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Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
underweight toddler
hi. dd had her 18 month appt in nov and she had stalled on her growth curve. she was 19.5lbs and in the 5th percentile. her pedi said he wanted her to come back in 3 months for a weight check. i may bring her back sooner b/c im starting to worry. over the past 5 days she has only eaten one good whole meal. she just wont eat. i add real butter, use whole milk when cooking, we eat dinner together, give her pediasure after her mealtime, but none of it seems to be doing any good.
if you have been in the same boat, what did your pedi do? if she doesnt gain enough weight before her recheck will they run a bunch of tests on her? is there a magic trick to get her to eat?
she was 8lbs when she was born and now she is almost 20 months and barely pushing 20lbs. i am worried.
thanks!
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Re: underweight toddler
My 14 month old just reached 20lbs and our doc wanted to do a follow-up weight check at his year appointment. Gideon eats like Hoss, he just burns if off with his dad's super metabolism. (Both his DH and I were small babies/toddlers, too, so it might just be genetic.) Your doc would probably want to check her blood to make sure she is metabolizing the food she is eating, or make sure she doesn't have too much protein/sugar in her blood in case she is hypo/hyperglycemic, etc.
If you feel like your doc should see her sooner, then by all means do it. If it's just a problem that can be quickly fixed - or if he has a magic trick to get her to eat better, why put it off?
Hope everything turns out well for your DD!
I could be mistaken, but if she's not eating that explains the failure to gain weight. I don't see a reason to run tests?
DD was 23lbs at her 18 month appoint. (I was told that's the 25th percentile.) I've found that she really just doesn't want to sit still long enough to eat. If it's something I put in a cup and give it to her on the go she's much more likely to eat it. Cut up cheese, berries, dried fruit, Annie's whole wheat crackers with peanut butter, cut up fruit, ect are all things she'll happily devour as long as she can take it and go.
I also offer a lot of whole fat Greek yogurt and whole fat cottage cheese. She goes nuts for both.
ETA: Are either you or your DH smaller people? That could play a part of it. My DH struggles to keep weight on and as DD has lost some baby fat I'm noticing that she has more of his build than mine.
DD2 8.22.13
MMC 1.4.17 at 16w
Expecting #3, EDD 1.29.18
Is she growing in height and head circumference?
I have our 18 month appt today, and am also concerned because DD had only gained 4 oz from 12-15 months. Pedi said her height and head circ. were increasing though, so he wasn't concerned. I am small, and DH is not huge.
My LO doesn't eat either. We try everything, and she does eat on the run sometimes, like PP said. We've even tried letting her eat while watching tv. (gasp!) But she has never had 3 meals in a day, and rarely eats 2 meals. We are lucky to get her to eat 3 sets of random snacks. We do fruit, crackers, pasta, broccoli, pepperoni (the only meat she will touch) soy yogurt and pudding. If we get her to eat a few bites of 2-3 of those during the course of the day, we are lucky. We also offer her a variety of meals, but she rarely touches them.
She weighed 20lbs 4 oz at her 15 month appt, I'm curious what she will weigh today. I'm also asking the Dr. if I should be concerned she doesn't eat. She does BF on demand, but it's not as much as she used too.
This is DD exactly. I just give her a plate on the living room table filled with cut up cheeses and berries and ham. She'll eat a piece here and there and before I know it the whole plate is gone - way more than what she would have eaten in her high chair.
Also, she tends to eat more if she's zoned out in front of the TV, so (even though I know it's not ideal) if she hasn't eaten well for a couple days I'll put on an hour of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and feed her tons of full-fat greek yogurt, avocados, toast with peanut butter... anything really.
DD was 21 lbs at her 18-month check-up and was on the 20% curve for weight (she's on the 98% for height, so obviously she's growing but I still get paranoid about her not eating enough...)
Eleanor Noelle - 18/05/12 Claire Elisabeth - 16/-5/10
My suggestion is to just keep doing what you are doing. If LO is growing in head circum. and in height, she is still growing, just not gaining weight. Did the Pedi have you start pediasure?
LO is 18 mos and I'm hoping 20 lbs. She keeps falling on the charts, but eats like a piggie. My guess is she just burns it all off quickly.
thanks everyone. i have resorted to letting her watch tv while she eats, it seems to help a little. she got a table and chair set for christmas so i think i'm going to try what the pp mentioned and sit her plate there and see how she does.
she is ok with head and length. i am on the small side. i guess i just worry b/c she was so chubby when she was born but is now a peanut.
eta: where can i find avocado oil?
yup, pedi said as long as the head and height curve is ok, he doesn't even look at weight unless they loose a lot. I worry too!
And I felt bad about letting her watch tv and eat, so i'm glad others are doing the same thing. It works. :
Betsy was 18 lbs at 18 months, and we've been dealing with weight gain issues since her 6m well check. She always gains *just enough* at weight checks that they keep putting off any tests. I think it's a combination of things--DH and I are small, she has super-high metabolism and is very "busy" and active, and she's very picky about what she eats.
Like Beanie suggested, Carnation Instant Breakfast added to her WCM has worked wonders. It even made her hair grow, finally. I try to find a balance between feeding healthy, high-fat, high-calorie foods and feeding foods she'll actually eat, which is very difficult because she's so picky. I never let her skip a meal if she won't eat what's in front of her--I just put different foods in front of her until she eats somethng. Some days that means she eats pizza for every meal. You just do what you can.
Is she growing heighwise? And is she developmentally on track? My kids are both underweight, but are average for height. They just have small builds. When I look at them, they don't look underweight and most people are surprised to hear that since they both have chubby cheeks and extremities.
DD is almost 18 months and barely 21 pounds. DS just hit 30 pounds.
Update on my Pedi visit, in case you are interested. LO gained some weight, so her total gain from 12-18 months is 1lb. Her height and head also gained, and Pedi is not at all concerned. She is in the 7th percentile on the US charts, and 24Th on the WHO charts (more accurate for breastfed babies)
I asked about her not eating. He said he wasn't concerned because I was still breastfeeding, and it didn't sound like she has any food aversions. She eats a variety, she just doesn't eat them consistently or a lot. He said as long as she eats something, anything, each day it's fine until I stop BFing. He said just keep offering all the time.