Suddenly, after weeks of refusing virtually any food, Noey is eating like a champ. Opening his mouth and asking for food. Saying please to his porridge. Cleaning out his bowl and asking for more. It’s a complete and utter miracle.
Hmmm, you mean there’s no more??
I’ve mentioned a few times how difficult he’s been to feed. For weeks, even putting him in his highchair invovled a huge struggle. He would turn away and start clinging desperately to me and whining if I as much as touch his highchair and make attempts to move it in front of the dining table. Major distraction techniques had to be employed to get him to even sit in the chair, with us hoping to get him in a good enough mood that he might not notice us sneaking a spoonful of food into his mouth. It was highly stressful and I dreaded his mealtimes.
Then about a week and a half ago, his tooth — the last of 3 that he was cutting at the same time — pushed through. And suddenly, I have this hungry baby. Of course, the adjustments we made to his porridge probably helped as well. He now gets ikan bilis as well (soaked, dried and toasted by PoPo) and a teensy weensy bit of soya sauce. Makes a world of difference to the taste and he’s lapping it all up.
On hindsight, I can’t blame him for having no appetite over the last couple of months. It must have been pretty terrible for him to have so many teeth pushing through at the same time. Noey started teething pretty late with his first tooth making an appearance at 9.5 months, but since then, his teeth have been sprouting with a vengence. He’s gone from no teeth to 8 teeth in 3 months. Ouch. Still, even though I knew it was probably his teeth that were bothering him, it still drove me crazy that he wasn’t eating much at all.
Which make me wonder: Why didn’t God just allow babies to be born with teeth?? Obviously this is something I, the one WITHOUT the infinite wisdom, cannot answer.
In the meantime, I’m just praying that we’re given a good long break for now before he start sprouting his MOLARS. Definitely not looking forward to that!
Edited to add:
With the clarity that comes after a night’s sleep (never mind how interrupted), I do realise that babies aren’t born with teeth simply because they don’t need them at that stage. And yes, of course it would have killed all breastfeeding mothers. I guess the right question is: why couldn’t teething have been made painless? That, I don’t have the answer for!
Mealtimes drive me crazy too! I have resorted to bringing the kid out for a run in the morning and in the evening to work up her appetite.
NO teeth so that we can BF them easily.
oh my gosh if they had teeth the moment they came out, we would have no nipples left!
MG:: I try to do that too, and I used to push his mealtimes hoping he'll be hungry later. But it used to get me even more worried when he didn't eat!<br /><br />Anon & Kopikia:: I thought of that – am still BFing too – but maybe cos I found it quite easy teaching him not to bite me, and the not eating has been so painful, I'm almost prepared to risk it. Haha.
Haha… if they are born with teeth, breastfeeding mums will suffer. My boy bites every time we clean his teeth now.
It may get tougher when he cuts molars. Xy wakes up crying every night and was an absolute nightmare to feed. <br />Go Noah (and mummy!)
I'm going through the teething hell now! Ellie has more teeth coming through and he is refusing food. This has never happened before so it's so distressing! He pushes everything out with his tongue!<br /><br />Hope he starts eating again like Noey soon!!
given that I'm actually bfeeding right now, I was screaming the "to stop painful bites whilst we both learn to nurse". heh.<br /><br />J's finally picked up on his appetite too. I wondered why he had teeth for the longest time.
Yeah to easy feeding! <br /><br />Come to think of it, I think Raeann's appetite doubled after her two top teeth pushed through. I was surprised (ok, actually shocked) that she suddenly began eating like a bottomless pit three weeks ago. Breakfasts these days:: five tablespoons of organic oats, a fruit (or two!) and a piece of bread/yogurt, and these after being breastfed. Teething must have
Elaine :: You're right. Noey bites when we clean his teeth too and it's super ouch. <br /><br />Sockling :: Oh dear, REALLY not looking forward to that. But at least during molar time, I'll be mentally prepared, I hope!<br /><br />Amanda :: Oh dear, I know exactly how that feels! Hope Elliot gets back to his easy-going ways soon. Hang in there Mummy Amanda!<br /><br />Ruth :: Heh,