Help beefing up my toddler.

[nikkiethridge]

I have a 18 month old DS who is about 21 pounds which places him in the 5th percentile. He has dropped at every appointment since birth. His diet, in my opinion is pretty good, while i don't think he eats ENOUGH of what i give him. Here are some examples.

Breakfast, some type of carb (waffle, french toast, toast, pancake) spread with food processes dates, almonds and flaxseeds (or sometimes i roll it into balls and he just eats it like that alongside) some type of fruit, favorites are blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.

Snack is usually pumpkin seed granola, raisins and crackers or an oatmeal flax cookie

Lunch would be a spinach and cheese quesadilla, or a cream cheese and spinach roll up, or a PB and J. i serve that with black beans, french fries, or veggie or fruit booty depending on what it is. i also give some raspberries or other fruit.

Snack 2 is something light, crackers or fruit strips.

Dinner is some type of protein, either from beans, chicken or beef. i can't get him to take more than a bite or 2 of meat though. mashed sweet potatos and peas and carrots and a whole wheat roll with butter.

After dinner snack is usually a smoothie, i make it with banana, PB, yogurt, honey and a tsp of ground flax.

Anyway, this is just an example menu. I'm always changing it up because he will get bored very easily. He's very active, verrry active. But I've always had a hard time getting him to eat enough, i really don't think he eats enough for how active he is. He hates meat for the most part, does anyone think some type of protein shake would be ok to give him? I've seen the hemp protein shakes at our health food store but i'm not sure if those are safe for tots. Someone was telling me pedisure should help him gain weight, but is there an organic option for that?

I would really appreciate any help!

ETA, he is getting around 20oz of organic whole milk a day as well.

[Alyantavid]

It looks like he could use some more fat. Put some coconut oil and tahini in the smoothie, for fat and protein.

Does he like avocado? You can add coconut oil to lots of things and he'll never notice. I'm assuming he's nursing? If not, definitely full fat milk. Does he like cheese? That's a good snack too.

[nikkiethridge]

Originally Posted by Alyantavid

It looks like he could use some more fat. Put some coconut oil and tahini in the smoothie, for fat and protein.

Does he like avocado? You can add coconut oil to lots of things and he'll never notice. I'm assuming he's nursing? If not, definitely full fat milk. Does he like cheese? That's a good snack too.

He doesn't like avocado, or cheese sticks. He will eat cheese in the form of grilled cheese but if it isn't melted he won't eat it. So we do that. I will get some coconut oil, thanks

[avendesora]

I've found that cutting back on fiber has been helpful to my kids. They were eating so much fiber, that their bodies were processing the food faster than they could absorb anything. So I've relaxed about some whole grains (for example: we now eat white flour pretzels in the car which only flour, salt, yeast, compared with the whole grain pretzels that have much longer ingredient lists, including sugar or honey), and I put generous amounts of lard in the pan before I cook anything and pour olive oil on top after it's cooked. Butter with the rice, butter in the spaghetti sauce, butter on the bread before the pb&j.

Are you using whole milk yogurt?

I've cut back on the fruit. Fruit is advertised as "so healthy" because so many people don't get nearly enough. But really, 1 whole piece of fruit a day is probably sufficient for most kids. It's also high sugar. Antioxidants are useful, but you only need so much in one day. For variety, the kids and I split 4 whole fruits over the course of the day, and we each get a quarter. Your DS might calm down a little if he had less fruit-sugar.

Most of these changes I made because of their bowel movements. There was a lot of undigested foods there until I started the not-so-generous-fiber and more-generous-fat meals.

Don't get me wrong - my kids still eat their fruits and veggies and whole grains. Just not so much as before. We've moderated a little.

Aven

[MeadowSong_]

Ditto on adding coconut oil to his smoothie. Great way to get good fats into a toddler.

I also wonder about the whole milk thing, kids really need those fats. Also, maybe try adding in some eggs ever day. Either hard boiled or scrambled or however he would like them. We eat eggs every day haha, love them.

BUT, that aside. I wouldn't purposely try to fatten up a toddler. He looks like he eats pretty darn good compared to most of the toddlers I know. I have 4 boys, some are just plain old peanuts. My 4 y/o is just hitting 30lbs, and then my 2 year old is almost 28lbs. So weight varies so much for each individual child. As long as they are eating and eating a wide variety of good foods, try not to worry about their size.

I will also say, my 10 y/o was always a very small child. Not even on the charts. He now is up to my chin in height, I'm 5'7" and is one darn healthy kid. Size isn't as important as health and eating habits. Hang in there!

[EKSmith]

There's been some great ideas posted....may I suggest eggs? At first my ds2 (who's 16 months, and also a featherweight) didn't really like them, but I started dicing them up fine after they were hard boiled, adding a bit of homemade mayo and spreading it on crackers, toast points, pita triangles, etc....He loves it, and now is eating eggs in all sorts of ways (scrambled, straight up hard boiled, fried, poached...)

[KristyDi]

Hi, I have a 20lbs 17 month old DD. I have 2 main thoughts.

