Monday, May 4, 2009

I need HELP from all you mothers out there!

So here is the deal....my child is REFUSING to feed herself. A little background...Taylor has never been interested in putting anything in her mouth. I thought this was a good thing at first...no yucky stuff from the floor...no dangerous objects she could choke on...but now it's getting ridiculous because she is refusing to put food in her mouth too. You would think that as much as this child loves her food...she would be all over it, but it's not happening. She plays with it on her tray and thinks its the most hilarious thing ever to feed me or Luke...but she never even attempts to bring the food to her own mouth. She want to grunt and scream until you do it for her. She has even brought her open mouth down to the tray to get the piece of food. Anytime you put the food in her hand and force it to her mouth, she freaks out and she will imitate everything else expect for this. This is one very stubborn child! I have been so worried that I even called the development center in town. They gave me some ideas about playing more with food so that she is having fun and that its not stressful...but so far there hasn't been any huge improvements. She is also having a very hard time with the sippy cup. She will let me bring it to her mouth sometimes, but most of the time she wants nothing to do with it. So, to sum it up....she loves her bottle and she loves for us to feed her...and that's how she wants it right now. I would love any help that you mom's out there have...HELP!
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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is she this way at daycare also? Believe me, Kelli, she WILL eat when she is hungry, but I know listening to your little one while she is screaming can be very trying on the nerves. This may sound silly, but I wonder if putting a mirror in front of her would make any difference...try and let me know how it works. Good luck and thanks for always sharing Taylor with me in Cyberspace. Donna Safarik

Amber said...

Hey Kelly, Alec did the same thing bringing his mouth to the food instead of using his hands he was a pretty lazy eater. and he himself is still not a huge fan of the sippy cup but he will take juice from the soft spout sippy the milk is another story he still takes bottles. but now he loves to feed himself and doesnt want your help. so maybe this is just a phase for her? maybe she knows that if she waits long enough someone else will feed her eventually? have you tried letting her use a spoon or fork yet? Good luck in your trials. and seriously we need to get together for a play date.
Amber

D and K Gates said...

Love the pic for the post!!!LOL Love little Miss Tay she is to funny! Best of luck with eating! Wish I had words of advice! :)

Alison said...

I wish I had some real words of advice. The only thing I can suggest (and I don't even know if I could do it) is to just put her food on her tray and go about your business. Ignore her even if she raises hell. Maybe stop every few minutes and give her a bite of something she can't pick up, like yogurt. If she really wants the other stuff you have out for her, then hopefully she will cave in eventually. Are you in a rush for some reason---like for daycare? (Hayes had to self-feed before moving to the toddler room.) If no rush, then maybe give her more time---she'll do it when she's ready. Hayes was pretty slow with eating solids---we still struggle with real veggies--he will eat the purees, though. He didn't get really into the solids until he was about a year old. (of course, we were stressing the whole time, but he did it in his own time.)

Alison said...

Oh, and just wait until she starts picking the food up and throwing it on the floor---fun stuff!!!

Kim Dampier said...

Hey girl....my kids would sooner starve than eat, period. And Carter was on his bottle until he was 19 months old and the dr. gave me the "failure to thrive" slip...so I feel you pain. My kids never had the issues of not picking it up, it's just not eating it!! They play with it, throw it on the floor, feed it to the dog and scream until you want to stab your eyes out with a dull knife....and just give in! :) I'm lots of help huh? :)