preemies and raw food diet

[Ariella]

Just wondering if anybody has had experience with preemies? and if you have noticed a difference feeding them a raw food diet - after nursing of course.

We are considering the adoption of a preemie baby, but I am trying to look at all aspects of this to see how much work we would be in for. I know we live a different lifestyle than a lot of preemie parents and am just really curious to find out if it makes a difference to their health and their recovery? and if they are able to function better?

Also has anybody had preemies and twins? we are also expecting a baby in june/july so it would be like having twins for us, except the one would be medically fragile.

I sure look forward to hearing any input on this.

Ariella


JUICE PLUS+
www.juiceplus.com/+dj73561

[GrandmotherMoon]

Greetings Ariella! Check out the post from momma2twins in the "Nutrient Values of Nut and Seed Milk" thread. She has twins who were born early, and is working on moving them, and herself, into more of a raw lifestyle. I am looking for information too! I am GrandmotherMoon in that thread. So far I have gotten some great ideas from people in that thread as well as in the Raw and Living Foods forum; maybe some of the info will help you too. I need to keep searching for more info, tho, because of our situation. You will understand when you read the thread. The amount of work you are in for depends on a lot of factors, such as the age and abilitlies of the preemie (can she suck and swallow? take a bottle? eat solid foods? ). If the baby is being bottle fed then you are obviously limited to whatever liquids can be fed through a bottle. If you are breastfeeding your baby and are making an abundance of milk and are successful with a breastpump, that gives you a whole new and wonderful option for the adopted baby. ( My daughter would probably love it if you would move next door to her and donate your extra breastmilk to her preemie!) If the baby is older and eating solids, then you can feed the little one pureed versions of whatever you eat if you feel your diet is healthy. Even if your preemie is dealing with only a minimum of the challenges that can happen to a premature infant, you are still taking on a lot, and I admire you for being willing to do this. I hope you will find the info you need, and if I find anything in my search, I will let you know. Thank you for the link to Juice Plus. I checked it out and I am VERY interested! I want to concentreate as much nutrition as possible into liquid form to feed my granddaughter, and the juice plus really seems to have potential. Do you have any experience with it? Good luck to you! Mary

[Ariella]

mary

thanks for the tip, I will check out that thread. This little boy would be "7 weeks" now. He seems to have pretty good prognosis. He is getting fed through a feeding tube, although he can suck on a pacifier and swallow so I am not sure the reason for the feeding tube. That is a question I will be posing to the dr. if we visit next week.

If nursing is not a possibility for him, and we do end up taking him, I plan on pumping breast milk for him and feeding him that through the tube. And in the mean time I am hoping to find a milk bank near by or a friend who will donate extra milk. We will see what we can find out.

I was just curious about the raw foods helping because I have been talking with just regular preemie moms and a lot of their babies seem to have a lot of issues and I was just hoping to hear positive stories of raw food helping out these preemie babies so they turned out fairly normal.

We will see what we end up deciding though. I just want to make sure that I have enough love for my almost 3 year old, new baby and baby Matthew is we adopt him. We are foster parents so I am used to having troubled kids come into our home and we have only taken ages 3 and under. We also have another little boy that comes to our home on wednesdays and weekends that should be in foster care but mom has managed to keep him out because they can't prove neglect. Anyway, so we watch him those days and he is also pretty high needs and way behind where he should be - he is 4 1/2 but he is doing a lot better since we have started caring for him those few days per week. We just really do have a love for children.

as for your question to juice plus+ me and my family have been using it since 10/03. I initially got started with it because I wanted to make sure that my son was getting a balance of the things that he needs. and also for my husband since he is not the greatest eater in the world. With this pregnancy - I have had for the most part a lot of energy and have been able to go and go. With my first pregnancy I used a regular supplement from HFS and was tired a lot even though I was also high raw with that pregnancy. I am high raw with this pregnancy too probably like 90%. my son is also around 90% raw. We have managed to avoid all the illnesses that have flown around our congregation and friends at mothers groups. We have been the only healthy ones - now is it due to high raw or the juice plus? I dont know. But I know that I feel good with it and I do notice a difference when I dont take it in my energy levels. My husband has gotten sick only once this winter despite being basically a SAD eater so that really speaks for the product I think, as that is the biggest difference between him and everybody else that we have been around. You can email me privately about that if you have more questions ariellanetanya@juno.com The gummies are excellent for the munchkins! My kiddo loves them. I call them candy and it is like his morning treat. So he gets those for candy while other kids are getting junk. I figure it works out ok.