1. Was he recently or is he still breastfed? If so I would suggest you plot his weight on the WHO's breastfed baby charts. They are different from the standard charts most dr's use. My dd plots right around the 50% line from birth on on the WHO charts and was at the 97%tile at 6 months and dropped to around the 10% line at a year on the dr's charts.

2. Is it really a bad thing if he's in the 5%tile? I know you don't want him to keep dropping %tiles but being at the bottom of the chart in and of itself isn't necessarily reason for concern. Someone has to be on the low end. Not everyone can be average.

[nikkiethridge]

Originally Posted by KristyDi

Hi, I have a 20lbs 17 month old DD. I have 2 main thoughts.

1. Was he recently or is he still breastfed? If so I would suggest you plot his weight on the WHO's breastfed baby charts. They are different from the standard charts most dr's use. My dd plots right around the 50% line from birth on on the WHO charts and was at the 97%tile at 6 months and dropped to around the 10% line at a year on the dr's charts.

2. Is it really a bad thing if he's in the 5%tile? I know you don't want him to keep dropping %tiles but being at the bottom of the chart in and of itself isn't necessarily reason for concern. Someone has to be on the low end. Not everyone can be average.

My only concern is that he will drop more at his 2 year appt in Feburary. Our pedi doesn't really care that he is in the 5% but wants to see him either on the curve or atleast maintaining what he has. He was noted to have the most defined calf and shoulder muscles my pedi has ever seen. So I guess that's good, maybe the muscles are just keeping him lean?

He was never EBF, I had to supplement pretty early on due to IGT. That was with fenugreek, reglan and dom. haha. I would have made sure they were charting him correctly.

[Elizabeth2008]

Well, first, I wouldn't be very worried. My DS weighed only 22 pounds at that age and he was TALL. The key things you want to look at are: 1) is he gaining weight - so not actually losing weight and 2) does he have energy and 3) is he developing at a normal rate (motor skills/cogntive, etc). If so, then who cares if he's a little skinny. Pay NO attention to the percentile thing. So many kids, including infants, are actually overweight, so being under 50% on the weight thing is probably good. If he is eating fairly well at most meals and has an appetite, that's awesome. Some kids at that age don't eat well at all, and yet they still usually manage to thrive.

That said, looking over what you've been feeding him, it seems to be a great diet for an adult, but kids need more fat. Healthy fats like avocado, extra virgin olive oil, and dairy and animal fat. I read somewhere that toddlers could have as much as 50% of their calories from fat, as long as it's healthy fat. If he's not lactose intollerant, you might want to think about some whole milk, cheese, cottage cheese (which has TONS of protein) and butter. If he doesn't like cottage cheese plain, put some fruit in it. Try cheese in different forms. I grated like a cup of cheddar and melt it over chopped broccoli. He loved that!

I made a mild guacamole for my son at that age because he didn't like avocadoes by themselves. He loved the guac on top of a cheese quesidilla. Oh, and coconut oil in moderation is a good fat.

But no matter what - don't worry. Kids eat when they're hungry and they know how much their bodies need. Best to trust them so they learn to listen to their bodies and then they are much less likely to over eat when they are older.

[Elizabeth2008]

oh, i almost forgott - EGGS! Soo healthy and full of iron and protein. Scrambled with cheese is great for kids that age. My DS liked them fried too, over toast and with a little bacon. I also started making deviled eggs (those are great for putting in lunches once they get older!). I just mashed up the hard boiled yokes with mayo, salt and a bit of mustard to taste. Super yummy and a great snack to have in the fridge!

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by nikkiethridge

He was never EBF, I had to supplement pretty early on due to IGT. That was with fenugreek, reglan and dom. haha. I would have made sure they were charting him correctly.

Is the IGT yours or his? (is that impaired glucose tolerance or something else?).

Is the decrease in the growth curve the only thing that's wrong? Everything else is great with him? Sleeping? Pooping? Skin? Moods? Activity? All that?

[foreverinbluejeans]

I agree with the more fat. You can add olive oil or butter to a lot of things. Try more veggies with butter or oil. Look at some cookbooks for kids to get some ideas.

[mnnice]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

Is the IGT yours or his? (is that impaired glucose tolerance or something else?).

Is the decrease in the growth curve the only thing that's wrong? Everything else is great with him? Sleeping? Pooping? Skin? Moods? Activity? All that?

I had a very similar experience with my DS2 who is still pretty small for his age at a little over 4. He sure appeared to be developing normally and had no other health issues.

Really the only difference I have noticed from my much more average sized older son is that he does not have quite the endurance (i.e. can not/will not walk as far) which I attribute to his shorter legs and personality. Gradually DS2 has climbed back on the growth chart (he's currently at the 5th for both height and weight). He was a the 50% for both height and weight at birth.

DH was a little guy as a preschooler and had his teenaged growth spurt late. Kids that are not correctly absorbing the nutrition from their diet have other issues (i.e. GI, mood, sleep, developmental delays). Anyway I don't worry anymore and I think he naturally gravitates to things that are higher in fat (sour cream, butter, oily fish)