Advise on sleeping and eating patterns.

[Shaf19]

Hi all

My little girl will turn two next month...I have been constantly battling with her eating and sleeping habits.
She had a problem where she did not take regular food and when I offer to her she gaps and sip it out or sometimes threw it up...So I had to always puree her food...The peditrician said she is in the 75 percentile weigh category and its not like she will be 3 years and not eat regular food, however he still referred me to a feeding and swallowing specialist who I am going to see this week...Then up until like over a week ago she stops taking the puree...She was fussing and was not eating it..
So I started offering her regular food...Now she takes a couple spoons and refused to eat more...Or simple don't take anything...I know whatever she is eating is not enough to fill her...But I can't get her to eat more....And all she wants is chicken...We're west indian so I mostly gave her whatever we are eating...Over the last couple days the most she takes is baby cereal with fruits (And I still have to puree the fruits) or arrowroot biscuit and milk.
I am so concern about her eating habits, I don't know what to feed her and it can be very frustrated at times..
Her sleeping pattern is another issue...Like since she was a baby her sleeping pattern is all over the place...And mind you I have tried so many different things with her...She sleeps late in the night, then sometimes a couple minutes after she is up or an hour or two after ...You have to forced her to take a nap in the day...I tried letting her go without a nap in the day to see if it will improve matters in the night...Nothing...She just have all this energy...I mentioned this to several doctors and they don't seem to think anything is wrong with her.
But its taking a toll on me...I have been going almost two years without any proper rest.

I will gladly appreciate any advice...

Thanks all.

[GoddessDigi]

You might need to show some tough love here.
I wasn't getting any real sleep, until the doctor told me I just had to let her cry. Put her in her room at night, take away all the toys and tell her it's sleep time. No matter what, don't go in there (unless of course she makes herself throw up..Luna did that, but I'd just change the sheet, then back down she went).
Also wake her up when you want her to be up, and don't let her nap until it's an appropriate time and only let her nap for a short while, that way she'll sleep at night.

You might want to try this when your and your DH have no plans for a weekend or a few days, so you're not worried about being tired. It took us about 3 days for it to kick in the first time, then her sleeping got messed up when we moved, but it only took 2 days that time. She now sleeps 11 hours straight.

[PinkLincoln]

My brother is about your daughter's age. He has the same problem with food. He will eat some solids as a snack, but even with actual meals.. he'll try to eat solids and throw it all up mid way through.. and if the food isn't the right consistency, he throws that up too. One thing we found is slowly working, as snacks we give him softer tiny bits of food.. cold cut pieces, tiny bits of shredded cheese, fruit cut up really small.. my grandmother went as far as peeling grapes for him and cutting them up very small, we also found that egg drops or Spaetzle (german pasta) was easy for him to eat too, you can also get very tiny square shaped egg drops, I forgot what they're called.. but that seemed to be the easiest for him to eat with a little tomato sauce. Hope this helps! Good luck!

[nadiabreckon]

I tend to agree with the cry it out method (although some parents would never let their child cry alone in their room). Personally, it's a matter of teaching the little ones to fall asleep on their own, and learn to self soothe (DS learned to self soothe as soon as he came home from the hospital, he loves sucking on his fingers and still does to this day!) It's also for our sanity! If DS is acting up and time-outs don't work, up to his room he goes. If he doesn't sleep, at least he gets quiet time. But again, every parent is different, and this is just my opinion.

Hope this helps!

Sorry, I don't have any suggestions on the eating issue because DS has never had a problem...being the garbage guts he is!

[Lilyana'sMommy]

I know a lot of people don't agree with the cry it out method but we have used it and it has worked for us. Our oldest just turned 2 and was always a great sleeper but over the last few months she has started waking up a few times a night. In the beginning we were always checking on her since it was unlike her to do that (crying and yelling) but we then realized that she was only doing it so that we would take her out of bed and let her play. So now we let her go for a bit but we also have a monitor in her room and if we feel the cry it out method is not working we will go in and try rocking her to sleep. As for eating well she is a picky eater. Some days she will eat a lot and then the next day she may only eat a bit (just like her cousin, lol) but when it comes to food I still have to break up a lot of food into small pieces. At times she will stuff the food into her mouth and then spit it all back out so it's not uncommon what you are going through however if you are really worried maybe see if your dr can you refer you to a specialist. As for the sleeping the best recommendation I can give is try and stick to a routine (ie: bath, rock her and read a story then put her to bed) and if needed try the cry it out method.

[GoddessDigi]

Oh, as for the food:
Try Baby Mum Mums as a snack, maybe. Since they fall apart so easily, maybe she'll like them, and she can feed herself. Maybe yogurt bites, too, since they melt...
I find it's easier for Luna to eat when she feeds herself. She eats way more when I just let her do it, rather than me sitting there trying to shove a spoon in her mouth (unless it's coming from my plate, lol).

[Shaf19]

Thanks all for the good advice...I will certainly be doing the crying out sleeping method...As for the food, well I did tried mum mum she just spits it right out back...I met with the specialist yesterday so there are a few things he has planned out to help her with the eating habits...

But just a quick question...She eats these kids minigo yogurt...Does anyone know how much of that she can eat and is it really good for her??...Like I tried to limit her to one if she has it for a day...Like if she is not eating I gave to her a back up.

Also does anyone gave their kids pediasure???...I was thinking if that is good for her and she will take it maybe it can work as a back up too.

Thanks

[free11]

i wouldn't worry that much about food, she is in the 75% for growth which is good. you would be surprised how small portions of anything they eat at that age. when my daughter was that age she ate table food but only fruit vegetables and lowfat yogurt but we were lucky she even made it on the charts for weight. to get her to eat we used tv programs so her breakfast would last an hour to eat plain cereal by herself. keep offering all types of food and maybe sharing with her.

[GoddessDigi]

Oh yeah, that's a good idea!
Sometimes Luna doesn't want to feed herself, so we stick her in the highchair in front of the TV. Bad, I know, but it works, lol! Turn it on some educational TV, and try.
Highchair or booster seat, just something she can't get out of. And then she might just pick it up and eat without realizing.