Saturday, September 5, 2009

A Moving Target

Feeding Charlotte solid food makes me want to run screaming from the house. When Owen was six months old, sitting in his high chair, he looked like a starving baby bird. Every time you got near him with food his mouth would pop open, he would greedily devour whatever you stuck in it, and immediately open his mouth again, ready for the next bite. Charlotte, on the other hand, never opens her mouth at all. I wait, spoon poised in mid-air, praying that she will ever so slightly part her lips so that I can shove baby food in at lightening speed. She is not defenseless. She has mastered the "spray the baby food back at mom" technique and the "stick out my tongue, close my lips, and let all the food dribble down my chin" method. The latter is very well executed because Charlotte has the craziest tongue ever. She can lick her bib. Not that she's trying to get any food off of it. Oh no. Just trying to mock me. I've tried singing little songs, eating the food myself to show her how easy and tasty it is, and trying to distract her with cool toys. I would just say, "Forget it, I'll try again later," but when you have a smallish little girl, the doctor isn't so cool with mom giving up on solids. So if you have any awesome secrets that will make feeding time more pleasant, please share.

3 comments:

Christianne Page said...

I feel your pain, my friend. Evie was the queen of food evasion and then if I did manage to get an entire jar into her, she'd usually gag on the last spoonful and puke it all back up. I'd watch Owen eat pretty much anything you put in front of him and think "WHAT am I doing wrong?!?"

My backup was often feeding her in front of the tv. Everyone tells you not to do it, but Baby Einstein was my go-to for last resort feeding methods. And, of course, finding just the right song and singing it like a fool. Evie always got dinner and a show. I dreaded every meal and felt my blood pressure rising with each feeding.

The ultimate tool - prayer! I'll be praying for you. :)

Emsamum said...

try a good variety of food. There's usually one they will eat like there is no tomorrow. Also I have a little device I will bring you tomorrow that might aid her.

Mama Bee said...

When you figure out the sure-fire way to get Charlotte to eat, let me know. Ivy still eats practically nothing, and she's two and a half years old. Most days it's a little yogurt, and about 15 goldfish.