changing eating habits

It seems like eating issues in children is a problem for pretty much everyone I know.  Quentin has been eating more lately, but apparently not enough because some nights I'm up every three hours with a hungry baby.  I thought we were past this.  Besides not getting any sleep I don't have that much milk so I have to take him out to the kitchen and get him food at 3:00 AM.  So apparently letting him eat as much as he wants isn't working for me because it's not enough to tide him over for the night.

He's really good at eating breakfast and likes to eat oatmeal which is fantastic because not only is it really healthy, but it is also very filling.  So by the time lunch rolls around he's not very hungry.  We eat at the pavilion for dinner and it's sort of hit and miss on the menu.  Sometimes it's hard to find something he can eat (fried shrimp night isn't the best) and he's often distracted by all the people and getting tired.

So I've decided to mix things up a bit.  Since he's hungry in the morning I fed him carrots for breakfast.  He eats a lot better when we're all eating at the same time so Albert and I ate the same food as him at the table for lunch (Albert is working nights this week).  He ate a lot of ham and some sweet potato.  I don't feed him any snacks unless it's an emergency, usually at church or somewhere.  He ate some chicken and cucumber (he kept pointing to my cucumber so I gave him some and he liked it) for dinner and when we got home I fed him peanut butter and bananas.  I guess we'll see how it goes tonight.  I'm  hoping for a good night's sleep.

I figure if I give him the veggies, which he is less likely to eat, during the first half of the day and give him filling food I know he likes in the evening, he'll sleep better at night and will be more likely to actually eat the food that's good for him since he's hungrier then.

I'm currently reading "French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered 10 Simple Rules for Raising Happy, Healthy Eaters" by Karen Le Billon. It's similar to "Bringing up Bebe" but is a little more critical of the French culture.  I think it's because her husband is French so the expectations of her are different than the other author who is married to a Brit. From personal experience in-laws from a different culture generally expect you to act a certain way whether you want to or are ready for it.  You're part of the family.

Anyway, I think that that American children will probably not eat like French kids even if you implement all the rules because the US is not like France.  The schools here do not care if your kids enjoy a variety of foods and they encourage kids to snack once or twice a day.  Other kids at school are going to be picky eaters and that's going to rub off on your child.  Their system works in part because it's not just the parents who encourage certain eating behaviors, but the community as a whole supports the teaching at home.  It's a top priority for everyone.  

Plus they make really good food and the produce is fresh.  I know when I lived in Italy I was blown away at how good the fruit was there.  Peaches are like dessert and the yogurt is like ice cream.  Who wouldn't want to eat tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes are supposed to?  It makes it easy to eat when the food is good.  When we move (next week!!) I want to start cooking again and making good food.  Healthy and yummy.  I want us to sit down at the table and eat, preferably with a table cloth since the book said that it's important.  

I want to change my eating habits as well.  Less snacking!!  Actually the French way of eating reminds me of the No S Diet: no snacks, sweets, or seconds except for days that start with S.  I have been eating whatever I want since I got pregnant and I'm thinking that it's about time that I keep track of what I'm eating or at least weigh myself occasionally (I can't do that now since our scale is in storage).  

I read that nursing women should eat at least 1800 calories so I think that's a good place to start.  Unfortunately I just bought a ton of Easter candy 1/2 off so I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that.  It's been hard to even begin to watch what I eat because we eat at the pavilion twice a day where there is a lot of food already made sitting there ready to eat and I have no idea what's in it.  Only a week and a half to go and then I'll be in charge of making all my own food again so I'm mentally preparing now for healthier eating.