Comments on: My 15 Month Old Daughter Does Not Eat Solids & Does Not Fall Asleep On Her Own….help!?

By: Kat148

Kat148 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:08:41 +0000

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

By: cathrl69

cathrl69 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:44:05 +0000

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.

By: Michelle J

Michelle J — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:48:19 +0000

Children will not starve themselves. Reduce the milk intake, no one would want to eat after drinking a big bottle of milk.

By: *****_b_

*****_b_ — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:46:33 +0000

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