Help !!!! 3 Yr Old Isn't Gaining Weight...

My daughter is 4y old now but has had a hard time gaining weight. She was a preemie and was weighed frequently once we got home. At 2y she still weighed about 21-22lbs. At 3, she was only at 25lbs. Our pediatrician was not too concerned because she was gaining on her growth curve. She did say that yes weight gain does slow down at this point and calmed my fears by saying that someone has to be in the 3rd percentile or it wouldn't be there. I felt a bit better. She also recommended 1-2 pediasures/day if she wasn't eating well. She said don't let it take the place of a meal. Pediasure is 30 calories and ounce and whole milk is about 20 cal/oz and can be very filling. What I would do, is watch what she ate during the day and if it wasn't much, I would give her a pediasure after dinner. She wasa weird kid and actually liked it. We served them very cold, right out of the fridge.

Personally, I wouldn't start adding in a bunch of sugary stuff--they may add on some weight, but it will also start some bad eating habits, that will be hard to break later. I would try switching to the whole wheat, whole milk, and using butter (this is stuff I heard from a feeding specialist before).

I know it's hard not to worry, but look at her development as a whole--is she meeting her milestones? Is she active and otherwise doing well? If so, she may just have a really good metabolism. My daughter finally put on some weight from age 3 to 4--about 5 lbs. I think she hit the 10th percentile for her age--a first for us. Also ask the pediatrician for a referral to a dietician or a nutrionist for other healthy ideas.

Hope this helps.
M.

My son is almost completely healthy except for controled asthma...he has only gained 2 lbs. since he was two years old. The boy eats around the clock sometimes but doesn't gain a lb. At this age they slow down in the amount of weight they gain. Instead of gaining a lot monthly, they start to average 2 lbs a year and 2 inches in height a year, (or so the research I have done thus far). My son is a health freak...even if I TRIED to get him to eat all the foods your sister suggested he wouldn't. He likes fruits and veggies, no red meats, yougurt and only 100% fruit snacks and so forth. We have candy sitting out at our house all the time and he doesn't ever touch it. He chooses sherbert over ice cream. I would say you would much rather have her on a healthy diet than adding a bunch of the sugars and peservatives that are in the other foods. Adding all of that could only add to health problems instead of making them better...Best wishes.

First of all, I think "fattening" her up with fats and sugar is NOT the way to go. I have a 6 year old who only recently hit the 40 lb. mark. She is healthy, she just eats ALOT of fruits and veggies. She is also very active. As long as your daughter is hitting all the other milestones and isn't sick from her size, don't worry. She could just have really high matabolism. Teaching her horrible eating habits just to gain weight can have terrible effects in the future. Good Luck.

I have a four year old with Asthema and allergies that we had the same problem with for a while. I think part of the issue is that albuteral also makes the child more active than normal. So, they are burning off a lot of what they gain. We finally came to the conclusion that as long as our child was healthy and did not look "skinny" there was not an issue. If she is losing weight and not gaining, there may be a problem. But if she is very active and maintaining, that is good news.

A little trick I tried for a while and it seemed to help is to mix a little formula or nutrition drink into their regular milk. My child cannot drink whole milk because it is too thick for him. Also, a flinstone vitamin a day does wonders as well.

J.,

Try things like if she likes having cooked veggie put butter on them and some of the veggies like broccoli put both butter and cheese. With the milk use the ovaltine in the whole milk it will mask the creamy taste that she is not used to. Cook with olive oil when making her eggs. The trick is to add more fat to her diet but make sure that that fat is healthy. Make her snakes of cheese and black olives - I always put the black olives on my kids fingers they love it. Make homemade french fries ( you can get a french fry cutter just like the apple cutter in the kitchen gadget section of your grocery store ) just toss them in olive oil and some yummy seasonings (I use seasoning salt) and bake them in your oven on a cookie sheet for 1/2 hour on 450 degrees (make sure you spray your cookie sheet with PAM or any other spray oil that you have or they will stick to the sheet).

Anyway just think about the foods that your daughter already likes to eat and figure out ways to add extra calories to them. I would avoid giving her lots of ice-cream, cookies, cakes, and sweets just because you don't want to teach her bad habits.

