My 1 Year Old Needs to Gain Weight!

Updated on December 28, 2008
J.S. asks from Chicago, IL
7 answers

My 1 year old is not gaining enough weight. He eats just a few bites at mealtimes and then starts to throw his food. I give him snacks throughout the day but still he is a fussy eater. Any ideas on how to fatten him up? I have started whole milk and pediasure in addition to breakfast lunch and dinner meals which he picks at.

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K.U.

answers from Chicago on

My son ate no solid foods for 9 months he only would nurse. I tried all the time but he refused. I wouldn't worry about it at such a young age. I started to make him smoothies with banana, strawberries, blueberries, pureed veggies like sweetpotato and spinach. He loves them and he drinks them almost everyday with his cod liver oil and liquid vitamins. It makes me feel better knowing he is getting nurtients even though he is still a very picky eater. Here are some things my little picky guy likes.

tortilla with advacado and cheese melted inside,
tuna melts, cheese, yogurt, grapes, bananas, oatmeal(this is a good high calorie meal), carrots, green eggs, toast with almond butter.

I was worried for a while when he was younger. Some days he still will barely eat anything and he is 21 months now. I think it is good to let them let you know how much they need. Some people nurse exclusively for a year or more. My dr always told me eating was just for practice for the first year anyway. Try not to get real upset about it. My little guy eats better when I am not as stressed about it.

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A.B.

answers from Chicago on

My youngest son had the same problem. He is still under weight according to the curve. Be careful with the Pediasure. We had to take our son to the dentist when he was two because his two front top teeth turned black because he had mineral deposits on the back of his teeth from the Pediasure. He is four now and still has some minor stains on his baby teeth. I've discovered that my son would drink the Pediasure rather than eat and that would fill him up. So I would offer the Pedisure only after I thought he ate enough. If I felt he didn't eat enough, I would only give him water, (milk would also fill him up too much and he wouldn't want to eat,) if he got thirsty and tried to feed him again about an hour and half or so later. We also saw a nutritionist twice and she suggested yo baby yogurt, cheese, but not too much, you don't want to constipate your child, and whole milk. Bread, pasta, rice and carrots are good for gaining weight. The starches turn into sugar in the body and might help gain weight.
As long as your baby is pooping and peeing ok and is active and happy, I wouldn't worry too much. My son is almost five and only weighs 27 pounds but is as healthy as can be and now eats like a horse. Good luck!!

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K.N.

answers from Chicago on

My daughter was only 19.5 lbs at 18 months and is a picky eatter. She would eat baby food still if I let her. I make smoothies for her with bananas and strawberries and frozen yogurt. She also eats a lot of peanut butter, bread and pasta. I would experiment with food and find things that he likes to eat and let him have as much of it as he wants. (I once asked my dr. if it was ok for my son to eat three or four bananas a day:)) It turns out my daughter doesn't like certian textures, that might be his issue too. I would also put in place a eatting schedule. For example, breakfest at 7:30, snack at 10, lunch at 12:30, snack after nap, say 3:30 and then dinner at 6. If he is grazing all day then he probably isn't hungery for a typical meal.
Good luck.

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L.O.

answers from Chicago on

J.

I recently had my daughter's 18 month checkup. We found out that she was the same weight that she was at 15 mos(21 lbs). She is a very picky eater. Refuses to eat meat at all, until the last 2 weeks. I get her to eat a chicken nugget every few days. I have never had a problem with her liking dairy. My ped reassured me that this was ok and the yogurt,milk, & occasional cheese are fine. She started me on pediasure once a day for the next 2 months. I also put iron drops in her milk.My ped had me start her milk with 2%, i wonder if i had ever tried whole if i would have this problem. She has recently started to try more things. I have never been able to have her take more that a few bites at any meal since we have been off baby food. The only thing she will eat entirely is a container of yoplait yogurt.Sometimes that is the only thing she will eat all day! It gets a little better day by day. As long as you do the pediasure im sure he will be fine.
Good Luck!!

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S.A.

answers from Chicago on

So why do you think your child needs to gain weight? Every person has a body frame and metabolism that is more genetics than anything. Unless your doctor said your son is anemic I wouldn't fret about gaining weight.

You know what trying to make your child eat more does...it creates an over-eater. I'm perfect proof. I was 19 lbs in kindergarten. I weighed 54 lbs in seventh grade. I graduated from highschool at 97 lbs. My mother would force me to clean my plate because doctors said I was too small. I started eating entire pizza's by myself as a teenager trying to gain weight because people made fun of me.

