One would think that second time parents have it all sussed.
Ha. Been there, done that. I may be pretty confident about why co-sleeping, baby-wearing and breast-feeding were the way to go for us, but it all comes apart in the face of one stubborn little girl.
Then how come I have to restrain myself from frequenting forums on a number of questions because my head is spinning with them?
How come I have one child who won't eat any kind of fruit (except banana of course, which child doesn't eat banana? Oh, right, my husband) and one baby who won't eat anything but fruit? This is ridiculous.
How dangerous is that for iron levels at 10 months considering I'm a vegetarian and meat is scarce in our home anyway?
How is baby going to last a full day at nursery without her most favourite food which still is magic mama milk?
How DO I wean? (She's protesting. She can be loud. She knows what she wants. She may be easy going in general, but there are limits!)
How will she nap at nursery?
Shall I provide additional milk in a bottle or cup, considering she'll be short of 11 months? Neither of my kids seem to get that a cup is for drinking from rather than spilling and making water displays around the house, most prominently on a fabric chair, which I only noticed once both my trousers and knickers were soaked through at my rear side just minutes before a visitor arrived. Oh the joys.
Considering how fussy she is eating right now (banana great one day, spat out next and same for almost every other food except strawberries), how/what/how much/how many kinds of food should I provide for the nursery?
Should I be giving her supplements because she clearly isn't getting enough iron?
Why hasn't the nursery been in touch about settling in days yet? I have sooo many questions to ask them and I need at least some answers now to keep my head from exploding.
Argh. Can I just extend my maternity leave? No. Bugger.
3 weeks today. The deadline looms and we're still not on a 3 solid meals a day schedule (unless the meal involves berries only). Breast-feeds? Let's say too many considering she'll have to do without for full days at a time. Am I bovvered? Er, I think I might be.
7 comments:
My maternity leave is also coming to an end very soon and I have a place for one of my young boys but not my baby (almost 11 months). I can sympathise with your worries - although my 11 month old eats anything and everything he can get his little hands on.
My first was a real boobie boy and wouldn't touch anything else. However after drinking all of my expressed milk by lunch time at daycare he soon decided that puree apple wasn't so bad after all! It is amazing what my little darling would do for other people when he knew his Mama wasn't there to fuss. I was lucky I was very happy with the daycare staff and trusted that they would contact me if there were any problems. Made the transition much easier the first time round. Fingers crossed it all goes well for you.
i tell you something, everything will be FINE! My little one was on breastmilk and I decided that i wanted to wean her off it once she's in nursery (9 months), considering that she NEVER took a bottle before it kind of stressed me out but it totally worked, honestly the first day she went to nursery, she started taking the bottle (albeit only from mummy or daddy...and never in nursery) so she went with probably too little liquid and not a lot of solid for a few days but I thought that a bottle in the morning and then when we got home at 5pm was ok. Now she does eat everything in nursery but is still a bit fussy with her food at home but hey, I think she just takes what she needs! I do think a balance diet is important but every doctor will tell you that when they're that age, as long as they take some liquid, they will be fine! So don't stress and enjoy your last 3 weeks of maternity leave :-)
Been there, seen it, had the panic
After some reading around we decided not to supplement either of ours - magic mama milk has everything they need in it and in more readily absorbable versions so no worries about iron levels etc
For food we decided not to get het up - they'd not fade away and not making a fuss reduced battles and they generally eat a balanced diet (just not every day)
For milk, I found they'd never take a bottle when I was around but were fine once I was away from them. Did have to try an impressive selections of bottles but it did work out ok
And most importantly good luck and please try not to worry
@Aussie Mum and @Anina, I guess my older managed just find and started childcare much earlier - but with her it was clear that she had to take milk from a bottle (which she never did at home but just find at the childminder)
@Muddling Along, I try to relax about food and all that, but it doens't come easy. One worry is that at almost 11 months, it's silly to introduce a bottle, but I may do it anyway because she really doesn't "drink" from a cup.
Honey, I am on number 3 and still clueless.I wonder if its no accident though. Each little body and soul have different needs so maybe its more about that and less about 'trying to mess with your mind' lol. You know it will smooth itself out before the bell rings for the next round of challenges. Sincerely though, good luck going back to work, I know that it can be more of a trauma for Mama than babe.
V
xxx
Good luck with this - I remember the feeling of panic when I had to go back to work (Hugh was six months old) and he was still refusing bottles...but it did work out.
I'm not quite sure how she did it, but I know my own mother switched from breast straight to cup with both me and my sister before we were a year old. Presumably we were motivated enough not to spill the milk everywhere when the cup was our sole chance of a drink. Might be worth a try? I'm not saying stop breastfeeding, but maybe go away for a few hours and leave Mr Cartside with baby, milk, cup and his stores of masculine fortitude?
Oh, I remember the panic the first time round, and she did take a bottle. I'm not due back at work for another couple of months, but our baby is a bottle refuser. We've tried all sorts of cups, and in the end found the best thing was a normal plastic open beaker which he sips/laps water from quite well.
Whilst my first was a brilliant eater as well as a boob monster, the baby loves some solids and objects hugely if they are taken away, but won't go near others. He looks like he is heading for a fruit and booby only diet too!
It's a tough time going back to work, but honestly, it will work itself out xx
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