Is your daughter very active? - she may just be burning off the calories that you are giving her - talk to your pediatrician and ask them if this is a big problem and what they suggest to do. All the medicines that your daughter is taking may not cause her to not gain weight but the interaction of these medicines together may be causing her metabolism to be higher than normal.

Take care and good luck
Mel

Hi J., I want to tell you that I have a daughter who is now 7 years old, and hasn't gained more than about 2 pounds in the last year. She is very small, but she is very healthy.If your daughter is healthy, then I wouldn't worry about her weight. Feeding her sugary things such as cake and cookies, and switching to sugary cereals would NOT be a good way to make her gain weight. Children often hit growth plateus, and unless she has some other underlying health issues other than the allergies you mentioned, just let her grow when she is ready. Adding all of that sugar to her diet will cause so many health issues for her later.

J.,

Has your duaghter been tested for Cystic Fibrosis (CF)? I have CF and often the pulmonary side effects are misdiagnosed for asthma/allergies. One of the key symptoms is slow weight gain or inability to gain weight. It also causes JVA.

If she hasn't been tested, I would recommend finding a local hospital that will test for it. Your pediatrician can order a simple blood test or a sweat test if the blood test comes back positive.

If you have any questions, please let me know. God Bless!

J.

PS: Try carnation instant breakfasts throughout the day for the weight gain. I loved them because they tasted like chocolate milk and are the equivalent to the calories and vitamins of a whole meal. Also try adding powdered milk to anything hot. It has loads of good calories and vitamins. I have tons more ideas, so if you want more, email me.

Hi J.!

My son is 2 and a half years old and is in the 5th percentile for his weight and 75th percentile for his height. He's my little peanut! He was a big baby (9 lbs, 11 oz) and stayed in the 90-95th percentile until he was about 9 months. Then his weight gain started to slow. From 9 months to about 2 years, he probably only gained 3 lbs. He kept getting taller, but not fatter. He just recently hit 25 lbs! But, he has always been right on the mark or ahead of the milestones so I never really worried about his weight really. As long as everything upstairs was going well.

I also was in WIC and they made me feel like they would take my baby away or something if he didn't start gaining weight! I didn't know what to do. I thought it was because I breast fed so he wasn't getting the kind of fat and calories that come with formula. All the other babies in my family were formula fed and fat. That was the only thing I had to compare it to. Except for his cousin, Ryan, who is 3 years older than him. My son and his cousin have basically been on the same path as far as weight gain goes. Ryan is still the smallest kid in his class. So maybe it's a genetic thing like with your sister.

I read some moms suggest Pediasure. I also tried that for a little bit to help my son gain weight, but it's a little expensive. Then someone suggested Nestle Carnation Instant Breakfast. It's basically the same thing, just a whole lot cheaper. My son loves milk (chocolate, strawberry, regular, doesn't matter)!! So I started using that instead of the syrup. He loved it! He would still eat 3-4 meals a day, but everytime he wanted something to drink, I would give the Instant Breakfast to him. I was giving him whole milk for a while (for the fat), but then switched to 2% for the calcium. And like everyone else said before, sugary foods aren't the answer. They're just empty calories. There are many different healthier options to help her gain weight. I remember at WIC appts. they would only tell me that my son didn't weigh enough, but wouldn't give me suggestions on how to help him. And all the foods they provide my son really couldn't eat or didn't like. It might take a little bit, but she'll be fine. Hope this helps!

I don't think loading your child up with sugar is the answer! I'm sure your sister means well, but there is nothing helpful or healthy about that! Whole milk is a really good idea. My last two children were "preemies" and they're both underweight for the their age ( 4 & 5 yrs) and they both drink whole milk all the time. I know you said your little girl doesn't like it, but it's something she could get used to. I put a little strawberry syrup in my daughter's milk, she likes having it "pink"! Has your pediatrician shown any concern for your daughter's weight gain? That's the best place to start! Some children just aren't "as big as" other children! All children grow at their own speed. Talk to your daughter's doctor, ask for his/her opinion. It really is the safest way to ensure a HEALTHY weight gain for your child!

