whole milk or pediasure question

samlynntodd

Hello ladies. I'm a more active lurker/poster on the TTGP board currently, but was hoping I can pick your brain for a question about my DD. She is going to be 14 months this month. Have her still on formula and bottles due to her being so small and still needing the calories and nutrients. She just hit 17 lbs this week. Doc wants to switch her to whole milk or pediasure. Didn't matter which. Anyone suggest Pediasure over whole milk for their LO if small and needs calories/nutrients. (not the best eater/still eats purees.) Thanks for any advice.

davis0905

I guess I would choose whole milk over the Pediasure, simply becuz Pediasure has a very high sugar content. However, DD's pedi recommended she drink the Pediasure, so that is what we do.  We only give her 1/2 bottle each morning after breakfast.  She loves it, probably a little too much...she starts to throw a tantrum if she doesn't get it at her usual time.  LOL. 

coconutbug

Our pedi wanted us to give pediasure instead of milk bc DS was failure to thrive. DS tolerated it somewhat, but it really suppressed his appetite, such that he ate almost no solids at all. That, plus the high sugar content and cost made me switch back to whole milk.

samlynntodd

coconutbug:

Our pedi wanted us to give pediasure instead of milk bc DS was failure to thrive. DS tolerated it somewhat, but it really suppressed his appetite, such that he ate almost no solids at all. That, plus the high sugar content and cost made me switch back to whole milk.

 This is my biggest concern. I'm hoping when I switch from the bottle to a sippy cup she'll be able to concentrate more on the solids, and I don't want to go backwards with the PediaSure. How much of the whole milk do you offer LO, and how often? Do you give it in a large sippy cup like as the "drink" part of meal? I can't imagine her not having her "bottle with formula" before bed and first thing in morning. I guess it's time.

BDS2010

I just started giving DS Pediasure because he is underweight also. I am still give him regular milk in the morning or if he wakes up at night. Sometimes he will prefer the whole milk over the pediasure. We just started it this week, but I would like him to still have whole milk and maybe just the pediasure during the day.

coconutbug

samlynntodd:

coconutbug:

Our pedi wanted us to give pediasure instead of milk bc DS was failure to thrive. DS tolerated it somewhat, but it really suppressed his appetite, such that he ate almost no solids at all. That, plus the high sugar content and cost made me switch back to whole milk.

 This is my biggest concern. I'm hoping when I switch from the bottle to a sippy cup she'll be able to concentrate more on the solids, and I don't want to go backwards with the PediaSure. How much of the whole milk do you offer LO, and how often? Do you give it in a large sippy cup like as the "drink" part of meal? I can't imagine her not having her "bottle with formula" before bed and first thing in morning. I guess it's time.

 

I just put whole milk in a sippy and he sips from it throughout the day.  He usually drinks maybe 12-16oz a day, sometimes more or less.  I give it to him when he wakes, before nap/bed, at meals and snacks, and he also lets me know during the day when he wants it (he leads me to the fridge).  He has always been a sipper though; I had to breastfeed him every 2-3 hours around the clock for a year because he would never drink much at once.

jenkm

I agre with PPs.  I have twins, and one is on the little side, so I was hesitant to switch to whole milk as opposed to toddler formula or something like that.  A friend said if I give him high calorie/nutrient liquids, he won't gravitate to solids, where he should be getting most of his nutrients now.  (They are just over a year)

Since switching to whole milk only + daily viatmins, I have noticed that he's eating better.  I think he's actually getting more hungry, which is good.

Just my 2 cents. 

samlynntodd

coconutbug:

samlynntodd:

coconutbug:

Our pedi wanted us to give pediasure instead of milk bc DS was failure to thrive. DS tolerated it somewhat, but it really suppressed his appetite, such that he ate almost no solids at all. That, plus the high sugar content and cost made me switch back to whole milk.

 This is my biggest concern. I'm hoping when I switch from the bottle to a sippy cup she'll be able to concentrate more on the solids, and I don't want to go backwards with the PediaSure. How much of the whole milk do you offer LO, and how often? Do you give it in a large sippy cup like as the "drink" part of meal? I can't imagine her not having her "bottle with formula" before bed and first thing in morning. I guess it's time.

