EATING!!!

A few months ago, Maliya decided that she was anorexic. She would often act like I was trying to torture her when I would feed her, and sometimes refused to eat for 4 or 5 hours (this from a 2 month old!). When she was about 3 months old, I was concerned that she was not getting enough to eat, and tried to start supplementing with formula, but she refused to drink from a bottle. The little stinker! So, I decided to start trying solid foods. She seemed to like her rice cereal fine the first week or so, not much--if anything--made it down her throat, but she seemed to like licking it off her lips. But, one day, she decided I was trying to be mean by sticking that spoon in her mouth, and she started trying to escape from her little bumbo by arching her back!

When I saw her going to such measures to get away from her solid food, I decided it was time for a break from solids for a while. But I still wasn't convinced she was getting enough to eat. I recently decided to try supplementing with formula (one more try can't hurt, right?), but again she refused the bottle. I tried giving her a bottle after nursing her, I tried before nursing her, I even tried giving her a bottle only, but she knew that after some hours, I would give in a nurse her. She would go 7 hours and refuse to drink more than one or two ounces from a bottle! And even that took a lot of time, effort, coaxing, and a lot of Maliya crying. So, it finally became clear that the only way I could get her to drink a decent amount from a bottle is if she knows that the only place she will get food. After about a day and a half of only feeding her with a bottle, she finally stopped puting up a fuss and would drink a full four ounces at a time. After drinking from a bottle for a whole week, she would drink up to 7 ounces at a time, and even reach out to grab the bottle and pull it to her mouth when she would see it!
She has now been eating better and better, and even started eating her rice cereal again (and this time, I think some is actually making it to her stomach!). Hooray! My baby is eating!
Also, since she's been eating better, she has been sleeping better at night and even taking longer naps. I could definitely get used to this! Let's hope it's not a passing phase!