Day 5

Menu: banana

We debated tonight on whether or not to offer food. We were hesitant because 1) she took a very long evening nap and it pushed "dinner" time very close to bedtime and 2) she has been refusing to nurse more often than not. Reason #2 has been going on for about a month. It started as a weekend phenomena - she would absolutely throw a fit if I tried to nurse her during my regular work hours. We figured she was just in a routine of getting a bottle so I went ahead and pumped and let Dan give her a bottle. Then she started spreading her daytime bottles out which caused her final bottle to be late and pretty much knock out the chance to nurse her after work. Since I've been home on spring break she has cut back to only nursing 2 1/2 times a day (yes, it's possible to nurse her 1/2 a time). Other than that she absolutely throws a fit if I try to nurse her. Doesn't matter what I try: different room, different position, different side, lights off, noise off, daddy in room, daddy away from room. She also spreads her bottles out on days we're home and only eats about 5 times instead of her 'usual' 7. I don't think the solids has made this worse, but it hasn't helped.

In the end, we decided at the last minute to give her some banana (easy choice since it doesn't have to be cooked in any way). You may notice that she actually has clothes on tonight - that's because we didn't think and just tossed her in the bumbo. We also put about 1/2 oz of water in her sippy cup. Most of it ended up on her, but she did get a sip. She definitely does better with the sippy cup that has handles on it. The mush on the spoon was still the hit of the night.

*On a side note, she refused to nurse at bedtime. This was the first time I've ever had to give her a bottle at night and it made bedtime much more difficult since she didn't get to nurse herself to sleep. She didn't refuse the bottle and chugged down all 6 oz. I'm really not sure what to make of this nursing strike -- I'm really hoping that it's just the change in weather (it was 90+ degrees today). I'm feeling worn out and don't have much of an appetite. Maybe she was just too sweaty being up against me. We'll see how she does when she wakes up in a couple hours. I'm not holding my breath for the morning feeding though. I did try to go see the lactation consultant, but she was out. I won't be able to go this week because I have meetings on the days she's at work. We may put a stop on the foods until she gets her real eating schedule back on track.