Fattening up a child.

[thesunflowergal]

My middle child was born very prematurely at 29 weeks, weighing 1lb 10oz. She is now a "normal" healthy two and a half year old. But with one problem she is very very slim, and only weighs 21lb. Her five month old brother nearly weighs the same. She can still fit into size 6-9 month clothes, we need larger for the lenght so all her skirts etc need to be taken in.

I am trying to think up some new ways to get her to put a little bit of meat on her bones. As it becomes a serious issue if she loses weight, as all little kids seem to when they get ill.

In the past I have tried adding double cream to everything, feeding her high fat food, high protein diet, the consultant at the hospital has put her on food additives. Getting her to eat is generally not the issue, and she is not a fussy child. I am thinking of re-starting the double cream, and mabe adding olive oil. But has anyone else any thoughts please??

Thanks Nikki

[JulieSherris]

Nikki, I was a tiny kid (goodness knows what went wrong later in life!!) & mum used to give me a huge spoonful of malt every morning, every night...mmmmmmm

Leah is also a little skinny - now, she's 6 yrs old, still in 4-5yr clothes & weighs 34 pounds. The docs here have just told Gail to keep an eye on her, especially when she's poorly, but apart from that if she's healthy & happy, not to worry.
Leah can have the odd day here & there when she doesn't really want to eat, but apart from that, she's a little food hoover! I think most kids are like that anyway, so unless your little one is showing other types of symptoms, then I'd just carry on doing what you're doing - just sneak in a few extra calories for her & there, but by the time she's a teen & starting all the fad diets, you'll be wondering what you were worried about in the first place!

[Bonniegirl]

I think with something like this you really need to be asking your doctor these questions. By adding large amounts of fats etc to a diet can then begin to cause a whole host of new problems!

As long as your daughter in in good health and is eating well then maybe it's just the way she is going to be, but again your doctor will be able to advise. Good luck

When My brother was young he was like a stick insect, it didn't matter what he ate he never put weight on. We used to call him Nimrod! ;) Anyway when he was 18 he discovered beer, no weigh problems now!

[thesunflowergal]

Been to the Gp, Consultant and Dietician. Not because I really wish too, but because we have been ask too by other healthcare profesionals. They have suggested the high level of fats, but it does not seem to do a lot of good. The "profesional" opinion is just to sick at it, but it do not want to find myself in a situation where they decide that they need to take further action ie admit her into hospital and feed her

Jules when she doesn't eat she does it in style. She will hard eat for weeks at a time, and nothing will temp her. Then life becomes stress full.

This seems to be pretty typical of some premmie babes, but I haven't found anyone yet with answers.

[JulieSherris]

Actually Nikki, now I think about it, last Summer was a no-eat time for Leah. Gail got fairly stressed because we got the smallest school uniform size for the 2nd year running & STILL had to take it all in & up!

She was requesting cuke & lettuce salads... nothing with it, just cukes & lettuce, but nothing substantial at all.
I know we can all go off food at times during hot weather, so when the colder weather came along & she started back on real food, it wasn't a worry. What you don't want to be doing though is getting her used to the taste of high fat foods - but I think you have more than enough common sense to let that happen anyway.

[herbalholly]

Provided she doesn't have any allergies I'd recommend increasing nuts & seeds including nuts butters from health food shops (like cashew nut butter, almond butter etc) on toast with honey or included in sauces. You could also add eggs to things that will take them like sauces, rice & pasta dishes, sandwich fillings etc. You can also add a spoonful of ricotta cheese to breakfast cereal -each day makes it taste extra creamy and is rich, nutritious and more fattening than just milk.
The general principle that I would be working with is adding high quality and varied sources of extra naturally occurring vegetable fats and high protein dairy and egg fats. Adding cream to cakes and dishes that take milk etc is good but I'd also be keen to widen the range of fats by including brasil nuts, almonds, walnuts, cashews, hazels, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds (including sesame snaps and halva), pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, and linseeds.
If these wouldn't appeal to her then I'd start by making some homemade (all butter) oat flapjacks with some of these nuts and seeds in - you could change the ingredients each time but get her to have one each day with a glass of lovely organic whole milk.

You might want to know what I'm basing this on. I am a Medical Herbalist (BSc Herb Med MNIMH) I frequently see child patients who have lost weight after a long illness and whose parents are keen for them to gain weight in a sensible and healthy manner. Nutrition is a significant part of the herbal medicine degree.
Hope that is of some help

[Rosendula]

Back when I was a skinny minnie I discovered that drinking a yoghurt drink with my meal helped build me up a little. Just the same normal food, but a substantial drink. This is how I made it (and still do, it's delicious, especially when frozen into ice lollies)

Equal quantities of plain full-fat yoghurt and pure orange juice, with a big dollop of honey then whizz it.