Thanks again for your reply and let me know if you find out anything good!

Ariella


JUICE PLUS+
www.juiceplus.com/+dj73561

[maraw]

I realize this is an older thread, but I just joined and thought I might contribute...

I have a one-yer-old who was born 3 1/2 months premature. She has had some complications, but is doing very well now. We had her on breast milk (pumped and tube fed) for the first 4 months of her life. Then, my milk started to lessen. She switched to a traditional milk-based formula and was constipated for a long time. When she was old enough we started giving her fresh bananas and cooked sweet pots. Now that she has teeth she loves apples, bananas (still), avacados, and more. My husband and I just started the raw foods ourselves and so far our 2 year old and baby girl just love it - all of it! My 5 and 4 year old however are leary.

One point that I wanted to make, and got side tracked on was this: the main problem we have had with my daughter is weight gain. Premies have trouble gaining weight. They tend to be small and thin. I would much prefer feeding her healthy, nutrient rich fats and calories to the Gerber variety of same. In the years to come, I believe it will be the best foundation for health I can give her. Good luck!

[RawTruth]

There's really no need to feed your babies anything other than breastmilk for their first year of life. I know that doctors say differently, but they've been heavily influenced by the babyfood industry, and they're not adequately trained in nutrition.

If you have the slightest bit of trouble with breastfeeding, please please please get involved with La Leche League. They're real lifesavers -- not just at the beginning, but at any time during the year or several years that a mother nurses her baby. I and my daughter both have used them. There have been time when it seems that nursing has to end ... but, with experienced advice, practical techniques, and persistence ... it really doesn't have to. And, if your local La Leche group doesn't quite do it for you, don't hesitate to consult with a lactation specialist. Mine saved my life -- back when I was nursing my now-teenage son. I drove 45 minutes to his office several times a week during an especially trying time.

Feeding raw food to a toddler is the most natural way to nourish them. A child who is never given cooked or processed food is the most healthy, well-loved by nature child around. There really is not problem or issue with this. It's when children have already been started on things like that powdered cereal and cooked vegetables and pasteurized juices, etc etc that their taste buds are perverted so that raw tastes "funny" to them. But, even then, they can be turned around. It's a matter of modeling. What's not in the house is not missed, and what everyone else is eating is what they want to eat.

I guess I haven't directly addressed the preemie question -- but, I intended by answer to include a baby who is born prematurely. Nursing is the best no matter how far into term its carried. So, raw doesn't really enter into the picture. (But, I'm repeating myself )

[rawpriestess]

Hi,

Although I was not raw at the time, my son was born 1 month early, although that isn't as premature as some, he was very small, and did had some issues.

He was 6 lbs. 1 1/2 oz, when born,when he was 2 weeks old he was only 5 lbs 6 oz. He was loosing weight, not gaining, and I was nursing.

He finally started to gain weight at about 2 1/2 weeks, so that was a good thing, the issues I had with him was his front teeth had no enamel, so they looked awful, until he got permanant teeth, a minor issue, but it was major to him.

He was small for his age until he reached age 13, he was 4 foot 9, then in 3 months went to 5 foot 3, he is now 6 foot 3, so the doctors were wrong when they said he would always be small.

They also said he wouldn't be too bright, and his IQ is Genius level at 159.

So, they were wrong about that too.

I did start him on cereal at 6 months, like the doctors suggested, but he kept spitting it up, so I just kept giving him milk.

Now, I know so much more than I did then, and I would never listen to a doctor.

I would simply nurse him myself, and feed him what ever felt natural, and cereal isn't natural, you can't pick it off a tree.

So, I might give him some fresh fruit when he had a couple of teeth, or else give him some soft fruit, like peaches and such when he showed an interest in them.

