Knocked Up - All Comments

re: Food and Fears

AdrienneM — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:36:51 GMT

I totally agree with superblondgirl, and just thought of something. Mateo is sporting the similar hair growing down over the ears, Dark Crystal thing. I don't want to start a s-storm and awaken the Kate Hudson fans out there. I love the boy shaggy hair look...Oz, any thoughts about Axel's attractive mane?

re: Food and Fears

Ewokmama — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:50:00 GMT

We've gone through this and yeah, it's mind boggling how little they eat sometimes. It's helpful if you look at it over the course of a week instead of just one day. If he has the energy to crawl, he is fine! Also, if your milk supply has dipped, that means it has adjusted to be higher in fat and calories (it adapts!), so if you can nurse as much as possible in the evenings, he will make up for what was lacking during the day.

In particular, I've noticed that Jack eats less while teething or sick.

re: Food and Fears

Amanda — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:22:57 GMT

My son -- who's only about 3.5 months older than Axel -- went on bottle strike every time he started to cut a tooth. When he's not a fan of the bottle, we switch to sippy cups - Nuk makes a great learner cup for 6+ months. In fact, we're almost an all-sippy, all-the-time house now because B likes them better.

But don't worry too much - B went through phases like this and he always bounced back. The new skills could be contributing too - who wants to stop and eat when you can do cool things like crawl? ;)

re: Food and Fears

knockedup — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:56:39 GMT

Thanks for your comments. It's probably just one of the normal appetite fluctuations and I'm just being neurotic about having a naturally small and less hungry baby. We'll have to give the sippy cup and straws a try.

re: Food and Fears

Liz — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:10:12 GMT

Agree w the comments above, probably a bottle strike. Our pedia warned us about this and said to make sure to give bottles regularly (at least every other day) once you start them on the bottle. It's a pain to pump when you dont have to, but in the end is less frustrating than dealing with the strike.

re: Vacations, With and Without Baby

EG — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:12:15 GMT

Just got back from a 9-day California vacation (we're East Coasters) with 15-month-old Little Man. Made me want to never get on an airplane with him again. And never sight-see with him again.

Or at least for 10 years or so.

We will do something low-key with him, though, like a reasonably close cabin at the beach or in the mountains (except that we live in the mountains, so that kind of loses its appeal).

re: Food and Fears

superblondgirl — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:00:26 GMT

I don't know about starving (and I bet he'll be fine, though you could just inject him with butter if you're really concerned), but I LOVE that every picture of him he's got that wide-eyed, open-mouthed thing going on. He is just too freaking cute.

re: Food and Fears

kiddos mom — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:49:10 GMT

No worries. He's happy and healthy. Our little one was the same way. One day I could not feed her enough, the next she hardly ate. They are busy creatures who change so often.

re: Vacations, With and Without Baby

AmyinMotown — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:16:15 GMT

Our last trip with the family was not very vacationy to say the least. I missed nightlife, going out to eat, etc. but watching Maggie swim in the pool and play with her cousin was totally worth it. Sounds like Axel was a great baby (and really, just so insanely cute). We're taking our first family beach trip since then this summer, and I'm sincerely hoping for a good time.

re: Food and Fears

Don Mills Diva — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:49:27 GMT

I'm with Amanda. No animal on earth will starve when there is plentiful food and water available. I know it's hard not to worry but next week you could well be marveling over how MUCH he is able to eat and drink...

re: Food and Fears

hippygoth — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:01:50 GMT

I had a similar issue a couple times over the last couple months - Charlotte is bottle fed, and even so she refused the bottle, right about when she turned 8 months. Same thing with solid food. For a couple of days she only drank a grand total of 12 oz and ate a couple tablespoons of food. Fistfuls and fistfuls of Cheerios, though. I was freaking out, because, like Axel, she was a moving machine, and I couldn't figure out why she wasn't starving. After about 4 days, right when I was going to call the pediatrician to make sure I wasn't missing something huge and bad, she started eating again, and more than ever.

Charlotte did the same thing a few weeks later when we went and visited my mom for a weekend - my whole family was there and she had just figured out how to crawl, so she couldn't stop moving and cuddling to eat, drink or sleep. Again, after about 3 days she buckled down to her normal routine.

The only thing that helped a little was Cheerios and sippy cups - Charlotte will almost always eat Cheerios, and even if she doesn't get a lot out of the sippy cup, sometimes she'll let someone else hold it and drink out of it. (We call it "being a baby cow" because it reminds us of a feeding a baby cow with a bottle, due to the weird angle of holding a sippy cup for a kid in a high chair. She thinks that's funny.)

re: Food and Fears

zellmer — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:03:39 GMT

My guess would be that he's protesting the bottle a bit after being spoiled with the boob. Eventually, he'll get back into the bottle. His body won't let him starve, so don't worry about that.

My son is also not as interested in the solids as he was at first. And I remember this from my daughter, who over night decided that she was above baby food.

I say, as long as he still likes cereal, just give him that until he's ready for the real food.

I started my daughter on cottage cheese, which she devoured, and I may start my son on that soon as well. And mashed avocadoes are great for babies because the fat helps their brain development.

Axel's appetite waining could be related to teething. When they're cutting teeth, they're not as interested in eating. If he's drooling more than usual, that's probably all it is.

re: Food and Fears

Elle — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:02:12 GMT

We have this problem too - shes has just always been very fussy about drinking. I do cartwheels if we go over 20oz a day. What can you do? Its only time to worry if he loses tons of weight or seems massively unhappy. It bugs us yes, but sometimes I think they are wiser than we... I'd hate someone force-feeding me to eat.

re: Food and Fears

Amanda — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:20:50 GMT

My advice is not to worry about it! Thirst and hunger are such compelling feelings that he'd be unable to dehydrate or starve himself without a serious medical problem (which obviously he doesn't have).

