Samuel’s Diet
When we left the hospital 2 months after Samuel’s accident in September 2005, we were told to feed Samuel 4 cans a day of Pediasure along with some water. I was immediately concerned about this because I had always tried to give my children good nutrition. I had nursed each one of them because I knew it was better for them than canned formula. So why now would I suddenly feel any different? I wanted Samuel to have “real” food, not something from a can.
Months later, we were battling a new problem. Samuel was not gaining weight although he had grown longer. And, he was always spitting up or throwing up. The projectile vomiting got so bad that I had to be sure to leave him laying flat at least an hour after feeding him or he would throw up everything. This made it impossible to feed him before church or school or any kind of therapy. And there were other strange things happening like I could pull back on his feeding tube hours after feeding him and there would still be Pediasure in his stomach. Or, I could feed him and 10 mintues later he would throw up and it would be all bile and not Pediasure. It made no sense. And, not to be too graphic, but his stools were filled with mucos and were not a good consistency. It was obvious that his digestive system was in upheavel, but I didn’t know what else I could do. Even after doing some research and switching to Pediatric Compleat, I still wasn’t satisfied. It was certainly better, but the digestive problems were still there, just slightly diminished. And that wasn’t good enough.
My answer came in a seminar by Dr. Tennant (www.tennantinstitute.com). I had attended the seminar for an entirely different reason, but a large part of the seminar ended up being on a healthy diet. And as I listened, I realized that I could make a blendarized diet for Samuel from the information I’d received from Dr. Tennant. So, I contacted a few other mothers who had their children on a similar blendarized diet and then I set out to make my own. I took Samuel’s daily diet of Pediatric Compleat and listed in my computer the amount of every nutrient it provided (just by looking at the back of the can). Then I went online to sites like www.nutritionaldata.com to find the same information about the items I wanted to put in his diet. I then calculated the differences between the Pediatric Compleat and my blendarized diet and any deficiencies I found, I tried to find ways to fill.
In the end, I came up with a diet that is always changing. It depends on Samuel’s weight and height and age. It depends on what fruits and vegetables I can get at the store that season and it depends on what’s in my fridge. But there is basically a “main” formula that I make and then I add stuff to it to give him a variety of vitamins and minerals each day. Now, Samuel really never throws up unless he has the stomach flu or is in a lot of pain and crying excessivly from it. He has also gained 20% more weight since being on it (in about 4 months time). And, I feel like I am feeding him healthy food. Even his stools look healthy. Because of this, I don’t see any reason why we will ever go back to canned formula. It is more time consuming and expensive to make our own, but it is worth it!
So, here is our “recipe” for a healthy tube fed little boy:
#1 - Basic Daily Formula - Samuel is 4 years old, weighs 33.5 lbs and is 40 inches long
* 18 ounces of raw goat’s milk (I suggest raw milk, but it doesn’t have to be goat’s milk. Visit www.realmilk.com to read about raw milk.)
* 2 brown free range eggs (These have no antibiotics or hormones in them.)
* 2 tsp Body Bio Balance Oil from www.time4health.com (This is a balance of omega 3, 6 & 9 oils.)
* 1/2 cup dry baby cereal with iron (Oatmeal, barley or rice - I like to mix them to give Samuel variety.)
* 1 Flinestones Complete vitamin
* 3 pieces of bread
To make, I put the eggs and some milk in a cast iron pan and scramble. (I use a cast iron pan because it helps add iron to the diet.) Be sure to scramble on fairly low heat so you don’t destroy any nutrients. Then I add the oil and just cook and stir long enough to blend it in with the eggs so it doesn’t separate later. Then I place the scrabled eggs, more milk, the dry cereal and the crushed vitamins and blend it all up into a liquid. I then run the liquid through a strainer to make sure there aren’t any chunks or pieces in it that might clog up Samuel’s tube.
#2 - Add Fruits & Vegetables
Once I have that made, I blend and juice some fruits and vegetables to go with it. I usually try to come up with about 3 cups of blended juice to add to the above mixture. I like to add soft bananas often because potassium is so important. Avocados are also good (high in fat and nutrients) as are carrots, green beans, tomatoes, oranges, apples, kiwi, mangos, cooked squash, cooked broccoli, etc. I don’t think it really matters what you put in. It is just important to have a variety. Once the juice is ready, I strain it and add it to the basic formula above.
I then add enough water or additional milk to make the formula thin enough to work in Samuel’s pump. This is a pretty delicate balance because his pump and tube are pretty picky and they won’t pass anything through them that is clumpy or too thick. At the same time, Samuel can only handle so much fluid each day, so I have to try and get enough nutrients into the amount of fluid he will tolerate and that is sometimes a little tricky.
#3 - Mix Together Supplements
I then divide the formula into 4 baby bottles - 1 for each feeding during the day. I then take another baby bottle and fill it with 30 cc’s of water. To that water I add the following supplements:
* 3/4 tsp Vitamin C (Very important for the body and can help with constipation.)
* 1/2 tsp Sea Salt (For some vitamins and minerals and because sea salt is good for you.)
* 1 ox bile tablet (This helps with digestion and I used to give him 3 per day.)
* 1 Betine with HCI (This also helps with digestion and Samuel used to take 2 per day.)
* 1 Super Digestaway tablet (Again, this helps with digestion.)
* 1/4 tsp of a children’s probiotic (Again, to aid in digestion by building up good bacteria in the gut that is very easily killed by antibiotics.)
* 2 oz Frequensea (This is a blend of phytoplankton. It is supposed to help balance the amounts of vitamins and minerals in the body.)
* 2 tablet of CoQ10
I mix this all up and DO NOT add it to the rest of the formula. It stays in its own bottle and is given as 10 cc’s before each meal. It is too thick and clumpy to fit through the feeding bag with the formula. And, it’s intersting to note that these digestive aids help with digestion even if your child is eating canned formula.
#4 - Feeding Schedule
Samuel gets 10 cc’s of the supplements before each feeding. He then gets 1 bottle of the formula at 8 am, 12 pm, 4 pm and 8 pm. I also run a drip overnight of 250 cc’s of Pediatric Compleat and 250 cc’s of water. Some people wonder why I use the Pediatric Compleat still at night. The main reason is I haven’t been able to get all of Samuel’s calories in during the day. He can only handle about 7-8 ounces of formula per feeding. This is still more ounces than he could ever handle at once of the Pediatric Compleat. But because he can’t handle more during the day, I have to feed him at night. BUT, my homemade formula is made from real and perishable food, so it concerns me to feed him that overnight. I would be afraid it would go bad during those 10 hours of sleeping and make Samuel ill. However, the Pediatric Compleat is not nearly as perishable (one of the reasons it’s not as good for you), so I don’t have to worry about it going bad during the night. Seems silly, I know, but it’s the reason why.
I have also resorted to a 2nd can of Pediatric Compleat during the night instead of the water if I am trying to help him gain weight. You can also add a few tablespoons of whole cream to try and up calories and fat content. I’ve also used up to 3 tablespoons a day of butter in the mix or 3 eggs instead of 2. Every child is diferent.
If you have questions about Samuel’s diet, just let me know. It has been reviewed by his nutritionist and a doctor and they both agreed it contains all the vitamins, minerals, calories, fluid, etc that Samuel needs in a 24-hour period. If you decide to try a similar diet, please keep in mind that if your child is currently living off of a canned formula, introducing all of these new foods will be a shock to their system. You will want to go slowly and add just one thing at a time until you’re sure your child is handling it well. The only things probably not subject to that rule are the supplements that aid in digestion. They can probably be taken right away.
Teresa
