Saturday, November 22, 2008

Saturday, November 22, 2008 - Update


Olivia and I hung out at Grandpa and Grandma Sailing's house this afternoon. It was nice to get out of the house and Ryan had to go into the office. She was an angel. My parents continue to be amazed at her progress each time they see her.

We met with her nutritionist yesterday and are going to be starting her on Pediasure to see how she does. It has 30 calories per ounce and more nutrients than whole milk. Until she starts eating more solid food, we're going to wait on the whole milk and try to get her off formula. I know some of you mentioned Carnation Instant Breakfast. . .is anyone using Pediasure? Do your children like it?

Also, it's that time of year for dry skin and Olivia's cheeks and lips get pretty chapped. Last year, we had a humidifier that worked really well, but it ended up moldy at the end of the winter. Is there something else that we could use? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

7 comments:

Kim said...

We fight chapped skin every year. If you figure something out, let me know! In the past if it gets bad enough, the doctor gives us a steroid cream that works, however, I am not sure that Olivia or Kaleb are old enough for that yet. Other than that, good ol' Vaseline seems to be the best.

Kim said...

Olivia, you look extremely cute in these pictures.

Love Alex

Juliette said...

Ryan LOVES Pediasure. He prefers it over milk, but we only let him have it when we are "out and about"...due to the cost. During his recent illness I gave him Pediasure a couple of times to increase his calorie intake since he quit eating.

Blessings with everything. Olivia looks cute!

Julie

Stacy said...

Hey Jodi,
We are constantly having trouble with Conner's skin. We do Eucerin or Aquafor every night and it seems to help a little. We use a humidifier every night, all year around because Conner gets very dry and regularly congested. My doctor told me always use a cool mist humidifier with a changeable filter. It gets a little gross sometimes, but we clean it at least once a week by swishing bleach around in the big part and use vinegar to clean the base. It has held up pretty well and we use it every night.
As far as the Pediasure, we haven't tried it, but you saw about the Honey Bear. They say you can just bypass the sippy cup and go straight for the straw that way which is not a bad thing. I am on a yahoo group and they were just talking about Pediasure. Several kids use it, but they have said it is tough on little teeth because of all the sugar in it. Conner is still on formula and some milk. We haven't switched fully over...I don't think that will go over too well, but I know it's coming when we go for Conner's ped appointment next week!
Anyway, hope things are going well. The eating thing seems to have its ups and downs. Conner's feeding/speech therapist suggested a book called "How to Get Your Kid to Eat" by Ellyn Satter. I haven't started it yet, but she said it might help us. If I learn anything important from it, I'll let you know!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Stacy

Anonymous said...

Vaseline at night I think is best - smear it all over her cheeks and lips before bed. Next morning she'll probably need a hair wash, but it gives great protection.
On the feeding issue I can't give much advice except that a healthy baby will not go hungry - she will eat when she wants to eat. The main thing is that you only offer the healthy stuff so she doesn't become accustomed to the high sugar, high fat snacks as a main source of food. From the gorgeous photos you have posted, she certainly does not look to be underweight! Personally, I would continue to offer her chunks of soft fruit such as banana, kiwi, mango, and otherwise bake some banana bread (it doesn't contain much sugar). Suzanne

Matt&Maisie said...

Eating is a huge issue for our son. He is underweight so we're always trying to get calories in him. He doesn't like Pediasure so he gets a Carnation every morning. I sometimes add cream with the whole milk for extra fat and caloies. I'll also make Carnation milk shakes w/ ice cream. I've found different diets online for kiddos going through chemo or burn victims. They need high calorie diets and have found some great ideas there. Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

I worry about using cows milk with children under 2, there is a lot of evidence that it affects lung health and with Olivia being a micro premie I think I would research for myself. I also think pediasure may have to much sugar, In my experience with children is they like certain things for a while and then all of a sudden that is gross and they have a new favorite. If she likes mac and cheese then go for it, just keep offering her new stuff too. At Babies are us they have a little food puree-er, just a hand crank thing, it works great add a little water to table food and turn the handle and that's it. Also the town house crackers are easy for babies to hold and eat, they dislove a lot better than ritz. crackers