Feed Me, Seymour

If there's one area of being responsible for another human being's growth and development and every need that turns me into a neurotic mess it has got to be nutrition and safely and healthily transitioning him to a diet of real-live human food that he will be eating for the rest of his life.

It's hard enough to feed Sweetie some days (and let's not talk about the issues that arise when trying to feed Sweetie's extended family), adding the issues inherent in feeding an infant.  Really, why can't I just breastfeed the kid until he's 18 and leaves for college?

Part of the problem is that there are so many different approaches that it can be hard to figure out which one to follow - if you're going to follow one at all.  And, best as I can tell, all the approaches and information out there deals mainly with introducing new foods to little ones and when and how to give them sweet potatoes or honey or peanuts or a whiskey sour and there's not so much information about the big-picture issues.  How do you make the transition from breastmilk to giving new foods a try to actual meals to multiple meals over the course of a day?  What constitutes a meal for a little one?  What constitutes a balanced diet, and how is that best achieved?

And how do you do this without killing your kid from an allergy?  While making sure they don't become the world's pickiest eater.  Or morbidly obese. 

The neuroses, they're almost inevitable.

And today they got to come out in full force.

One of the nice little soundbites you often hear in regards to infant feeding (usually spouted by the militant breastfeeders of the world) is "food is for fun until they're one."  I liked that little soundbite because it gave me something solid to work towards - by 12 months old he should be eating actual meals and such - whatever that might mean.

I even went to a class at the local hospital taught by a nutritionist that billed itself as helping with issues of feeding the little ones.  I asked her "So, when and how should you make the transition to feeding your kiddo more than once a day and how do you make sure you give them a balanced diet?"  Her response was something along the lines of "If Hedgehog is 8 months old now you could be feeding him twice a day." 

But that statement tells me nothing.  I WANT INFORMATION, PEOPLE!

Well, today we got the information:  Hedgehog may not be gaining weight at an ideal rate.  He's not having developmental issues, so it's not OMG! DANGER!  STOP THE PRESSES!  But it is a "Hey, here's something we should address and keep an eye on."  Long story short:  Kiddo may not be able to get enough calories from me over the course of a day, so it's time for him to be eating three meals. 

And so it is, Hedgehog is now an eater.

On the way home from the Doctor's office I was in a bit of a tailspin, but I think I've caught myself and am moving forward.  I'm starting to form an idea of when and how he's going to eat, and we'll adjust on the fly as needed.  Weight check in a month and, God-willing, everything will be hunky dory and the kid will get the free and clear.

Luckily, this all comes in time for Hedgehog's first Thanksgiving - so he can have seconds of everything.  At BOTH Thanksgiving dinners he'll attend.

Comments

[Sarah Saftich]

I know what you mean! There's so much conflicting info out there it will make you go crazy! I've been feeding Mason solids about twice a day, fruit in the morning and veggies at night. So far it seems to be working fine. Some literature I've read suggested that more calories during the day (solids) = better sleep at night. This has not been the case for us. I have also heard offering a source of protein (other than breastmilk) during the day does the same. My believe is: as long as they are "developing" properly, whatever that means, it's all good. It's great to hear that his pediatrician was able to give you some better direction. I think you've illustrated another good example of why it would be so useful to have a concrete parenting manual.

[Alison]

We had exactly the same issue with the Munchkin not gaining weight fast enough (compounded by the fact that the he absolutely would not eat solids in my presence until he was about 9 months old). Again, no developmental issues, so I kinda went the opposite way from you. I chalked it up to the fact that the only people in our family our pediatrician had met were the kid and rather zaftig me, and not all the tall skinny folks in the family.

[teacherrefpoet]

This blog post does not mention that the boy's father (that'd be me) spent most of his life in about the 95th percentile of height and about the 5th percentile of weight. Really. I have the photos to prove it. People actually tried to clean their pipes with me. So I actually take some kind of evolutionary pride in the kid being tall and light. You know what the biologists say--it's visual proof I'm that dad and all that.

If he continues down my path, I'll just have to make sure that I take him to buy his first suit coat for debate and homecoming his junior year. That was a really traumatic experience for me, so I'll want to be there to help him through it.

Perhaps I'll blog about it. Oh, wait--I don't blog anymore.