More On Feeding Issues
Ok, here's the deal with Smiley:
1. Ever since surgery, he has no longer tolerated pedisure. He did fine with it before, but now I give it to him, it comes back up.
2. Tried soy milk. I knew he wouldn't drink it, so I put some in his feeding tube. It came back up almost instantly.
3. I never tried cow milk. Thinking pedisure has milk in it(?) I was afraid to try regular milk. I may experiment soon with an once by feeding tube and see what happens.
4. I may repeat milk experiment with pedisure and see what happens.
5. He is only eating baby foods now. He is so behind in eating, we are still on baby food. I'm not sure if he knows how to chew well enough for table food, but if you have any suggestions, let me know.
6. I may try the refried beans, but beans make me gag, but I'll try and see if he will eat them. He's picky like me.
7. He is on Isomil 2 toddler formula. He does not like it. Day care teachers somehow get it down him mixing with his food or cereal. I add instant breakfast sometimes for flavor and calories and sometimes have luck getting him to drink it.
8. I'm trying to find the right balance between formula and baby food. He will eat baby food til he's full, but I need to get the formula in him too. It's tricky. If I tube feed the formula and the belly is full, it comes up like last night.
9. With his feeding difficulties, I never can tell when he turns his head away if it means he's full, just playing, or just tired of trying to eat.
10. I tried mashed potatos with butter(which also make me gag) and he did not like it either.
Anyway, here's what I need. Something soft like baby food, tastes good and is high in calories, but doesn't contain milk. Any suggestions?
I think he looks healthy too but he lost a couple pounds and doctor was concerned and I don't want them reporting me so I need to be on top of this. Not that they would do anything because they know we feed him, but it's the idea.
We really need to get him adopted soon.
1. Ever since surgery, he has no longer tolerated pedisure. He did fine with it before, but now I give it to him, it comes back up.
2. Tried soy milk. I knew he wouldn't drink it, so I put some in his feeding tube. It came back up almost instantly.
3. I never tried cow milk. Thinking pedisure has milk in it(?) I was afraid to try regular milk. I may experiment soon with an once by feeding tube and see what happens.
4. I may repeat milk experiment with pedisure and see what happens.
5. He is only eating baby foods now. He is so behind in eating, we are still on baby food. I'm not sure if he knows how to chew well enough for table food, but if you have any suggestions, let me know.
6. I may try the refried beans, but beans make me gag, but I'll try and see if he will eat them. He's picky like me.
7. He is on Isomil 2 toddler formula. He does not like it. Day care teachers somehow get it down him mixing with his food or cereal. I add instant breakfast sometimes for flavor and calories and sometimes have luck getting him to drink it.
8. I'm trying to find the right balance between formula and baby food. He will eat baby food til he's full, but I need to get the formula in him too. It's tricky. If I tube feed the formula and the belly is full, it comes up like last night.
9. With his feeding difficulties, I never can tell when he turns his head away if it means he's full, just playing, or just tired of trying to eat.
10. I tried mashed potatos with butter(which also make me gag) and he did not like it either.
Anyway, here's what I need. Something soft like baby food, tastes good and is high in calories, but doesn't contain milk. Any suggestions?
I think he looks healthy too but he lost a couple pounds and doctor was concerned and I don't want them reporting me so I need to be on top of this. Not that they would do anything because they know we feed him, but it's the idea.
We really need to get him adopted soon.
posted by Lisa @ 9:55 AM
25 Comments:
At 11:35 AM,
Anonymous said…
What about Avacado...
Laurie
www.litvinskyfamily.com
At 11:47 AM,
Anonymous said…
Take him to an allergist and find out for sure if you suspect a milk allergy. Our allergist told us that allergies get worse with each exposure, so you really don't want to keep giving him something that he might be allergic to.
My son has a milk allergy, but luckily he does fine with soy "milk." He really loved the vanilla flavored kind when he was little, maybe Smiley would like the taste of that also. (Assuming he's not allergic to soy. But I would think that the allergist would check for that also when they check for dairy. You can check 8 foods at a time.)
At 11:51 AM,
GLouise said…
Girl, you don't like mashed potatoes?! ;-) My favorite carb.
I was going to recommend sweet potatoes, but if he doesn't like white potatoes maybe that is not a good idea.
