Well, I'm unable to sleep tonight because I'm confused over what to switch Olivia to. Her pediatrician's office tells me to switch her to whole milk. Her nutritionist tells me to switch her to Pediasure. Right now she is on Enfamil AR with Lipil and I wonder about the Enfamil Next Step Lipil instead of both? It wouldn't be so frustrating if I wasn't having my own nutritional difficulties. That has made me increasingly aware of what a well-balanced diet should be. . . a diet that I have adhered to very well. . until today. After cutting gluten out, when I start eating it again. . .I have noticed that I feel pretty crummy. Okay, now I'm off topic.
As thankful as I am for Gerber cereal, macaroni and cheese and prunes. . .I wish Olivia would eat other things. I know she's not getting the veggies that she needs. Of course, cost-wise. . .whole milk would be the way to go, but I'm honestly more concerned about what would be the best for Olivia (and maybe that is milk.) This brings me to a multitude of questions and since I know there are many experienced moms out there. . .maybe someone can help.
1) Why is it so important to get children off of formula at a year old?
2) Why is it so important to get children onto whole milk?
3) Any additional thoughts on the alternatives such as Pediasure or the Next Step Lipil (similar to Similac Go and Grow)
4) Or, are there any other alternatives for a child who isn't really drinking out of a cup or straw and isn't gaining quite like they should?
I was happy to see that Olivia has now made it back over 17 lbs. Also. . .drum roll please. . .she made her first real attempt at crawling tonight. Of course, I'm home with her all day every day and the time that I leave to go to the grocery store. . .she hits a huge milestone. Luckily, she did it again for me. It's sort of a part army crawl, part inchworm crawl, part regular crawl, but it's definite purposeful forward motion. I'm so proud of her. As tough as the past year has been on all of us. . .I'm so proud to be Olivia's mom. Watching her grow and learn and develop her own tastes and preferences is just amazing! I remember when I first saw her in the NICU, I couldn't imagine how wonderful it would be to hold her. Then, I couldn't imagine how wonderful it would be to have my baby at home with me. I look at her whole life like that and I can't imagine the joys ahead! I never take a second for granted and love her more than I could even begin to describe. Okay, so now I'm just teary-eyed thinking of my wonderful little girl. I'd better get to bed before I wake her up to snuggle with her.
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Park City Utah
2 years ago
10 comments:
Jodi,
I'm sorry that I don't really have any advice on what to feed Olivia; but, I know that you will make the right choice. I know it's hard since you have 2 professionals - each telling you something different. You get a lot of great advice from the mom's that read your blog and I hope you get some good advice on this too.
Way to go Olivia!! She is making amazing strides. I know sometimes things seem like an uphill climb - but praise God she is doing so well. She meets every bump in the road with a smile and moves over that bump in her own time.
You girls have a good day tomorrow.
{You'll notice it's almost 2am - I'm not sleeping either!! haha}
Hi, I'm not sure it is so 'vital' to make the switch from formula to whole milk at 1 year, but I think it mainly has to do with the fact that formula is high calorie milk compared with whole milk, and a child on formula has no real reason to explore other foods because nutritionally they get most of the food groups from the formula. I know someone with 11 month old twins and she has just stopped giving them formula and put them on whole milk and says that their interest level in normal whole food has rocketed. They are so excited by new tastes and textures. With my first child I was a typical first time mother - counting calories, weighing the baby, making concerned decisions over every meal. With child number 3 I am completely different - so relaxed, and she is so much better at eating than my first child. She will try anything! I can't give professional advice because I am not a professional in child care, but as a mother of 3, I can only offer the same advice that most other mothers will offer - relax around meal times. A child will eat when she wants to eat. Offer only healthy choices, but in different forms - eg - carrots can be pureed, or mashed, or eaten raw, or cut into sticks and cooked. Broccoli is a fun vegetable - looks like a tree, easy to digest, tasteless and full of iron - the possibilities are endless with vegetables. Peas and sweetcorn are also attractive to the child because they can chase them around the plate with their fingers before catching them and eating them - and you can join in the game too! Good luck
I have B/B twins born at 36 weeks and I kept one of them on Enfamil w/Lipil until he was almost 18 months old. He was 4 lbs 4 oz at birth and IUGR (failure to thrive) and has been consistently under 3% for weight. His height is above 50% and he has my husband's skinny genes. Anyway my pediatrician gave me her blessing to keep him on the formula so long. There was no reason he had to be getting his nutrition from solid food as long as he was getting it. It was much easier for me to know exactly what he was getting when he was on formula. With solid food, they eat less consistently and some of it ends up on the floor. Measuring his intake was harder. We did learn that protein is the most important thing babies need for growing. He's 2 years old now and eats great!
