Monday, May 19, 2008

The downside of coming from a family of smart-asses

My husband is, to put it mildly, a Good Eater.

Being a Good Eater was always considered to be an admirable trait in my family. When I was little, I was a picky eater and a skinny string bean of a kid. My brother Josh, on the other hand, was a chubby-bubbie who ate everything. At dinner I'd be picking at my food and Josh would be scarfing down whatever was in front of him, and my parents would look at me and say, "look, Wendy. Josh ate his dinner. He's such a Good Eater." It's now become something of a joke in our family, to remark on someone's eating habits in a sing-songy voice that they're a Good Eater.

When Jason first moved in with me, I went into a mild panic after the first week because I was wondering whether one of us would have to get a second job to keep him fed. The guy goes through at least 2 gallons of milk a week and can easily blow through a loaf of bread in a day and a half. My mom even gave me a bread machine that was on non-stop in an effort to save some money. At any given meal, Jason usually eats about 2 to 3 times as much as I do. When my parents met him and observed his eating habits, it was roundly agreed that Jason definitely met the criteria for being considered a Good Eater.

So it was no surprise when Zeke demonstrated a healthy appetite for solid food, when it was introduced to him. Once he got used to the mechanics of eating, he would routinely polish off nice big quantities of applesauce or pears or squash or green beans or whatever else he was offered, smiling and smacking his lips the whole time. He was a Good Eater.

But then last week he got sick. He threw up at school, and had stomach issues for about 5 days. And he totally stopped eating solid food. He'll still take his formula in bottles, but every time I or one of his teachers at school tries to feed him, he pushes away the spoon and sometimes even cries. In the past 3 weeks, what with the ear infection and sinus infection and stomach bug, he's actually lost weight, which is bad for a growing baby. He's now dropped to the 15th percentile for weight, though he's in the 65th for height. I guess being long and thin isn't a bad way to go through life. But still, I'm a little worried.

I called my parents for some moral support and advice.

"I'm worried," I said. "I don't know what to do," I said. "What advice can you give me?" I pleaded.

When my dad heard what the problem was, his contribution to the conversation was, "are you sure it's Jason's kid?"

6 comments:

  1. I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure you're fretting. Do you think he's having food allergies that are keeping him from wanting to eat? I hope he feels better and goes back to being a Good Eater fast!

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  2. Lisa -- Thanks. I'm concerned but not freaking out. My suspected likely culprits are a lactose intolerance or the antibiotics he was on. He's since finished his course of meds and seems more chipper, and I've put him on lactose-free formula and won't give him any baby food that has dairy in it, for the time being. His stomach issues appear to have cleared up (he's poops are much better), so I'm hoping he'll start eating again soon. I've been offering but not insisting, and yesterday for the first time in many days he seemed somewhat interested in the spoon, if not totally enthusiastic about it. He's still getting nutrition and hydration from the formula, so he's not starving himself.

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  3. i only have two thoughts for you...
    1) i hope zeke is better soon...
    and
    2) i love your dad.

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  4. He may just now be associating eating with throwing up.

    Try not to worry, but make some foods he likes available to him.

    Is he a grazer? If so, put out some little bowls of banana slices, grape slices, goldfish, raisins, anything he enjoys as a snack, in places he can easily reach and just let him eat as he feels like it for a few days and then gradually re-introduce meals.

    Good luck. I hope he feels better soon.

    We actually have a bit of the stomach bug here at our house. Beckett was sick in my car 5 x (a total, out of nowhere surprise!) yesterday between the grocery store and our house. I wondered why he cried the entire time we were in the store. At least it was my car and not the shopping cart!

    Every time he takes a sip of Gatorade he shudders. It's very sad.

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  5. All is well. Yesterday he went to school and chowed. I also got him to eat some ice cream when he came home. He dug it. Just like his mama...

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  6. Anonymous11:15 AM

    Try some of the organic baby foods or get a food processor (if you don't have one already) & make some veggies at home. Sometimes some of the "ingredients" in the factory processed baby foods make babies' tummies a little intolerable.

    YOUR DAD ROCKS!

    Sherice

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