High Maintenance Mom

Little Grab isn't eating very much anymore. He's still running around and climbing on things but he's not sitting still long enough to eat. A few months ago he had an allergic reaction (mainly hives) to a sulfa drug and ate poorly for over a month. During that time he lost a lot of weight and went from about the 10th weight percentile to below the 0 mark. He looked thin and sick but continued to run around. It was scary and we were very excited when he started eating again and made it back to the 10th weight percentile...

One of the issues I encounter with having a child who is thin and doesn't eat, is that I really want them to eat. I don't want to force food on them and start counterproductive eating games or disorders but I also don't want them to have stunted growth (see The Clean Plate Club for more on finishing food on your plate). Most of the time I realize that he will start eating again when he is hungry but it's hard not to try to bribe him. During a normal meal the kids will be served a choice of foods. When the kids aren't eating, I often offer additional foods they've enjoyed in the past - fruit pops, graham crackers, ice cream, more mac and cheese, etc. I try very hard not to turn myself into a short order cook but it's a struggle. I know that I control the food they are given and they control what they eat but I want to sleep through the night so I feel driven to "help out".

It's also sometimes hard to tell if the kids are sick. Maybe Little Grab is fighting the stomach flu too. B and I had a flu-like sickness last week. We both had fevers and didn't eat for a while. During mine, I slept a lot and during B's he lay on the sofa with a fever watching tv for a full day. It's a little harder to diagnose a happy 15 month-old who is running around giggling with a stomach flu.

Another possibility is that Little Grab could be drinking too much milk and therefore is too full to eat. We didn't have this problem with B since he didn't drink as much from a bottle or sippy cup. We're hoping that taking away his bottle will help. I've tried to take away the bottle in the past but ended up giving it to him the next day after having him wake me in the middle of the night (sleep is important to me). Here's to hoping for a good night of sleep, a smooth transition away from the bottle, and continued weight gain (for the baby).