Transition to whole milk but weight an issue?

BostonLove11

Hey there,

     Next month my preemie turns one...can't believe it!  Anyway, despite having horrible reflux and eating issues in the past, my son's weight was never really an issue.  However, my pedi stayed proactive and we boost his calories of his formula to 22 cal/oz, add rice cereal for 2cal/oz, and use polycose for almost 2 cal/oz, so in total he is getting  25/26 cal/oz. 

He is eating fine now but since he has become a crawling/mobile manaic and got a couple bad colds this winter including RSV (always eats poorly when sick)...he hasn't really gained weight the past two months.  So I know he has dropped percentiles and looks like he will be 20lbs even on his 1st birthday.  I realize that whole milk is only 18-19cal/oz, a good bit less than what he is currently getting which obviously concerns me because he is not gaining lately.  Has anyone been in this situation and did their pedi recommend still transitioning to whole milk on the 1st birthday or stay on formula or go to something else? 

Thanks!! 

 

kar5162

20lbs at 1 is still decent in the weight department, especially for a 31-32 weeker.  Many preemies continue on formula until they hit one adjusted so that may be an option for you guys as well.

Ktbuss

I would also say that 20lbs at one is a good weight for a preemie.  We didn't start whole milk until Cole was 1 adjusted 15 months actual. 

lemen99

Do you see a developmental pedi or follow-up NICU dr? I think this would be a better question for them than your pedi.

We fortified Andrew's milk to 24-cal/oz.  He wasn't gaining all that well.  Pedi said to stay on it.  He was drinking so little and nearly dehydrated a lot. 

We saw the follow-up NICU doctor and he said to go cold turkey off 24-cal back to 20-cal.  I thought he was nuts, but he's a great dr, so I trusted him. How was my small kid who was not gaining all that quickly going to gain enough on 20 cal?

We did it and in a day he just started drinking more to make up for the lost calories. He was more hydrated so that was better too. I was really shocked.  

So I guess I would say, I'm not sure, but in my experience, if you switch to whole milk he'll get the same number of calories one way or another. I dont' know if that is true for every kid or just mine.

Oh, and we switched to whole milk at 1 yr adjusted.

 

BostonLove11

Thank you all!  I would love to say he would just drink more to compensate but I don't think that will hold true for my son.  He is just a boy who rather play and not take time out to eat....hope he grows out of this (maybe teen, ha?) but I doubt it will be anytime soon.