Keeping weight up on raw

[Allison]

I'd like to know everyone's ideas on keeping children's weight up on the raw diet. Things are going well so far, but I'd like a lot more ideas for variety. So far we give my children nut milk, avocado, raw cookies and crackers made with nuts, and dried fruit. Any other ideas or special calorie-rich recipes?

[Mishka]

Hi Allison~

I read in Jinjee's e-book (from thegardendiet.com)that with her children, she has noticed weight gain when the kids are eating more celery and greens. She also recommends nut milks for neural development and growth.

My kids aren't 100% raw yet, about 85%. So I haven't had any wt. loss issues yet. But I have to admit...my kids drink a LOT of nut milks, eat avocado, olives, and coconut like it's going out of style :D . I've started making more dehydrated cookies and they have been gobbling those up too. My kids are tall and slender, and have a great appetite. I've never had issues with them not willing to eat. With the exception of my 2yo will not eat lettuce in any form yet. So I've been making Alissa'a Spinach Dip and he will gobble it up that way :). I'm going to try the Kale salad one too soon.

[lvg4him]

I added banana smoothies (putting about three bananas per child) and that has seemed to help. I won't know until Monday when I take her in for her weight check. But she has fuller cheeks now and feels heavier. All three of my children have been Failure to Thrive. None of them ever gained enough weight to please the doctor. They were not raw, just vegan. My current little one is 90% raw.

First born was FTT because the doctors pumped her stomach when she was born (no reason expet that babies spit up more when stomaches aren't pumped and it freaks out mommas so they routinely pump babies stomach). This cause mouth apathy in my littlest one and she refused to eat. Struggled to nurse her, and she had lost so much weight that she had difficulty from that point on putting on weight. I also think that she might have food allergies which also kept her from gaining. She was always happy though and always hit all her developmental milestones on time or early. VERY smart little girl. She turned 2 and gained weight with little to no problem. She is 5yr old now and about 50% for weight and about 90% for height.

Second little one. Made sure they did not pump her stomach (even though they were insistant that it was OK --- nothing was wrong with baby and it was not needed, so they finally agreed not to pump her stomach). Something went wrong and I wasn't able to produce enough milk. She was very bad - looked like the little ones from Hitler's death camps. So thin and weak. She cried and cried all the time. I knew she was not getting enough. Long story short, she has mild apraxia, lots of food allergies, but is the most loving, kind, caring, happy little girl I know. She hit all her developmental milestones (excepting vocabulary related ones). Once I increased her raw and added coconut oil to her diet, her vocabulary exploded. The doctor is always impressed with how much she talks now and how many different words she uses. She is three years old now and about 60% weight, 50% height.

Third little blessing. No pumping her stomach. Little difficulty with milk. She is so precious and so happy. Don't know why she is FTT except maybe she has EE. She will sometimes "choke" on her food like I do (I have EE). She has been 90% raw since birth. She is still not on the growth chart for weight (something like negative 10%) and height is about 65%. She is 32 months old. She has hit all her devlopmental milestones and has even gotten most of them early. Her vocab is big for her age. The doctors don't like the fact she is not on the chart, but say that as long as she is following her own curve (even if it is off the chart), they are satisfied.

Things I tried doing to bulk them up: nut milks (added flax oil to these), avocados (a full one every day), dried fruits (which I think has had a bad effect on their teeth for their teeth are a bit black), lots of bananas (which sseem to be helping).

I read somewhere that feeding children startches in order to bulk them up actually has the opposite effect (Dr. Shelton??). But I never tried the startches (expect the bananas, which someone said that the startches aren't there when the banana is ripe).

Anyways, I hope this has been an encouragement (as I am not sure it is very helpful). :)

[heather]

[QUOTE=lvg4him] She is still not on the growth chart for weight (something like negative 10%) and height is about 65%. She is 32 months old. She has hit all her devlopmental milestones and has even gotten most of them early. Her vocab is big for her age. The doctors don't like the fact she is not on the chart, but say that as long as she is following her own curve (even if it is off the chart), they are satisfied.
QUOTE]

i have the same problem with my baby. she is off the chart too, but in the positive....she has rare overgrowth disorder that i am praying raw will help. please keep us updated on her progress!

[Allison]

Those are good ideas. I try to do most of them, but I will try to incorporate more of each.

