Pregestamil / Neocate dependant 3yo

Does anyone here have a kid (over 2 or 3 years old) who is dependant upon
the yucky smelling/testing Pregestamil or Neocate Jr?

By dependant I mean that if my son does not drink about 700cc of it each
day, he will not survive (grow). He has special needs because of GI
problems. We've tried all types of formulas and now we're switching to the
more age-appropriate Neocate Jr. made in the U.K. as per the GI doctor's
request.

All this stuff smells and tastes so bad (it is predigested) and I feel
horrible making my kid drink this. We've been doing it for 2 years and now
he's on strike (flavoring does not help matters, we've tried crystal light,
vanilla, sugar, cocoa, etc.). We had to get a g-tube to pump this stuff in
him at night time. I wonder how long we'll have to keep this up before he
will be able to switch to something that tastes better.

My question is this... are there any other parents out there who are going
or has gone through this type of thing? Or are we the only ones out here
force feeding a 3yo nasty tasting formula? This is not a fun way to go!!

Richard

In article c2TLc.44001$ve2.28522@okepread05, Rich wrote:
Does anyone here have a kid (over 2 or 3 years old) who is dependant upon
the yucky smelling/testing Pregestamil or Neocate Jr?

By dependant I mean that if my son does not drink about 700cc of it each
day, he will not survive (grow). He has special needs because of GI
problems. We've tried all types of formulas and now we're switching to the
more age-appropriate Neocate Jr. made in the U.K. as per the GI doctor's
request.

I'm not sure whether you're looking for advice, or just commiseration.
Obviously, your doctors can probably predict better than we can if and
when you'll be able to move your son to something more palatable.

Sometimes children with severe allergies need to use Pregestamil or
Neocate. Although it sounds to me like that is not your son's issue,
you may find parents to share some experiences with on the POFAK
(parents of food-allergic kids) mailing list through Yahoo groups:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/POFAK/ I've been on that list
in the past and found it quite helpful and very active, though again
for different reasons than yours.

A search for "neocate" on yahoo groups brought up 6 groups, including
this one for parents of children on elemental formulas such as neocate:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/neocate/ which also looks to
be quite active.

I suspect you're more likely to find what you are looking for in one of
those places than here. I don't mean to send you away -- we'd love to
chat and learn more about your son and perhaps help brainstorm possible
things you could try, but your situation is fairly unusual, and there
probably aren't many others here with directly relevant experience.

Good luck to you and your family. I hope you find what you need
somewhere, if not here.

--Robyn (mommy to Ryan 9/93 and Matthew 6/96 and Evan 3/01)

"Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to
work hard at work worth doing." -- Theodore Roosevelt