Today we had Sarah Beth's 18 month checkup. As I've always been concerned with her physical growth, I was excited to see how her weight/height measured up since she's seemed to be chunking up lately. Apparently I was wrong. :) She was 30 3/4 inches tall (yay) and 20.6 lb (boo). I think that was the exact same weight we got at her 12 month checkup, actually. This was a little concerning to the doctor since her height and head size are on track with where they've been for about 9 months (percentiles in the high teens) and her weight fell from the 21st to the 4th percentile. whoops. The frustrating thing is that we've been feeling so good about how she's been eating lately! I told the doctor that since she was so small to begin with, for the first year of her life my main concern every hour of every day was "GET FOOD IN THE BABY." Once we established that she was growing physically at a healthy rate and was at or ahead of where she needed to be developmentally (without even accounting for her prematurity), we started to relax about the food. She eats a wide variety of healthy foods, but we were a little more laid back on the forcing her to eat part. We figured, "She's happy, she's growing, she's healthy. She'll eat when she gets hungry enough, so we're not going to wrestle with her over cleaning her plate." Sometimes she eats EVERYTHING ALL DAY LONG. Sometimes she seems to get by on oxygen alone. Also, she eats HEALTHY FOOD! I guess I shouldn't be surprised that she can't gain weight when her average dinner is grilled chicken and steamed veggies with no butter. :) She doesn't get cookies or ice cream--her most exciting treat is vanilla wafers! Today in an attempt to help her fatten up I gave her her very first taste of a peanut butter (full fat!) and jelly sandwich for lunch. She rejected it and ended up eating handfulls and handfulls of fresh pineapple for lunch. How you chunk up on pineapple alone I'll never know.
Bottom line is that according to Dr. Morton, we should go back to wrestling with her about food and forcing her to eat. Well...we tried that at dinner.
It did not go well.
She went at the green beans like they were going out of style, but as soon as I jammed a few pieces of cheesy potatos in, it all came to a screeching halt. The 3 bites that I forced her to eat plus the one bite of pork tenderloin that I jammed in took about 40 minutes in total because she cried and let the food sit in her open mouth for 10-15 minutes at a time before finally gagging herself and accidentally swallowing it. fun.
Now, I'm not what you'd call tenderhearted--I have no problem listening to her cry for hours if she's just throwing a fit and being disobedient (if she's genuinely hurt and crying, however, I get so worked up that it makes me cry. Ask Mark's parents--the only time they've ever seen me cry was when she and I fell down the stairs and she bit down on her lip so hard that she earned herself her first ER visit.). We view tantrums as acts of defiance and discipline her accordingly, but how do you discipline her for refusing to chew? Seriously? That's not a rhetorical question, folks! I have no problem forcing her to clean her plate if that's what it takes, but I think we'd sit at the high chair all. day. long. if that's what it came to. I'm open to any and all suggestions, friends! :)
5 comments:
Hmmm...that's a tough one. I don't really have any advice because Skylar is a pretty good eater, helpful I know.
I offer her about 10 things at every meal and just let her eat the 1 or 2 things she likes. She'll go a whole week on nothing but watermelon and mixed veggies. I also offer her food every 2 hours or so. I give her food when we eat, and about 5 other times during the day. She weighs exactly the same as Sara Beth--but she's shorter and 3 months younger--so we'll see what happens at her 18 month! I always stress about her weight too.
Have you tried smoothies made with whole milk?? You can sneak all kinds of things into smoothies, or make homemade popsicles, and maybe she'll eat them. Avacado is another good one, Skylar loves guacamole and it has lots of good fat. Oddly enough, Skylar also loves chickpeas and kidney beans, so you could try that for protien. I have a friend with a premie who fed her half & half for the first two years.
I think as long as mealtime doesn't become stressful and a battleground for both of you, she'll eventually put on some weight. And when she's 30 and can't get rid of the extra weight , she'll blame you for fattening her up.
Well girl, Dr. Persons always told me that Lydia will eat when she is hungry. And she always does. Somedays, like SB, it seems she survives on oxygen alone. We are to the point where after it has been a half hour or so, we will set the timer according to how much she has left, and if it is not gone, she gets a spanking and then we start all over and set the timer again. It may take a few times, but it is amazing how fast they can get food down that would normally take them an hour to eat on their own. :) Not sure if you are comfortable doing that with SB.
She is healthy and does not act sick and tired all the time right? I would not worry too much about it. Look at her daddy. She may just be one of those girls that will be in the low percentile for weight her whole life. That is not a bad thing. If she is eating healthy and getting nutrients, and the essentials that she needs, I say just wait and see what she weighs at her 2 year. Just some advice from your sensei. Take it or leave it.
Love and miss you girl!
Funny! She's a healthy active toddler - they aren't supposed to gain a ton this 2nd year of life b/c they burn more calories than the take in (at least that's how I see it!) And apparently takes after her daddy and will be skinny as a rail her whole life! Good thing she eats better than him!!!
a wuertz that eats healthy food?!? i laughed when i read she wanted the green beans, but not the cheesy potatoes. kiddo doesn't know what she's missing! green beans aren't bad though, don't get me wrong. maybe this is just a phase. once she gets a taste of the good stuff, she may change her eating habits.
I would also not worry about this as long as she is getting the nutrients she needs. One thing I found interesting about Taylor was that at 4 she is basically suppose to eat 1600-1800 calories a day, that's pretty close to the 1800-2000 I am suppose to eat which I find amazing. I do believe she will eat if she is hungry and sounds like you have gotten great advice thus far so here is my 2 cents.....whole milk and whole milk yogurt (smoothies or just let her dip the fruit in it) my girls would eat whole milk organic yogurt with blueberries all whipped in it for every meal if I would let them and they think straws are the best invention yet, especially if they get to pick the color!!!! A child 1-3 years of age is suppose to have 3-4teaspoons of oil or butter per day, they need fat and carbs (unlike us). Ashlyn loves to just eat butter when I let her!!! (not margarine --just good ole' Paula Dean/Emma Wuertz butter!!!! and let her eat every other hour if you can swing it. Dr. Sears reccommends ice tray with different snacks in each hole. You may have already tried rice but my kids love that too, especially Ashlyn...oh and grape nut flakes, wheat chex are weirdly her fave cereals! I don't know where you check in on healthy cereal but rice krispies and fruit cheerios are options as well if dark grains are not your best option with little Wuertz. I need you address too so I can send you your fork!!! My email is my name @gmail.com. Hope to hear from you soon and I will send your fork as your holiday present!!! I will sure miss your annual cookie party!!! Maybe if I am super adventurous I will start one in KY! More than 2 cents I know but rest assured that she is fine and she will eat if you keep offering her food and she may just have all of Mark's weight genes forever!!!! Have a blessed rest of the year!!!
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