[lvg4him]

i have the same problem with my baby. she is off the chart too, but in the positive....she has rare overgrowth disorder that i am praying raw will help. please keep us updated on her progress!

VERY interesting. Have they said what is causing that? Have you seen any improvement on raw? Please keep us updated on your little one too!

[JustMe]

lvg4him,

How do you incorporate avos in their diets. i know my oldest does not like them, but i would like to sneak them in, hehe any ideas for that? Also, does anyone have ideas to incorporate more greens in them too? Thanks! Rachel

[lvg4him]

AS long as the avos are RIPE, my kids LOVE them. BEG for them. When they were little, I would just scoop a little out (it would be mashed from scraping the avo) and feed it to them. As they got older, I would cube it for them right in the shell and then squeeze it out. Now that they are older, I let them scoop it out themselves (they think it is a treat). I also mash it with some salt and lime juice and use it as a basic guacamole for raw crackers and they also love to dip cauliflower in it.

Alissa's spinach dip is great for getting greens and avos into kids.

I also blend up some lettuce with golden delicious apples and flax oil for Yum Yum Soup for my kids. Sometimes it is all in the name. I also blend up lettuce with almond butter and lemon juice for Super Butter (the super is the lettuce the butter is the almond butter).

Also, I do NOT like avos myself, BUT love them in Mexican salad. Lettuce, chopped avo, corn, lime juice, cilantro, salsa and salt. And I love homemade guacamole (basic guac recipe above plus chopped tomato, cilantro, onion, and garlic.

You might also watn to start another thread for how to get your kids to eat raw and ask there.

HTH!

[tracyinfo]

lvg4him,

How do you incorporate avos in their diets. i know my oldest does not like them, but i would like to sneak them in, hehe any ideas for that? Also, does anyone have ideas to incorporate more greens in them too? Thanks! Rachel

Just me, There was a thread in the recipe section with raw chili. It used 2 avocados. You did not taste the avocados, just felt the smooth texture of them. Do a search in the recipe section for chili.

Also, though I don't have a recipe, I have had several carob desserts that surprisingly had avocados in them. Sometimes, the avocado is used for smooth texture.

Hope this helps. Tracy

[heather]

VERY interesting. Have they said what is causing that? Have you seen any improvement on raw? Please keep us updated on your little one too!

good question. apparently it is caused by a spontaneous genetic mutation but what that means to me and her diet, who knows. she also has soft tissue tumors and hair growth on her foot/leg that are being triggered, as well as accellerated growth of her left leg and foot, but we dont know if it is at a local cellular level or if it is being stimulated by hormones.....i have a lot of questions but no answers. all i know is something is NOT RIGHT and this is NOT GOOD....i will keep you updated as things unfold.

as for improvements on raw, it is difficult to say. she looks amazing. so pretty and so smart. she already says like 20 words and she is only 14 months. as for the other symotoms, no change.

[heather]

i totally hijacked this thread.... sorry about that.

[JustMe]

thanks tracy, I think I could come up with some ideas. It helped to know the type of texture it would have and that there is no drastic taste it gives. please, heather let us know about your babe.

[JustMe]

Does someone here have that book (I think its called) Raising Raw kids? I saw the book on amazon.com and got to see the table of contents inside the book and it had a chapter on concerns of keeping weight up in children on raw. would someone please share that with us in summary? Maybe point out the pointers? It would be greatly appreciated. also, is that a good book to get?

[spin_ducky]

I have that book on my list to get (planning on ordering it this week). Would also be interested in anyone's opinion of it :)

[lvg4him]

RAISING RAW KIDS is a good book, but I honestly would not spend the money on it new. Check out half.com or something. I got it from my library through InterLibrary Loan and took notes (which were about one page) and recipes (which I only used about three of them). I prefer Beth Montgomery's books on children and the raw diet. I remember reading through that section in Raising Raw Kids, but cannot remember much except that she said not to worry. And that if your child is always thinking about food and begging for food, it is because they are not getting enough calories. I know that that really helped me to increase the amount of calories my kids were getting.

Went to the doctor yesterday, and doctor was very impressed with little one's weight gain. I just make sure she is getting a good amount of calories now, I was always up on the fats (a whole avo everyday, nut milk with flax oil, etc). But it was increasing the calories that really helped. And she seems happier now too. And doesn't beg for food as often as she used to.

HTH!
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