low weight gain - 5 yr old DS

[ANewDoula]

Hi ladies -

I was hoping I could get some input on my son's situation. He's always been skinny. He just turned 5 in June and he's still wearing 2T undies and 3/4t shorts with adjustable waist. We went for his yearly yesterday and he's only gained 2 pounds since last July. He has grown inch wise.
So the Dr. wants me to keep a food diary. She believes he's just not getting enough calorie intake to keep up with is energy. He's very active at home. Doesn't do sports or anything like that though.
So my question is...would you be concerned first all. Secondly, what should I give him to help with calorie intake. He eats the usual kids stuff, loves beans, cheeses, milk, yogurt but mostly sticks to water for drinking. I was thinking about Carnation instant breakfast but wanted some other input. I'd greatly appreciate it.

Jessica

[eepster]

I wouldn't worry. I reccomend My Child Won't Eat!

[Bokonon]

I wouldn't worry either. My DS is also 5 and still in 3T and 4T pants. He gained 4 pounds in the last year and 5" in height. IIRC, from age 3 to 4, he actually lost a pound, but gained a few inches in height. His ped. never batted an eye about it. In fact, at his 5 year WCV, the ped. said that if he didn't know my son's history (born at 32 weeks and 3 pounds), he would just assume he was a normal, full-term, healthy child!

[Hedgehog Mtn]

I agree with the above posters, all my kids gained slowly and now my 8 yo dd and 6 yo ds are the same weight but 2 inches apart. My three oldest would fit into those clothes at that age and the Dr wasn't worried. At almost 10 my oldest has now has faster growth spurts that happen more often and he's caught up to a more *normal* whatever that is size and height.

[Bokonon]

I was thinking more about this, and realized how tedious it would be to keep a food diary for a 5yo.

Mine's would look like this:
A few pancakes
A big bowl of melon
Some pizza at Chuck E. Cheese
Some more melon
Some Pirate Booty
etc.

There is NO WAY I could figure out caloric intake unless I weighed and measured everything he eats, and I much prefer for him to set his own portions and be able to serve himself at times.

Besides, my DS isn't always with me - at 5, he's in daycamp most of the summer, and will be starting kindergarten in a month. I know what he eats for his main meals, but don't know how much he eats of what he is offered when he's not with me.

As I said before, I don't think there is a problem - but I think your doc is trying to create one by stressing you out and potentially creating food issues with your son. To what end - see him again in a year to see that he's growing fine?

[sweetcheeks]

I wouldn't worry too much but I would keep the food diary so your doctor can see what he is eating and then hopefully realize he's just an active, lean child with a high metabolism. There's no need to figure out calories, just write down approx. serving sizes and your dr. can determine approx. caloric intake from there. I really don't see how if your child is already eating a mostly balanced diet with plenty of whole grains, fruits and veggies, how keeping a food diary that is for information purposes at this point could cause food issues. I think your doctor is just being thorough and making sure there's no underlying issues, it is his job after all.

My DD gained only a pound from age 3-4 (and she was already low on the % charts at 3) and our doctor was concerned that something was going on that was preventing her body from properly absorbing the nutrients and fats from the foods her body needed. So we had to keep a food diary of everything she ate. It wasn't overly tedious, I kept a notebook and pen on the counter and wrote things down after I prepared her plate. The hardest thing I had keeping track of was any snacks she may have had while we were out and those I just wrote down on scrap pieces of paper in my purse and recorded them when we got home.

I used this printout for some ideas on increasing DD's calorie intake. I used (and still use today) butter for her toast, melted butter to scramble eggs (which were mixed up with half and half and had shredded cheddar cheese in them), full fat ranch dressing for veggie dip, full fat yogurt for fruit dip, and added shredded cheddar cheese to the top of most cooked veggies.

Turns out my now 5YO DD is just a long, skinny-minny with a high metabolism. And it was because her doctor asked us to keep a food diary [along with some tests to check for celiac, cystic fibrosis (which I knew she didn't have as my niece has it and DH and I had genetic testing done to see if we were carriers) and a couple other things] that he was able to determine that and not worry about her weight gain. She still wears her size 3/4 pants but as capris now and her 26 month old brother is only a couple pounds lighter than her. Sorry this got so long winded but we went through the same thing with DD and I wanted to give my input.