Parents Won't Feed Their Child Enough

[CraftyMom]

I may have missed it, but how much is he actually drinking and how many hours is he in your care? 7 months old?

[Imagination's Creations]

I guess I wonder why they even need every gory detail about what he eats there and when.

If your on the food program, and you're being reimbursed for his meals, then feed him. Cereal, veggies, fruit, and whatever formula they send. They provide formula, you provide the rest, right? That's how it goes here, anyway. So, he'd get more spoon foods than formula, maybe, but he certainly wouldn't go hungry.

At almost 8 months, he'd be on the same meal schedule here as everyone else, roughly every 3 hours. He'd be eating his food, followed by his formula (a little in a cup, then a bottle), while the other's ate their meal. At 8 months, he should also be able to start some easy-to-nibble crackers.

True. If you're providing food program requirements, you're on the food program, right? If not, get on it! I have an 11 month old right now, who when was 8 months and still, had meals at the same times as the other kids and a bottle to follow. So, give him more food!

[permanentvacation]

I am allowing them to break policy simply because I only have two kids and can't afford to lose half of my income. They provide what they, as his parents, believe is enough for him. And, they are right, at his age, he should be eating every 4 hours. But he should be eating more food at each meal.

Like I said earlier, if I kick them out, I'm sure the next person who watches him will feed him according to their schedule anyway. At least I know I know that I am defying the parents and often feeding him every 3 hours to keep him from being so hungry. But he really needs more food, such as cereal to fill him up. He probably also needs to be on the next 'stage' of food which would also fill him up more. And he needs to eat everything at once to fill him up at one sitting. I am also arguing with the parents about them not providing enough food for him and trying to get them to provide more. Some providers would just put him in a playpen in the other room and let him cry until his next scheduled feeding time. At least here, I know that I disagree with the parents, care enough to voice my opinion to them, care enough to defy their wishes as much as I can for the time being, and am looking into how to change his feeding schedule and/or the amount/types of food at each feeding to what I believe the baby needs rather than what the parents want him to be on even though they are not here during the day to see that he truly is hungrier than they think he should be.

By him staying here, I am 'in his corner' and am actively working to get him what he needs. If he goes somewhere else, they might not do that for him.

[Cradle2crayons]

What if he's so hungry because they don't make his bottles properly? I have a suspicion that he's now on a much more expensive formula for the spitting up and now they're cutting corners to save money. I would cut premade bottles.

Amen. I refuse to care for a child if I don't even know what kind of formula they are drinking. I'm sorry but that terrifies me.

If I have a drop in baby, I ask the parents to bring me their can of formula and I return it at pick up.

I would be terrified To give a baby a pre made bottle. Call me paranoid but I could tell you some STORIES after working in pediatric nursing and the ER all these years.

Why do you need to wait until he end of the year to change a policy? I only do contracts once a year, but if I need to change a policy, that takes me five minutes to type it up. Why allow this to continue even another day??

What happens if the child has an emergency and the paramedics ask what formula the child drinks??

Gosh, so many red flags are going off in my head right now.

Why are you allowing a family to dictate what you KNOW is wrong?

[craftymissbeth]

PV, you know I'm always in your corner, but girl you are letting money and income get in the way of doing what's right for this child. It doesn't matter if he's half your income... You feed an infant if you know they're still hungry. If you aren't going to DEMAND they provide it then you better be providing it.

[permanentvacation]

Here, according to the food program, the parent can provide everything up until 8 months old. The food program says that until 8 months old, it is only required that he has formula only all day long. But it suggests cereal with the formula for breakfast and for lunch, cereal and fruit or veges for lunch. But since nothing but formula is required until 8 months old, the parent can provide it and I can still claim him on the food program. I did offer to provide the formula, baby food, and diapers, but the parents said they would. I figured it was just because they wanted to make sure what he drank/ate and what type of diaper and how many diapers he used.

I didn't quite understand what one had to do with the other, but my food program monitor said that we can get reimbursed for the formula even though the parents provide it because the parents who breast feed or the providers of breast fed babies complained that if they couldn't get reimbursed because the parent breast fed, that's discrimination. I don't know. I just said, 'Okay' and left it at that.

But once the child is 8 months old, since the food is required, the provider must provide the food. So, for right now, I can allow the parents to provide everything for their child. But he turns 8 months old the end of the month. So beginning next month, I will be required to provide his food and be required to feed him according to the food program's requirements. I don't think his parents will like that. But we'll see.

[permanentvacation]

The father is a police man. They are not sketchy parents. But now you guys do have me wondering if they are cutting the amount of formula in the bottle. When he gets to crying too much, I do feed him in 3 hours so he doesn't go hungry too long. So, he's not actually being neglected and starving to death. I do have enough food and bottles to feed him every 3 hours. The max he's here is 7 1/2 hours. He just needs more food so he is truly full and able to go the 4 hours he should be going between eating.

