So, you think that once your child is off breastmilk/formula things get easier, right? No way! Now I have to make sure she is getting enough fluids and calcium every day, whereas before I didn't have to worry about it. I thought I'd share some of my recent findings with those of you that might be in the same boat now or soon. And if you've already been there, I welcome suggestions.
In order to meet our daily calcium requirements, we have been eating lots of yogurt, cheese, and trying to drink milk. Little, however, prefers straight water. And honestly, she's just not that thirsty. So trying to get her to drink enough milk hasn't been the easiest thing. It helps if the milk is in my cup because then she thinks she's drinking my drink. I was worried about switching to whole milk because up to this point, she had only had either breastmilk or Gentlease formula (which is easier on the stomach than regular formula). So, for the past couple of weeks, she's been drinking a little bit of whole milk each day, as much as I can get her to drink. Since we've been dropping her bottles, we've added a second yogurt feeding (snack) each day to help with the calcium requirement, and she also likes to eat Monterey Jack cheese cut up into little cubes. Thanks to Big Jen for that awesome suggestion. But, I'm still trying to get her to drink more milk.
At her 12 month check-up, the doctor mentioned that we might want to try Almond Milk if the whole milk seems to make her fussy. A friend also suggested this, and though Little hasn't been fussy with whole milk up to this point, I did some research at the grocery store today. Here's what I found: Almond milk has 50% more calcium than whole milk!!! That's huge in my book, at least for someone that is struggling to make sure those daily requirements are being met. So, I went ahead and bought some. As soon as we got home, I poured us a glass and she has not stopped drinking it since. Every couple of minutes, she'll come back over and take another drink...not something she was doing when it was just regular milk. Let's hope this continues.
Here's another finding from today's grocery store research:
There are a couple of different kinds of "baby" yogurt. There is one kind in the refrigerator section (with the other yogurts) and then another kind on the baby aisle that is shelf stable. I won't name the brands, but I will just tell you to check out the differences in calcium on the label. The shelf stable kind (the kind we had been using up until today) only has 10% DV calcium where the other kind has 25%!
It's amazing what you begin to pay attention to once you are responsible for the nutrition of another person, and one that you love so very much. So, I would encourage you to read those labels!
And please, let me know if you have any suggestions or findings for me. I love advice as much as I love to give it. I just think it's great to have friends who have been through the same thing. We just may be able to make our lives easier just by sharing things we've learned along the way.
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