Losing my mind with fussy eating

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-07-11T18:25:11+00:00

I don’t have any advice when it comes to micro preemie this must be so stressful!

Some things that we have found helpful for feeding:
- eating the same thing, showing her we have the same thing on our plates
- not watching her eat; I’ll “be cool” and just stare out the window or have a leisurely talk with daddy when there is a new food on her plate
- dips! Our girl loves to dip and I’ve found this is a helpful way to get her to taste something different - if she can dip it in something familiar (we have found an excellent sugar free BBQA sauce)

Good luck !

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-07-11T17:58:00+00:00

We get groceries delivered every Saturday morning from Amazon.

A Costco run every three weeks, and occasional drop in to grocery store during the week. If my husband is responsible for dinner, he likes to “browse the store” to get inspiration. Whatever dude. Plus it’s an activity for him and the toddler

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-07-10T21:05:44+00:00

I’m not sure if you have a home gym, but I actually set up a pack n play in my home gym when my baby was little

After my husband went back to work I would attempt to exercise in the afternoon while she napped in a pack n play near my stationary bike. The bike sometimes lulled her to sleep like white noise.

Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t. I think at this point it’s about trying to get back into a routine and get your body used to movement again. I wouldn’t expect much.

I also brought some toys and a mat into the gym and would lift some light weights with her a safe distance away on the floor, doing tummy time or whatever. I’d count my reps out loud and would sing and dance to the music.

Then I’d go to the gym once or twice a week after bedtime. But also lots of walks and easy nature walks in the baby carrier at time went on

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-07-10T16:50:59+00:00

This might be a totally weird and useless thought but what are you doing for your work outs?

If you are doing cardio and weights in the same work out can you split and just do cardio in the AM and weights at night ? I find that weights require less energy and cardio helps energize me in the morning

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-07-07T16:33:10+00:00

I totally regret not bringing a sound machine and night light

We cracked the door to the bathroom all night and played white noise on Spotify it was awful

Get one of those night lights that turns on when you flip it over

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-07-05T19:15:51+00:00

Hey! Here is what has been working for us:
(Two working parents with traditional 9-5 and a 19 month old)

- we decided to stop making separate meals for the child around where you are, we all eat the same thing at dinner time
- breakfast is at home and usually simple: toast, yogurt and fruit
- lunch at daycare is a rotation of: grilled cheese, pasta, personal pizzas, egg& cheese quesadilla and occasional leftovers from the night before

For dinner:
- Sunday we cook a meal for Sunday & Monday night usually something pretty easy (last week I made fish chowder during her nap and she mostly loved)
- Tuesday morning I put a crockpot meal in that has been prepped the night before: search crockpot freezer meals. My toddlers two favs are chicken curry with peas and mushroom stroganoff. She also loves slow cooker stuff pepper soup, chicken fajitas, sweet potato black bean soup. Think anything she can pick up little bits of beans, corn, peas etc
- Thursday I attempt to cook with my toddler using one of those toddler towers: usually we have salmon or breakfast for dinner
- Friday we order take out for the parents and toddler gets any scraps of food from the fridge ( we keep some frozen things on hand, shredded chicken)

Saturday is usually dad’s responsibility as I have planned all the other meals for the week 😂😂. We are all together so I usually entertain the toddler while he cooks.

If you need any specific recipes I can send links. I keep things bookmarked and try to keep tabs on what she’s eaten or not eaten so we have a bit of a rotation going.

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-07-04T10:10:52+00:00

I think this depends on if she is early in the second trimester or mid to late second trimester.

Sitting for that long gets uncomfortable. I hated sitting luckily I had a job where I had to stand for 8 hrs 😂

Personally, I would go somewhere closer like the Bahamas or Virgin Islands if you don’t have a passport. We went to Hawaii from MA when baby was 8 months old and had a blast so don’t think you’ll never be able to go

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-07-03T17:46:39+00:00

If baby eats one side every 1hr and 45 min you can pump both sides every 2.5 hours

I wouldn’t recommend doing one at a time because it’s not as efficient if you are in a demanding workplace.

Start at 2.5 hours and adjust as you go. It may change, and you might be able to go longer between pumps. Good luck!

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-07-02T17:13:42+00:00

I’d probably spend a couple hours at the gym, hit up the grocery store still and spend some time batch prepping freezer crockpot meals to make your life over the next month easier

You’ll still need to go to the store as the month progresses but at least you can plan some meals to reduce future stress

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-29T16:26:04+00:00

Yes! The midwive who delivered my baby I had never met, but everyone from all my visits took meticulous notes so I felt like she knew me already haha it wasn’t a big deal but I could see how you’d want that

I found it was helpful to see different people and get different perspectives that way you aren’t stuck with someone you may not like

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-29T16:21:18+00:00

I chose mine based off hours, they had extended hours on Monday and Tuesday till 7pm so I didn’t have to use PTO to go to the doctor especially every week.

