The Boy With A Bottle

To set the scene, let's start by saying that I've had someone recently tell me that "kids like Joel don't comfort eat.  There is nothing comforting about putting something in your mouth after you've been intubated for long periods of time."  And: "He doesn't understand the correlation between being hungry and putting food in his mouth.  That was interrupted when he got his feeding tube."

That just didn't seem right to me.  (Now I'm not trying to pat myself on the back here, but I'm just trying to prove the point that mothers know their children best...)  I know that there are some very true facts up there.  I'm just saying that they don't apply to us.  I believe that with hard work and prayer, we can overcome that.  This woman did not.  We have been faithful to keeping Joel with his binkie.  At 20 months old, he still can't keep it in by himself, but he definitely uses it for comfort.  He is able to drink from a sippy cup, a regular glass, and he can suck out of a straw....but he'd only tried a bottle once, and it was months ago.  When we were unpacking the house, I found his bottles in a kitchen box.  Immediately it stung like a bad memory....they were things I remember purchasing while he was in my tummy.  Just preparing for our new baby, not realizing at the time that they wouldn't end up being used.  I've looked at those unused bottles countless times over the last 17 months...

I put some pediasure in one of the bottles and handed it to Joel, thinking he'd have fun playing with it. But he drank it.  All of it.  It took all day.  FOR REAL.  It took him 24 hours to finish that 4oz bottle.  But he did it.  And that was 120 calories that we didn't have to try to get him to eat.

Today, we got 320 calories. :)  I think we're onto something here...

 

This has been tough.  We have tried every single day to get our son to eat since Joel was 10 months old.  We've gotten creative, and tried new things.  I've read blogs from other moms for inspiration.  I'm continually scanning the grocery stores for new products that are calorie packed that Joel might like.  We try, sometimes to get zero progress for the day.  But THIS.  This makes it all worth it.  This is reassurance that I know my son best, even when I'm told the opposite.