I have a friend who nurses, and her daughter is about 1 year old, she is very attracted to fresh fruit, when they go to the health food store the little girl always reaches out for the fruit, even before she ever tasted it, so the mom, let's her pick out what she wants, and that is her dinner, in addition to mom's milk.

This baby girl is very healthy, and is also not fussy, and very happy.

Also, her diapers never stink, they always smell nice, even when she has just had a bm.

So, that is a nice thing to know about raw food babies.

Good luck with your new adopted baby, and your new baby.

Blessings,
Rawpriestess

[twinyoga]

I have 14 month old twins (boy and girl) that were born 5 1/2 weeks early. They were in NICU for 9 days for coming home. Nothing was wrong, they just needed a little time to mature. My son was born 5.13 and girl was 4.14 (pounds.ounces).

They are perfect developmentally both physically and mentally. I am truely blessed.

Regarding raw, I agree that breastmilk is best for as long as possible (I pumped) and the first solids do not have to be ceral. We did lots of strained veggies and fruits. I did not start them with raw food, though. But as they started eating more solids I added raw fruits and veggies and smoothies. Now they have raw food throughout the day with me. Not all raw, but more than anyother baby that I am friends with.

I have a different outlook on raw than lots of people here. I think it's a lifestyle choice and I am exposing my children to it and letting them know it's an option. But I am not having them live a raw life. Nothing wrong with either way, it's just how I do it.

Hope this helps.

[sailaway]

Hi Ariella
I am new to this site so I am pretty late on posting to this thread. But I just wanted to add some of my experiences with premies in case you or someone else needs the support. My son (adopted, we are also foster parents) was born at 26 weeks and wt was 1 lb 2 oz and 11 inches. He went down to 11oz. He he had multiple health issues requiring 27 surgeries in his first year. He was mostly on what is called TPN (total parental nutrition) an IV that is always attached. At 7 mos when he was ready to come home from the hospital he was only taking 3cc of a special pre-digested formula that was mixed to his current weekly work, it was pumped through a G-tube and a rate of 3cc per hour 4x per day. My ds was 8 lbs and 20 inches on his first b-day! At that time he was still on TPN and 15cc 4x per day. While he was a lot of work and we had many near experience with him (about every 6-8 wks while at children's) he has been one of our greatest joys. Today he is almost 12 years and while he is still on a g tube at night with a special formula he was taken off TPN at 9 years old. We wanted to buy breast milk for him instead of the special formula but back then then Drs. were agaisnt it, then as he was added food at 2 1/2 yrs we were told what fruits and vegeies to feed. I wanted to buy fesh organic and make my own (cooked) but the Dr and nurses were against it, in fact one DR (at Childrens Hospital) tried to have him removed from us because he thought our suggestions would harm our son. In order to keep him Social Service said we had to "agree" to only feed him what the "Specialist" stated in writting and not try anything on our own. We did this for another year then at the first chance switched to UCLA and they were shocked that with all we had been through. To shorten this long story they were much more open to trying things but since our son was now 3 1/2 yrs we stayed with the formula that his system had adjusted to, but I was able to make his fresh foods. I started Raw on March 28th with a 3 day water fast and then went cold turkey into Raw, I had completed 42 days at 100% before I found this site. I have had such amazing changes that my family is now eating mostly Raw about 75-80%. We have seen big changes in our family since then. (If you want to PM me I can tell you about some of them) If I adopted ds today I would deffinately start him on breastmilk instead of the formula and straight to raw as things progressed.

I have also a set of premie twin boys (adopted) with a dd 6 months older (birth) and another ds 6 months younger (adopted). It can be done! My regrets are that I didn't search out Drs. that were more open to what I was thinking and feeling, I had wanted to get the shots to start breast feeding my adopted infants but had difficulty from the Drs. that I had used for so many years and since I was over all happy with them (except childrens hospital) I didn't push the issue. All in all I have 12 children several were premies, between the ages of 9 and 30.

[tracyinfo]

Wow Sailaway, I am totally in awe. How can you do all that? You are awesome rawsome!

We adopted 2 children, but they did not have any health problems.

Blessings.