If he's thirsty and hungry, he'll eat and drink! Perhaps he's just using up fewer calories at childcare than he was on holiday.

re: Food and Fears

chochomom — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:07:30 GMT

Have you tried giving him a sippy cup? My friend's baby did the same thing until they gave her a cup. She loved it. Be sure to try the straw cups too. My boy hated the regular sippy but loves the straw. Because I was exclusively pumping after one month and I had a baby monster :), off the charts for height and 80th for weight, my supply couldn't keep up with his appetite, I had to suppliment. He always made a fuss about the formula bottles, but not the BM bottles. Probably because the formula smells and tastes awful.

re: Food and Fears

LauraLaura — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:00:35 GMT

I'm not sure I have any advice...but Flann, in mid-June, did the same thing. Went from drinking a reasonable amount at daycare to drinking almost nothing. Went from eating a bit of solid food to refusing it altogether. And he dropped a few ounces and sent me into a panicked tailspin. But the situation resolved itself in two weeks' time (he is now eating like a horse; this may be just a stage, too, but he's packing in 16 ounces at daycare and eating two hearty solid-food meals per day). I think you're right about the developmental stage: Flann started this nonsense right at the time he learned to crawl and started to push/pull himself up. I think they get so involved in the new skill - and perhaps confused/disoriented by doing it - that their interest in food takes a mercifully temporary dip.

re: Vacations, With and Without Baby

knockedup — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:30:55 GMT

Maybe it won't be twenty years, but my husband's faith in Axel is such that he thinks the kid will end up drunk in an alley in Paris if left alone at age 12. I think that says more about my husband at 12 than Axel, though.

re: Vacations, With and Without Baby

LauraLaura — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:44:23 GMT

Oh, I'm sure it won't be twenty years...you'll take Axel to Paris when he's twelve, and he'll want to hang out and be cool and parent-less, and you guys can sneak off the cafe. Congratulations on such a spectacular trip. I'm almost tempted to try it myself.

re: Vacations, With and Without Baby

amanda — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:03:47 GMT

Lovely! So glad you had a great time. Welcome back!

re: Vacations, With and Without Baby

KaritaG — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:38:37 GMT

Glad you made it back safely and with a minimum (?) of baby/airplane drama! Axel, at least, looks like he had a blast, so hopefully you guys did too!

re: Vacations, With and Without Baby

EmmaVT — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:22:41 GMT

Yet another timely post, thank you! We are planning our first trip for a period when the baby will be 2 to 2.5 months old, and are trying to manage our expectations. We are avoiding flying, avoiding ruining someone else's bed and breakfast experience, avoiding camping and cabins (a usual favorite, but not quite sanitary enough for such a young one) and trying to keep it low key...it is hard to know what to expect! Once again, Axel is the cutest child...

re: Vacations, With and Without Baby

Roper — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:06:08 GMT

No Paris cafes for another twenty years? Is that really how long it will be? Sigh....I hope not!

It's true that while vacationing with baby isn't exactly a *vacation* in the traditional sense, it certainly is rewarding in its own way. Glad you guys had fun!

re: Vacations, With and Without Baby

hippygoth — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 02:33:27 GMT

awesome entry and really sweet. we haven't been on vacation yet with Charlotte, but we find everything we do with her is dialed much further back. at a retirement party we went to with her we didn't feel as much pressure to make sure we said hello to everyone, circulate, stay the whole time, stuff like that - we let people come to us and watched Charlotte do some cool stuff for the first time, like swing in a swing, play with some bubbles, and hear an a cappella group sing. it was nice to see everyone, but a week later, all we talk about is the swing.

re: Aloha

Melissa Lancaster — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:21:42 GMT

Great pictures! He is getting so big! Glad you are having such a wonderful time in Hawaii! :)

re: Aloha

Age — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:59:04 GMT

I love Axel's open mouth grin. My son (5 mo) is starting to make that same "oh my god, I can't believe how much fun this is!" expression. To avoid sunscreen rashes - Avalon Organic sunscreen, and a little good ole zinc (from the diaper rash cream) on the nose and under the eyes for prolonged sun exposure. My grandmother used to put it on our shoulders too. Here in Miami Beach we also tend to wear "the hat" in, out and everywhere to limit sun.

re: Aloha

knockedup — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:17:56 GMT

Thanks for all your comments!

Pepper, I'd love any suggestions you have for baby friendly restaurants, outings, or beaches on the big island. Thanks!

re: Aloha

Melissa — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:25:12 GMT

What a doll! I love his happy grins, they're infectious! I'm so glad the trip went well. As for the crawling, it's just one more inevitable step towards independence! The eyes in the back of your head will soon begin sprouting.

re: Aloha

pepper — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:21:59 GMT

I love your blog, and incidentally live in Hawaii...Let me know if you need any suggestions for ...Restaurants, fun outings, best beaches, where to spot the cutest turtles etc.

Axel has the most engaging grin, I'm so glad he's loving Hawaii!

re: Aloha

MidLifeMama — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:08:38 GMT

Last summer when Cooper was 9 months old he learned to crawl while on vacation. It looks like you are having a great time!

re: Aloha

L Hastings — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:17:51 GMT

You two look like you are having some amazing fun! I'm glad to hear the flight went well and that Axel is testing the finer Hawaiian cuisines-- like sand. Out of curiosity, how many coffee beans did he try in that third picture?