Sensitive kids group

[DaisyBee]

Megan was a good eater as a baby. She loved food. And I think some of it was she was so glad that it wasn't a bottle. Lol I had a hard time getting her to drink her bottles, a lot of days she would have 10 oz all day. She never had more than 20 oz. Jordan often has more than 20 oz. But I wasn't feeding Megan in a dark room ( bottles) I was doing it in her room, but with jordan not accepting more than an oz if the light is on... Made me realize megan was probably too distracted with the light on. So when she got real food she loved it. She was not picky as a baby and had a good appetite. She has slowly gotten pickier and smaller appetite. She won't eat new foods and if I don't offer something for a while, it's like a new food to her. But if I offer the same thing too often she is bored and sick of it and won't eat it either.

She has been loving to cook and bake with me and I thought that would make her want to then eat those foods, but not so far. If I change anything in the recipe she won't eat it. I used a different flour last time with banana bread and she didn't like it. I bought a new kind of butter a few weeks back as well and she now refuses anything with butter even though I went back to what she was used to. Lol

Eta -Megan also gets stuck in a rut. If she eats Graham crackers and apple juice for a pm snack 2 days in a row, it's then what she asks for every day after that. And if I try to change it to milk or water she gets upset and won't drink anything. If she is in more of a go with the flow mood or hasn't gotten into another rut then I can offer her other things and she will accept, depending on what it is.

 

[Tacey]

Bit of a catch up from me!

JC - brilliant news about preschool. It sounds like Daisy is making leaps forward in lots of areas. Hopefully she'll start to slep in later soon, you must be shattered!

Omarsmum, that's wonderful that Omar is getting on so well with his classes. Has he continued playing on his own a bit more? That must be a real plus for you?

Hi LaughOut Loud! I have a very noise sensitive 3 year old too, so I can sympathise. No one can exhaust us quite like our children can they?!

Polaris, the music class sounds great. A lot of the singing done at groups I've been to seems to be just the mums singing while the children look around . I hope he gets on well with it.

Daisybee, how are you all feeling now? It sounds like Megan is getting on better with food. It does seem that they can live on fresh air sometimes doesn't it?! Exciting that she's getting interested in letters. Well done Elmo

Karlilay, Alice varies with caution. She very rarely had bumps or bruises, and she knows her limits. She zooms about on her balance bike, but she applies the brake very liberally! She's another one who won't do something unless she's confident she'll get it right.

Quartz - Great news about the trike and the party. I hope the preparations go well. I don't think I asked, how has she found the transition to having a baby around?

 

[Quartz]

Tacey she has coped surprisingly well actually and adores her baby brother. I think it helped that there was a coffee morning at her school when he was a week old where he was very popular with the little girls so once she saw that the others wanted one she wanted him too. She almost treats him like a doll, one night she got out his mat and told me to put him on it and then got a cushion for him to lie on and a blanket to go over him. Bless him he lay there and fell asleep which he would never do for me.
It also helps that he is a very laid back and adaptable baby that does not really stop her doing much and is quite happy to spend time in his chair watching her play.

The only occasional problem is that she tells me she wishes he was a girl but that is stopping. How did Alice cope?

 

[cutie4evr01]

Christina has always been a great eater, thank goodness! She goes through picky phases every once in a while, but on the whole she eats much better than most kids I know. She never really had sweets or treats until over 2 (aside from her cupcake on her first birthday), so she loves fruits and eats a surprising number of vegetables too. We don't eat much meat in our house, so she doesn't either, but she eats beans/soy/etc. Most of the time she will try a bite of something new in order to have another serving of something she likes (i.e. she asks for more macaroni and we say "eat a bite of xxx and you can have more macaroni"), but if she doesn't want to, we don't force it. There are a few foods she refuses - rice and a particular type of minestrone soup I make come to mind - but I can't complain!

I used to think Christina was a good eater because I made all her baby food from fresh fruit/veg (we TW) and we didn't give her treats, but I sure was wrong about that and now I know we just got lucky. Caitlyn was weaned the exact same way and she has been a really picky eater! As a baby she would spit out most purees except for a few favorites, and was even worse when we started finger foods around 8/9 months. As she gets older she's getting better, but there was a period of time when she lived off crackers and yogurt. In the past month or two she has been much more willing to try new things, so I have hope that she's outgrowing some of her pickiness, but it certainly has been a change from how Christina was. Caitlyn also constantly asks for snacks, and I can't tell if she's actually hungry or just a habit. Generally I've been allowing one snack mid-morning and one mid-afternoon, but sometimes she'll have a second afternoon snack if she's getting really upset. I wish I knew how to get her to eat more of her meals and less snacks.

