Need Ideas to Help Son Gain Some Weight

Try ensure shakes. Equate also makes the same exact shakes but they are a few buck cheaper. They even make one with extra calories. Of course, there are other brands as well. My son is a very picky eater and usually doesn't even care for anything sweet, but he loves these shakes. I always keep them on hand for times of low apetite or high activity. They are very nutrutious and packed full of calories. Best of luck.
Have a great day and god bless!!

We struggle with our 4 yr old daughter not gaining weight enough. The one thing I've found that has really helped is changing her regular milk or chocolate milk to Carnation Instant Breakfast. We give her this about 3 times a day. She just thinks she's getting a treat but it adds a ton of calories to the milk she's drinking anyways. You should give that a shot. Its something you can give him without adding a bunch of calories to the rest of the family's diet. Hope this helps. Oh & I just wanted to tell you I have a ZOO at my house too!! LOL! Nothing better than a houseful of kids! Keep up the good work!

A. K

We have been in the same boat for about 5 years. My son is now almost 13 and has been on stimulants for ADHD since he was 7. He is built like his father with a small frame and very thin naturally. Since starting stims, he runs around 5 percentile on the weight chart and 50% or better on the height chart. Our pediatrician was never concerned at all but now that we are seeing a child psych for his meds, she is at least not wanting him to lose anymore. We also have the problem that my dd does not nee to gain any weight. She is 9 and already overweight. Some of her issues have been becasue he eats at night and not always the right things and she doesn't understand why she can't eat when and what he does. So you are right to be concerned about the rest of the family.

We do let him eat differently because after fighting with this issue for so many years, we see that we have to entice him to eat and let him eat late when he is hungry. Some things I have tried with some good results are: extra peanut butter on a PB&J sandwhich ( his favorite), a bigger breakfast than I would normally get up and make ( he likes fried eggs so I get up and make 3 for him with toast and butter and a sausage patty every school morning ...ugh), I have bought snacks he likes that are relatively good like cheese sticks, fruit, pudding and pack those in his lunch with the peanut butter. He also likes peanut butter crackers so I keep those on hand. I have bought Boost high protein drinks in whatever flavor he would consider. I try to keep brekfast bars with the most calories I can find on hand. At lunch, if we are out or he buys his lunch, I let him buy pizza or french fried becasue he will eat that. It isn't good necessarily but it gives him carbs and it has calories. He has to eat better the other meals, though. If we go out to eat and he can't eat, we take it home in a box and he eats it about 9 o'clock when he gets hungry. It is really trial and error and you have to seee what will work for your son, but I do think you may have to give him a little more leeway than you do the others. Just what i have found.

I have explained to my 9 year old about how she ate her dinner at 6 and does not need to eat again, etc. but I do try to keep some snacks like carrots , celery ,and lean turkey slices on hand (which she likes) so if she ends up eatting again, it is nutrious and low cal. She also likes PB&J so I make them each a sandwhich. For him I use regular bread, extra peanut butter ( chunky if Ihave it) and jelly and for her, I use low cal bread, low fat peanut butter with much less on the bread and a little jelly. They are both happy but he gets way more calories which he needs.

It is really hard trying to manage things for everyone when they have different needs. It does take more work sometimes and can wreak havoc with your schedule. Sometimes a kid with different needs requires a little bit different schedule, though. I'm not sure how other kids are, but when my son says he is not hungery, he really cannot eat much if anything. It is more than a sensation of being full and pushing away it is a total lack of desire to eat. Sometimes, even if we put cheesecake ( his favorite food in the world), he just can't manage to take more than one bite. So, you can't often really make him eat. We just have to wait till he shows more interest. Sometimes we can try a little later, and though he still says he is not hungry, he can be enticed to eat a favorite food like a few ounces of steak or chicken. He also loves bread so we have to make him wait on it till after some meats and veggies get eaten but then we let him eat as much as he wants.

I'm sorry I can't be of more help but, I think, with trial and error, you will find what works. He still may lose some weight but it should slow down. My son at nearly 13 weighs 68 pounds and has for over 2 years. When he was younger we took him off the stims in the summer for a few weeks and he would gain about 10 pounds. You might consider this if he can do that. My son is very impulsive off his meds, so we had to stop taking the break. If i think of any other tips, I will let you know.

Try dairy and pasta. My mom has an over-active adrenal gland and since they finally got it under control, she is trying to put on a little bit of the weight she lost from it. The doctor told her the way to gain healthy weight is to eat good for you dairy, like yogurt and cottage cheese, and whole grain pasta's. Also, maybe try having him eat 5 small meals instead of 3 large meals throughout the day. The don't have to actually be a meal, maybe some granola and an apple with yogurt or something small like that for a couple of the meals, and the other three be breakfast, lunch and dinner. Good luck!!

You could try those "weight on" milk shakes. Maybe make plain shakes for the other kids so everyone gets one. My brother used them and they worked great

My sons (both have adhd, and on meds that decrease their appetites) have carnation instant breakfast in the AM along with their cereal. As far as they know it is just chocolate milk. They really like the chocolate malt flavored.

WOW - it sounds like I could have written this a few years ago!!! Well, the good news is, there are ways to help your child maintain a healthy weight and still have his medication. I gave my son a multi-vitamin and made sure he always had some Carnation Instant Breakfast mix and milk in the fridge. Also, whichever foods he will eat, make sure you always have some on hand so as to make sure he is never in the position of wanting to eat (for a change!) and can't find anything that he will eat.

My son lost a lot of weight too, for a different reason, but my pediatrician had me add in Carnation Instant Breakfast to his milk each time he drank that. It has extra calories, plus vitamins and minerals, etc.

My Niece never puts on the weight she needs to when she is PG. They Dr makes her drink a fruit smoothie each night with banana and fruit yogurt. IF you search on the net you will found a lot of recipes for them.

When my step-son was started on ADD medication 16 years ago, he also lost his app. and lost weight. For him it was a good thing because he was overweight to begin with and a compulsive eater. As the weight came off and he was nearing to thin we started "sneaking" protien into his diet.

Now, I don't like to eat first thing in the morning which is a problem because my sugar gets to low. This brings me to a possible solution. Does he like smoothies? I found that if you use some weight lifter protien mix (van. works best) you can add fruit, ice-cream, what ever that he may like. This way no one will get any special treatment you can use for everyone either as a fast breakfast or when others are eating desert he can have a "milk shake" or everyone can. I hope this helps.

Oh, wow! Your 10 yo sounds very much like my 11 yo grandson except he also was diagnosed w/asthma and allergies. I call him my "AAA Kid". Because of the asthma, he can't drink whole milk (too much mucus making it more difficult for his breathing). I thought he was the only one with the worst diet on the continent.

If your son like shakes, I recommend what I've added to my little guy's - works really well and I know he's getting what his body needs. These are actually meal replacements. Chocolate shake: http://www.shaklee.net/thewrightplace/product/20322
or Vanilla shake: http://www.shaklee.net/thewrightplace/product/20321

Following are a couple of links for kids and teenagers you may find helpful:
Kids 4 - 12:
http://www.shaklee.net/thewrightplace/prodNutChildDiffere...
Teens: http://www.shaklee.net/thewrightplace/prodNutChildDiffere...

I became a Certified Nutrition Consultant due to the many health issues my grandchildren seem to have and have already seen a difference in those same issues. Feel free to contact me if you think I may be able to help.

God Bless,
~V~