Seeking Advice to Help Toddler Gain Weight

if she is on the growth curve, is there really that much reason for concern? can you seek out a second opinion?

also, i think some of the growth curves are a load of crock. they are based on actual weights of babies. no one ever said those weights were even healthy, considering the trend towards being over weight and obese in this country. maybe you can find a growth curve for asian babies. it might be different. you never know!

in any case, if your daughter will try yogurt, i suggest greek or mediterranean yogurt. i got a brand called "mediterrane" from whole foods. it has 8% milk fat. i think just half a cup a day of that will quickly put on some pounds. at her age, fat is good for brain development, so you shouldn't be concerned about it. you do have to look at the label though. some greek yogurts are nonfat, etc. look at the total calories in the serving and compare the fat calories to lowfat yogurt. it should be 2 or 3 times as much as a typical lowfat yogurt.

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My son always seemed 'underweight' to me. He has always been the thin one out of all of his friends. He's four now. I used to worry a little, but his pediatrician told me how "refreshing" it was to see a child who wasn't overweight! He said well over 80% of the children he treats is overweight. And my son was right where he should be. He didn't reach 30lbs. until just about four months ago. The only advice I have for you is, DON'T stress about what she eats! And DON"T try to push food on her. If she feels pressured about you standing over her and trying to make sure she eats more, it'll just turn her off. Just put her plate in front of her, when she's done, she's done. She won't let herself starve. If you obsess over her eating more, it will give her a complex about food that will stay with her for the rest of her life. Just chill and be creative. Make her whole milk milkshakes with some pediasure mixed in, put creamy cheese sauce on her veggies, make silly faces and shapes out of her food. Good luck to you!

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My daughter (now 4 1/2) was exactly the same - underweight and went through all kinds of testing to find that she is just that - petite. I was told to butter all her veggies (which she won't eat buttered) and do pediasure (which she hated). But - if you do milkshakes with the pediasure and use full fat vanilla ice cream and add some powdered milk for some extra nutrients, it is tolerable. My daughter had one of these 'special' shakes every night (she only liked the strawberry - so try all the kinds to find what is liked best). she only got 1/3 of the can down per night along with about 1/8 cup of ice cream, but had a nutrient pack with the powdered milk. Even that little bit helps the calorie count and because it's a 'special milkshake' she was willing to do it. I even let her push the buttons on the blender for me, so she felt she was making her own. There is also a cook book called "Feed me! I'm Yours" by Vicki Lansky - has some great children's recipes in there. It's old though - I had to find my copy on ebay. Just remember - if there is nothing clinically wrong - she's just petite and it won't help to worry so much. Just make sure she has nutritious and calorie rich options and make it fun. She will learn that it can be fun! My daughter is still the smallest of her age (she looks almost 2 years younger than she really is), but she is perfectly healthy and happy.

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You could try yummy protein shakes with frozen organic fruits and yogurt. Our girls love them! We will add stevia or organic honey to sweeten up the shakes too. A full-fat yogurt in vanilla flavor seems to be their favorite and we add 2 to 4 scoops of the Nutrilite Protein powder, which has up to 50 grams of whey protein to the shake. Sometimes, our whole family enjoys these yummy shakes for dinner too! at www.bbu4u.mychoices.biz you can purchase the Protein shake. Plus we give our kids the Nutrilite Children's multi-vitams so regardless of how little or what they eat at least we know they are getting the nutrients their bodies need. They LOVE the Brainiums too, which is loaded with DHA and Omega 3's for healthy hearts and brains.

Our daughters love the Meal Replacement Bars. Blueberry is the family favorite. We give our tiny little one these bars for snacks. They also love the shakes. There are some fantastic organic nutritional products and supplments on this site your family will love. Rather than chemicals or other products that have not been researched and proven, we feel so much better knowing we're feeding ourselves and our girls the very best. You can research Nutrilite products for your family at www.nutrilite.com and again, purchase through www.bbu4u.mychoices.biz.

