forced to wean, now what

[wendypf]

I was diagnosed with cancer last month and had to wean 13 MO DD on 8/31 when I started chemo.

She has no interest in milk. any kind of milk. any kind of container.

We've been doing baby led weaning since she was about 5 months old and she loves to eat. She has a very good diet and ate a variety of foods.

Now that she does not have the nutrition from the milk, should we be more strict with what food we give her?

Usually I offer what we're eating and snacks through the day. Usually she eats a bit of everything.

Life is not like usual.

Since she's been weened, she has been on a carb kick. And by carb kick, I mean she wants to eat pretzels, crackers, goldfish and bananas. Thats about it. She goes into the cabinet and picks them out (which is the cutest thing in the world)

She still eats eggs for breakfast everyday.

I read that its normal for babies/kids to get into different foods at different times and to trust them to make the decisions. It makes sense to me, but i'm a little concerned.

She looks great and has definitely grown since she stopped breastfeeding.

[KristaDJ]

She needs fat more than anything for brain development. Good fats like avocado, coconut oil, olive oil. Ideally she would be getting lots of fat from milk for another year but since she won't take any of it fat is what you need to focus on. I would be very strict with her diet with her not taking milk.
http://www.westonaprice.org/children/nourish-baby.html

[alegna]

I would offer a formula or at least a souped up animal milk of some sort.

-Angela

[Tjej]

My DD was a bit older when she weaned, but she did not want milk for quite a while. She liked cheese, though. Cheese, pudding, yogurt... easy ways to get dairy in if you want to.

Tjej

[wendypf]

She really won't drink milk -- believe me, we tried! She also has a dairy sensitivity, so I tend to stay away from other dairy sources. Though I did try yogurt after I got sick just to see (which she would not eat).

DH and I were talking this morning and decided we would be more consistent about offering good fats.

She's had a lot of care takers since I started treatment. Yesterday was the first time in 2 weeks that I even go to see her! She rarely had refined carbs before I got sick. I think we'll have to start giving our parents lists of approved foods and try to come up with a meal plan for her during the week.

[PatioGardener]

It sounds like you have a good plan.

Kellymom has a nice list of calorie and fat content of foods (http://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitami...dcalories.html) - many are jars of 'babyfood' but if you scroll down there are plenty of whole foods too. It may give you some ideas (sweet potatoes are great carbs, etc.)

Kellymom also has idea for iron rich foods: http://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitami...ml#ironsources

and calcium: http://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitami...cium.html#list

Hope that helps. Sending you strong thoughts

[alegna]

That's rough.

I think I might consider trying one of the "meat based formulas" like WP or something of that sort.

Lots of good suggestions for foods...

good luck! Thinking good thoughts for you.

-Angela

[mysticmomma]

We offered goats milk with a little rice syrup and flax oil.

[Mom2M]

I'm so sorry you have a cancer diagnosis, I cannot imagine what you are going through!
As far as yogurt, I don't know what kind you tried, maybe you did try this one but yobaby yogurt is so good, my DD has been eating it for 3 years! lol she won't eat any other kind.
Since she loves crackers, maybe you could try the nut butters or cheese spread on them or make dips like guacomole.
Even fortified breakfast bars, some of them are crunchy and you can get organic ones.

Sending lots of strength your way ,

Deb