My 15 Month Old Daughter Does Not Eat Solids & Does Not Fall Asleep On Her Own….help!?
Posted by: in Hair Loss NutritionMy 15 month old daughter hardly eats any solids. Instead of listing what she does not eat, it is easier to list what she does….
* cucumbers (a bite or two)
* bread (a few bites)
* rice (sometimes)
* spaghetti (dry, no sauce)
* dairy products like cheese and yogurt
* sometimes boiled egg if i mash it up and mix it with rice cereal and mix that with fruit yogurt too.
* few bites of turkey breast deli-meat.
So her main meal is always her bottle of formula and the solids that she does eat are just in between snacks.
I am , of course, very very frustrated and at a loss at what I should try as I feel like i have tried EVERYTHING. If food does manage to get inside her mouth she will spit it out. Food is always everywhere in my house (on the floor, in our hair, on the walls) accept in my daughters tummy where it should be!
My daughter also wakes up once in the middle of the night for a bottle, and i feel i cant refuse giving it to her because she has nothing in her tummy accept for milk so she must be starving?! She won’t go back to sleep without the bottle of milk and she will just continue crying. You may suggest i let her cry it out, but please continue reading below…
I tried taking her off formula for a few weeks and gave her whole milk instead, on her pediatricians recommendation. He thought that should make her hungrier for food since whole milk is not as dense as formula. He also suggested i supplement with vitamin drops. hahaha…that, of course in my case, did not work. Not only will my daughter refuse the vitamin drops (even if they are mixed in with the milk in the bottle), but she was starving since her solid intake did not increase. Yes…she is a stubborn little one.
My other issue is her sleeping habits.
She cannot fall asleep on her own and my husband is completely against “cry it out” as he cant bare to see/hear our daughter crying. We have argued about this too much and I always end up loosing because he just walks into her room and picks her up.
I don’t need to rock her to sleep but she just needs to be held and cuddled, which is actually very sweet most nights, but some nights i am just so exhausted (im also 9 weeks pregnant) that i just wish i could put her in bed after having her milk bottle and she would fall asleep on her own.
Any suggestions on how to make my life a little easier?! Please!!
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November 25th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
My 15.5 month old is pretty much the same. And to add to it, he is allergic to milk protein and has major reflux issues.And he will NOT take the vitamin drops to save his life. lol
The solution that seems to work for me is to mash the food using a hand blender so that its mostly fine. Even if DS swallows a few mouthfuls, its valuable nutrition going in. Also, he is developing a taste for the new food even though he is eating it in a different form
How was she with baby food? Did anything particular appeal to her then?( say peas,prunes etc ).Maybe you can go back to including lots of those again in her food and slowly transitioning her to toddler food, one item at a time.
I can relate to you on the sleeping bit too. What seems to work of late for us is that we totally exhaust him by taking him to the park to play in the evenings.All the running gets him hungry and tired. He still needs to be put to sleep but it takes very little time.
Force and discipline executed through force never seems to work..just lots of love, patience and giving it time does. All the best
November 25th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Children will not starve themselves. Reduce the milk intake, no one would want to eat after drinking a big bottle of milk.
November 26th, 2009 at 1:44 am
So don’t give her any milk with her main meal. None at all. No bottle of formula (why is she even still on a bottle?), no whole milk. The difference in “density” of the two sorts of milk is minimal.
Stubborn? Fine. Let her be stubborn and hungry. Don’t make a big thing about it. Give her her food, including some of the things which she eats already and some which she doesn’t, and wander off and wash dishes with your back to her or something. What do you mean “if food does manage to get inside her mouth…” – are you suggesting you are spoon feeding a 15 month old? So stop. Give her her food and show no particular interest in whether she eats it or not. The first couple of times she’ll probably throw it on the floor and scream. Take her out of the highchair, say “I guess you’re not hungry just now” and carry on with life. Repeat a couple of hours later – without a bottle of milk in between.
Once her not eating stops being a way she controls you and starts being something which affects only her, by making herself thoroughly hungry, then you have some chance of it working.
November 26th, 2009 at 3:08 am
Oh, I feel your pain. It is so hard with your first. Well, my daughter is the same age. Try giving her finger foods she can feed herself – This is what I fed her when she first started table food:
Pastina – it’s tiny little star shaped pasta. impossible to choke on
just boil it down with chicken broth and add butter to it
Cheerios – every kid loves these – I first soaked them in milk or water to soften them until she starting chewing better.
white bread – tiny little bits of soft wonder bread
canned or jar Manderin oranges – these are slippery little guys – very easy to for them to swallow and chew
Scrambled egg – make a little baby omelet – just butter and cut up very tiny
If she won’t eat, just walk away from her and do something like empty the dishwasher – this always works for me and she eats away. If I sit there she will cry and fuss. Or try feeding her at the table with the family when everyone else is eating.
I too have to hold my daughter to go to sleep. My hubby spoiled her by always rocking her to sleep. I did use to put her to bed while awake and she would fall asleep. But those days are gone. I do have some success during the day though for her naps. So I would try putting her in her crib during the day for her naps at the same time every day. Pick a time that she is usually sleepy. And if she crys just stay with her a little bit but keep her in the crib. put some toys in the crib and play alittle with her , make it fun. then leave. Sure she will cry a little but that’s fine. Crying is how they soothe themselves. Unless she is screaming bloody murder. Then go back and do it again and leave again. Eventually she will go to sleep better on her own. It just takes time and practice.
But don’t worry you are not alone! – Best