Should you Force Feed your Baby?

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 12:40:16 GMT

Should you force feed your baby? That depends on a great number of things. How old is your child and how much does she weigh? If your baby is only two months old and already pushing twenty pounds-then the answer would be no.

If your baby happened to be born premature, then you may end up taking her home being trained by the nurses on how to encourage her to eat. Sometimes simply talking soothingly and pushing the bottle against her pallet won't work.

You may find your baby doesn't want to wake for her feeding. She may seem like a rag doll and unable to wake even when rubbing wet wipes along her back and stimulating her. If this happens for one meal and her breathing is strong and normal, don't panic. In the process of trying to wake her, be careful not to get too rough, you want to wake her but not injure her. If this is the case, and she doesn't wake up, just keep her warm and let her rest. For the next feeding she should be ready and eager.

If she does not wake again despite all attempts (using a wet wipe, rubbing her back, patting her leg, talking to her in louder tones) you should call your doctor. If it happens on a weekend, call the hospital for any additional medical advice and they may have you bring her in.

What should you do if your baby is awake for feedings but isn't eating? Attempt to get as many burps out of her as you can, sometimes while crying baby can swallow air. After burping, try as gently as you can to coax her to eat. If this doesn't work, you should try to swaddle her, holding her close and keeping her mouth stimulated for the feeding. If your baby is well past the swaddling age, you should try to hold her in a position that keeps her head comfortably against the soft spot on the front of your arm and shoulder, keeping her arms snuggly against you with your hand gently on her forehead. It should look much like a football hold. Make sure you are not forceful with baby, but solid. She may just be too squirmy to focus, keep eye contact with her and speak in soothing tones.

If you succeed in getting your baby to take even an ounce before she clamps her gums together and turns her head, consider yourself successful. Overall, baby knows what she needs. If she's skipping meals but has not changed her normal behavior-she may just not be going through a growth spurt at the moment and will not need quite as much food.

If you notice she is losing weight, her soft spot is sinking in, her lips are dry, she's extremely lethargic, the skin underneath her eye is drooping away from the eye-call the hospital, your baby may be dehydrated.

Otherwise, as long as she is eating a little something, do not try to force feed every meal. If she's skipping quite a bit, I would only recommend trying once, maybe twice a day just to keep her from dehydrating.

Always talk to your doctor about unusual behavior or if you're concerned about the welfare of your child.

Try to keep yourself calm and don't worry too much, her body will tell her when she's hungry or if she needs more. When trying to make her eat, be sure to burp regularly and frequently. Forgetting to do so can result in projectile vomiting. If this does happen, quickly suction out baby's mouth and nose. If she's crying-she's ok. Clean her up and do not attempt to feed again until her next regular meal.

Babies and baby gates

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 19:57:38 GMT

The everyday hassles of raising children can be taxing on even a team of "experts," but you don't get a team, do you? You have yourself, and if you're lucky, a family and a partner. You can read every book there is on what you should expect when expecting or how to raise the new little bundle in your life. I can all but garauntee that things will not go as smoothly as the books may lead you to imagine. Being a new mother of six month old twins, there have been things that no amount of reading can prepare you for. Feedings on the hour every two hours-round the clock, projectile vomit, explosive diahrea, and; the cursed six o'clock witching hour which for some reason causes every living being under the age of five years to cry uncontrollably for no apparent reason. Of course, these things fade as your child grows and as you become more aware of what each cry actually signals. The first true smile, the tiny squeeky giggles, the first time a stranger holds them and they look to you for reassurance; all things that confirm you are a mother and you never knew you could love so completely, these are the times you remember.

And then, one day they begin to roll-fast, and crawl-quickly, and you wonder exactly how you're to keep them in their designated blanket area and still clean dishes or fold laundry. This is where we were several weeks ago before we found our baby enclosure. And I must say, it has been wonderful. The usual "it's too quiet" instinct seems to have subsided since we purchased our gate. I know that when they're in it, they are unable to reach anything haphazardly laying on the ground (the dust bunnies my daughter has a knack for collecting between her fingers). I personally recommend purchasing the puzzle foam alphabet as a foundation to put your baby enclosure around. Spit up is made easier to clean with the foam, and there is nothing for them to pinch or pull out of the carpet, as well as no carpet burn. A safe way to keep your eye on them and know exactly where they are and what they're doing. We went with the honeycomb enclosure versus the bar enclosure so that I was reassured they couldn't reach their arms out and grab anything or pull anything down.

So there it is, my tid bit gate promo. Seriously though, it's nice to have but I would say a must for moms of multiples.

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Should you Force Feed your Baby?

Babies and baby gates