need to fatten up dd2, but dd1 is a chowhound. how to prevent dd1 from gaining weight?

[raelize]

dd2 has dropped in percentiles and we need to start fattening her up. she eats a great diet, lots of fruits and veggies, meat, some dairy and some carbs, but really seh just needs to eat more and more fatty stuff. she is also tall, so she looks skinnier than she actually is. she is also just a lite eater. for lunch, we'll have mac and cheese and veggies (homemade of course!) and she will eat a few bites of mac and cheese and a whole bowl of broccoli and some soy milk (i would prefer cow milk, but she likes soy better) she is also still nursing, but at 2 and a half years, i don't have that much milk.

i wouldn't have a problem at all with giving her loads of fatty stuff, but the problem is that dd1 LOVES to eat. Dd1 has been 95 percentile for height and weight since she was born. she will eat as much as an adult. she will eat till her tummy hurts if i let her. we do get out and run around, but she is a good eater. she doesn't look fat at all (except for her adorable belly) but she is bigger than most 7 year olds we know and she just turned 5.
so, how do i try adn fatten dd2 up without fattening up dd1?
any suggestions?

and our doc isn't worried yet about dd2, she is brilliant, very talkative, and healthy, but we are almost at the point where its an issue. i'd like to prevent it becoming an issue. i know that 2 year olds "live on air". but really....she needs to gain some weight.

[pianojazzgirl]

Mama, TBH I think that I'd just trust that dd2 is doing ok how she is.  It kind of says a lot to me that the dr isn't worried, because (IME and that of so many people I know IRL and here on MDC) they tend to over-worry about things like growth charts.  Your dd2 is healthy, thriving, smart, etc.  It really sounds like she is doing ok.  Since you are worried about her maybe you would have better peace of mind if you seek out a 2nd opinion. 

[raelize]

that's what my mom says also. and i do trust our doc. honestly, there isn't one in the area that is better. he's awesome.
it just kind of freaks me out that she has only gained 2 pounds in the last year, only 1 pound since her birthday 6 months ago.
and she is definately thriving. also, i think that since her sister is so big it throws me off. you know? like the proportions aren't correct for their age difference.
thanks for a quick response. and if anyone has any thoughts to share, i'd still love to read them!

[LynnS6]

Well, I was lucky in that my slender child came first, so that's my 'norm'. Right now, my kids are 9 and 6. My 9 year old weighs 74 lbs. My 6 year old weighs 68. It freaks me out occasionally that my 6 year old weighs only 6 lbs less than my 9 year old. Dd is in the 95th percentile for height, and the 88th for height. That's been her curve since she was a baby. Ds, on the other hand, is in the 96th for height and the 64th for weight This too, has been his curve since he was a baby. He was sick last week and lost a couple of pounds (so, he may actually weigh LESS than 74 lbs. right now). i swear the only thing that's keeping his pants up is his 4 T a day Nutella habit. He feels incredibly fragile when I hug him. And yet, he's not. He's full of energy, doing well at school, and generally fine.

I think that you just have to trust that this is her curve. I suspect, if you look at your slender child and your more sturdy child, you'll also find differences in how much they move. One of the reasons our ds is thinner than his sister is because he simply is more active. He moves all the time. When he's bored, he'll go shoot the nerf basketball into the hoop on the back door. He used to run laps around our house in the evening. One day when he was 3 or 4, he ran laps for 30 minutes, just to see if he could! Dd, on the other hand, is much more likely to sit down and sort her beads or give names to all her coins (her activity last night). She's intellectually very active, physically not so much so. She hates to get hot. She declared last year that she's not going to do any sports where you have to run and get hot. Um... OK, I think we'll sign you up for the swim team!

You might try, for both of your children, smaller meals, but more frequent ones. That might help your younger child eat more, and your older child to not get so hungry so she doesn't overeat. It takes awhile for my older daughter to feel full, and so eating small bits more frequently actually helps.

[momtomine]

i have three kids, 7, 3 and 20 months. they are all super thin, and probably around the 3rd percentile for weight. that said, they are all thriving! my husband is an ex-football player, and he looks it. broad sholders, and really high muscle mass, and i am short and fat! we look at these tiny little babies we made, and just marvel. my almost 8 year old weighed in a week ago at 45lb, my almost 4 year old at 29lbs, and my almost 2 year old at 21lbs. because i have had weight issues my whole life, i was obbsessed with starting my kids out on the most nutritious diet that i could. i did a ton of research, and they all have been eating that way there whole lives. full fat dairy,(milk, yogurt, cheese) lean meats, tons of fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains. they are good eater, not really picky either. i think that as long as kids are healthy looking, developing normaly, and have energy throughout the day, they are fine. growth charts are so subjective. i also hate the way we size childrens clothes. if your 2 year old is not wearing a 2t, does that mean they are too big, or too small? no way! i was just thrilled when my oldest was finally in a 4, because i was able to buy her a 4slim!

[raelize]

Well, I guess I will back off then. I don't want to make an issue for her and she is very healthy, probably the best diett in the house really since she just sucks down veggies and fruit and protien. And honestly I've never been worried or made them finish their plates, always trusted that they would follow what their body tells them. Thanks for helping me get my head back on!

[pianojazzgirl]

I think that's a good outlook mama.  :)

I was just coming back to this thread to relate that we have the same thing going on at our house, but (like a pp) it is my first who is a skinny-minny and my 2nd who is at the 100th percentile for height and weight.  They're 3 years apart and only 5lbs apart.  They both eat (relatively) healthy and almost all the same foods, are active, full of energy, healthy, etc.  My friend has exactly the same thing with her 2 boys.  They too are 3 yrs apart and the older one hands clothes down directly to his brother.

[KempsMama]

Originally Posted by raelize 

that's what my mom says also. and i do trust our doc. honestly, there isn't one in the area that is better. he's awesome.
it just kind of freaks me out that she has only gained 2 pounds in the last year, only 1 pound since her birthday 6 months ago.
and she is definately thriving. also, i think that since her sister is so big it throws me off. you know? like the proportions aren't correct for their age difference.
thanks for a quick response. and if anyone has any thoughts to share, i'd still love to read them!

My DS1 was 32 pounds by 1 year. He'll be 3 years old next month, and he now ways 36 pounds. Yup, just 4 pounds in 2 years. But he's growing like a weed, is still in the 99% for height, just dropped weight %. He's growing just the way he was supposed too. I'd trust your DD's body.

[Gator-mom]

I just read this book called How to Get Your Kid to Eat, But Not Too Much by Ellen Satter http://www.amazon.com/How-Get-Your-Kid-Eat/dp/0915950839.  It seems to say that if you follow her guidelines then kids will eat the appropriate amount and develop a healthier relationship with food. 

We've tried it with DS.   Most of it seems to work like she says, except for a few exceptions, like putting desert on the table with dinner.  Her claim is that if your kid is hungry, he will still eat, but we had several occasions with this, where he actually ate desert and then told me he was full right after..and that's even with a really tiny desert too!  But the rest of the book seems to have some good ideas :).

[Polliwog]

She sounds like most two-year-olds I know. I wouldn't try to fatten her up. She'll grow. My DD is tiny. She just turned four and she's about 27 lbs and 37 1/2 inches. She doesn't gain much weight but eats and is active. Her doctor isn't worried and neither am I.