But I can guarantee you - it is not!
For one, I didn't make as much. The last batches were plus 16 cups, or more. The batches I've made last week and this week didn't go over 8 cups. I followed the advice of our dietician, and just tried to make his meals on a semi-weekly basis. Basically, Wyatt gets a new BD every 72 hours, as that's how long it takes him to finish 6 cups. I'm happy I took her advice, because I find it a lot less stressful to find 30 minutes in my day, rather than 3 or more hours to make a batch of his BD. Also, Wyatt ends up getting more variety, which his body needs.
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| The first jar was made on Wednesday, the second on Thursday and the third was made on Sunday. Wednesday's BD is green as it has mostly fresh garden greens and avocado. Thursday's BD has blueberries in it, giving it that brown/purple colour, and Sunday's has a large red beet in it to give that pink/red colour. I add a probiotic powder to each jar before serving it to Wyatt. Each BD includes veg & fruit, yogurt, ancient grains, oil, protein and a minute amount of salt. |
Something else I've discovered, is another use for my homemade beef stock. I made a batch of beef stock for the family, but when making it, I had no idea I'd actually use it for Wyatt! It is the perfect thing to thin out his BD for a couple of reasons; it has the consistency of water, the fat from the stock bones are great for our little guy (he's now in the 22% for weight), and plus he gets the benefits of all the veggies and fresh herbs I boil down for the stock. I always add ginger and garlic to the stock as well, which are great for his immune system. The ginger in particular is good for his tummy; with his ups and downs with viruses in September, I think his tummy appreciated the calming affect the ginger had on him.
I've also made a conscientious effort to always add an avocado to every BD, because of its high fat content. We've been battling with his weight since he was born, and it was only until we introduced the Peptamen, that he began to gain significant pounds. The reason being, he was able to be fed less because of the high caloric content of Peptamen, so instead of 200 mls of breast milk and formula, he was transitioned onto 145 ml of Peptamen. The sheer volume change insured Wyatt wouldn't be spitting up so much; consequently gaining weight.
So now we've got a bigger baby on our hands and he has started showing signs of becoming hungrier, earlier. Wyatt's feeds are timed, so he's fed five times a day; at 06:00, 10:00, 14:00, 18:00, 22:00. Our goal is to eventually drop the 22:00 (10 pm) feed, so that mom can go to bed earlier than 11 pm every night (sometimes midnight or later!). To do that, we need to increase every feed by 40 ml, so the feeds go from a volume of 160 ml to 200 ml. It was very convenient when Wyatt started showing signs of being hungry before his scheduled feeds, and we were right on board! Yah, let's feed you more kiddo! Wyatt now gets fed 170 ml (50 ml Peptamen, 120 ml BD), at a rate of 190, which means he gets fed 170 ml in about 50 minutes. Next week we'll transition him to 180 ml, but take his rate back down, to ensure he handles the increased volume. There is real science behind feeding this guy, I never thought I'd analyze my child's food/feedings as much as I do with Wyatt's.
But here I am. Blogging about my baby's eating habits (again)!
Next week, Wyatt will be on a 100% BD, and our dietitian will be coming by in two weeks to see how he is doing. Today, Wyatt got weighed and at fifteen months, he is 9.2 kg. This places him in the 22nd percentile according to age, however if one were to go by his height instead, he is in the fiftieth percentile, which is not too shabby.