Let me know how you like them and which products your daughter loves. The best part is shipping is free on orders $75 or more and all Nutrilite products are 100% 180-day, unconditionally guaranteed. Even if you eat the whole box of bars, finish the vitamins, polish off the shake, they will take them back if you are not 100% satisfied, plus pay for return shipping. We felt we had nothing to loose and love these products so much, we proudly share them with our friends and family.

Feel free to call me too, T.. I'm in the Lafayette area and welcome your call ###-###-####.

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Hi,

I would recommend Instant Breakfast over Pediasure. My daughter had a hard time gaining weight, too. When she was 20 months old I think she was only 18 pounds. Now, at 4, she has reached 30 pounds. She started falling off her growth curve at about 13 months, but had caught up by the time she was 24 months. She is still picky and only in the 10th percentile for weight, but the doctors are no longer concerned about her growth.

Supplementing really helped. She liked Instant Breakfast better than Pediasure and it has about the same nutrition and is cheaper. Be careful not to get the sugar free kind though, I did by mistake once. She still has it every once in a while, and we still call it "Big girl milk".

Full-fat yogurt is also good. So is peanut butter...hopefully she doesn't have a peanut allergy. I don't remember now what the recommended age is to start peanuts, but it is a good protein, fat and calorie source. I would try bananas, too, they have more calories than other fruits.

I also had to wean her completely - I had been holding on to that last night feeding. The fat content in breast milk decreases quite a bit after 6 months or so.

Best of luck...hang in there, I know it is very stressful!

J.

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My daughter is 4 and weighs 28 lbs! I know what you're going through since we actually have another blood test that she has to get. Every year since she was born, we've had to go the the doctor for weight checks almost every 3 months. She's not on the "curve", so they sent us to a dietician. Along with a nutritionist, they had us use "Duocal", it's powdered extra calories that's tasteless & odorless that you can mix into her food or drink. While My daughter has gained a whopping 2 lbs since last December, it might work for your daughter better. I have a very active pre-schooler, who happens to be a picky eater so it's extra challenging for us, but when we go to our final weight check after the blood test, hopefully, we can get a better resolution. Good luck and hope she gains the weight! :) (it could also be that she's just going to be petite - not every child has to be obese or weigh an x amount to be considered healthy. Asians - like me (my daughter's 1/2) were not born to weigh as much as others. Try not to worry, as long as your daughter is healthy, active and is not showing any symptoms that should concern you, let her be. You know best, remember that!!!)

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- Get a second opinion.

- How is her energy level? is she active? does she get to eat and drink whenever she wants? is she dehydrated? If she's active and clearly not dehydrated she may just have a metabolism and body type that are small. The growth charts that some pediatricians use were based on caucasian formula fed boys, and it turns out they were actually overweight. Make sure she's not being compared to them. With all the hooplah about childhood obesity these days, you may find yourself pushing food on your daughter now only to develop habits that will end up having her pediatrician later tell you she's overweight.

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My niece is 20 months old and is also 20 pounds. Although my neice is a very active, healthy little girl, I know it a source of stress for my sister-in-law, especially since my 12 month old already outweighs her. Her doctor recommended that they try to sneak in some fats in her favorite foods. They cook her veggies with butter and add cream cheese to her toast. They also offer yogurt smoothies throughout the day. I don't know that it has helped much because she's such a picky eater, but at least they feel like they're doing everything they can.

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I wouldn't compare weight with age! Shouldn't your doctor be comparing her weight with her length and overall health and build instead of her age? I know a 17 year old that is barely over 5 foot, and weighs 75 lbs. She's a twig, and naturally so. No eating disorders or malnutrition. Just petite and slender, but she can really hold her own! My daughter is 5 and in the 75th percentile, and has always been tall and stocky for her age, but looking at my growth charts, I was shorter and lighter than she at the same age and considered to be in the 90th percentile. They keep changing the standards. If your child is presented with a healthy well rounded selection of foods and eats a good amount of protein, complex carbs and veggies, and is not showing any symptoms of declining health (pallor, weight loss, vomiting or diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, fatigue or attention span problems) then she is probably getting what she needs. I'd stay away from the weird formulas and stuff and just find a good, age appropriate child's multivitamin to further balance her diet if you haven't done so already. The best that I found was a brand called Natural Factors. Sweetened with a little Fructose and no weird additives. Hope my little rant helps... I get angry when I read stuff like this because we have had SO MANY problems with Dr's trying to treat non-existent "health issues" while ignoring or downplaying issues that turned out to be a really big deal. Good luck!