Bananas? I dunno, no kiddos yet, so I am probably not the best one to ask :-)
At 12:44 PM,
Anonymous said…
This worked for someone else I know, but it takes a little more work and sounds gross. Take his favorite flavors of baby food and make them yourself, but cook everything in the formula before you puree it, and use formula for the liquid if you need more when pureeing it. Doing it yourself gives you the opportunity to gradually increase the texture as well.
Just another idea to try, good luck! Feel free to e-mail if you have questions with trying this.
jwallin997@hotmail.com
At 1:16 PM,
Anonymous said…
If he's not allergic to Soy, firm tofu is a great thing (at almost three, my daughter still loves cold cubed firm tofu, even though it makes me gag)! Also, the silken kind will go into his tube.
Avocado is another great one.
Will he eat toast? If so, cashew or almond butter on it are great! (Not peanut butter until he's three.)
How about eggs? Or chicken (you can puree it.)
I too would take him to an allergist if you are at all worried about milk or soy allergies.
And a nutritionist is a great idea too.
Good luck!
At 1:26 PM,
Rich Angie said…
How frustrating! I have no idea as I don't have little ones yet, but could you mix in some protein powder with whatever he DOES like?
At 1:57 PM,
No Longer In Crisis said…
Oh man, until you know about milk, all my suggestions are milk-based :( Cookie had a much better time with cow milk than she ever did with formula. Have they told you not to give him milk yet? We had to start Cookie on milk at 12 months, and we actually had to limit her cuz she would drink so much and beg for more. How does he do with fruit juices? Cookie likes Juicy Juice cherry. :) I'll try to think what else she loves that is soft and non-milk based.
At 2:06 PM,
Lisa said…
I tried soy milk and he threw it up almost before I finished putting it in his feeding tube.
I'm just gonna have to insist his pediatrician refer him to an allergist.
He does like the sweet potato baby food.
Tamara,
I haven't tried milk because we've tried ice cream several times and he hasn't tolerated it(although he REALLY likes it). He loves juice, but kinda a lot of empty calories, but it does have calories.
Eggs sound good if I can mash them in really tiny pieces.
At 2:16 PM,
Anonymous said…
Have you tried mixing the baby food and the powder formula together. You get double the calories and the same texture as the baby food. Our Ped. sugested doing it for our twins.
At 3:38 PM,
Anonymous said…
I know it sounds gross, but you can also puree cooked eggs with his formula and put it in his feeding tube.
At 3:44 PM,
happyadoptingmom said…
We take applesauce and add in baby cereal. It adds texture and vitamins and calories.
At 5:25 PM,
Anonymous said…
have you tried rice milk?
At 6:46 PM,
owlfan said…
I had a FTT kid and the nutritionist said to add butter and heavy cream to things, but if there is a milk allergy, those are out. I also tried coconut creme (like you would make a pina colada with) - VERY high in calories.
I also ordered a high calorie juice type drink, similar in calories to Pediasure. I think I may have ordered it through a medical equipment pharmacy. It wasn't this, but similar: http://www.novartisnutrition.com/us/productDetail?id=6
At 7:09 PM,
Anonymous said…
I say try potatoes again- maybe with some formula. Sometimes it takes more than one try for kids to get used to a new food. Maybe mushy bread with formula on it. Sometimes stuff that seems gross is what they like.
At 7:35 PM,
Anonymous said…
Food allergies are a major PITA, but they're manageable. If soy milk and "cow" milk are out, there are nut and rice milks. (Rice Dream makes an ice cream, too, that he might like.) I hear good things about almond milk, but of course my kid is allergic to nuts besides dairy, so we haven't tried that one.
If he had a serious milk or soy allergy, though, I would think that you'd be able to tell from the reaction to the formulas, because they have to be based in one or the other. Maybe he's lactose intolerant? The formula is more broken down than raw milk, and so wouldn't be causing the same problems. You could try buying a small container of lactose-free milk and see how he feels about that...
Man. You really need an allergy test, and then you'll know for sure which foods are safe to play with, and which to avoid all together. :( Hopefully you can get a quick referral and get that done so that you have solid ground to start from.