[craftymissbeth]

Here, according to the food program, the parent can provide everything up until 8 months old. The food program says that until 8 months old, it is only required that he has formula only all day long. But it suggests cereal with the formula for breakfast and for lunch, cereal and fruit or veges for lunch. But since nothing but formula is required until 8 months old, the parent can provide it and I can still claim him on the food program. I did offer to provide the formula, baby food, and diapers, but the parents said they would. I figured it was just because they wanted to make sure what he drank/ate and what type of diaper and how many diapers he used.

I didn't quite understand what one had to do with the other, but my food program monitor said that we can get reimbursed for the formula even though the parents provide it because the parents who breast feed or the providers of breast fed babies complained that if they couldn't get reimbursed because the parent breast fed, that's discrimination. I don't know. I just said, 'Okay' and left it at that.

But once the child is 8 months old, since the food is required, the provider must provide the food. So, for right now, I can allow the parents to provide everything for their child. But he turns 8 months old the end of the month. So beginning next month, I will be required to provide his food and be required to feed him according to the food program's requirements. I don't think his parents will like that. But we'll see.

Ok... But what about from now until you're closed?? He just gets to be hungry until he turns 8 months??

[Cradle2crayons]

The father is a police man. They are not sketchy parents. But now you guys do have me wondering if they are cutting the amount of formula in the bottle. When he gets to crying too much, I do feed him in 3 hours so he doesn't go hungry too long. So, he's not actually being neglected and starving to death. I do have enough food and bottles to feed him every 3 hours. The max he's here is 7 1/2 hours. He just needs more food so he is truly full and able to go the 4 hours he should be going between eating.

How many ounces is he eating every 3 hours... Or how much/many ounces are the parents bringing every day

[permanentvacation]

He gets one bottle (although I don't know how many ounces) at home at 7 am. He arrives at daycare at 8:15. He gets a container of fruit at 8:30. Then his 8 oz. bottle at 9:30. Then the parents don't want him to eat until 12:30 (4 hours from the time he had his fruit). But he's hungry at 10. I usually hold him off until 10:30. And give him a bottle at 10:30 and then he eats his veges at 11:00 (if he's picked up at 11:30 that day). If he's not picked up til 3:30, I hold him off until 11:30 and feed him his veges at 11:30. He's then hungry at 1:30, but I hold him off until 2:00 and give him his snack bottle at 2.

He's eating constantly throughout the day, but he's only eating/drinking one thing at a time which is not enough to fill him up. And I really think he needs cereal with his breakfast and maybe also his lunch as well as probably needs the next stage of food.

I have to take my daughter to the doctor's tomorrow. I will stop and buy him some food tomorrow. I will also tell his parents about me being required to provide the food and feed him according to the food program's requirements tomorrow and see how they react.

[craftymissbeth]

How many ounces are bottles that they send to you?

[permanentvacation]

The way he eats here is simply crazy. I feel like I am feeding him every time I turn around. But since he only eats one thing at a time, he's hungry constantly. Now that I wrote down his feeding routine here, I see how abnormal his feeding routine is. He really isn't even going every 3 hours.

I don't understand how they say he only eats every 4 hours.

[permanentvacation]

When he's here 8 am until 11:30/12, I get 2 bottles of 8 ounces each and a container of fruit and a container of veges. Which should be plenty for being here only 3 1/2 -4 hours. But they only expect him to eat one bottle and one container of food. They really only expect him to eat breakfast - 1 bottle and one container of food during that time. But he needs his breakfast and lunch (everything they send) during that time. I think if he had his bottle, cereal, and fruit all at one sitting, he could hold off and not need to eat lunch until they get home.

When he's here 8 - 3:30, he gets 3 bottles of 8 oz each, a container of fruit and a container of veges. They expect him to eat breakfast of 1 bottle and fruit, lunch of 1 bottle and veges, and snack of 1 bottle. But the child needs more.

He's 2 weeks away from being 8 months old.

I believe the food is just not filling him up. I think he needs more consistency in his food such as cereal and the next stage in food.

[permanentvacation]

I just added that I require that I provide all of the formula and baby food for the babies into my contract. I stated that the formula and cereal must be iron-fortified as required by the food program.

[CraftyMom]

I have an almost 8 month old and he eats less than that. Every baby is different of course.

It is quite likely like the others said, that they aren't mixing the bottles correctly. So he is getting mostly water and hungry faster. Or they are going by a standard "how much your baby should be eating" schedule.

I think your best bet is to buy a box of rice cereal and give him that along with his fruits and veggies. That should fill him up a bit more. Have they given him meats yet? That would also help him stay full.