The only fruit she will eat (sometimes) is applesauce, and the only vegetable is raw spinach. Other than that, her diet includes classic unhealthy kids fare - chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, cheetoes, etc. So the doctor's recommendation makes sense. Now I just have to figure out how to make it happen.
I need some advice from other tube feeding moms and dads. Does it matter what fruits and vegetables I use? Should they be raw or cooked? I have a Vitamix blender and I don't think it will be problem getting everything to the proper consistency for Ashley's tube, but what do I do if it does get clogged? And, if you do feed real foods rather than formula are there any issues I should be aware of, something that might happen that I wouldn't anticipate?
Plus I need some of your best 'recipes' for blending fruits and veggies!
Obviously I am needing a lot of advice for this, eh????
We do all of Max's food blended, he doesn't do formula at all and is completely tube fed.
ReplyDeleteIf she could tolerate the vegetable or fruit raw, eating it by mouth, I don't think it would need to be cooked. For Max, I don't cook everything, but some things I do just so they're easier to blend up.
We started with baby food. If you have a vitamix, you know it makes it really very well blended. You can add water as needed to thin it out. The only things we have trouble with are seedy fruits, like strawberries or raspberries. We could use those if I wanted to pour everything through a strainer after.
You can also go to Costco or your farmer's market/ garden and get fruits and veggies in bulk. We blend them all at once and freeze then throw them in the vitamix before feeding.