Eating at Daycare

[Deleted]

Okay, so our little guys has been in daycare most of his life and has some breathing issues so while he eats a lot, he does so very slowly. He also gets distracted really easy. At home, we have to go to a dark quiet room to get him to stop wiggling enough to drink his whole bottle. If there are no distractions, he will drain the whole thing relatively quickly.

Okay, so at his last daycare, I got really frustrated because it got to a point where he was eating about 16 oz LESS/day at daycare than he did at home. I thought they had too many babies and that ours wasn't getting enough attention. However, he is now at a new daycare with less kids and we're basically having the same problem. He is eating more solids too, but on the weekend, that doesn't impact his bottle intake so we think he still needs those calories. I gave them a schedule and asked them to feed him a 6-8 oz bottle every three hours. He should take about 3 at daycare. We also told them they could try baby food in b/w the second and third bottle feeding. The last two weeks, he's eaten 8-10 oz TOTAL for the entire day.

All that to say, what should we do? I know it is because there are too many distractions. But I also know that his teacher can't just leave the other kids and go sit in a quiet dark room to feed him. I'm also open to answers such as-he doesn't need to eat that much in a day stop freaking out about it.

UPDATE AND FOLLOW UP Question 9/14: Yesterday, the baby had one bottle in the morning at daycare and wouldn't eat the rest of the day. When I got there in the afternoon to get him, they had made a bottle but he wouldn't take it. They asked if I wanted to try to feed him before we left and he drained that 8 oz bottle in about five minutes!! So I'm wondering if he just doesn't want to take a bottle from others? He has had the same teacher in his room every day since we switched daycares six weeks ago. I work about 30 minutes away so I can't even get over there to feed him every so often; otherwise I would just start doing that. Any further thoughts?

[gdaisy09]

F/u questions:

does he seem hungry when he gets home?

how is he sleeping nights after daycare versus on the weekends?

wet diapers?

is his growth roughly on track?

[Deleted]

He will eat two full 8 oz bottles when he gets home and a 4 oz container of baby food mixed with rice cereal. That is all within a 3-4 hour period.
He sleeps the same either way. I think 3-4 wet diapers at daycare and probably 3 more before bed and is totally full each morning. He is in the high 80th percentile for height and weight. So, I know he's probably okay, but he also doesn't really cry when he's hungry, which is why I asked them to feed him every 3 hours... because he won't just cry for it.

[13liza]

A doesn't cry when he's hungry very often either, so giving our daycare provider a schedule worked well. Is it an option to take him to a different room to eat or is there only one teacher? Maybe there is an assistant that could help? Have you checked in with your doctor about your concerns? I'm sorry you're dealing with this.

[gdaisy09]

Sorry you're dealing with this. 13liza, has some good suggestions. I'd start a conversation with daycare, help them understand that you're worried and see if they can help test out some possible solutions.
the good news is that he is still getting the recommended 24-32 oz (just not at the times you want). It's not impacting sleep (though I bet you'd like to spend some of the time you're feeding him after work doing other things), and it also doesn't sound like hes in any danger of dehydration or not getting the nutrition he needs. So you have time to try to find a solution, probably the most important thing is for you to feel like you're on the same page with the daycare providers.


the not crying when hungry thing is foreign to me. Iz throws a fit every 2-3 hours and now that she's mobile it usually involves pulling on my shirt and hitting me if I don't comply immediately.

[byjove]

If he is eating solids at day care, having plenty of wet diapers, gaining well, sleeping well, and happy while at day care, I am inclined to say not ideal, but not a big deal.

My oldest was a bottle refuser and when she figured out a straw cup would still only take 6-8 oz of breastmilk max a day while I was at work. She would eat solids. She ate more on the weekends. She grew fine and is now a happy preschooler.

[Deleted]

gdaisy09, yeah he is just not a crier. Only when he realizes its time to go to sleep and he fights that so hard. But it's more like he's fighting himself to stay awake. Anyway, yes I will try to just stay on them. I've told them several times that he gets distracted but just to keep at it, but as far as I can tell, there's just one worker in his class and there are about 4 other little ones in there most of the day.

[13liza]

A couple of times our provider has had to stop feeding A to deal with another child for a minute. He usually just doesn't finish that bottle- he gets distracted with something else and just isn't interested anymore. I read your other comments and I really don't think I'd worry too much about this. It sucks in that you have to feed him so much after daycare, but at least he's sleeping fine. If he doesn't cry all day at daycare I would bring it up, but not push too hard until it's necessary.