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My 14 month old son had (still has) trouble gaining weight and was referred to an endocrinologist... after ruling out most diseases they told me to give him Pediasure every day (at first he didn't like it, so we mixed it with formula or milk, now he drinks it straight), lots of meat and potatoes, mac & cheese, whole milk cheeses and yogurts, avocados, and anything with good fat in it. He was 18 pounds at 1 year and now is almost 20 pounds 2 months later! He is still at the very bottom (actually off the bottom) of growth charts, but this gain is good. Hope that helps.

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Not to worry T., my son was always below the 5 %ile at his well baby check ups, he was 7 lbs exactly at birth. Around 3 he started to even out with his peers, but still in the less than 25 %ile range. He started Kindergarten when he was 5 and there were actually kids smaller than him! He is not even the smallest in his first grade class now. I was scared and would leave dr. appointments near tears, the bottom line is that some kids are just small. My pediatrician finally understood when she had "underweight" children of her own. If you feel your child is healthy than she probably is!

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I know it's easier said then done, but try not to worry about her weight so much. If she's happy and healthy and growing in height? then she's just fine. I'm glad she doesn't like pediasure it's loaded with sugar and not good for her at all it's basically sugar water with vitamins in it. Have you tried to give her a multi vitamin? Also children really slow down on weight gain in the second year of life. If your really concerned about what her doctor says maybe you should get a second opinion to ease your mind. Also, have you tried plain whole milk yogurt, all my kids loved it and it's good for the tummy and has alot of fat in it. Good luck and it sounds like your doing a great job!

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Hi T.,
Your daughter sounds like mine. She's half filipino, one fourth mexican & one fourth caucasan, 32 months old & only weighs 25 pounds. She loves her veggies, fruit & cheese too. My husband & I were both somewhat small children as well. My daugher is also a twin, but her brother outweighs her by at least 10 pounds. Our doctor is not concerned about her weight though - she has 4 young kids herself & says that it's normal for toddlers to sometimes seem like their eating nothing at all in a day, just as long as they have enough fluids & don't appear lothargic or lacking in energy. We give our daughter a multivitamin everyday (1/2 of a Flintstone's chewable & the other 1/2 goes to her brother) & we just try to feed her foods that she likes so that we know she'll eat. Other than fruit, she loves bread, cheese, yogurt & chocolate milk, which can all contribute to weight gain, but kids are so energetic at this age that they probably burn most of everything they eat, so it might help to give her larger portions of her snacks (healthy of course) & larger portions in her meals. If she doesn't like the pediasure, try the yogurt drinks that they make for kids - there's different characters on the containers like Blues Clues, Dora, Diego, etc... My twins love them & would probably drink 5 apiece if we let them. Hope this helps you a little bit.

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The pediasure is to keep her electrolytes up. You can add in other fruit juices to make it taste better.
I'd contact Kelly Dorfman at kellydorfman.com She is an excellent nutritionist. If she's not taking new clients, ask her for a recommendation as to whom you could see out here. Our son couldn't gain weight either for a long time. It's a serious problem that you need to be vigilent about addressing. Are you sitting down and eating with her? You have to make mealtime only mealtime...no TV or other distractions.

What are her poops like? Solid, soft? Diarhea is a problem. Is the food she's eating getting digested? Can you see the food, in essence, going in one end and out the other? If so, perhaps your doctor could recommend UCSF childrens gastrointestinology. They have nutritionists and a program to help kids who aren't gaining weight.

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