MSE Parent Club

[Deleted User]

I just can't get my boy to eat savoury food, he's only interested in finger food i.e toast and breadsticks and fruit and yoy mixed in. But with the finger food more falls out than in, he's only getting experience at the moment not enough food. He refuses all savoury food I give him, homemade or jar. I keep offering it at every lunch and tea feed, but he's having none of it.

I am worried about his iron levels and that he will just eat sweet stuff and be fussy.

Any advice please, I have so much pureed veg in my freezer its untrue!

Snaggles

Will he eat fruit bailey? Could you mix some veg puree with some fruit puree? I know it sounds disgusting but very young children often like strange combinations of purees.

Carrot and apple is quite nice, but Ryan would also have stuff like parsnip and pear, or brocolli and peach (I admit, it sounds revolting lol....but it doesn't actually taste that bad!).

Try starting with a high ratio of fruit to veg, then increase the amount of veg and reduce the fruit to see he will accept a gradual move to a more savoury flavour maybe?

Peach, nectarine and pear all go really nicely with chicken too - in fact we still glaze chicken breasts with 'baby food' and stick it on the bbq to this day....for the adults!

[Deleted User]

Another thing I am troubled about is use of dummy at night. From about 4am onwards we can be up between 1-4 times puttin the dummy back in as he loses it in his sleep. We've tried leaving him to settle himself but he cries hysterically and goes from 0-90 in 5 secs.

We are worried he's got so dependant on it. We've tried transferring his attachment to a toy or muslin, prefereably the muslin, so he can easily find it at night, can't be pushed through the cot bars and we have plenty of replacements.

Are we expecting too much of a 7 month old? We know friends whose daughter has always slept well, she's never had a dummy, never wanted one or needed one, but our son always wanted to suck and we were advised to use one for his reflux. He would never go to sleep without a dummy, its such a comfort to him.

I feel like I am doing it all wrong and close to tears today. Even hubbie queried this morning have we made a rod for our own backs?

[Deleted User]

Thanks snaggles, I will try combinations, it does sound disgusting but he might like it!

Thank you.

I feel low today maybe its pregnancy hormones and I had vomiting/diaharrea all weekend, so knackered.

Becles

Joshua wouldn't eat savoury but loved sweet stuff. I did the odd fruit/veg combos like snaggles did and it worked with him. Try sweeter veg first like parsnip, carrot and squash first then bring in green vegetables.

Joshua also loved cheese (still does!) so I managed to get him onto those tiny baby pasta shapes with grated cheese. The I added a bit tomato sauce for as while, then a bit mince in bolognaise sauce and then you can try shepherds pie with cheese on and so on.

I think we all have down days. I could have burst into tears all day Saturday, then I felt fine again - bloomin' hormones! It's not nice when you feel so low, so have a huge *hug*. Can you get a rest while baby has a nap? Have a nap yourself or a soak in the bath or put a chick flick on or something like that to recharge your batteries.

Snaggles

If it's any consolation, I think you're doing a fantastic job, you've got a young baby and a surprise pregnancy to deal with, plus you've been ill and you're not getting much sleep. No surprise you're feeling wobbly today.

I find writing it all down helps to keep things in perspective, so keep posting and we'll support you all we can.

Curious_George_2

Becles wrote: »

I would be cross with the mints things. I've lost count the number of times I've told mine they can't have sweets/biscuits etc., because they didn't eat a meal or something like that, then 5 minutes later my Mam gives them something :mad:

Then I really hate the "but Granny lets me" whine when I say no the next time :mad:

that does my head in! and if i say anything i get told "well thats what nannys are for"
what? undermining the rules ive set for MY children? grrrr..... :mad:

aaaaaanyway *and breathe* to the mum who has a stuffed up snotty child,
i always did the raising of end of the cot thing too, but my DD was also a midnight wriggler! but i tell you what might help, i used to put a teaspoon of vicks vaporub in boiling hot water in a small bowl and put it just under the cot (i would say to the side but if baby kicks anything out of the cot and it falls in you really wont want to save it!)
all the vick fumes float upwards and do thier job without you having to worry about getting messy, or baby having a reaction to being greased up with menthol etc

always seemed to help with my little one,

ps - try and put it in a bowl you would be happy to throw away after you have reused it a few times, a plastic tub or something, the vick water will be a solid lump by the morning

SusanCarter

Bailey, does he use a dummy in daytime sleep? If so, perhaps you could try to encourage him to use his thumb in daytime sleep when you're less tired and find it a bit easier to deal with. If it works then perhaps you might then be able to get him to do the same at night? That way he's got something to suck still but it's easier for him to find in the middle of the night than a dummy. I read a book which said that sucking is one of a babies natural pleasures and some are more "sucky" than others so just because he likes a dummy doesnt mean you've done anything wrong.

[Deleted User]

Thanks SusanCarter, he does suck his thumb sometimes but usually when he's happy not tired. He does have his dummy for all naps/sleeps, as I said he needs it to go off and has always been a sucky baby. I will try his thumb this tomorrow and see how we go. I could try giving him his muslin again to suck on too, I get the impression its just not as satisfying as a dummy.

I gave him apple and carrot at his 3pm feed, he ate it, not with the gusto of his yog afterwards (he loves yog) but he still ate it, I did half and half. Thanks for that tip. I will try parsnip and pear tomorrow.

As I couldn't eat last night I saved myself some lasagne and its been in the fridge all day. It wasn't a relaxing bedtime with Jack as he was playing up, over tired I think, so by the time I had done bottles, tidied up and finally sat my bum on the kitchen. I decided not to wait for hubbie to come home and microwave my tea. As I got it out of the fridge I dropped the plate and it went EVERYWHERE, all in the fridge, on the floor, plate shattered, mess everywhere. I just burst into tears and had a paddy in the lounge. I am so tired it the last thing I needed. Once I'd calmed down I cleared it up and now I'm wondering what to have for tea, kind of gone off it now. Hubbie said he won't be home till about half eight. He's usually late on a monday, its normally 7.30-8.30pm.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Snaggles

Bailey ((((hugs)))) I really feel for you because I understand exactly how you feel. Is Jack asleep? Can you get a bit of time to yourself to relax or have a little bit of sleep until your hubby gets home?

Try and have something to eat even if it's just some toast. Thinking about you xxx