Rarely do I blog the minutia of what my children are doing, but today I can’t help it.
I swear, the youngest is trying to kill me. She spent the entire day taking tiny nibbles out of my sanity.
Today, she decided that it would be fun to refuse to eat. She took plenty of BITES, but she refused to swallow any of them. She just chewed them all up and spit them out. Over and over and over.
Against my better judgement, I offered her about 49 different things to eat, but none of them met with L’s approval. If I had to guess, I would say she probably swallowed about 57 calories today that were not in bottle/formula format.
She also refused her afternoon nap, despite 1 hour and 20 minutes of rocking by me.
And she rubbed pizza sauce in her newly-washed hair at dinner.
After that, I retired for the evening clutching the shreds that were left of my sanity.
Solidarity. Sister.
But I bet she was still adorable even if she was covered in pizza sauce! Sorry you had such a rough day. I wonder what L will come up with tomorrow!?
Hope it gets better soon. I remember how “cornered” I used to feel when I had days like that….like I wanted to hide in a dark closet rolled up and sucking my thumb. It’s trite but it’s true; “this too shall pass” – hang in there…she’ll grow!LOL
It is amazing how all the little frustrations can add up to drive you completely nuts. My little one likes to look in the fridge and shout “Eat!” but then turns down everything with an emphatic “No!” Sometimes she fools me by saying “yes” and then once the food is in front of her she changes her mind. Or she does actually want something and screams her head off while I prepare it (like washing/cutting the grapes). Toddlers are fun!
They will outgrow it all. They just have to!
My 18-month-old went through that spitting thing a few months ago. I almost lost my mind. I honestly think he hadn’t figured out how to spit properly before then, and he spent a few weeks practicing his “new skill”. He got devious, too; he’d chew a little, walk away, and spit up in random places. It was like having a cat. I took to prying his mouth open and checking it before I’d let him down from his chair.
No advice, just tea and sympathy!
One day avoiding food is going to be OK. I suppose we all have less hungry days. Today has been a MORE hungry day for all of us!
My son at 16 months has been VERY slow to accept solid food. Still mostly on milk. But I was so happy the laws few days to see him shewing food, even though much of it comes back out. He seems to be getting the point.
Whoa. This makes life with a newborn seem really blissful. When my real-life friends say this: “Oh, enjoy this time, it’s so restful!” I want to claw their eyes out. Reading this and figuring it out for myself makes me feel grateful.
I know that you’ve talked before about “Baby Jail,” and can’t seem to find the post that coins the term. If (cough) the “baby jail” concept happens to come up for you again in the next several weeks, d’you suppose you could link to it? The phrase is really resonating at the moment.
I haven’t gotten to this stage yet, but I have heard that with toddlers you have to look at total food intake over a week rather than on a day-to-day basis. Otherwise days like this will drive you to drink.
Sorry if this sounds like assvice. I just remember reading this alot over at Tertia’s when she was going through something similar.
I find it comforting to remember that dooce’s little girl ate hardly anything for years… and all of a sudden decided she wanted to eat lots, all the time. Looking back on my own chidhood, I can see lots of sensory aversion–anything too cold, too slimey, too textured, too foamy, too spicey or strong, too anything was gag-worthy. Even using toothpaste was a trial. Oy. I can’t decide if it was worse on me or on my parents. I try to remember that some behaviors are just learning/practicing new things for the kid in question, but boy, it can push some buttons and “wear on the last nerve” ! Sounds like a wearing day for you. You are doing your best. It’s frustrating when ones best is not currently getting the desired results, though. (Arrgh!) More tea and sympathy to you!
You’ve prompted me to stop saying (in a bit of a gloaty voice I must confess) that Ellie has never spit anything out. Reading posts like this makes me realize that statements like that will come back to bite me in the ass.
I’m going to add this to my file of “Things I have to look forward to”.
Oh sweety! My kids are 39 and 40 and they don’t just nibble at my sanity–they eat it for lunch. I do remember the good old days of which you speak (write).
the pizza sauce reminds me of how my son used his hair as a napkin for several months. He’s Black, so his hair is kinky and has just enough friction to get his hands reasonably clean. He will still do it occasionally if he doesn’t have a napkin.
love your blog.
It’s the Toddler Air Diet. They appear to live on air. Both of my girls went through it. It’s maddening. This too shall pass — in about 6 months, or whenever she gets hungry.