Told to fatten my kid up

leahandbuck · January 2013

H's 15 month appointment was yesterday. The doctor seemed concerned with her growth. She currently weighs 18.5 lbs (she weighed 18 lbs at her 12 month appointment). Apparently she has fallen off of the growth chart and he wants me to "fatten her up." She is a very picky eater and does not eat much at all. Any recommendations on foods that will up her calorie intake?

My husband and I are both short and my entire family is very small weight-wise (husband's-not so much), so I wasn't concerned about her weight until yesterday. To me she seems very proportionate and does not look unhealthy at all.

Stewartandmaura · January 2013

Add a little butter or oil to her foods, like her veggies and mac n cheese.

Avocados are really full of good fat and bananas too.

stardust317 · January 2013

I agree with the avocados. You could try cheeses and whole fat yogurt. You could also increase the amount of milk she's getting to add calories.

CMonkey515 · January 2013

DS lost weight between his 9 month and 12 month visit. He was still eating a good amount, so they told us to add in a few more snacks. I also added butter to his diet, which I didn't give him before that. As well as things like bananas and avocados more often, like PP mentioned. Mainly they said to up his whole milk intake. We were giving him 16 ounces a day at the time, but the Pedi had us go up to 24 ounces. That seemed to help him a lot, and he started gaining again.

monishabansal · January 2013

Don't stress out about this.

FWIW, I was that kid. I'm also short, and my mom was always worried about me being too skinny. I don't even think I was on the growth charts after birth. They made me drink Ensure and I ate so many Happy Meals as a kid, and it didn't do a thing to help me gain weight. It's ok though, I'm just petite, and it's kind of nice that weight hasn't been an issue for me as an adult.

babes12 · January 2013

My DS was always on the bottom of the growth chart and at some points not on them at all. He drank the pediasure drinks and seemed to like them b/c he was such a picky eater too. he's 5 now and still a picky eater, i think my DD eats better and more than him. lol

So maybe add in a pediasure here and there. Also i'm only 5ft tall and DH is not big either so i think it's ok. i was never worried. DD was 19lbs 9oz at her 15month check up.

kujayhawkgirl · January 2013

This really strikes a nerve with me (the doctor is making me mad, not you). What doctors SHOULD be concerned about at this age is a kid's height-to-weight ratio -- that they are proportionate, like you pointed out. Also, your DD has not fallen off the chart -- she's at the 2nd percentile (check infantchart.com). If your child is in the right percentile for height-to-weight, then you don't want to fatten your kid up, because that puts undue stress on their heart, bones, joints, etc. I would bring this all up with your doctor.

Just for frame of reference, as of today my DD is 16lbs 6oz and she was born on 10/26/11 -- she is at the 0.1 percentile -- still not off the chart! Our pediatrician is far from worried, because she's proportionate to her height (she's about the 3rd percentile for height).

Keep doing what you are doing. If your DD is otherwise healthy, my guess is that she's OK. Of course, if you feel you need to, others recommendations of adding in whole milk products (yogurt, cheeses, etc.) and butter are easy ways to add some fat in to your DD's diet. I would, personally, recommend a Pediasure-type product as it has added nutrients, too.

Elsa1984 · January 2013

kujayhawkgirl:
This really strikes a nerve with me the doctor is making me mad, not you. What doctors SHOULD be concerned about at this age is a kid's heighttoweight ratio that they arenbsp;proportionate, like you pointed out. Also, your DD has not fallen off the chart she's at the 2nd percentile check infantchart.com. If your child is in the right percentile for heighttoweight, then you don't want to fatten your kid up, because that puts undue stress on their heart, bones, joints, etc. I would bring this all up with your doctor.nbsp;Just for frame of reference, as of today my DD is 16lbs 6oz and she was born on 10/26/11 she is at the 0.1 percentile still not off the chart! Our pediatrician is far from worried, because she's proportionate to her height she's about the 3rd percentile for height. nbsp;Keep doing what you are doing. If your DD is otherwise healthy, my guess is that she's OK. Of course, if you feel you need to, others recommendations of adding in whole milk products yogurt, cheeses, etc. and butter are easy ways to add some fat in to your DD's diet. I would, personally, recommend a Pediasuretype product as it has added nutrients, too.nbsp;

This exactly. If LO is proportionate you don't need to worry. It would be completely different if you were saying your LO was in the 3rd percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height. My friends Ped said the same thing to her about her son. But he was born little and is petite. He is no way not proportionate and it made her stress and worry. Not every kid has to be chunky to be "healthy".

Jazzym12 · January 2013

Honestly, H looked very proportional. She didn't look like she needed fattening up. E is in the 82 percent for weight but proportionally she Is only in the 15 percentile. I would try feeding her some fatty foods like avocado and not worry to much about it.

anasazi17 · January 2013

Oh gosh, I thought she looked very proportional!!

Depending on what she is picky about, here are a few healthy ideas:

-Toddler muffins, replace the oil with whole fat greek yogurt.

-Mini whole wheat bagels with cream cheese and fruit on top.

-Avocado & Egg on an english muffin

-I found a site with a ton of fancied up/healthy grilled cheese sandwich recipes that A really enjoys.

Okay, now I'm hungry.

ETA: In my experience with pedi's and all the crazy advice they give...I tend to think they are numbskulls a good portion of the time ;-)

cantalopes24 · January 2013

I would do olive oil over butter. If you do use butter I would check the salt content.

Liz4444 · January 2013

Kujay, technically, anything under 3 percent and above 97 percent is considered off the chart. We dealt with this with Li's head, she was between 1and 2 percent.

