If you’ve ever tried to prepare a meal for a picky eater, you know that the process can be a handful. But what do you do when your little one has a very limited diet and they do not find the things they can eat appetizing? That’s just one of the many things we here at Nutricia have in mind, so we try to offer as many options to our customers as possible. Our goal is to make meal time as stress-free as possible for a diet that is difficult, but necessary. One of the easiest solutions we offer is our Flavor Packets.
What makes our Flavor Packets so great? They come in 3 flavors (cherry-vanilla, grapefruit and lemon-lime) that are different from the Neocate Junior and Splash flavors. Each packet adds only about 15 calories and contains no protein, making them perfect for an elemental diet. This gives more variety to a formula-based diet for children over one year.
The best feature of the Flavor Packets is that you can use as little or as much as needed to match your child’s flavor preference. For instance, some children who start using Neocate Infant at a young age and then transition to unflavored Neocate Junior make the switch with no problem. However, as they get older and experience new tastes (like fruit juice) they may not like the taste of an unflavored elemental formula as much. But it’s also possible to find one of our flavored formulas a bit overpowering. In this case, you can add just enough flavor to help mask the taste of the amino acids, but not so much that the flavor or sweetness is overwhelming.
Not sure how much of a flavor packet to use? Each flavor packet is designed to mix with about sixteen ounces (or two cups) of prepared formula. For a child who is accustomed to unflavored formula, a good suggestion might be to start out at half-strength and see what they think. If your child is old enough, you could set up a blind taste test “experiment” for them with a few different concentrations and flavors to see what they like best and make the experience more fun! Also, for children over a year old you can use Flavor Packets with Neocate Nutra. We suggest experimenting to see how much flavor is right and a good place to start might be ⅛ or ¼ teaspoon per serving of Nutra.
Have you found the Flavor Packets to be helpful with keeping your little one interested in their elemental formula? Let us know in the comments section below.
- Rob