At 9:13 PM,
Awesome Mom said…
Lactose intolerance would cause loose stools not throwing up. I am thinking it could be reflux especially since he is keeping down the thicker baby food and immediately throwing up thinner liquids. Has he been tested for this by a GI doctor? They should also be able to give you ideas of foods that will fatten him up.
For Evan we used heavy whipping cream mixed with whole milk for awhile. He really packed on the pounds then but he really needed them too.
Adding powder formula to the baby food will really up the calories. You can also mix meat baby food with veggies and fruits to help with the calories.
At 3:37 AM,
Anonymous said…
Have you tried using those gerber mesh nets? You can find them at target. You can put something in it like whole bananas pieces. He will have to try and mash the food out of the net himself, by chewing on it but i think they work great, messy though.
At 5:44 AM,
sourpatchbaby said…
Have you tried goat milk. Usually it doesn't affect negatively someone who's lactose intolerant. It's sweet too, so he might like it.
At 6:05 AM,
Lisa said…
Awesome mom,
I asked the dr about reflux, but she said since he was keeping down juice, that's probably not it. I can put straight formula in his feeding tube and he does fine. He will sometimes drink 4-6 oz of the formula if I add chocolate instant breakfast.
Anna,
I'll have to try the rice milk/ice cream. Where do you get it from?
Thanks for all the suggestions. I have no idea how to puree my own baby food, but I'm sure I could google how to do it.
At 6:22 AM,
Anonymous said…
Get yourself a Bullet. While hearing the name always makes me think of sex toys, this is just a handheld blender/food processer. It makes mush out of the food with almost no fuss or mess (or at least that is what my SIL says).
Also, my niece is lactose intolerant, but she gets constipated from it. And, yes, juice is just empty calories, but they are from natural sugars, not like soda or candy & aren't you just looking for some empty calorie ideas?
At 8:05 AM,
No Longer In Crisis said…
Oooh - I almost forgot - Cookie LOVES cream of wheat. Dunno about potential wheat allergies, but you can make it with water instead of milk. I add brown sugar too. Gosh, you got so many cool suggestions here!
At 8:21 AM,
Runergirl said…
I won't give you any suggesions because until you know for sure what/if he is allergic to anything my suggestions would be useless.
In fact I got a lot of these same suggestions before William was diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis.
William is allergic to rice, milk: including casein and whey, poultry, all nuts, all fish, all determined by a scratch test from an allergist. He is not technically allergic to soy, but can not tolerate soy milk for some reason.
Now it's hard to accept that children don't need milk. Yes that's right they do not need cow's milk. The only animals that need cows milk are calves. William gets the same amount of calcium from OJ and other foods.
Get that kid to an allergist!
Love
r
At 8:34 AM,
Runergirl said…
Lactose intolerance can cause throwing up, however it mostly commomnly causes diarrhea. Smetimes it even cause both at the same time! I had a fried this happened to, it was not fun.
Oh, and be careful with some of these suggestions if you think it is a milk allergy, since even the juice that was suggested contains whey, which is milk.
Whey and casein are also sometimes found in the so-called dairy free soy and rice products like soy cheese or rice ice cream.
At 9:41 AM,
Anonymous said…
The rice milk is shelf-stable until opened, so it's usually on the shelf either on the cereal aisle or in the "health foods" aisle. The Rice Dream ice cream is usually at the end of the regular ice cream section. I think most major chain groceries carry the milk, at least.
I do recall that the ice cream contained other things which my son was allergic to, so we didn't buy it. It's possible that dairy was one of them. The really good news about that is that the government requires food companies to clearly label below the ingredients if their foods contain of the "Top 8" allergens -- and milk is one of them. So you will be able to tell if milk is in there.
Yes, they do stick milk into non-dairy items sometimes. It makes me so frustrated. I haven't been able to find a cheese for my little guy yet, because they all have milk protein in them, even the soy and rice-based cheeses. I'm not sure what the point of making them is, if you're going to put dairy in them anyway. Maybe some people are able to tolerate small amounts?
Avocado is a good suggestion of a high-fat food. It doesn't require pureeing, either. Just scoop it out of its skin and mash a tiny bit with a fork. It freezes well, too. You can put it into an empty ice cube tray and freeze little baby-sized portions.
At 9:56 AM,
Lisa said…
Smiley does fine with rice cereal, so he shouldn't be allergic to rice then right?
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