Quartz I had to smile when you said your DD treats her brother like a doll, as Christina has been doing a lot of that lately. Christina has always "helped" me with Caitlyn, bringing diapers/wipes to change her, stroking her head while she was feeding, etc., but in the past couple of months since Caitlyn now is old enough to play with her, understand her, and talk back, Christina really does treat her like a doll often. She'll strap her into this little booster seat we have and then use her toy forks and spoons to "feed" her - poor Caitlyn is confused because she'll open her mouth for a bite and there won't be anything on the spoon! Christina also puts coats/hats/shoes on Caitlyn like she does to her dolls. It's been so fun seeing them play together now that Caitlyn is getting older.

 

[DaisyBee]

Lol cutie... At least they are empty spoons. Jordan is more shocked when Megan stuffs food or spoons with food in her mouth. Lol Megan doesnt pretend to feed her dolls though. She plays with dolls very little. I love how my girls are together, I can't wait til Jordan is mobile and can try to keep up with Megan! I think Jordan is going to be good for Megan. Jordan is very goofy and silly and loves to laugh. She gets Megan to be silly. Megan has always been so good with Jordan and it's SO fun to see them together playing and having fun.

I was right... Megans eating thing is like what she did last Xmas. She has started doing exactly what she did then... Dinner she didn't eat. She would take a bite and spit out the food, ( which she has been doing a lot of recently) but then she would take her fingers and try to scrape the food off of her tongue. After dinner I offered her applesauce and she ate that. Right before bed while reading books I put some crackers, a piece of chicken lunchmeat, and a string cheese in a bowl and gave them to her. She took a few bites and then started to cry and spit it out. We went and washed her hands and then she took a bite of crackers. She started crying again and spit it out.
It's exactly what she did a year ago. She would act like she wanted to eat, but as soon as it was in her mouth she spit it out and acted upset. I guess it's a food strike? But then why wouldn't she just say no to food, vs spit it out and brush it off her tongue?

 

[cutie4evr01]

It sounds to me like she's hungry and wants to eat, but for some reason doesn't like the feel of the food in her mouth. Perhaps the texture is bothering her? Especially if she ate the applesauce but not the drier foods. Maybe her teeth hurt or she might have a sore in her mouth or something?

One thing that goes down well with my two is smoothies. We blend up spinach or kale with a variety of fruits (banana, strawberry, etc.) and water and both of them enjoy those. Maybe that's an option for you? Does she like smoothie/milkshake? You could add yogurt/milk/etc. to make it more caloric.

 

[DaisyBee]

She won't eat smoothies... Maybe I haven't found the right consistency? I don't think it helps that she doesn't like the sound of the blender or bullet. Lol

So she had trouble falling asleep last night. Kept talking about a different version of wishy washy. Now it's squishy squashy and there are 2 megans. And he is going to get the other Megan. And he tickles toes. ( she said in a very scared upset voice, so I'm guessing that isn't funny to her. )

This morning she woke early and asked for breakfast which she never does. So she was hungry. She wanted oatmeal and wanted to help me make it. She put a bite in her mouth after I cooled it way off, and she then cried and wouldn't eat anymore. She ate some yogurt but after eating some ( was a squeezable yogurt) she then cried and held open her mouth for the yogurt to fall off her tongue. Then she wanted a cookie so I said fine. why not. We had made oatmeal and peanut butter cookies with whole wheat flour. So she wanted a cookie... But then cried and didn't eat it. She drank some water. And then I offered her organic type fruit snacks. She had one in her mouth, wanting to eat it, and just stood in the kitchen crying.

I keep questioning everything. The fact that it's the same as last year when she did the same thing. She was sick last year before this happened. We had flu shots Monday? Is it related? But yes it almost seems like it's a texture thing, which is the same as a year ago. But a week later she started eating again and fine with textures. She has been chewing on her tongue lately... Maybe she has a sore from that. This morning she was chewing on her tongue again and I asked her chew on something else instead and she didn't want to. If her tongue hurt, you would think she wouldn't want to chew on it? Food isn't getting to her throat really, she is spitting it out after it hits her tongue.

Why can't parenting be easier!!???

