Duocal/Boost Plus

[Anonymous]

Christian is now losing weight. We just can’t seem to get the 1100 calories in him that is required for him to grow. Darn stinker won’t slow down – his metabolism is just too high.

Our GI has suggested adding 2 scoops of the duocal to his pediasure (8oz) making it roughly 40cal/oz. Have you noticed any transition issues when adding the duocal to the diet? Just don’t want to make too many changes at one time – so I can monitor what is done.

He also suggested trying Boost Plus (says it tastes like McD’s melted down shake) and it is running about 45 cal per oz.

Our goal is 24 oz of fluids to total between 960 calories (duocal) or 1080 calories (boost plus). ON top of that to continue to work on solids.

Have any of your kids tried either boost plus or ensure plus? I know they are truly meant for little ones but the GI suggested it – as his weight is dangerously low (16.92lbs) and dropping.

Thanks for your insight.

[Anonymous]

Laura

Sorry about the weight loss… it is hard. matthew needs same calories as Christian it seems and it is hard getting them into him even with the Gtube. matthew is also thin right now, maybe back at around 18pounds and he is prob 29.5in (i think combination of surgery but also, his calorific requirement is going up for whatever reason).

We use Duocal – i did not notice anything ever but i know some people say that it can be hard on the stomach. I know that it does soften Matthew’s stools but does not seem to bother him. Also the feeding clinic said that Duocal can slow down digestion and therefore interfered with hunger… but my GI said that is not really true… so i don’t know…

You are doing bolus only right… why not do a bolus at night? I know you are tryinng to get him used to a normal schedule but we still do 200cal overnight for Matthew because we cannot fit them into the day… that way he may gainn back some weight?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the suggestion. We find that he doesn’t sleep well if he is getting fed overnight – and babies don’t grow if they don’t sleep well (at least that is what our ENT says).

So we right now are focusing on stretching the stomach – he is now up to 175ml 4 times per day and we are using 8oz of pediasure and adding 1 tbsp of the duocal (working up to 2 tbsp) making his current calorie intake 812 daily (34.8cal/oz). With that I am working for 100-200 calories of solids or juice via sippy cup per day. Hoping to reach the 1000 daily goal. When we get up to the 2 tbsp he will be getting 40.8 cal/oz with the same 175ml will get him the 952 and the solids on top. Hoping for weight gain this month.

We also found that his initial blood work showed some abnormals – but they were never followed up on. The carbon dioxide levels were low and the potassium levels were high. Guess the combination of the two can be a treatable metabolic disorder that doesn’t allow for adequate weight gain. We are having follow up blood work this week to recheck the levels.

Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

We have also been told about sleeping and gaining weight but our ped says he does not think that it holds (the growth hormone i think is released after 30min of sleep and therefore usually any sleep does but hey).

Hmm sorry to hear about the night feeds… not even a syringe (60cc)? Matthew does OK that way and so now i get up 2x a night to feed him – he still throws up on me sometimes but we need it. Oh and he never sleeps well so i guess we would not know if it was really bothering him.

Hope they have some answers for you…

[Anonymous]

Laura, I’m sorry to hear about the weight loss. I hope that you get some answers for Christian soon. Wasn’t he scheduled for surgery with the ENT (sorry I can’t remember if it was tonsils/adenoids and/or tubes)?

Good luck with the repeat blood work. I hope that everything comes back clear. Hailey’s second set came back very different from her first (in a good way).

As for the not sleeping/not growing, all I can say is that Hailey has NEVER slept. I’ll spare you the details but lets just say that between my husband and I someone is up with her a lot of the day and night. It hasn’t affected her growth as far as we know. But of course, we don’t know that for sure.

Please keep us posted. I wish that Christian could catch a break. HUGS.

[Anonymous]

I knew i was forgetting something too…. we give him Alimentum at night rather than reg formula… that actually helps him….

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