If your toddler is under 20 lbs...

Bride2bMO

Are you concerned about weight? Is the pediatrician?

Does your child have a normal appetite (well, "normal" for a toddler)?

Are they on breastmilk, formula, next step, whole milk, a combination?

Just curious. We went in for a sick visit on Friday and I was shocked that he hadn't gained any weight since 12 months (I know that's not unheard when they start walking though). I was focused on the illness so I didn't discuss the weight issue (wasn't our regular pedi). But it's kind of bothering me. Everyone always says it's no big deal as long as they maintain their growth curve...well, he hasn't. He started life in in 90th and is now down at approx. 3rd percentile for weight at 19lb6oz.

He has a very poor appetite. 90% of the food I make for him goes untouched, and he still nurses a lot. Some days are better than others. He will not pick up any fruit or veggie finger foods, whether plain or drenched in butter. I can spoon feed purees, though. He'll do starches, breaded meats (I get the healthy fish sticks and chick. nuggets from whole foods). Not interested in cheese in any form. Will tolerate spoon fed yogurt. He does maybe a total of 6 - 8 oz of soy milk per day in a sippy, and we're really trying to transition that to whole milk since it's higher in fat/calories (we cut dairy for a short time to see there was a connection to his eczema).

Anyway, just curious whether you're just going with the flow or if you're concerned.

Bride2bMO

p.s. do you think weaning would have a positive effect? My gut tells me no. But my pediatrician supports weaning close to 12 months because he says it only gets harder the older they get.

I feel like if I wean to increase his appetite for solids it could backfire if he continues to have a poor appetite and then the milk is gone for good.

Dobie_Mama

DD is around 19lbs right now.  She was small at birth (5lbs 8oz) and trekked pretty consistantly along her growth curve until 12 months ... at which point she plummeted off.  The pedi was a bit concerned, at that point.  He said that it's normal for growth to slow around a year but he likes to check into things when babies drop more than two percentiles between visits.  He did say though that he had only ever seen three children where there was an actual medical problem.  The rest of the time the babies were just small. 

I'm pretty much a shrimp myself so I suspected that was the case with her.  We did bloodwork, urinalysis, etc. and everything came back normal.  DD eats like a horse so part of the concern was that she might have a thyroid problem.  That was not the case though. 

Anyway, DD has climbed a bit on the charts since then.  Well, she still isn't ON the charts but she's less off than she was.  The pedi is happy with her progress as she's again following her on curve and no longer falling.  I'm really not concerned about it.  We do get comments from strangers pretty often about how small she is, which irritates the crap out of me, but I know she's healthy and happy so that's really all I can ask! 

Dobie_Mama

Oh, crap.  I forgot about BM/milk/formula until I saw your "PS".  DD was BF'd at 12 months, at which point we introduced other milks, but she still continued to BF until recently.  I don't think that has anything to do with it, really.  Our pedi actually encouraged me to continue BFing her, even for night wakings, as the extra calories could only help.  BM is generally higher in calories/fat than cow milk & formula.

Bride2bMO

Dobie_Mama:

Oh, crap.  I forgot about BM/milk/formula until I saw your "PS".  DD was BF'd at 12 months, at which point we introduced other milks, but she still continued to BF until recently.  I don't think that has anything to do with it, really.  Our pedi actually encouraged me to continue BFing her, even for night wakings, as the extra calories could only help.  BM is generally higher in calories/fat than cow milk & formula.

Thanks, that makes me feel better. And FWIW, she looks very healthy to me. In fact, the angle of the pic and the cute fluff on her bum makes her look pleasantly chubby! 

LuckyH

DD has always been on the small side, but between 12-15 months, she fell off the bottom of the chart.  A miracle occurred about 3 weeks ago and she started eating like a horse.  She was very picky like your DS, then all of a sudden I couldn't get enough food on her tray.  She gained almost a whole pound in 3 weeks!  I don't know if she's just finally growing or I've found food that she loves.  We discovered that she's addicted to the dark meat on rotisserie chickens.  She also loves avocado and chopped zucchini.  Oh, and I also boiled butternut squash and put in quite a bit of butter and mashed it up into chunks.  I've learned that she wants to feed herself and that's helping a lot.  The other favorites are mac 'n cheese and pasta pickups, although I try to limit these since they aren't the healthiest choices. 

