Formula or Juice Box?!?

     Lily almost made it half a year in kindergarten with NO formula problems!  Her teacher is amazing and the school is super supportive.  The problem is the formula.  Lily & Thomas used to drink their "milk" with no problems.  Then the formula company (Periflex Junior) added fiber and that completely changed the taste.  Neither one of them liked the new flavor and we then switched over to Phenylade Essentials.  For the most part, both of the kids liked it but it did take a lot of prodding to get Lily to drink the milk.

     Lily has a fridge in her classroom to keep her milk cold all day and for it to be available at all times.  She also uses a closed container with a straw for her milk.  Some people have a hard time smelling the formulas, so a closed container helps.  Others use a straw so that the formula bypasses quite a few of the taste buds on the tongue.  So, as far as I can see it we were doing everything right, Lily just didn't like the milk.

     Her teacher talked to the kids at the beginning of the year about PKU and how Lily needs to drink her milk to keep her healthy.  All of the kids seemed to understand and some of them even encouraged Lily to drink it at lunch!  If Lily got close to finishing her container, the class would cheer her on!  But as the year progressed, the days where Lily finished her school milk were further and further apart.

     That led us to have a meeting with her dietitian.  We decided to try out some of the PKU milk/juice boxes during the school day.  Since Thomas LOVES his milk, we thought that it would be a good idea to have both of them drink the milk at home and save the "juice boxes" for school.  The dietitian had quite a few sent to us for Lily to taste test.

     Lily brought one to school each day to drink at lunch.  Each day, she'd come home and say that she drank it all but they tasted like "throw up!"  Then she tried the Vitaflo PKU Coolers!  She LOVED them and our problem was solved.  Lily has been drinking one a day at lunch with no problems.  Then at home she has to drink her "milk."  That still takes some prodding but it's working.  

     Lily's teacher says that there are no more problems at lunch time.  Lily does have an aid at lunch to write down what and how much she eats.  Prior to this switch, Lily had been complaining a lot to the aid about not wanting to drink her milk and that her mom said she didn't have to!  Well I did say she had to, but she just didn't want to.  I think we've turned a page in our PKU book.