Monday 25 March 2013

Food for thought

My little man is refusing most of his food today and the slightly panicky feeling it gave me has made me realise that I am just a tad obsessive about him eating.

When I think about it though, I realise that I have felt this way pretty much since he was born. The whole way through my pregnancy, I planned on breastfeeding and despite the horror stories I had heard of cracked nipples and mastitis etc, I was looking forward to the close bond it would give me and my baby.

When H was born, instead of the skin to skin contact followed by breastfeeding that I had carefully written on my birth plan, he was whisked off, not breathing to the special care baby unit and eventually formula fed by nasal tube. Thankfully, when my milk finally came in a few days later, I got him latched on and off we went, happily for a few weeks until my milk supply started to wane and I was put on Domperidone to increase it.

The meds didn't work so well for me, so I decided to combination feed, bottle feeding and topping up with breastfeeds and solely breastfeeding at night. Despite my best efforts to solely breastfeed, my baby constantly screaming for more food was the deciding factor for my choice (a choice the not-so-friendly health visitor disagreed with, telling me I was feeding my baby 'evil powder'). The breastfeeding stopped when H started sleeping through at four months and left me feeling slightly bereft if I'm honest-I never realised how much I would love feeding my baby.

When H started projectile vomiting, pooing mucous and seeming to have awful tummy aches, I took him to the Dr (obviously not trusting the Health Visitor at this point having asked her what it might be and her telling me "babies throw up") and he was diagnosed as being Dairy Intolerant. This lead to me becoming way more obsessive about what I gave my son, quite rightly, and meant that I had to be extremely careful not to set off his symptoms.

So then came the weaning trials and tribulations which were much more fun than bottle feeding but not as satisfying for me as breastfeeding, and here we are! Still worrying about 'off' days with food and obsessing about what ingredients I put in his risottos, bolognese sauces,soups and the like. On the plus side, I am a way more adventurous cook, and we typically eat better as a result, not that my husband (or H today) will probably agree! That being said, H LOVED his not so adventurous jelly that he tried for the first time tonight-pic attached!!

I am looking for some more interesting dairy-free recipes that are as cheap as possible, so if you have any ideas-please let me know.






4 comments:

  1. Oh we were in exactly the same situation milk wise (minus the dairy intolerance!) I had friends and health professionals tell me it was better to continue breastfeeding than supplement with formula -UMMM MY BABY IS LOSING WEIGHT NOT PUTTING IT ON HOW CAN YOU TELL ME BREAST FEEDING WITH NO MILK IS BETTER????????

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  2. Exactly Nathalie! Was so upsetting to watch him suffer with no help from the medical professionals. I'm just glad I am as well-informed as I am because otherwise he may still not be getting the help he needs! Is your baby ok now?

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  3. How is little H doing now? I hope he is eating again and putting your mind at rest. My current worry is that Libby has no interest what so ever in milk. She has a good milk feed every morning and then small feeds at lunchtime and in the evening. At only 9 months old I'm pretty sure that's not enough. I do breast feed but she also takes formula but has little interest in either now except for first thing in the morning. Such a worry when they don't "comply" with the norm isn't it?x

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  4. That is such a worry-H has done that now and again and it really stressed me out. He always picks up though so hopefully Libby will do the same. I suppose it's just like us-we all have our 'off' days when we only feel like picking at food don't we?! The frustrating thing with breastfeeding is that you have no idea how much she is taking so she could be getting more than you realise from that (and its more filling than formula too). I hope she picks up-let me know how she gets on.
    H is ok thanks-still being picky but I think it's more down to texture than taste so I am persevering!! Ill keep you updated...!! X

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