 

[karlilay]

Have you checked her throat for tonsillitis or a throat infection, sounds like Madi when she has tonsillitis, she won't swallow.

 

[DaisyBee]

So she has now eaten a pudding cup and part of a very very ripe banana. ( she usually hates ripe bananas, let alone very ripe ones!) I had given her some ibuprofen to see if it would help - I didn't have tylenol here. She still couldnt eat her cookie but she has eaten... I had debated taking her in to the dr... But I'm going to wait.

She is acting happy, playing normally, talking. I've taken a flashlight and looked in her mouth and throat and I'm not seeing anything obvious. I had wondered too about strep or something, but would think she would be acting sick or cranky otherwise? And when she has had sore throats when she has a cold it's been more obvious that it's her throat, which would make me think I would be able to tell just from her actions that it's throat. I don't know....

And I do think that it's odd that it started off with pickiness, and then really picky, down to scraping food off her tongue.

 

[OmarsMum]

I wouldn't consider it pickiness Hun, it sound like something is bothering her. She's trying to eat & is asking for food but it seems that she's an able to eat for a reason this is why she's crying?

With pickiness, they close their mouth shut, & they refuse to even taste their food. I'd give her a multivitamin during this phase. It would help in giving her a boost.

 

[Tacey]

Ah, poor Megan, and poor you, as that must be so stressful. I've no advice, but sending some of these

 

[DaisyBee]

She has been taking chewable multivitamins and she loves them... She usually asks me for one as to her it tastes like candy. ( which it does as I've tried one to see. Lol) today she took one and spit it out half way through getting it chewed.

And yes that makes sense about the pickiness... She does want the food.. She is asking for it or taking a bite like normal, but then for some reason not able to eat it. And I think with how she is, once she has an issue it's going to take time for her to realize she is ok to eat again. Last year when this happened she didn't eat any solids at all, including puddings, yogurt, etc for a week. I'm wondering if she will keep eating the yogurts or if those will stop too.

Last year when she did this she cried when we gave her a sucker which is her favorite thing in the whole world. More than cookies, ice cream, anything... I haven't tried one yet... If it was a sore throat I would think the sucker would have felt good? I'm going to have dh pick some things up on his way home to see what she is willing to eat.

So she had some pediasure midmorning and then for lunch spit out chicken noodle soup, refused applesauce, but ate yogurt and cottage cheese. She also spit out a very ripe pear. So she is eating things at least. And it's now too late to get an appt with her pediatrician anyway....

I talked to my parents this morning, they are both having health problems... My dad suggested I take all snacks away and make her eat her dinner. Lol if only it were that simple! The good thing about having gone through this before.. I know it won't last forever. I've asked her what's going on and if something is wrong.. I keep getting strange answers so I don't think she quite knows.

Dh will finally be off call today!!! Yay!! This week has been hard...he has worked SO much! I've barely seem him. Megan keeps asking what day it is as she knows that Friday means that tomorrow is Saturday and dad won't have to work.

 

[DaisyBee]

So it is a sore throat... Her throat is red and dh and I thought we saw a white patch. I took her in to a fast care clinic last night and it was a horrible experience. She didn't want the nurse to take a swab of her throat and fought us. Then was so upset and didn't want the dr to do anything, not even take her temp or anything. The dr was saying it was important to at least get a look in her ears and mouth and so we tried to get her to do that, she fought and screamed and the dr said she didn't see any red even in her throat, well she didn't even open her mouth enough for anyone to see! they had a movie playing that scared Megan ( ice age maybe?) and also had a sad part that made her cry very hard. I was trying to keep her busy with games on the phone but it wasn't always working.

So she is only eating soft foods, but she is eating thank goodness. At the dr she weighed 27.6 lbs I bought her whole milk, ice cream, whole milk yogurts, applesauce. After she starts feeling better I'm going to try to figure out what to give her for her to gain a bit of weight. She looks too thin. Her eyes look different, like she needs to gain weight.

And I missed Jordan crawling!!!! Dh stayed home with Jordan and after Megan and I left Jordan started army crawling! Finally mobile... So now I'm running around tryng to find all the little things that she cant have. Lol should have done that before now.

 

[Tacey]

What a horrible experience, but a relief you found a reason. It doesn't sound like your doctor was very accommodating of Megan's needs

Yay for crawling, although an equal amount of commiserations! I imagine you'll be quite busy for the next few weeks!

