Our marching orders are in. As of the Quail’s 15 month appt last week we are to cease and defluff. Contrary to the inquiries since our bird’s last showing we have not been giving her IV milkshakes. She just recently transitioned from Momma milk fully to cow milk- wholly. I’ve always been told/read that until age 2 when you transition to whole milk ( for those so lactosely inclined) that babes under two get whole milk and we decrease the fat percentage after age 2. I thought it was common understanding that the extra fat is needed for good brain and bone development. And we don’t want to skimp on either of those. But since her surgery the bird has gained 1 lb 10 oz- in a little less than a month…oops..

Frankly, I’m proud of her fluff. The girl has had multiple barriers to being able to put on and maintain good growth. After hearing the size of the opening in her intestine, I’m shocked that she didn’t ever end up with a Failure to thrive diagnosis. Between that, the heart defect and the growth expectations for a child with Down syndrome; I’m still blown away by her blossoming. Since she was able to flourish under so much adversity, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that now that weight gain can come a little easier; it’s coming a little too easy. Her pediatrician likened her 20-24 ounces a day of whole milk to the equivalent of feeding her 6-9 strips of bacon a day. To quote Cathy, “AAAACCCKKK!!!!”

I really didn’t think anyone could make bacon intake sound deadly to me. But since I can now hear her little arteries clogging up in my sleep we’ve decided to head his advice. In the meantime we’re looking for ways to increase the good fat in her daily intake without increasing meal portions too much. Currently she eats 3 meals a day- with a meal consisting of a Stage 2 food pack with DHA in it. She does also get 1 ml of fish oil daily. She has to have to have her drinks thickened, so when she isn’t slurping up Kefir, (low-fat, plain) in her straw cup, we thicken her milk with either baby oatmeal or “thick-it”; depending on how easily things are coming through on the other end. She drinks a 4 oz cup at each meal and then one at bedtime and one during the night with the one time a night she wakes up. It really doesn’t seem like a lot to me- nor do I see obvious ways to cut out calories other than skimming the fat out of the milk. She also has recently started showing little bumps on her face- so we may be switching over to a non-cow milk soon as well.

I’m sure once she gets up and running some of the fluff will naturally fly off. I know growth slows down after the first 6-9 months dramatically and calories get burned up quicker when kiddos get mobile. The same happened with Zuzu who was told at her 2 year appointment that she was at risk for obesity. I guess most kids have shed their baby fat by age 2, for Zuzu it was closer to three even though she was pretty physically active. We’ll just keep pushing the baby yoga for now.

Maybe my lil personal trainer can consider a refocus of her energy on the Quail and back off of me a bit!