Packing in the calories for Hermione since the cleft repair isn’t the easiest thing. We’ve had to get creative in order to help her grow (and we’ve seen some great weight gain in the past couple of months, she’s closing in on 20 lbs FINALLY!)
When she was on formula, we could just fortify it to squeeze them in. But we’ve been off of formula for three months now, and are on solids completely. With a cleft palate child, all of those food introductions get wonky. Normal kids get solids introduced slowly starting at 6 months, then gradually move to table foods by 18 months. Hermione didn’t get to start solids until she was more than 14 months old because of her palate. Most babies learn solids slowly, she got a crash course. She had to learn in a whole different way how to move foods to the back of her mouth.
Her palate is closed but still short and her uvula doesn’t quite fit to block the entrance to her nasal cavity, so we work hard to keep it from coming out of her nose. Table foods help a lot with that. But she does eat some mushy kinds of things, like this recipe.
We aim for 1200-1500 calories per day. A normal 18 month old weighs 25 lbs and needs 900 calories to grow. Hermione is 20 lbs and has always needed more calories to gain, and that’s still the case. She burns more than normal kids, mainly through all of the awesomeness that she creates during the day. With four little mouths to feed, getting those kinds of calories into her can be a little insane. Hermione has the same thing for dinner nearly every night and this is it. She scarfs it and sleeps from 6:30pm to 6:30am on a belly full of super peanut butter applesauce. It’s working well for now, but part of the fun of kids is that things are always changing!
RECIPE
- 3/4 cup applesauce (Yes this is the kind with added sugar, that’s intentional. We’re really just trying to pack it in with her)
- 2 Tablespoons peanut butter (again, the kind with added sugar.)
- 3/4 cup baby cereal
Mix the applesauce and peanut butter. Heat until warm in your method of warming (microwave, stovetop, whatever you like). Mix in the baby cereal until it’s really chunky and thick, see below. You can add a little soy milk if you want it thinner, or use less baby cereal.
NUTRITION BREAKDOWN
Calories 505
Protein 10 grams
Carbs 78 grams
Fat 19 grams
Sodium 103 mg