Relax J.,

My son will be six this summer and only weighs 39#s. As long as she is not losing wieght, you are okay. It took a long time to relax myself about his lack of weight, the y just have an active metabolism. My son also has allergies, most pollen and skin reaction to certain things. I have made an effort to feed him organic veggies, fruit & milk. You would be suprised at the turn around of his allergic reaction. I was. Good luck with your daughter!

I am almost exactly in your boat! My daughter is 2 and has a hard time gaining weight as well. At WIC they started weighing her every 3 months as well and I too felt like a horrible mother for her lack of weight gain, she was in the 12%. Anyway, to the point, it is expensive but works great- Pediasure! They have 4-5 flavors and my girl gets 1 every day, she is now in the 25%! I also looked at the size I and my husband were when we were young, and also our immediate family. I found that all of us were exceptionially small for our ages when were little. just keep that in mind. Pediasure can cost about 10.00 for six, but if you talk to your ped, they can send a "perscription" to the WIC office and then WIC will reissue a month of your coupons with pediasure on it.

I have a daughter who will be 3 on March 21st. Although she has no health issues and is growing, she has actually lost one pound since July (she weighed 32 pounds then and 31 pounds in December and again 2 weeks ago). You didn't mention how much your daughter weighs, but I wanted to let you know that I think that at this age their weight gain slows considerably. I agree with the others that adding lots of sugary sweets is NOT the answer....

Good luck!

Hi J.,
I've never posted before but wanted to respond to this. My Daughter also has JRA, Uveitis, watching for Asthma several clotting disorders i could go on, but you understand.
Which meds is she on for the JRA? My daughter has always gained weight, until she got put on some of the JRA meds and then her weight slowed for a LONG time.

I agree with everyone about adding healthy fats to her diet. Make cheese sauces to go over her veggies, make dips for her fruit. Things like that.

I would love to talk to you more about our Daughters and JRA, if you would like.

M.

My daughter has the same asthma and alergy problems. My daughter is on the Singular, Abuterol, Nasonex, and lots of OTC vitamins. Because my daughter is really picky when it comes to her food intake, I try to add more calories and protien through Pediasure,Slimfast, and Ensure (which ever is on sale). They have lots of protien, vitamins and nutrients.

Try not to worry so much about her weight gain. I try to focus more on whether or not she is healthy and happy.

Good Luck.

I wouldn't worry too much unless her doctor has said something about it. WIC goes by the norms and not the individual child while her doctor knows more about her situation. I wouldn't start with the sugar diet, the whole milk and ovaltine and wheat bread wouldn't be bad though. My daughter has asthma, too and has been on Singular for almost three years and lately it hasn't been as effective as it used to be so now they have her on steriods daily which really effects her weight so it is a real possiblity your daughter may have to go to that in the future and she will not have any problem gaining weight if that happens.

J.,
I don't think I would really be that concerned with her not gaining weight at this point. It has only been 4 months. My youngest daughter didn't gain anything from 6-11 months and that is when they should actually gain the most and the quickest. My older two actually have gone over a year w/o any gain. In all 3 situations my kids grew in length. What does your doctor say? You didn't mention anything about your doctor being concerned. If he/she is so concerned they should be doing something about it. My youngest had failure to thrive and extreme medical conditions and was put on very high caloric intake and as I saod earlier she still didn't/doesn't gain a lot of weight. As long as they stay on the growth chart there usually isn't a BIG problem. Ask your dr. where your daughters growth line is on the chart and at what percentage she falls in. Even though all 3of mine were small they were in the norm. I really think if you want more advice you should talk to your pediatrician about it. Good luck!

Hi J.. I honestly have not had this problem, as my babies are born small and gain weight like no tomorrow. I wonder if your little really needs to gain weight? My sister's youngest two are so small and are always in like the 10th percentile weight wise, but they are healthy and happy and developmentally okay. I think you shouldn't worry about it all children grow and gain in diff ways. Best of luck, it sounds like you are doing a great job.

My son who is now 11 had weight gain issues when he was that age. The doctor told me to give him Pediasure. They have it in different flavors and he loved it. It did help him gain weight. He is still a scare crow LOL. But he is healthy now. Ovaltine is also a really good idea!