Thursday, January 14, 2010

Clarification

If I made myself sound like Mean Mom From Hell in my last post, I didn’t mean to. Let me clarify… Some of that post was written somewhat in jest. I was being a bit smart assy, trying to make fun of the situation. It’s not as terrible as I perhaps made it seem.

Ok, while I do agree that we need to let our babies take the lead somewhat and show us when they’re ready to do/eat/drink certain things, there does come a time when Mom has to take the reins and put some rules into place. If I let Ruby take the lead, she would drink from her bottle til she was 7 and would probably not eat anything more than yogurt and Mum Mum cookies until she was 18. If I don’t introduce new foods to her and reduce her bottles now, it is not going to get any easier for either of us. I was advised by her doctor who has two young children and has spent part of his career working in BC Children’s hospital, that if she doesn’t start reducing her milk and increasing her food, she will slowly stop developing.

To clarify, I’m not going cold turkey with her on the bottles. She still gets her bottle before bedtime, and one bottle during the day. That is plenty as far as I’m concerned. Just because it’s hard getting her to take milk from the sippy cup doesn’t mean that I should keep allowing her to take the bottle all the time. Keep in mind that other than a package of yogurt and some Cheerios in the morning, for the past 6 weeks or so milk has been her main source of calories in the day. It’s just time to change that.

There are going to be lots of things that are going to change in her life and she’s not going to like them all when they first happen (and likely nor will I). I don’t think I should give up on it until she thinks she’s ready because that may not be good for her health.

I know she’s been through a lot of changes lately and that is why I don’t mind that daycare gives her a bottle still and that she’s started sucking on her soother a bit during the day at daycare. I’m not all militant about everything. If she needs to revert backwards a bit, I don’t mind. I think that one sippy cup of milk a day is something that she needs to get used to and is reasonable for me to implement.

As for what she eats… she never did like baby food or purees. She’s always been into what I’m eating and I always give her a taste of what I’m eating. She always gets bits of our dinner, modified slightly for her. Some things she’ll nibble on, some things she throws. She throws a lot of food.

I was joking around about the wrap because wouldn’t you know it that she picked a time when I was STARVING to decide to eat what I was eating.

The girl is determined and stubborn. She has been running the show around our house for quite some time. There are going to be some battles while making some transitions that just need to be made.

Hope that all makes sense and clarifies some of the stuff I wrote in my last post without sounding snarky. Not meaning to sounds snarky at all, just wanted to clarify.

In other news… GOOD NEWS… Ruby had a really good eating day yesterday. Funny thing though, she will only eat East Indian food! My Indian girlfriend sent me some kichari (Indian dish with lentils, rice, peas, carrots) that her mother made and Ruby LOVES it. When we had our last eating strike a couple of months ago, it was the kichari that got her eating again so my girlfriend brought me another batch. Ruby eats and eats and eats it. She ate it at daycare yesterday and then was mad when it was gone! So “P” (daycare lady) gave her some of her daal and home made yogurt (P is also East Indian). It was a little bit spicy and in the end Ruby’s eyes were watering but she went nuts for it! P’s husband saw what she was eating and how much she loved it and asked P if one of Ruby’s parents was Indian! (The kid couldn’t be any whiter). We have decided that Ruby was an East Indian in her past life and we have started calling her Rubinder.

So it's not that she's not ready to eat. It's that she's fussy and we just need to persist and get her pallet used to different foods. For now, kichari will help get us through bottle weaning. One step backwards, two steps forward. Some progress is being made. I may spend the weekend cooking Indian food and get stocked up for my little Rubinder.

7 comments:

Emily said...

Haha! I never thought you were being militant.

I'm not entirely for letting babies lead the way... They're babies! They sometimes need guidance! Especially when transitioning from one thing to another.

I think it's good that you are taking the reins in this situation. You are doing no harm to Ruby. When she is hungry, she will eat, and youre right, she can't stay on the bottle forever. She's becoming a big girl herself, and just needs a little push in the right direction.

Besides... of course she loves the bottle. It's soothing and comforting.

Good on you for guiding her in the right direction.

Mommy Shoes said...

It's so hard doing some of these thigns, even if it's the right thing, yes? Z also drinks little. His ped said he won't dehydrate himself unless vomiting, so we are down to one bottle. He does eat like a little piglet though. He also likes Indian. I don't know why people are so surprised when I tell them, don't Indian children eat Indian food? Anyhow, keep up the good work!

Alicia said...

I totally got where you were going with the last post. Probably because I was in (kinda still am in) your shoes on the food front.

I LOVE that Ruby loves East Indian food. That is awesome. Hey, whatever it takes.

Anonymous said...

It's good that your daughter likes Khichdi..it's healthy and nutritious (especially ) if it's home made. It's easy so you can even make it at home. I am East Indian but I don't know if my kids will like East Indian food. I am 5 months pregnant and used to love Indian food (once upon a time)but since I have been preg- I dont seem to like it much (it smells weird, spicy) I guess may be the baby doesn't like it much.. I know he loves oranges though and yeah mexican..Good luck with feeding Ruby in future..Oh and if at all you guys go out and are looking for East Indian restaurants, check out: www.eateastindian.com

The_EmilyB said...

I totally got your last post - if someone didn't then they just don't get you.

We got a great book about introducing different tastes (dahl, etc) when we were in Portland: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/sku5344569/?pkey=x|4|1||4|baby||0&cm_src=SCH

I think you might like it! xoxo

annacyclopedia said...

Sorry. I totally did not think you were being mean mommy -I never ever would think that of you. This is why I so rarely actually offer assvice - because it's called ASSvice for a reason. Just sometimes saying "keep up the good work. you're doing great" feels kind of hollow when you're typing it out for what feels like the 20th time. Obviously you know your family best and are doing what is right for Ruby. Sigh. Sorry.

Rubinder. I love it! It is fabulous that she likes Indian food - when I'm out there, maybe I'll make some pakoras and my favourite cauliflower and pea curry for you.

Me said...

Hey, whatever you gotta do to get your daughter to eat is all good! Don't ever feel bad about taking her bottles away...what do people want? A 5 year old drinking from a bottle? I know a 5 year old that drinks from a bottle and everyone thinks her mom is insane but she isn't - all she did was listen to the women that told her to let her drink from a bottle still and now those same women think she is not so good of a mom. You will never win. As long as you and hubby are happy with the decisions you make for baby then you are golden. Kichari kicks ass!