ISO food to help my child gain weight

[kadesma]

A quiet moment please. We have a new member, concerned her son is underweight..She has come to us to ask for,ideas to help her son.You have all given her your ideas hoping to help. Now while I might not agree with so and so's way, I do not have the right to make remarks tha he is wrong.Nor does he need to do the same thing to me. Our nipping at each other over how we feel about feeding this child is not going to get us anywhere but angry and then this thread will just blow up in our faces and have to be closed..Let's behave as adults helping someone who needs it.
Is this how we want new members and our old friends here to see us?
Let's get back to lending a hand, not slapping it!!

kadesma

 

[tinkerbell27]

he will be six next month he is 3 feet tall and weighs 34 pounds. i was just looking for ideas about nutrition for him that will best help him gain what he needs to gain. i dont want to make him fat. i just want him to be healthy. i have chnged his doctor, talked to a nutritionist, and now im asking everyday people for a little help to make sure i am doing it right.

 

[Barb L.]

Tinkerbell27, you are doing everything right, your concern is understandable. Good job Mom, keep up the good work !!!

 

[Alix]

Tinkerbell, is he suffering from fatigue? or does he appear sunken cheeked and have poor colour? Those are more worrisome indicators than just a low weight. My youngest daughter is 11 and has just hit 60lbs. She didn't make it to 40lbs until she was 9. Some kids are just naturally thin. If he is hungry, he will eat. It sounds like you are doing the right things, just make sure that good food is available to snack on. My skinny minnie needs to eat about every 2 hours or she gets weak and tired. Its likely your boy is just lucky enough to have a speedy metabolism.

Please don't try to "put weight on him" unless he is actually malnourished. (Which only a DOCTOR can tell you!) If you teach him what a healthy diet looks like, and he learns to eat when hungry (not just because its meal time) those lessons will carry him through adolescence and into adulthood when his metabolism will slow down. If he is accustomed to eating a LOT then he may balloon up alarmingly and become quite unhealthy.

 

[kadesma]

We have the same problem with Cade at 6 he weighs only about 38 lbs. He is wirey and busy.Now, Cade is a picky eater, so we try this and that on him, but he is in good shape according to his doctor..We've just decided to make sure he has fruit, veggies, meats, some carbs, available at all times. He is learning to enjoy veggies more and more, and will light up when he knows we are grilling meat or chicken and especially steak..On the other hand there is his brother Carson who the doctor had on iron for over a year, who continually tells my daughter that the boy is "small" for his age...
I finally went with them the last visit, when he began this all over again and I could see my daughter just tighten up, I stood up and asked, with grand parents my size and five eleven like his grandpa, his greatgrandpa was five seven, his dad five 9 just how big and tall do you expect this child to get???
I guess he could tell by my face I was not so happy..He finally admited that Carson wasn't quite so little now!!! YUP and gosh darn..
We have to remember that we are what our family is, 7 foot tall, if my 18 year old was five 2 I think I'd be more than worried..
Your son is a busy boy, this as others have said will change as he grows older..If he is active and not lethargic, eats well as you said..I'd let him be. I'd just keep things he enjoys handy and ready for him..I find that the more of a "deal" we make to the child about eating, the more they turn up their noses..I know, my grandmother turned me off foods in general with her constant following me around with a spoon and bad mouthing my mom about how skinny I was...
Mom, you love your boy and are doing all a mom can do..Love him, keep those healthy meals and snacks coming and he will be just fine.

kadesma

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

My grandmother tried to sneak aspiring tablets into my food, as she thought I was sickly looking. Yes, I was small, and skinny, but never tired, and had lots of energy and strength for my diminutive body. I always had good color and was never anemic. She'd hide aspirins in my smashed spuds, in my glass of milk, etc. But I'd always find them and toss them out, much to her chagrine. The wait came in its own time. Don't hurry it.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[texasgirl]

he will be six next month he is 3 feet tall and weighs 34 pounds. i was just looking for ideas about nutrition for him that will best help him gain what he needs to gain. i dont want to make him fat. i just want him to be healthy. i have chnged his doctor, talked to a nutritionist, and now im asking everyday people for a little help to make sure i am doing it right.

My youngest son started kindergarten {5years old} in toddler 3 clothes. He was always small. Noone could tell us why he was that small. He was always eating and still eats like a horse. He is now 20 years old, 5'6" and weighs about 120 lbs. Yes, he's thin, but, he's healthy and can pull his weight just fine. Don't worry too much mom, unless he is sickly. How tall are you and your husband? Me and dh are 5'3". That may also play a role in him being small right now until his body takes over in puberty.

