OT- How to get calcium into this child?!?

[jsphotography]

She won't drink any sort of milk (not even chocolate), no juice (she drank the high calcium OJ up until last month- had some sour juice and now won't touch the stuff- its rather maddening!!) she won't eat yogurt, cheese, she will taste little bits of ice cream, but the most she ever wants is 2 or 3 bites and it must be chocolate. She gets the calcium gummies, but there's gotta be something else! Any creative ideas to get calcium into this 5 year old girl?!? She eats lots of fruit and some veggies, very active.. I'm just worried she's not getting nearly enough calcium!

 

[sunnyday123]

how about soups? If she will eat them, try a cheese soup made with a roux ( flour and milk ) tomato soup with milk instead of water, etc. How about strawberry milk? You have to make it fun...my DD was the same way, I hid all kinds of stuff in her food. I also put powdered milk in her chocolate milk to give her extra calcium.

Pizza, pudding,scrambled eggs made with milk.....

I also sometimes resorted to "calling" the Dr. to let her know she wasn't eating since we had a big discussion with her Dr. who told her she would have to go to the hospital if she didn't eat. ( sometimes dinner was 1/2 a banana) That usually got her chowing down. You just have to be careful that it doesn't become a power struggle and her holding not eating over you to get her way.

 

[Prose]

My DD never, ever drank milk -- until she discovered cold cereal! Now she loves Apple Jacks or Rice Krispies with dried cranberries and a touch of sugar, then drinks down the milk. Maybe you can find one of the lower-sugar, multi grain cereals with a chocolate flavor?

The other thing that worked for us was smoothies -- frozen strawberries, vanilla yogurt, splash of milk and honey, blended together. She won't even taste the yogurt or milk.

 

[MSSANDRA]

smoothies???


Caned fish is a good source but doubt she would go there.

Look for products with calcium added. Bread often has it.

Mac'/cheese ???

 

[DonnaBelle06]

I was going t o suggest maybe giving her a multi-vitamin if she refuses to eat foods high in Calcium (talk to your dr about this).

My DS went through a stage...and we simply had to find a way to "force" him into eating foods with calcium (like I let him eat desserts than I know are higher in calcium, donuts - chocoate covered, etc.). He's SUPER skinny (58 lbs. and 9 yrs old).....so we give him whatever he wants really.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[Kallista]

Can you melt it and put it in stuff? My kids like melted cheese on scambled eggs. You can stir it in so that it isn't a different texture.

Will she eat pasta dishes? If she eats veggies, will she eat them with a cheese sauce on them?Macaroni and cheese has calcium in it. You can make it from scratch, or you can buy it premade. Green Giant has frozen vegetables in a cheese sauce that you can microwave. Ragu has white sauces with real cheese in them, that have some calcium.

Will she eat a cream based soup, like tomato? You can make it from scratch with milke or you can make Campbell's soup with milk, rather than water.

Will she eat a cheese sandwich? It's melted into the bread and has a different texture.

Also, fortified white bread has a lot of calcium in it. I use Sara Lee Whole White Wheat -- it counts as a whole grain and two servings. 2 pieces of bread has 25% of an adult rda of calcium.

You might want to try Go-Gurt, too. It has a different flavor than regular yougurt. It's absolutely disgusting to me (takes like Jolly Rancher candy with a yogurt consistency) but my kids love it.

 

[Kallista]

She drank the high calcium OJ up until last month- had some sour juice and now won't touch the stuff- its rather maddening!!!

You could also try her on a different juice. I've mixed Dole combo juices and the high calcium OJ in a half-and-half mix. Strawberry-orange-banana is a favorite at our house.

 

[mjkacmom]

My pediatrician told me to give all the kids viactive - they love them!

 

[tnkr mom]

I have a match for her.....my son! It was really a problem when he broke his leg and Dr. suggested to "find a way to bump up his calcium". We did get him to eat spinich and almonds which are also good sources! Good luck!!)

 

[jsphotography]

She will eat vegetable soup rarely, but no tomato soup, no other juice, sometimes she will go for a smoothie but just a little bit (just like with ice cream or other desserts) She will sometimes eat cheese in her eggs but only if its in casserole form. She WILL eat gogurt though so I give her those daily but thats about it!! She likes pancakes almost every morning so I get a little bit of milk in her that way, but thats all the milk she gets. crazy girl! cereal is my favorite meal, I couldn't live without milk! :0)

 

[planningcrazymom]

Talk to your docter first, but you could try tums. My grandaughter has low calcium and her ped. said to give her a tums every day.

 

[squirrel]

Maybe she doesn't want the milk because it upsets her stomach? (Lactose intollerant)

Have you tried soy milk or rice milk? I know most of the soy milks have added calcium, haven't looked at the rice milk.

I know that my niece gave up drinking milk after she stopped drinking bottles, but she will eat cheese and yogurt.

 

[koima]

My son has dairy related ear infections, so during cold and flu season we cut out dairy and the ear infections dry right up. The first year I had trouble coming up with sources of calcium for him, but I found this website with lots of foods listed and realized that it wasn't that hard to get it into him, especially with the calcium gummy bears!

http://www.vegparadise.com/calcium.html

 

[Trixie15]

What if you freeze the juice into a popsicle?

 

[Kallista]

Talk to your docter first, but you could try tums. My grandaughter has low calcium and her ped. said to give her a tums every day.

I take a Tums for a calcium supplement. This is a great idea.

 

[NHdisneylover]

DD and I also take Tums for a supplemant (as recomended by our doctor). We both like the Winter Green flavour.

Do they sell Kinder chocolates in the US yet? The standard kinder chocolates usually come in a package of 8 bars. Each bar is "finger sized" (think one of the four little bars from a Kit Kat) and has milk chocolate on the outside and white chocolate inside. They are loaded with calcium. One bar has about 40% of the RDA. I try to put one in for dessert in the kids' lunch boxes about 3 times a week.

 

[lindsmom]

I found some interesting sites that have suggestions for non dairy foods that have significant calcium. Interestingly, Basic 4 cereal has more calcium than a glass of 1% milk - you wouldn't even need to worry about adding milk to the cereal - it can just be eaten dry, as my daughter eats her cereal.

Some other items included certain beans, kale, rhubarb, cooked broccoli, and oranges... try to think outside the box, rather than forcing too much dairy and you might be surprised.

http://ag.arizona.edu/maricopa/fcs/bb/highCalciumFds.html

http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/food/calcium-foods.htm

http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/15-non-dairy-foods-high-in-calcium.html

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/calcium.htm

 

[Hollytigs]

Over here in the UK, you can buy mineral water with added Calcium. Will she drink water?

 

[allyphoe]

My pediatrician told me to give all the kids viactive - they love them!

Yep, that's what we do for my DD. We get the generic ones, though.

 

[a1tinkfans]

My pediatrician told me to give all the kids viactive - they love them!

YUP,its like candy

Also TUMS comes in FRUIT flavors, its what I use for my child.

Years ago there was liquid calcium thru the pharmacy, not sure WHY they did away with it, it was SO MUCH easier!

Many think the calcium is just bones BUT it is so important for kids teeth, blood clotting issues too!!!!
Good for you to stay atop it!!