Skyler’s appetite has all but gone capoot this passed week! We are trying to figure out the reason, but there are so many variables that it’s really hard to know. First, she’s probably not sick because she’s mostly acting normal and happy, isn’t running a fever, and is sleeping just fine. But she did start her new daycare last week, so her normal routine was different. We also attempted to switch her to the generic formula since it’s half the price. We’ve also been introducing some solid food into her diet, and on top of it all, she is teething!
So with all those things going on, she is eating like a newborn, minus nighttime feedings. She has pushed away a few bottles, drank only an ounce or two at other meals, and chowed down on some rice cereal and squash! So what the heck is going on? Either she’s getting so full on solids that she’s not hungry at her next feeding time, or maybe she just loves eating from the spoon and is sick of her formula. Or she hates the new formula. Or her mouth is sore and it hurts to eat from a bottle (but not from a spoon in and out of your mouth?). Or it’s just a combination of all those things. All in all, I guess she’s just fine because she doesn’t ever act hungry when she hasn’t eaten much.
Her gums have definitely been bothering her in the evenings. She gets really upset while chomping on her gums, so we’ve been giving her some Motrin on the nights that it gets really bad. Wow, does she hate medicine! You’d think since it’s sweet flavored she’d like it, but I think it’s such a strong flavor that it startles her. We’ve also tried the Baby Orajel, but she screams at the taste of that and gags on it as it increases the saliva in her mouth. Poor girl, and it’s just the beginning! I can handle the little pain fits, I just want her to eat enough! She’s already so little, I hope this eating strike won’t cause her to fall off the growth charts. She even feels so much skinnier to me – I can feel her ribs and spine and hipbones. I even called her doctor and they said it should be fine and she’ll eat what she needs to. It just seems strange when she’s eating only a half to one third the amount of formula that other babies her age are eating! I will say though, she LOVES her squash! I pureed some yellow squash and she basically just sat there with her mouth open while I shoveled it in!