The daycare we send the kids to is a home-based daycare, certified by the state, run by a woman named MJ. She has three boys of her own. In addition to our two boys, she has three other boys attending daycare. So I guess you could say she knows boys. Obviously, she's had her own boys since infanthood, but she has also had two of the other boys since they were itty bitty (not including the Chipmunk). So I guess you could say she also knows how baby's work - although she is a little perplexed by the Chipmunk's problems with eating (as are we).
Even though his eating problems are annoying, we've all been dealing with them. We tell her if we've tried anything new and whether he was able to keep it down (normally we don't have good news for her), and she tells us if she's tried anything new and whether he was able to keep it down. She's normally more successful than we are with the introduction of new foods. So far, she has been able to get him to successfully eat Cheerios and any type of cracker (saltine, club, cheez it, graham...you get the idea). She has tried cheese, pancakes, mac-n-cheese, and a grilled cheese sandwich (in itty bitty pieces). All of these were immediately puked back up. So, as much as I would love for him to give up his Gerber addiction, it's currently really the only way for him to get his nutrients.
Because of her state certification she is subject to home visits from the people running the program (I'm assuming this is to make sure she isn't beating the kids or something like that). During the last few months the person visiting has been able to witness the problems the Chipmunk has with most table foods.
Also because of her state certification she gets to participate in the USDA food program. This means that she is able to get her weekly food bill subsidized for the meals that the daycare kids eat while they are under her care. This program has been especially useful for us since it meant that we didn't have to provide formula for the time that the Chipmunk was there - this practically cut our formula budget in half! On the other hand, we still have to provide the baby food he eats while he is there. However, now that the chipmunk is one he appears to be under different guidelines for what he is supposed to be eating.
When we picked the kids up yesterday we had note waiting for us stating that we needed to provide a doctor's note to MJ to be able to continue feeding the Chipmunk his Gerber goodness.
Say what now?!
I need a doctors note to provide the food that I want my child to eat?
Apparently, according to the USDA program guidelines, he's supposed to be getting all of his nourishment from regular table food and milk. And anything that differs from these guidelines needs to be approved by a doctor in order for MJ to remain in the program.
The last time I brought up the subject of the Chipmunk's super sensitive gag reflex with the doctor was at his 9 month well-baby check-up. The doctor's response "oh, my son did the same thing - he'll grow out of it eventually". Yeah, thanks - I didn't really think he'd still be eating Gerber's in College.
I get the feeling I'll get laughed out of the doctors office when I bring up my request for signed permission to continue feeding my child baby food. Based on previous experience with the guy, once he finds out that the Chipmunk is able to tolerate Cheerios and crackers he'll refuse to sign such a request. After all, if he can tolerate those other things he should be able to tolerate everything else.
I feel like I should lie to the doctor and tell him that the Chipmunk's not able to keep anything down. On the other hand, I feel like I should tell the doctor the truth. Unfortunately, I feel like telling the truth would result in not getting permission for the food that he needs while he is at daycare. My logical side tells me to tell the guy the truth, because who knows what that might tell him medically. But I really don't want the Chipmunk to become malnourished - or worse (is it really worse?), end up in the hospital because he can't keep anything down. I especially don't want him to start hating food because he starts throwing up every time we sit him down to eat. I honestly have no idea what to do. We didn't have this problem when the Monkey was a baby - at this age he ate anything that was put in front of him (unlike now, when he exists solely on water and air).
Maybe we should hope that the water and air diet works for the Chipmunk too - that just seems like the logical next step to me.
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