Fill Your Child’s Nutritional Gaps With a Supplement – Pediasure

The most beautiful gift we can ever give our children is good health. 90 days ago, I switched my children’s daily milk supplement and I am going to talk all about it in today’s blog post. Making the change from my own childhood favorite milk drink to Pediasure was an important step which I do not regret.

Making ‘Chocolate Milk Time’ Into Much More

My children love their chocolate milk just like I have, all my childhood years. I turned a blind eye towards all the TV commercials for milk drinks and only went in for the one that tasted best. In my opinion, they were all chocolaty and sugary drinks anyway. But you are forced to view things with a different perspective when it comes to your child’s health.

It all began with a recommendation from our pediatrician. Did I mention that my kids are lucky to have a wonderful and friendly pediatrician? After attending to the health issues of all 3 of my kids, she is more like a friend. Upon discussing the issue of ‘nutritional gaps’ on one visit, she recommended I turn their milk time into ‘something more’. We were discussing 2 different things – 1. my son not showing much interest in physical activities, 2. my daughter’s nutritional needs since was actively pursuing many sports.

Nutritional Gaps

The answer to both, said their pediatrician, lies in their nutrition. I told her honestly that while I strive to make healthy meals and get them to eat their greens, I also allow them their indulgences. My daughter eats nuts and dried fruits at times, but my son will not eat any of them beyond ‘kishmish’. She said this was all okay as it is a modern lifestyle and environment we are bringing up our kids in. But she told me that this leaves most kids with ‘nutritional gaps’. This can be either because they are picky eaters or because the mass/commercially products do not give as much nutrition as the old-fashioned organically grown foodstuffs used to. I could hear my mother’s constant complaint ringing in my ears – “vegetables and fruits do not have the taste they used to have!”.

As I have often mentioned in my parenting mantras, all I ask from my children is to turn into happy, healthy and responsible human beings. Health is an important part of my parenting which is why I was having this discussion with my pediatrician in the first place. I asked for her recommendations and she set up an interview for me with a nutrition expert. She invited the expert to her clinic and offered a free consultation to all parents who visited that day. It was this nutritionist who gave me a diet chart and explained the importance of a nutritive milk time. Milk needed to be more than just ‘chocolate milk’. She recommended Pediasure and I made the switch!

90 Days With Pediasure

When Abbott approached Fabulous Mom Life to try out Pediasure, I told them we had already begun. But that I would write about it only after I had tried it out. They were happy with this and even asked me to try it out for 90 days before I wrote about my experience.

My Experience with Pediasure

My first experience was a BIG pinch! From the INR 400 that I paid for 1 kg of my regular chocolate milk drink, I had to shell out INR 1200 for Pediasure. My husband kindly reminded me that I was paying much more than that on one month’s sports classes and even more on a single night’s dining out or ordering in. That is true. Cutting down on one night’s pizza was equal to one month’s nutritional supplement for my kids!

Upon reading further on the Pediasure website, I realized for the first time that my ‘chocolate milk’ could actually be much more. It contains growth nutrients to improve overall health and height, Immunonutrients to help support Immunity and even Neuronutrients to help support Brain development!

So I started Pediasure with the kids’ morning milk. I ensured they were having their regular, homemade healthy meals in the same way. I do not believe in turning anything into a meal replacement unless you have an extremely picky eater. But I will admit there are times when my youngest (almost 3 now) refuses to have more than a few spoonfuls of her dinner. At such times, I give her a glass or bottle full of pediasure milk to ensure that she has both her stomach full and her nutrition taken care of.

There are also times when at a birthday party or a restaurant, the kids fill their tummies with only french fries and come back home. At such times also, we have a practice of giving them Pediasure milk before they sleep.

Changes I Can Easily Spot

Along with starting Pediasure, I had also begun to push my son to enjoy outdoor activities further. Not that he does not like the outdoors, his pursuits weren’t too active. He had to be pushed to go swimming and came back way before his sister. Things are VERY different now:

1. My son has taken up swimming actively now
2. He comes home with his face, his clothes and his football all muddy (I am not complaining…at least for now!)
3. Oh, and he doesn’t actually come home unless I fish him out!
4. He is hungry and doesn’t ask me for ‘snacks’, dives straight into his meals
5. My daughter can manage badminton, free play and dance classes all in one evening
6. Both their heights have increased 🙂
7. They have both missed school only one time each in the last 3 months, due to seasonal health issues.

They continue with their slightly imbalanced meals – my daughter eats way too much of junk – both salty and sweet; and my son still hates fruits, raw veggies and dried fruits and nuts. So I am presuming that Pediasure has started filling the gaps. It was a good decision to switch 🙂

Powder vs Shakes

I have had Pediasure shakes brought to me from the US. While they tasted very good and were no doubt a good idea as opposed to sugary juice cans, I somehow prefer the powder version we get here in India. It is easier to control the portion of what goes in. The shakes can be too sugary if the kids have too many in one go. As long as I can control portions, I don’t mind seeing the shakes being launched in India as well. I can even give it to them once in a while for school or take on road trips and travels. But the powder has become a part of our pantry and the kids’ breakfast now.

Do you use Pediasure or any other nutritional supplement for your children? Do share your thoughts 🙂