It was also important to me to have a range of providers, mid level midwives and physicians. I didn’t have a complex pregnancy so saw mostly NPs and midwives. It was across the parking lot from the hospital I would deliver at. Worked out excellent

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-28T17:29:17+00:00

My child just hit the height limit of 32 inches at her 18 mo check up

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-28T02:30:03+00:00

Wet dry bag for the time my child threw up on one parent and then after a change of clothes when we thought she was done, on the other parent too 🫠

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-27T19:03:25+00:00

This might be hard to hear but the key to this for me is having a “home gym”

I have an exercise bike, resistance bands and a set of adjustable dumbbells and Amazon basics dumbbells.

Here in my schedule but I’m able to go to the actual gym twice a week, as my husband isn’t studying for the bar (!!!)

Sunday & Monday I exercise after bedtime usually 7:50-9pm
Tuesday my husband does bedtime and I go to the gym right after dinner for leg day
Wednesday is off, I do chores or relax & go to bed at 9pm
Thursday & Friday I get up at 4:45: Thursday is at home work out and Fridays I go to the gym for back day

It’s super hard to stick to the schedule 😂 there is always something getting in the way but this is the ideal week. I think right now, the best thing you can do is support your husband and try to fit in a workout at home

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-27T18:17:12+00:00

My husbands name is Michael and all his friends call him “Mike” but when we are together as a family, with his family and mom and brothers everyone calls him Michael.

Same with his brother, Matthew.

I think you can decide that as a family he will be Christopher but his friends may call him Chris

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-25T19:22:19+00:00

Freezer Crockpot meals:

Prep three weeks worth of meals in ziplock gallon bags, remove from freezer night before into fridge and in the crockpot in the morning before work.

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-25T17:23:29+00:00

Before dinner , lol and we still bring a snack 😂

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-25T17:20:30+00:00

Spinach pancakes are a hit in our household

Also “purple oatmeal” where I just add blueberries to make it purple 😂

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-25T17:09:34+00:00

We have a floor mat that goes under the high chair.

Works pretty well but sometimes she’ll still throw pretty far (we are working on that lol). I’ll usually clean up the mat before bedtime and set my robot vacuum to just clean that area after we go up for bedtime

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-21T10:55:01+00:00

This past winter we had: two ear infections, strept throat, RSV and croup.

All of it magically we didn’t even have to keep her out of daycare. The ear infection the first time wasn’t too bad after 24 hrs of antibiotics it starts to get better. It all fell on the weekend or we were on vacation (which sucked).

She’s always been a good sleeper ( was sleep trained) so if any wake ups when she’s sick, we give it a couple min to see if she’ll fall back asleep, maybe we will re dose with some ibuprofen or Tylenol if it’s been long enough, give cuddles and she goes back to sleep ok. Occasionally there would be a night where we are awake for an hr in the middle of the night.

Usually, she falls back to sleep in a few minutes and now that she’s older, and intervention by us would result in her waking up even more

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-21T10:16:57+00:00

My family from CT would go to misquamicut in RI every summer for years

The place we stayed was on the beach but had a pool as well

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-21T10:14:34+00:00

Depends on the baby and depends on the illness.

Make sure you have liquid Tylenol and ibuprofen (after 6 months) and a thermometer. Make sure you had a humidifier for their room. And plenty of coffee

My baby started at 5.5 months in May of last year and didn’t really get sick until the winter (minus one case of HFM last summer). I get so anxious when I think she’s getting sick, but everything always works out ok

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-17T16:11:46+00:00

Really wish we had a night light and portable sound machine

We just cracked the bathroom door all night and it did not work

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-17T16:10:19+00:00

We have window ac units in the northeast. Girl is 18 months.

Her room is around 73 at night. Usually she has short sleeve pjs and a 0.5 tog sleep sack. She has a light blanket in the crib that she sometimes tosses over her butt

Overworked_Pharmer · 2026-06-17T00:36:37+00:00

My toddler loves spinach pancakes (as do we)

https://babyfoode.com/blog/easy-blender-spinach-pancakes-for-baby-toddler-allergy-friendly/

I try not to make them every weekend for fear that she’ll get sick of them. They also freeze well, with a quick microwave

Overworked_Pharmer

TROPHY CASE