Call your insurance office and ask if they have a nutritionist on staff who can answer your questions. I know BCBS does because they have one who calls me every month, They are under the "Healthy Companion Program" they can also help you and your diet limitations.
As far as formula vs milk, I think the doctor just gives out his info based on age and the normal child, I think I would call and ask him WHY? Also, I know formula helps with brain development and other organs such as the lungs and kidneys. Milk is not fortified like formula and contains no iron, if there is a problem keeping an older baby on formula I would think it is because of the iron, the Next step formulas have lower iron and I think may be your best bet, the can says the age range you can use it for. Good Luck.
I know the more advice you get, maybe the more confused you will be...but...I do agree with alot of the anonymous #1 said...:) BUT... my chiropractor....whom I take both the boys to...says... "milk is highly over-rated"... I know, I know... people reading this and moms say "no-no, my child HAS to have milk"- but.... as long as they are getting liquids and plenty of food, you can get the same vitamins that are in milk through a supplement vitamin. Truth is...milk contains TONS of bacteria! Yes, some that you need... but since we cut out milk... Jake hasn't been sick in almost 2 years! You can use soy, or rice milk... the rice milk tastes good! anyways!.. I could go on and on about this subject.. but if you wanna hear more...jlmk, and I'll email you :) Just try not to stress out about the eating- its true...she will eat when she wants to eat... don't know if any of this was informative, or confusing! lol... talk to you soon!
Ok, here is what I think. Look and compare the three. Which will give Olivia the most benefits. Whole milk is good for the first year but I will probably freak people out but I switched my kids to 2% and then skim at 2. They don't need all the calories any more and really they need the calcium and Vitamin D from the milk. My kids love mixing milk and chocolate soy milk. I am fine with that because it has calcium and Omega 3s. But when you get down to it, Olivia will let you know what she wants. Claire is extremely picky and will really only eat cheese, crackers, bread and fruit. I don't stress about it because she is happy and thriving. Kids automatically know how much they want and when to eat. Just go by what Olivia is telling you!
Julie Hamlett
ok, my perspective is going to come from the feeding therapist angle (I work primarily with former preemies and failure-to-grow kids). Typically, the pediatricians I work with will keep kids on infant formula until their adjusted age is 12-15months if they have growth issues. This is especially the case if they are "picky eaters" and not going to get a lot of nutrition from other sources. Once it's time to transition, you need the dietician/nutritionist to determine caloric needs and balance how much milk/pediasure is needed to supplement how much solid food Olivia eats. I know that you have Rainbows coming to your house for OT/PT...do they offer feeding therapy services as well?? I think that would really help you with some of Olivia's picky eater habits. Lots of kids who start off with reflux/throwing up turn into picky eaters and need the extra calorie liquid as a supplement.
It sounds like the goal is to up the # of calories she's taking per ounce, as Pediasure is 30 cal/oz and whole milk is something like 19 or 18 cal/oz. Pediasure or even just formula is going to also have a lot more nutrition per oz than whole milk, which is important for a kid who isn't eating a balanced diet...that's my guess at least for why the nutritionist is sayign what they are!
You also can start mixing whatever formula she's on right now to a higher calorie count per oz. For example we mixed Sydney's infant Neocate to first 24 cal/oz (it's usually 20 cal/oz) and then 26cal/oz before we moved onto 30 cal/oz toddler formula. HTH!
The Pediasure is 30 cal/oz. I can tell you that there is a LOT of suger in Pediasure and if Olivia's teeth are missing any enamel, it is very likely that the Pedisure will rot her teeth. You might want to talk to a Pediatric dentist. Typically, I believe Pediasure is more intended for tube fed babies, but I could be wrong. If you feed her Pediasure, I would make sure to brush her teeth after every bottle.
Shanon
23 weekers is right pediasure was first put out as a supliment for tube fed kids. Then it was marketed to everyone. I like what someone said about maybe her "pickiness" has to do with the fact that she's getting what she needs from the formula. I know you've kinda come up with a decision, but what if you Maybe try to switch up her diet, so that at least one meal a day (I would go with lunch just because it's probably easier time wise but supper would be good too) she hasn't had a bottle recently. Then in the afternoon or evening depending on which meal you choose, she can have a bottle of something higher calorie like the pediasure. Also remember that it takes a baby a long time to develop a taste for some foods. You may remember this from when you first introduced baby foods to her. You have to keep introducing the foods to be able to tell if she truely dislikes a food. Good luck.
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