think they will starve, but it's just that - noise. If they hit the spoon or try to grab it we say, "no" in a firm voice and help them put their hands down, sometimes you have to hold their hands with one hand and feed them with the other. Ahh - food- fun times!
Yeah, I'm going to do more of the hands down thing. I made her do it more last night.
It sounds like Clara is doing really well to me. I found that my kids knocked and grabbed at the spoon less if I gave them their own spoon. I've had to "dose" my kids with a few chunks at a time as well. Gabe was a tremendously picky eater. Zion would try anything, especially if it came off of our plate. Overcooked noodles (as in REALLY mushy) are good foods, peaches, peas, diced red and green peppers. Just about anything you can cut up small enough, cooked carrots (not raw). The whining and yelling will go away over time as she gains more confidence in her ability to communicate "more" and gets practice at how the whole meal situation works.
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