Noah's Miracle : Noah's Squeeze Station

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Noah's Squeeze Station

Noah has always loved food. I had anticipated that like most babies, Noah would have learned to graduate from soft foods to solids, however that transition hasn't yet happened. Which is common for many children with special needs. I've noticed lately Noah getting a little bored with commercial baby food lines. Some of the combinations are odd, and if you taste them you often wonder why babies even eat it! Noah loves his meals pureed in the Vitamix, but three times daily is a lot of work. So I have started making his meals each weekend in a new little gadget called the Infantino Fresh Squeezed Squeeze Station. It retails for $24.99 and although the bags are not refillable, the pouches run $16 for a pack of 50. I'm able to freeze them or store them in the refrigerator. It's really simple to use, washes easily, and is fast and convenient.

Infantino Fresh Squeezed Squeeze Station

Noah's Chicken Pot Pie

Noah's Sweet Potato, Corn & Apple

Noah's Banana, Mango, Blood Orange & Sweet Potato

I love that I can taste his meals to make sure they have the right amount of everything that his taste buds will enjoy. At age 5 Noah, like most children has developed flavor preferences. He's not a big fan of beef. Chick-Fil-A is his favorite fast food, and pears are terrible. You give him a cheesecake he'll be your best friend for life. He won't drink chocolate drinks, but adores chocolate pudding. He thinks anything with red sauce is disgusting but will inhale pastas with alfredo sauce. His favorite Pediasure is banana flavored. How do I know all this when I have a non-verbal child? Well, all you have to do is watch his facial expressions and he'll tell you if something is just nasty or if it's the best thing he's put in his mouth... he'll also spit out what he doesn't like or hold his lips shut in protest. He is very good at telling you what he likes to eat and what he hates to eat.

The really great thing about making your own food pouches is that you get to control the calories. For children like Noah they burn a lot of calories because of their constant movement. Most commercial baby food pouches range from 60-100 calories per every 4 ounce pouch/container. You could easily add some extra things to these pouches to increase calories. And the really fun part is you can make your own desert line! You will rarely find deserts in baby food pouches at the store. But you feel like make puddings, or making a chocolate cake puree! You can do it!

They also make these really cool toppers for baby food pouches that teach a child to suck a baby food pouch by the same method that a child would use to drink from a bottle. Something we are also working on with Noah. They are called Pouchpop Toppers. They screw on to the top of a baby food pouch and it allows the child to learn to suck through it like they would a bottle. We didn't have a lot of success with the typical honey bear straw, but this just might work as I can hear Noah sucking air sometimes through a straw. And he's able to close his mouth to do so, with anything it just takes time and patience - but we'll get there. Slowly but surely.