Posts Tagged ‘feeding’
The first review, part I
Sep
I’ve decided that the first book I will experiment with will be one on feeding my child, since I feel extraordinarily clueless in this department. You’d think it would be pretty easy and straightforward, but now that she is eating mainly solids and largely eschewing pureed baby food, I’m kind of at a loss. She only has about 5 1/2 teeth, so she limited in what she can chew. Add to that the fact that she is a very busy baby and often finds exploring her world far more beneficial than eating and I’m really in a bind.
I think my anxiety is compounded by the fact that last semester I took a basic nutrition class, which was interesting and informative, but it has me all worried about eating a balanced, healthy diet. It has me even more worried that I am not providing my daughter a balanced and healthy diet, because surely she needs it more than even I because she is growing and developing, and what mother doesn’t want her child to have every advantage possible in this difficult world?
My nutrition book often touched on the fact that after 6 months of age a child’s iron stores can become depleted and it is often worsened by having a milk-heavy diet. Toddlers tend to love milk, and will often fill up on that rather than eat their meals. While little ones need several ounces of milk a day, it shouldn’t be their main food source anymore. Sometimes I’ll watch Claire drink her milk and the words milk-heavy diet… milk-heavy diet…will circle in my brain, causing me to get all sorts of knots in my stomach and wondering whether or not she is depleting her iron stores that very moment and will soon become anemic.
So, I picked up a book at the library and dove in. For this installment I’ve decided to read the book Feeding: The Brazelton Way, by T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., and Joshua D. Sparrow, M.D. Dr. Brazelton is a tenured pediatrician and a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics Emeritus at Harvard Medical School, and Dr. Sparrow is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, so I’m assuming these guys know their stuff. They’ve written several other books on topics such as sleeping, soothing a fussy baby, potty training, etc.
Speaking of people named Sparrow…did you hear that Nicole Richie had a baby boy and named him Sparrow- as his first name? No offense if you decided to name your litlle boy Sparrow, I’m sure he’s a gem, but I think that poor kid is headed for some wedgies and good poundings on the playground due to his sissy name. Anyway, enough of potentially offending people. Back to the subject…
So I’m about halfway through the book and there have been some good tips and interesting thoughts, as well as a few things I think may not apply to all babies. Dr. Brazelton starts out by talking about the importance of using feedings as a valuable time to bond and interact with your baby and to help further their development. He mentions that as the child grows and begins to feed himself, the parent may have a difficult time letting go and allowing the child independence during feedings, but it is important to do so. I will admit that while I sometimes love that Claire can feed herself and can eat a variety of foods, I often miss the quiet times we had on the couch together where she would grip my thumb and little finger with her tiny hands, eyes half closed, as I fed her a bottle. I loved being able to put her over my shoulder and snuggle with her as I patted her back. She still gets a couple of bottles a day, and I adore that rare time when she’ll sit contentedly on my lap without squirming to reach or grab or crawl away. I love seeing her so relaxed, eyes half closed again, clutching and rubbing her blankie as I feed her a bottle. She can hold her bottle on her own, but I love holding it for her. I dread the day when I have to take away the bottle completely and those sweet, quiet times will vanish. Throughout the book Dr. Brazelton frequently touches not only on the child’s ongoing development with the feeding process, but on the parent’s as well. I have a lot to learn about letting my baby grow up.
Oh dear, speaking of my baby, it sounds like someone is awake. I’ll have to dive into this later. Stay tuned!
Tags: book review, feeding
Feeding frenzy
Aug
While I was pregnant one of the last things I worried about was feeding my baby. Surely keeping her healthy/comfortable/clean/breathing/alive would be more difficult, right? Wrong. While feeding hasn’t been the most difficult thing we’ve encountered (sleeping has been FAR more troublesome, but that’s a different post entirely), it’s been something that has proved to be challenging.
First off, nursing did not go as planned. I read everything I could about it, met with the lactation consultant, and tried, tried, and tried again. But alas, my little baby was not interested in learning to latch properly and I endured weeks of toe-curling pain. Add to that the fact that I discovered my body hardly produced any milk at all and it was a recipe for disaster. So after two months the nursing/pumping ended entirely and we turned to formula which made for smooth sailing for a while.
Then came the time to introduce solid foods, and I realized I was completely clueless. What solid foods are best to try first? How much should she eat? How many bottles should she still drink? Do I need to worry about creating a “balanced meal” each time with something from fruits, veggies, protein, dairy, and grains? Or is a jar of strained peas ok for a small meal? And now that she eats mainly solid food, how much should she be eating a day? She is a small thing, on the low end of the weight chart, so I worry about the fact that she really can’t afford to miss out on any calories lest she waste away before my eyes. In short, I had no idea what I was doing.
Luckily, I read some articles on good finger foods for baby and that seemed to help for a while. There are plenty of foods she seems to enjoy: avocado, tomatoes, buttered toast, Goldfish crackers, watermelon, green beans, corn, cheese, sweet potatoes, etc.
One thing I’ve noticed she’s not fond of though is meat. I’ve determined that it could be because she’s a) aiming for a healthy lifestyle by limiting her red meat intake b) a future member of PETA c) purposefully aggravating her father who thought in his bachelor days that every meal should consist of steak in some form, or d) just doesn’t like it. It’s hard to say. Most meat we try to give her ends up on the floor, much to the delight of the waiting dog. Being the worrier that I am, this concerns me that she isn’t getting enough protein. How do I get this kid to eat meat? I suppose I could feed her tofu, but…ehhh….
At this point Claire has graduated past having a few noodles or pieces of avocado to eat and would like an actual meal that will fill her up for some period of time. See, there are so many things to do an explore that she really doesn’t have time to stop and eat, so we need to make the most of the few moments I can confine her to a high chair. I don’t think she can subsist on a diet of Goldfish crackers for much longer, and I’d like to have something to give her that she won’t choke on and she can feed herself as she seems to enjoy that more. An added plus would be if it didn’t make a massive mess each time either. Mama doesn’t have time to draw a bath three times a day, ya know?
So, this will be the topic of study over the next little while. As evidenced, I don’t quite know how to approach this problem, so I’m hoping to find some people that do. Expect to see a “review” of sorts soon on a book about feeding your baby. We’ll see what sort of chaos may ensue. Fun!