[thesunflowergal]

Thank you everyone for your kind replies. Also for not dismissing me, as this has been a great source of unhappiness for me. Its not nice to see all the bones sticking out of your child, and her getting so cold very quickly.

What you don't want to be doing though is getting her used to the taste of high fat foods - but I think you have more than enough common sense to let that happen anyway.

This is something that I have thought about a lot Julie, especially when a Health Visitor told me to deep fat fry all of her food . WTF I fry the odd egg but nothing else, no deep fat frying in this house!!

Thanks herbalholly for some great ideas. Lots of food for thought, and I will start making some flapjacks for her.[
quote="Rosendula"]Back when I was a skinny minnie I discovered that drinking a yoghurt drink with my meal helped build me up a little. Just the same normal food, but a substantial drink. This is how I made it (and still do, it's delicious, especially when frozen into ice lollies)

Equal quantities of plain full-fat yoghurt and pure orange juice, with a big dollop of honey then whizz it.[/quote]


I will be off to get some molds Rosendula Julie, as the kids have "borrowed" mine and lost them . They do sound yummy!! I like how the Natural yog is labeled now 1%, 5%, 10%, it makes my life easy.

thanks all once again.

Nikki

[JulieSherris]

You know when someone says something & it sparks off a tiny thought?
Well....... we moved in here in September 2008 right? And we faced a few problems which we busy sorting in the first few week or so.... and Gail was helping & she cooked dinner one night, making home made chips & used my deep fat fryer.... with me so far?

So.... my kitchen is teeny insy-winsy tiny...... so we use the small 3rd bedroom as a store room & I popped the fryer in the bottom of the cupboard...... you know what I'm about to say, right?

Yep! I just ran in there, unburied the top of it & it's still got the oil in it!!!

Guess I know what I'm cleaning out tomorrow then! Oh b@lls...........

[yvette]

Read this with interest - was especially shocked at the health visitor's suggestion to deep-fry everything! You must have been horrified! I had a variety of health visitors when my son was a baby and most were just great but one.....She told me that when my son had a cold I should give him lots of Ribena (aaargh, full of sugar!) and when she weighed him she insisted he was overweight until i made her measure his height, when it turned out he was actually very tall and slightly underweight according to her chart!

I have the opposite problem at the moment - my son who has always been tall and quite rangy is now a bit plump. I have not said anything to him about my worries and I am just trying to make some small adjustments to our meals without saying anything. He is 13, so it may be just his age, and should sort itself out as he grows. But I have always been fat (put on my first diet at 5) and it has made so many things difficult and sometimes downright miserable for me. I don't want him to go through that.

[mrsflibble]

I agree with the nuts and seeds thing, and add dried fruit to the mix lol!

I refused to eat and was tiny as a child, my mum tried so much to get me to eat. upping my iron intake helped, so giving green leafy veg and red meats was good, and what also helped is every night she gave me a spoonful of codliver oil and malt (still love the taste) and a small mug of complan.

I now use complan to try and help with dieting cos it's more palatable than slimfast lol!

she also used to give me chunks of hard boiled egg as a snack.

I agree with the cashew nut butter thing, soph's a big fan of that. also, try giving lumps of cheese as snacks too.

i know that with weight problems on either end of the scale it can feel like you're but this post shows what a good mum you are by being concered.

good luck!

[theabsinthefairy]

Hi - having a skinny minnie toddler can be really worrying, and the advice your health visitor gave you was awful.

The practical advice on here with regards higher intakes of nuts in flapjacks etc sounds much more useful, you could also try making lots of fruit purees, which at least are full of natural sugars and having them on toasts and breads. Yoghurt with digestive biscuits crumbled in with some fruit is also something that my daughter liked - and still does.

She was a very skinny baby, born at only 5lbs and did not put lots of weight on whilst breast feeding, only started to gain significant weight at about 3 years old to hit the percentiles. But she was always very very active and did eat well.

The only way to convince the 'professionals' that she was eating healthily was to keep a food diary to prove to them that she was eating well and regularly. She would 'fad' some weeks eating lots of cheese, and then next week turning her nose up at it, so the trick was always to find something to replace the rejected foods with. Some days she would eat 3 weetabix for breakfast with yoghurt instead of milk. Health visitor had to see it before she would believe it.

Keep going with the food variety that you have, and keep trying lots of different things the way you are doing. Remember you know her better than anyone so if she was lacking in energy or spark due to not eating enough you would know long before any professional.