Good luck with your DS.  Just keep offering variety and try not to get too stressed.  He'll eat when he's ready. 

Oh, and I BF exclusively until 12 months.  She is on mostly whole milk now (about 12-16 oz/day), but it's taken me nearly 4 months to wean her to it.  I still BF at bedtime only so I don't think she's getting much from me.  Honestly, sometimes I think raising a BF baby is a whole other ballgame.  DD would never take a pacifier, still doesn't STTN, didn't want to eat solids, isn't interested in a lovie, etc.  It just seems we have so many other "issues" that other babies don't have.  I mean "issues" in a good way.

Sorry, I'm babbling, but I hope that helps you.

Bride2bMO

LuckyH:

DD has always been on the small side, but between 12-15 months, she fell off the bottom of the chart.  A miracle occurred about 3 weeks ago and she started eating like a horse.  She was very picky like your DS, then all of a sudden I couldn't get enough food on her tray.  She gained almost a whole pound in 3 weeks!  I don't know if she's just finally growing or I've found food that she loves.  We discovered that she's addicted to the dark meat on rotisserie chickens.  She also loves avocado and chopped zucchini.  Oh, and I also boiled butternut squash and put in quite a bit of butter and mashed it up into chunks.  I've learned that she wants to feed herself and that's helping a lot.  The other favorites are mac 'n cheese and pasta pickups, although I try to limit these since they aren't the healthiest choices. 

Good luck with your DS.  Just keep offering variety and try not to get too stressed.  He'll eat when he's ready. 

Oh, and I BF exclusively until 12 months.  She is on mostly whole milk now (about 12-16 oz/day), but it's taken me nearly 4 months to wean her to it.  I still BF at bedtime only so I don't think she's getting much from me.  Honestly, sometimes I think raising a BF baby is a whole other ballgame.  DD would never take a pacifier, still doesn't STTN, didn't want to eat solids, isn't interested in a lovie, etc.  It just seems we have so many other "issues" that other babies don't have.  I mean "issues" in a good way.

Sorry, I'm babbling, but I hope that helps you.

LuckyH, no you're not babbling, that's helpful! I agree. DS never took a pacifier, has no lovey, and has a whole host of other issues. It's very worth it, he's generally healthy as a horse (this weekend was the only real fever  I remember him having), which I'm sure the BFing has helped. But he is awfully attached to me. Oh well, one day he won't be, so I'll just enjoy it.

momtoRaegan041008

Yes!  We are trying to do everything we can right now to help my daughter gain weight.  She has always gained weight at every appointment, but her doctor is concerned that she is not maintaining a growth curve.  I have no idea where she started, because I don't like that they compare babies in size.  My daughter is a peanut!  She is not in the 1 percentile I believe at her 1 year appt.  She weighed just over 16 pounds.  We took her last week to have her weighed and she was 17 pounds 14 ounces.

I don't give my daughter very many fats, I guess I just didn't realize we were suppose to give her butter and stuff.  We started dairy at a year (do to previous intolerance) and now she eats at least 1 yo baby yogurt a day and also some days she has cheese too.  So she gets fat from the yogurt and cheese. 

I was not concerned with her weight, but our doctor is sending us to some specialist in August. 

We are still working on switching over to whole milk.  My daughter gets 1/2 Similac go and grow and half 2% milk.  She will not drink whole milk.  I would say that my daughter has a pretty good appetite on most days.  Also we still give fruit purees, usually she has 1 container a day.  My daughter eats table food other than that. 

Sorry my response got so long!  I think as long as your baby is healthy and happy then I wouldn't worry.  My husband made a big ordeal over it when the doctor told us that she was worried about her weight.  He kept trying to shove food at her and give her juice.  She is gaining weight and she is just a very active toddler.  I'm not worried about her weight, and I love my little peanut!