increasing caloric intake for my toddler

[longbranchedmom]

My DD is 17 months old now, if she weighs 18 and a half lbs I am lucky.  She is wee, she is busy, she is breastfed on demand.  She's been eating solids for ages now, at meal times she eats better than our 4 year old son.  She isn't into cow's milk, I give her a sippy with some in it almost every day and she rarely drinks any of it, she prefers water which she drinks as often as she likes), often even to juice (which I don't give her often).

I have been upping the calories by giving her this 10% meditteranean yogurt she loves as a dip, and I put butter on her veggies,  I am not concerned about her diet, it is varied, she eats lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains and I am satisfied with the meat and beans she consumes.  She is healthy and strong.  She walked at an early age (is running now), her development isn't an issue, just her size.  She is teeny, at this rate she'll hit 20lbs by the age of 2.

Does anyone have any other tips I can use to try to "fatten" her up?   

[longbranchedmom]

oh yes, and thanks in advance!

[cristeen]

Has she dropped off her growth curve? Unless she has, imnot sure why you would want to make a change. Some people are just naturally small.

If she has fallen off that curve, then id be adding fat to everything. Healthy fats like olive, coconut or butter. Feeding her avocado, cheese, sour cream, etc.

What does a typical days food look like for her?

[longbranchedmom]

She dropped off the curve when she first became the busy bee that she is-around 6 months.  The line she maintains is somewhat like the growth chart, but it is much flatter, I can see her going from negative 5th percentile (where she plots now) to negative 10th if she continues.on this trend.  I am fairly confident that she is just small, like her grandma and her cousin, but I still want to encourage her growth as much as I can.

On a typical day:

Breakfast is at least half a banana, and a few tablespoons of that lovely 10%MF yogurt.

Lunch would be a small bit of soup, some leftovers from dinner, or a sandwich made with one slice of bread (and either peanut butter, ham and cheese, etc), she likely won't eat all of it depending on her mood.

Dinner could be home made pizza, tacos, a roasted chicken with veggies, something I made, and she will eat a little meat, a few veggies and some sort of starch (lately she has been loving sweet potato mash, or any sort of mixed vegetable mash she can scoop),

There are snacks too, small plates of cheese and cucumber (with a little yogurt to dip), parts of "healthier" granola bars (I am trying to keep off as much unnecessary sugar as I can), apples, veggies, crackers etc. 

I try to give her small amounts as much as I can, she is definitely a grazer.  She consistently refuses avocado, unless it is in guacamole form and hidden).  Money has been a little tight the last couple of months, so splurging on a bottle of Udo's oil or other similar products has been out of the question.  I do add a little extra fat to whatever I can.  I suppose I am just looking for new inspiration to get her going again.  Lately she has seemed to eat a little less (which I know happens regularly, but if I can encourage more I will)..

[cristeen]

Is that more than your 4 yr old eats? Thats not a whole lot. Does she indicate shes done after a meal? If thats all the food she wants, her size may be completely appropriate.

My little guy really started digging the solids right around 17-18 mo. His appetite took off at that point. Prior to that though, a meal was much like you describe - a few bites. Now he eats more than i do. But, i'm told his appetite is unusual for his age.

Breakfast - a whole banana, 1 egg scrambled w a squirt of Sriracha, 1 sausage link, 4 small pancakes, and half a dozen strawberries
Lunch - a whole sandwich (date pecan cream cheese spread), an apple, a cheese stick, a few strawberries
Dinner - half a slice of meatloaf, a handful of sweet potato fries

And thats on top of several bottles of formula during the day.

A meal may last 45 minutes or an hour here. I leave him in his chair and keep giving him more until he either tells me he's done or food starts hitting the floor.

As for fats, Udos oil is not your only choice. Olive, coconut and butter are all healthy fats to be feeding her.

HTH

[longbranchedmom]

Wow!  Your little one is certainly out eating mine!  My 4 year old eats more than my daughter, at dinner she mostly eats without being fed, while he has decided that he likes it when Daddy is putting the fork in his mouth.  

I'll sit her at the table with her plate while I am getting everything sorted for the rest of us.  She picks and eats, and sorts for awhile and when she is done she with either sign it, or dump the remnants of the meal on the floor.  I can sometimes convince her to eat more (it is when I break out the favourites).  There are no dietary restrictions.  I cook with olive oil and slather extra butter on her food. 

That date pecan cream cheese sounds lovely, how do you make it?  (Cream cheese is something else I give her often, she especially likes it on her egg).

[cristeen]

I just chop up some dates and pecans and stir it into cc. I dont really measure. Its delicious, and DS agrees. Its sweet while being high protein. I just spread it thick on some brioche and cut it into quarters. If i give him one quarter at a time he'll eat. If i give him the whole sandwich, most of it will hit the floor. This is how we do all meals. I'll give him a few bites of each thing on his tray and when thats gone i'll give him more. If i gave him all of it at once i'd be cleaning it off the furniture the rest of the day.

[askew]

Your child sound like mine. Mine fell off the chart. Went from 20th to 10th to -5th. We give her lot of fats. She eats a whole avocado a day. We add creme fraiche to everything. Which is basically french sour cream, just not as sour. We also give her goat milk kefir. It tastes like yogurt that you drink, but it has 240 calories per cup. Which is a lot, when you start comparing the labels. We also try to do a soft boiled egg a day. The yolk has a  lot of good fat and cholesterol. She likes to dip buttered bread in it. She has not been weighed lately, but I think she is gaining more. Our ped isn't very concerned, just thinks she is a small thing. I was a small child myself.