Our dr also told us to give like fattening foods because she is 3 percentile. He said at this point, getting enough calories is more important than nutritional content, so whatever she'll eat, let her eat it.

blu-eyedwife · January 2013

kujayhawkgirl:
This really strikes a nerve with me (the doctor is making me mad, not you). What doctors SHOULD be concerned about at this age is a kid's height-to-weight ratio -- that they are proportionate, like you pointed out.

This exactly. Back when LBB was just a peanut, pushing the 16th percentile the doctor was never worried about his weight because his Infant BMI (height to weight) was always around 50% - meaning he was exactly proportional.

cantalopes24 · January 2013

Liz4444:
Kujay, technically, anything under 3 percent and above 97 percent is considered off the chart. We dealt with this with Li's head, she was between 1and 2 percent.

Our dr also told us to give like fattening foods because she is 3 percentile. He said at this point, getting enough calories is more important than nutritional content, so whatever she'll eat, let her eat it.

Right because under 3 is technically FTT. And being small and consistently small isn't necessarily cause for concern anymore than it might be fine health wise but a consistent drop or slow down in growth is. Babies thrive on fats and not getting enough can effect brain development.

Mrs. Mo · January 2013

The doc shouldbe taking her genetics into account. DD dropped to the 5th % at her 15 month appt. The nurse wants her to come back in a month for a weight-check. When I told her that I was uber skinny as a kid she was like "Oh, I will definitely put that in her chart." I fully plan to bring a pic of me as a child to her next appt. When I say I was skinny, I mean that kids called me "skin & bones" because that was what I was. If I lifted up my shirt (not that I did), you could see/count my ribs.

kujayhawkgirl · January 2013

cantalopes24:
Liz4444:
Kujay, technically, anything under 3 percent and above 97 percent is considered off the chart. We dealt with this with Li's head, she was between 1and 2 percent.

Our dr also told us to give like fattening foods because she is 3 percentile. He said at this point, getting enough calories is more important than nutritional content, so whatever she'll eat, let her eat it.

Right because under 3 is technically FTT. And being small and consistently small isn't necessarily cause for concern anymore than it might be fine health wise but a consistent drop or slow down in growth is. Babies thrive on fats and not getting enough can effect brain development.

Point well taken! But dammit, I'm still going to say Abby is on the chart. LOL

emunbalanced · January 2013

I thought she looked great! She was pretty well the same size as K ... we've been giving as much WCM as she wants, cheeses, yogurts, and making sure we offer plenty of snacks between meals.

leahandbuck · January 2013

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm not too worried about it but I don't want her to be behind in anyway because then she won't get into a good school and will hang out with the wrong crowd which will lead to a crappy college, blah blah blah. ;

kujayhawkgirl · January 2013

leahandbuck:
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm not too worried about it but I don't want her to be behind in anyway because then she won't get into a good school and will hang out with the wrong crowd which will lead to a crappy college, blah blah blah. ;

I'm sorry, what?! Your child has PLENTY of time to catch up on any lost ground that may have occurred in her first and second year of life. For the love of you know who, my daughter was so delayed in vision and gross motor development for the first 9 months of her life. She then rapidly caught up on everything. Unless your daughter has any delays related to low-weight (e.g., delayed gross motor, low muscle tone), then I think he least of your worries right now should be your daughter getting into a good school and hanging out with the right people. WTH, I don't know what else to say.

Liz4444 · January 2013

kujayhawkgirl:

leahandbuck:
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm not too worried about it but I don't want her to be behind in anyway because then she won't get into a good school and will hang out with the wrong crowd which will lead to a crappy college, blah blah blah. ;

I'm sorry, what?! Your child has PLENTY of time to catch up on any lost ground that may have occurred in her first and second year of life. For the love of you know who, my daughter was so delayed in vision and gross motor development for the first 9 months of her life. She then rapidly caught up on everything. Unless your daughter has any delays related to low-weight (e.g., delayed gross motor, low muscle tone), then I think he least of your worries right now should be your daughter getting into a good school and hanging out with the right people. WTH, I don't know what else to say.

I read that as a joke...

leahandbuck · January 2013

kujayhawkgirl:
leahandbuck:
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm not too worried about it but I don't want her to be behind in anyway because then she won't get into a good school and will hang out with the wrong crowd which will lead to a crappy college, blah blah blah. ;

I'm sorry, what?! Your child has PLENTY of time to catch up on any lost ground  that may have occurred in her first and second year of life. For the love of you know who, my daughter was so delayed in vision and gross motor development for the first 9 months of her life. She then rapidly caught up on everything. Unless your daughter has any delays related to low-weight (e.g., delayed gross motor, low muscle tone), then I think he least of your worries right now should be your daughter getting into a good school and hanging out with the right people. WTH, I don't know what else to say.

Yeah, it was a joke, the mobile site didn't display my emoticon.

kujayhawkgirl · January 2013

leahandbuck:
kujayhawkgirl:

leahandbuck:
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm not too worried about it but I don't want her to be behind in anyway because then she won't get into a good school and will hang out with the wrong crowd which will lead to a crappy college, blah blah blah. ;

I'm sorry, what?! Your child has PLENTY of time to catch up on any lost ground that may have occurred in her first and second year of life. For the love of you know who, my daughter was so delayed in vision and gross motor development for the first 9 months of her life. She then rapidly caught up on everything. Unless your daughter has any delays related to low-weight (e.g., delayed gross motor, low muscle tone), then I think he least of your worries right now should be your daughter getting into a good school and hanging out with the right people. WTH, I don't know what else to say.

Yeah, it was a joke, the mobile site didn't display my emoticon.

Okay, okay! I was kinda surprised, because you've never come across that way before .... anyways, sorry I got on my soap box, obviously it's a sensitive topic of me! Go on with your happy little peanut Smile

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