At 25 or 26 I noticed that I finally started to put on weight. For one maybe two glorious years I was actually happy with my weight. I was a perfect size 7. It was amazing, but then the weight kept coming.

Over the last 15 or so years I've struggled. I am now 30 lbs over weight. My biggest problem is I'm always hungry and normal servings do not satisfy me.

Don't force your child to eat. And cut out all the snacks. He doesn't need them...unless you are offering him a piece of fruit, a slice of cheese (like from a cheddar block) or a whole wheat cracker or two...then forget the snacks.

Stick to the really healthy meals maybe four times a day. One to two glasses (that's about 4 oz for a small child) of whole milk a day, one glass of 100% fruit juice, maybe some liquid yogurt and then lots of water.

If he eats two bites and then is full then so be it. But don't let him have snacks that will ruin his appetite for the good stuff.

My second child is 4 years old and she weighs 27 lbs. She's perfectly healthy. She eats small meals. An egg with a piece of sausage or a cup of oatmeal or a cup of grits with a slice of cheese melted in it. She eats one pancake with one sausage. She will eat a 6 oz yogurt with half a banana for breakfast.

If I let her have anything more than maybe a small slice of cheese off a cheddar block or two or three crackers or a small handful of pretzels even two hours before her next meal...she won't eat but a bite or two.

And I can not give her anything sweet like a cookie or even a hershey kiss within an hour of a meal or it totally ruins her appetite. Super sugar items totally wreck her appetite for an hour or more depending on how much she ate.

In addition, there are studies now that show you develop most of your fat cells around the toddler years. If you are trying to fatten him up, you could be literally FATTENING him up.

If his blood work has come back normal. If he has plenty of energy to play then just concentrate on feeding him healthy meals four times a day.

Lots of fruits and veggies with good portions of protiens for brain development.

Stay away from things out of a box or package. Things that have sugar added. Things out of a can because of the high salt content.

To counter the picky eater phase...give him a variety at every meal. Put the item that you want him to try on his plate first. Tell him that if he eats one bite then he can have a serving of the item he really likes. Make it a rule now that he has to try at least one bite of everything on his plate regardless of whether he's tried it 5 times before.

My girls are 4 and 6....they are kinda finicky. They know the rules are though that they have to eat one bite of everything on their plate. They are both now eating baked potatoes when neither of them would eat potatoes of any kind until recently. My youngest now likes sweet potatoes. I bet she's tried them a dozen times before and didn't like them. When little they would only eat scrambled eggs, but now they will eat all kinds of eggs.

Like I said I always put something on the plate new and made them eat it. then I would give them a serving of what they really liked. But not until they tried the new item. Now they know they have to try everything.

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J.W.

answers from Chicago on

Email me and I will email you a list of good, healthy toddler foods, I have a few other mama's that have requested this list and will send it out in one bulk mail. He needs good fats, hummus, avocado's, beans, lentils...pedisure is really not going to cut it to be honest, it is ok and can give you a homemade cheaper version if you would like. You can add a teaspoon of Nutribiotics rice protein powder to every 3oz of milk, the container costs less than $20 and it will last you up to 6m. It is organic and a very clean, high quality protein, I give it to my 17m for the last 5-6 months.

I will get the email out in the next few days as I am traveling out of town.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays,
J. W. MPH
Wellness Educator/Lifestyle and Wellness Consultant

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M.S.

answers from Chicago on

My 2.5 year old barely eats... He's been like that since he was born. A bite here, a bite there. Here's a few of our tricks.

Shaklee kids protein drink mixed with peanut butter, bananna, milk, milk & oj, tofu, & any fruit. I come up with all sorts of smoothies. He has this first thing when he wakes up instead of plain milk. I make it thin, not too thick at all. (I recently saw a smoothie recipe that had dry oats and honey added, we havn't tried this yet).

We add cinnamon to a lot of stuff, we call it superman seasoning. He likes to help shake it on.

We make toast in the shape of trains. Or use cookie cutters.

Trader Joes has wonderful organic yogurt in the big tubs.

Protein is a huge issue- that's why I sneak tofu, he is not a meat fan.

There is a pretty expensive blender that is fantastic. Vita Mixer, ($400+) you can turn vegies & fruit into a delicious sorbet. My son tried it at Costco and ate it like candy. It really was delicious, unfortunately we can't purchase one.

Best of luck-- it will get easier, it just may be a few years away!

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