 

[StirBlue]

he will be six next month he is 3 feet tall and weighs 34 pounds. i was just looking for ideas about nutrition for him that will best help him gain what he needs to gain. i dont want to make him fat. i just want him to be healthy. i have chnged his doctor, talked to a nutritionist, and now im asking everyday people for a little help to make sure i am doing it right.

We have many children in the school district that are similar in height and weight. The ones who went to school with my sons grew to be about 5'6" to 5'9" and weight about 130 to 145 pounds. They really started growing when they went into the 9th grade (14-15 years old). One of the smaller boys was the athletic director's son. They now walk shoulder to shoulder.

 

[Michael in FtW]

he will be six next month he is 3 feet tall and weighs 34 pounds. i was just looking for ideas about nutrition for him that will best help him gain what he needs to gain. i dont want to make him fat. i just want him to be healthy. i have chnged his doctor, talked to a nutritionist, and now im asking everyday people for a little help to make sure i am doing it right.

I don't know where you got the idea that he was "underweight". Obviously his original Doctor didn't see a problem ... and when you changed doctors I hope you did get his file sent from his old Doc to the new one because height/weight trends over time are very important, especially in pediatrics.

Not all people have the same body build - some are short, some are tall, some are thin, some are fat. As someone has already mentioned, a fat baby is not necessarily a healthy baby - contrary to the "Grandma/Mother-In-Law Theory". People can be thin and perfectly healthy or they can be obese and malnourished.

Based on his height/weight ratio - he is in the healthy range.

 

[Claire]

If your kid (like Cade) lights up when he thinks of grilled meats, but you have a difficult time with vegetables, try grilling your vegetables and some fruit. Almost any can be put on the grill. I like to nuke my potatoes until almost done, then grill (slice and in foil, or whole baked). A lot of kids like sweet potatoes or yams and they are very high-nutrition. Pre-cooking the potatoes a little saves on timing problems, since I found cooking them raw on the grill is erratic. Small or cut veggies can be in foil, on one of those grill toppers, or on skewers.

My husband was a scrawny, sickly, fussy-eating child. He swears by dairy products to get him through that phase (that phase was the first 20 years of his life. He swears Vietnam got him over his fear of food very quickly). His mom was tubucular and was very, very concerned about his weight and would do anything to make him eat. I think all it did was add anxiety to her years. His pediatrician used to tell her to calm down. "He's drinking milk every day?" "Yes, he loves milk." "Then he'll be ok." Now of course he is robust (to say the least), healthy, and has to watch it. My father is also very skinny, in spite of being a very heavy eater when I was a kid. Some people are just that way.

 

[jabbur]

Michael is right in that in pediatrics it is the timeline of growth that is looked at. Those height and weight charts the pediatricians use have the average from the biggest at a certain age to the smallest at the same age. I would only be worried if he is "falling off" the chart as we in the profession say. If he has been on the small side all along but is following the growth curve on the chart, then he is normal for him and there is nothing to worry about. However, if he was say in the 40th percentile for his age (meaning 60% of kids his age are bigger) and now he's in the 5th percentile and is leveling off compared to the average growth curve then you need to investigate why. I think as long as he's not anemic and following the growth curve, just feed him the healthy stuff and he'll be fine. If you are concerned there are dietary supplements available for kids (Pediasure is one of them) that will give him the vitamins and some extra calories if you and your doctor feel he needs them.

 

[Charleysaunt]

This last post seems so very reasonable and explanatory and even comforting. Some kids are just small--healthy, energetic--but small. And this post at a time when many 6 year olds are already succumbing to the obesity epidemic in this country.
It would seem to be key for the mother to be in contact with the new pediatrician about her concerns and have him give her advice rather than anonymous internet voices who may or may not have any idea about the family's genetics (are they small boned, late developers?), doctor's advice (the doctor seemed to be OK with the child's development).

 

[ella/TO]

My dear....as a mother of two and grandma of two, please, listen to your doctor. There are far too many fat children in North America today. As long as your son is healthy and happy, just enjoy him....the weight will come,along with his years. I wish him happy, healthy years!!!!

 

[htc]

Didn't read the whole thread so not sure if someone has mentioned this, but... be careful about what your son hears. My nephew is 9 years old and REALLY skinny. Rail skinny even though he eats the same food his family does. He started getting really self concsious (Sp??) about his weight. Hopefully people aren't pointing out that he is really skinny in front of him. Unless the dr. says he's lacking nutrients, I wouldn't worry about what the scale says. My cousin was really skinny as a kid, boy did he make up for it during the teen years!