 

I just put whole milk in a sippy and he sips from it throughout the day.  He usually drinks maybe 12-16oz a day, sometimes more or less.  I give it to him when he wakes, before nap/bed, at meals and snacks, and he also lets me know during the day when he wants it (he leads me to the fridge).  He has always been a sipper though; I had to breastfeed him every 2-3 hours around the clock for a year because he would never drink much at once.

My DD is a sipper also. I think I'm going to go with just the whole milk and not the PediaSure. Thanks.

samlynntodd

jenkm:

Since switching to whole milk only + daily viatmins, I have noticed that he's eating better.  I think he's actually getting more hungry, which is good.

this sounds great. I really hope the same happens with my DD. I'm going to to start this weekend. I need to get a daily vitamin for her, though. Thanks.

Monkeygirl26

DD had the same problem she was under weight and small. I give her 8 oz whole milk in the morning, 4oz whole milk/4oz vanilla pedi-sure at nap time after lunch and breakfast so I can try to get her to eat as much as possiable for filling her up. Than I give her 4oz whole milk/4oz of vanilla pedi-sure at night, which equals 1 pedi-sure a day 8oz and 16 oz whole milk. This has worked great DD already gained 3 pounds in a short time and is slowing eatting more. Pedi-sure is exp but if you have a sams club you can buy it by the case or go on there web site and you can get coupons and also they were running a special thay 1 per household you got a free 6 pk you had to mail in rebate but I sent one to everyone I knew and they all have me the checks so this saved alot.  Also if you have a target right know they have 1.50 printable coupon you can print and the weekly papers have had them too.

Good Luck!

SaranJonathan

Just wanted to point out that whole milk has 150 calories per 8 oz and Pediasure has 240 calories per 8 oz. Big difference in calories. I personally use carnation instant breakfast vanilla, which has 130 calories and cost about .50 a packet.

I know it has sugar but kids need to grow and if they need a little help so be it. If you are against the Pediasure how about heavy whipping cream + fruit smoothie?

Good luck

samlynntodd

Monkeygirl26:

DD had the same problem she was under weight and small. I give her 8 oz whole milk in the morning, 4oz whole milk/4oz vanilla pedi-sure at nap time after lunch and breakfast so I can try to get her to eat as much as possiable for filling her up. Than I give her 4oz whole milk/4oz of vanilla pedi-sure at night, which equals 1 pedi-sure a day 8oz and 16 oz whole milk. This has worked great DD already gained 3 pounds in a short time and is slowing eatting more. Pedi-sure is exp but if you have a sams club you can buy it by the case or go on there web site and you can get coupons and also they were running a special thay 1 per household you got a free 6 pk you had to mail in rebate but I sent one to everyone I knew and they all have me the checks so this saved alot.  Also if you have a target right know they have 1.50 printable coupon you can print and the weekly papers have had them too.

Good Luck!

Great plan! Thanks for the coupon tips!!

samlynntodd

SaranJonathan:

Just wanted to point out that whole milk has 150 calories per 8 oz and Pediasure has 240 calories per 8 oz. Big difference in calories. I personally use carnation instant breakfast vanilla, which has 130 calories and cost about .50 a packet.

I know it has sugar but kids need to grow and if they need a little help so be it. If you are against the Pediasure how about heavy whipping cream + fruit smoothie?

Good luck

I'm not against PediaSure, I just don't want to hinder DD from eating more solids. I thought that might happen on PediaSure. But the heavy whipping cream + fruit smoothie is a good idea, too.  Thanks.

KYmama9286

We also do carnation instant breakfast instead of pediasure since its cheaper. We mix it with whole milk so its even higher calorie (I want to say like 270 calories/8oz.) DS is REALLY small (12.5lbs at 13 months) due to a genetic growth disorder and we have been working with a nutritionist. Since DS is so small the nutritionist actually said we shouldnt switch to just whole milk because of the high levels of protein and DS's kidney's not being able to handle it. She said we can do the Carnation instant breakfast (CIB) but no more than 4 oz. at a time...so I guess essentially we could do 4oz of whole milk at a time (no more than 12 oz/day) but that wouldnt be as filling and as many calories as the instant breakfast. We do the CIB for 2-3 bottles/day and maybe 1 formula bottle (that is concentrated to be higher calorie too). So far we havent seen a huge decrease in DS's appetite but he is also on appetite stimulants so its hard to tell.