[stepielynn]

Hi! I brought my daughter home from Guatemala on 3/30/06 and she is now 9 1/2 months old.
She has recently started refusing eating any baby foods and has also started holding her breath while straightening her arms our (almost like a seizure, but being a pediatric nurse I know it is not a seizure, I can stop the activity by touching her) I have been holding her as much a possible and she will smile and touch me , however sometimes she does hit me and try pushing me away.
The temper tantrums happen at different times of the day, sometimes they are when I am not holding her and sometimes when I am.
She also has constipation issues & I was giving her baby food prunes which is why I thought the baby food was so important. I now am trying to give her juice in the bottle but she often will not take that either. She eats about 22 ounces of formula per day and weighs 20#. She is above the 90th percentile for height & weight.
I am at a loss as to what to do. Yesterday was a very hard day for both of us. Any advice would be appreciated.

[sltgjt]

I don't have any advice, but I just wanted to wish you good luck. I am sure other moms of attachment problem babies will be able to give advice. With attachment problems they use food as control even as infants.

[mallory4]

I don't have expert advice, either. Our son arrived from foster care at 14 months and although he didn't do it about food, he did have those stiff, seizure-like periods when he was stressed out. I was very alarmed at the time, and it was only months later that I read (maybe on the Attach China website?) that it was not unusual and is stress/grief related.

Re: the pushing away, tantrums and hitting--our son did that, too, in the beginning. It was very frustrating and made the days not exactly something to look forward to. We just kept holding him and being consistent, and he eventually stopped after a few months. Now (it has been over a year) he will still do it if he is very very upset and tired, maybe about once or twice a month. I use holding to keep him still until he relaxes.

If your daughter is constipated on just formula, you can try watering it down more, if she won't take juice. Since she is in the 90th percentile, and since so many kids do make food into huge control issues, if it was me I would just let it go and not force her with stuff she doesn't want to eat, as long as whatever she is getting is good for her.

With my kids, it was not unusual for them to suddenly hate something they had loved the week before, and with teething going on at her age, it could be she just isn't comfortable and doesn't know why.

It sounds like you are doing a lovely job of trying to meet all her health and emotional needs, which can be quite a balancing act sometimes. Good luck and I hope your days improve soon!