I was anxious to get Chloe's weight at the doctor's office. She'd just been weighed a week prior but after three days of somewhat pathetic feeding I was curious if she'd lost weight. Surprisingly, she went from 15lb 1oz to 15lb 8oz! Wow! That was pretty impressive! Then we came home and Chloe took a huge dump in her diaper. I opened up the diaper, "Um, yeah. There's at least 7oz in there...." Stinker... (Note: I actually considered weighing her diaper a la NICU style but we only have one small scale and it's my kitchen scale. Cookoo! Cookoo! I chose not, though.)
Her formula intake seems to have settled around 18-20oz per day. Seems pretty pathetic to me but she just refuses to take any more. She always finishes her purees, though. I called the NICU nutritionist (I'm so thankful to still have a relationship with her!) and she said most babies naturally decrease their formula intake at around a year old and as long as Chloe's above the minimum of 13oz per day and she's gaining weight we're ok. I'm going to try adding a little bit of cow's milk to Chloe's bottles to see if that makes them more appealing and add a third baby food meal per day.
I suspect Chloe has some texture issues we need to work through. She kind of gags if the puree isn't runny enough. I recently made her some chicken puree (my first attempt at making baby food) and it was pretty good but still had a slight grainy texture to it. I mixed it with apples one day, peas the next, and sweet potato on the third day. She ate it all but tried to touch her tongue to her chin with every bite. I'm surprised she opened for each new bite. We'll keep working on it. The pediatrician said to work on different textures for about 3 months or so and call her if I can't get Chloe to easily eat more than soupy baby food. I really really don't want a referral to the Feeding Therapist so we'll work on it.
Any suggestions on how to work on texture issues would be greatly appreciated! I'm trying to enter the world of baby food making and recently bookmarked wholesomebabyfood.com. Wish me luck!
Awww, sounds like our girl is doing well! I wouldn't worry too much about the texture stuff - yet. Daphne has the hardest time with things that are a mix of textures - say, a more chunky puree. She can handle crunchy (like veggie sticks or crackers), and she can handle smooth, something in between is more challenging and gag-inducing. Just recently she was able to master soft noodles like pastina and angel hair, which I doctor up with caloric sauces. I love making baby food. Kind of frustrating with a kid who doesn't like eating, but hey.... I also recommend Annabel Karmel. Her baby food cookbooks are awesome.
ReplyDeleteYou know, the texture thing might just be a family trait on the Hopper side. I have weird food things, so does Paige. Paige was eating baby food forever -- unlike Mikey who hates it... My grandma even had plates so her food wouldn't touch. Which I would so do if my husband wouldn't so make fun of me for it :D
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at how big Chloe is! Paige was born 7.14 and at a year weighed 17 lbs ~ The great thing was that she fit in her clothes a long time. LOL
babyfood making is completely normal outside of the USA. I rarely bought babyfood - only in cases of desperation. ANYTHING can be pureed, though meat is always 'grainier (as you put it) than other proteins. Have you tried carrots and orange lentils - boil both together for about 20 mins, strain and puree. Very smooth and full of protein - maybe add a small potato for some bulk.
ReplyDeleteTextures are still something we're working on. Ever so slowly. EVER so slowly he improves. He is still primarily on purees. He is definitely improving though, it has just taken a lot of time. He can eat other things that are not pureed now, just not large quantities of them. Oh, and my PT says that even babies without eating issues often have problems with the mixed textures. Like Mel said, cracker is ok, puree is ok, but puree with chunks? WATCH OUT!! Crew is just barely starting to handle that. And, LOL, even with all of this real-world delay, our feeding therapist thinks he's an amazing eater with fantastic skills!
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