Resisting the Urge…
to force-feed Christian. He’s not taking in enough and I am seriously getting worried. I’ve been reading articles online and talking to the nurses at the health clinic and I’m getting mixed information.
Here’s his usual daily intake:
7:30/8:00 – 5 oz formula
9:30/10:00 – breakfast (1 tbsp rice cereal, 1 oz formula and fruit, for a total of 4 tbsp)
11:30/12:00 – lunch (2 tbsp mixed grain cereal, 2 oz formula, 1 tbsp meat+veggie puree, 2 tbsp veggie puree, for a total of 6 tbsp)
2:30/3:00 – 4-5 oz formula
5:00/5:30 – dinner (2 tbsp mixed grain cereal, 2 oz formula, 1 tbsp meat+veggie puree, 2 tbsp veggie puree, for a total of 6 tbsp)
7:00 – 4-5 oz formula
7:30/8:00 – dessert (1 oz formula and frozen fruit, for a total of 3 tbsp)
9:30 – anywhere from 5 to 7 oz formula
So, on a good day, he takes in about 27 oz of formula. But lately, he’s been taking in only 20-23 oz. According to his nurses and the online articles, he should be taking in around 30-32 oz of formula. So, we are at least a bottle short on a good day and a couple on his bad days.
Jason keeps telling me I am stressing out too much over nothing. Maybe it IS as simple as “teething”. By the way, his right front tooth finally pierced through the gums. We’re just waiting for the left one now. It’s true that babies won’t starve themselves and if he’s hungry he’ll let me know. He is sleeping through the night and he’s very happy and active when he’s awake…
Mom’s advice is not much better either: give him less food and he’ll eventually drink more formula. Mom also blamed it on my food – that the gourmet homemade baby food I am making is too good that it ruined his appetite for formula. So, I’ve tried giving him less, but he got very upset with me when I refused to give him more food. I’ve tried to “skip” a meal altogether, but that didn’t increase his formula intake and it made me even more upset since not only is he not drinking enough, he’s also not eating enough.
So, what to do? Should I force more formula in him? If yes, how? Or should I just give him as much food as he wants and treat formula as a “drink”?
I am honestly more sleep-deprived now than I was when he was still on a 2-3 hour around the clock feeding schedule…
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