Anyone's DC go on Pediasure instead of Milk at 1?

SaucySarie

Yesterday we had a Nutrition appointment and they reccomended we switch the kiddos to Pediasure instead of milk.  It has more calories and will help them catch up in growth.   Anyone's DC on pediasure?  I was wondering if it actually helped them grow and catch up to others their age, or just helped a little and not made much difference.    My kiddos are pretty small in weight, but they said their height to weight ratio wasn't that bad.  

Anna weighed 17 lbs. 0 oz.  Ayva weighed 16 lbs 10 oz. and Justin weighed 17 lbs. 4 oz.  and they are 14 months.

Mrs. Destructo

Sort of. At 12 months our pedi recommended we start transitioning Leo to pediasure instead of formula, and to get him completely on pediasure by his adjusted birthday. He was 2lb 7oz at birth and 16 lb 1.5 oz at 1 year. Their adjusted birthday is today and he's probably a just under 18 lb.

 The poor kid also has reflux, and we found that he throws up really frequently when we give him pediasure. Just 2 bottles a day of it did help him gain faster - about 1.5 oz/day, but he was miserable. He had a constant belly ache and was throwing up his entire stomach contents at least once a day. So I decided to stop giving it to him and give him formula mixed to 30 cal/oz instead.

He's a very sensitive little guy, though. I think that most kids tolerate it a lot better than he does.

jehprb

No, but I'll suggest you not hold your breath about the extra calories packing on the pounds just in case it doesn't work.  My DS was on freakin' EnfaCare until 18 months (actual) and was still under 20lbs at that checkup...and he only gained 4oz from the visit 6 months previous :-P

I think kids are just built a certain way/have a certain metabolism :-)

TnP102304

We were originally told to, but we didn't.  DD is TINY (she weighed 17 pounds at her 15 month checkup) and hasn't displayed any of the catch-up growth they thought she would (she was 4 lbs 6 oz at birth).  She's way below the growth curve for weight, but in the 10th percentile for height.  Anyway, her nutritionist wanted us to transition her to PediaSure instead of whole milk, but I was afraid she'd drink too many of her calories and not be hungry enough for food, and we really want her to EAT.  So, after talking to the nutritionist, we decided to try just whole milk for a couple of months to see how she does.  She has a GI doc appointment on Wednesday, and if she hasn't gained as well as they'd like, we'll probably have to try the Pediasure.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed she's at an okay weight!

preemieparent

Unless your kiddos are WAY behind in weight/growth than I personally would hold off on switching to all Pediasure.   My daughter is on 100% Pediasure but she is tube fed and does not eat anything orally.

Pediasure has a high fat concentration so it can kill appetite.   If you are worried than I would try adding calories to what they are already eating.   You can also add dry milk to whole milk to give an extra boost in calories. 

If you do decide to do some Pediasure than I would give it in between meals (like a morning and/or afternoon snack and before bed) so that they are still hungry for meals but getting a calorie boost in between. 

My son has always been extremely small (he's 5, 40 inches tall and only weighs 30 pounds).  He was always very proportionatal for height/weight and followed his own growth curve.  We are trying to get a few additional pounds on him (I just made him hot chocolate with Pediasure and a mountain of whipped cream as an example) however we know he will always be small.