 

[polaris]

Aw poor Megan! Did they give her anything for her throat after all that? At least you have an explanation though and she is eating soft foods. Really hope she's better soon. Yay for Jordan crawling, that is exciting news.

Got to go, I can hear Clara waking up, she is really sleeping so badly at the moment.

 

[DaisyBee]

It wasn't a pediatric dr. It was only a fast care clinic... Learned my lesson. Only megans dr from now on!

And no... They wouldn't give her anything since they couldn't prove that she has anything!

 

[Siyren]

been meaning to come back here.
im thinking lyssa and i belong in here

she's painfully shy- has been known to sit with her eyes closed and her hands over her eyes if she's in a situation she doesnt like.
it took her over a year to start talking at her childminders, and wont answer any direct questions like "lyssa would you like a drink"
loud noises seem to physically hurt her as does having wet clothes.
she can't cope with having too many toys available to her, it leaes her unable to play
getting her to sleep after an overly busy day is a nigh on impossible task (As those on my fb can testify to)


hopefully it's ok if we join here, cos i could so use some tips. x

 

[Tacey]

Daisybee, that's so bad of them! I hope Megan is feeling a bit better today. When I have a sore throat, I blend up a scoop of icecream with milk to make a very cold, thick milkshake and drink it with a straw. Maybe that would help temporarily?

Siyren, Lyssa sounds very similar to Alice in the things you mention. Is there anything in particular you're struggling with lately? I've found it helpful recently to not stress as much about the (numerous!) odd things Alice does. I make life reasonably easy for her, as pushing her into things she's uncomfortable with backfires terribly. For example, she is awful in noisy, unstructured groups, like standard toddler groups. Her preference would be to be on her own, or just with me all the time. I push her beyond that a little by going to more structured activities such as her cooking class. It's a good compromise. In other things, I've discovered that the problem often disappears over time. I'm not sure how much of this thread you've read, but we had a long phase where she refused to wash her hair. In the last couple of weeks she's just changed her mind, and now is fine with it. I didn't do anything, it just happened. I'm hoping that may be a pattern for other things (especially sleep - I am beyond exhausted from our broken nights!).

Anyway, lovely to see you here! Looking forward to hearing more about how Lyssa is getting on.

 

[Siyren]

thanks for the lovely welcome hun,

i would say our biggest issues atm are her absolute refusal to try to do anything she can't do perfectly. (even little things like making a snowball - she wont even try it) or making things with playdoh.

eating- she doesnt want to eat meals she wants to snack all day- flavoured ricecakes and fruit is currently the preferred food

and going to bed. - going to bed is just beyond awful at the moment, she seems constantly overtired.

im glad that some things seems to improve alone. she still refuses to speak to people but i try not to worry i hope that one will disappear over time x

 

[polaris]

Hi Siyren, it definitely sounds like your little one is sensitive. Welcome again to the thread, looking forward to chatting more.

Daisybee, how's Megan doing today?

Totally off-topic but I am so tired it is just really getting to me at the moment. Yesterday Clara had 1.5 hour nap in the morning, but then just half an hour from 12.45 to about 1.15 and then refused to go to sleep at all until bedtime at 7.30. She maybe dozed on the boob for a couple of five minute intervals and that was it. She doesn't get cranky like Thomas would have done, but she must be so overtired on that little sleep - anyway she then woke up at 8.30, 9.30, 10.30, 12, 1.30, 3, 4, and then awake for the day at 4.50 a.m. and wouldn't go back to sleep until 8.45 a.m. This is going on since before Christmas and is just getting progressively worse. She's not teething, she's not in a wonder week, she's not out of sorts or unwell, she's just not sleeping. She also won't go to sleep anymore without being fed to sleep which must be a big part of the problem I think. I had been trying to help her to fall asleep without feeding by sitting with her holding her hand or patting her chest etc. which is what I did with Thomas and which I think would work if I could be consistent with it but I just don't have time to sit with her and settle her like that because I am usually on my own with them at bedtimes and I have to get Thomas to bed too. So I end up feeding her to sleep because it's quicker, however it's starting to take longer for her to fall asleep now even when I'm feeding her to sleep. Probably because she's totally overtired. Sorry for off-topic rant. I really wish I knew the best thing to do to get her sleeping properly - I am so much more sleep-deprived now than when she was a newborn and it's making me so impatient with Thomas too, which is just not fair on him. And I do truly believe that she would also be better off if she was getting enough sleep.