Baby Strikes Down Lunchtime Measure

Posted on March 1, 2012 Updated on March 1, 2012

Does it look like I have time for lunch?

Little Madeleine has never been one to skip meals, but for the past two days, she’s been boycotting lunch. There’s no real rhyme or reason that we can determine, she’s just not into it.

She goes after the first ounce like a champ, but then starts playing and spraying and it all goes down hill from there. It’s the same meal that she devours first thing in the morning. It’s also the same concoction she pounds in the evening. So what’s going on with the midday meal?

The most interesting aspect of it is that she’s really enjoying this particular project. She looks up the length of the bottle at me, gets a big smile and then lets a huge stream of milk run down her chin. So she sucked this milk into her mouth only to let it dribble out so I could watch. That’s what I call lunchtime entertainment.

After a few cleanups, Maddie moves onto the tongue game. She starts grinning again and uses her tongue to push the nipple back and forth – this is to create the illusion that she is drinking. Having been on the receiving end of this trick a few times, I just take the bottle away.

She fusses just the tiniest bit, but obviously has no interest in eating her lunch. I take a five-minute break and we go through the same routine all over again. I make sure to enjoy the theater of it all, but the baby is coming up about 4-6 ounces short of what she usually ingests.

Of course, with a girl like Maddie, she’s in no danger of going hungry. But this new found distaste for the midday feeding is a real head scratcher. Since eating is not a problem during any other time of day, there is no need for concern. But if she goes for the trifecta (3 Days in row) I wonder if our faux lunchtime together will become part of our daily ritual.