My two year old is *not* eating much. He picks at his food, and even with no between-meal snacks, he doesn't want to finish a decent amount of food. Even his beloved spaghetti has become neglected.
I've started giving him peanut butter on a spoon, and peanut butter/jelly sandwiches when he'll it it, just to make sure he's at least getting a few calories a day.
Now, he normally does eat a pretty good breakfast--a bowl of baked oatmeal with some fruit, and about 6 oz milk. But after that, I just never know if he's going to eat, one day to the next.
And he's so skinny I can see his entire rib cage, front and back. He's never been even remotely chubby. But I'm fat and my mother's heart does not like to see ribs sticking out--it's not what I'm used to.
Both of mine are skinny. My 2 year old really lost weight when he first turned 2, but is getting closer to his 3rd birthday and his eating has picked up. My one year old is also very skinny, though he eats like crazy. They go through phases. I think you're doing great, though, by making sure to offer him a lot of opportunities to fill up. Of course, my 2 yr old would eat nothing but cereal all day if I let him, and sometimes when he isn't eating very well, I do offer him some to snack on.
I have a skinny guy too, who eats very VERY little. His ped has been soo worried about him for months, he is now 21 months and still weighs the same as he did at his 9 month apt. He is still nursing well, and is hitting all his mild stones (well at least all the physicaly ones) So I try really hard not to worry but it is soo hard!
My guy is 3 and very thin also. He weighs about 26 pounds and is tall.
One thing I love (if your family eats dairy) is Stoneyfield Farms Yogurt smoothies. They are full fat and ds just sucks them down. On his "no eat" days at least I know he's had something with fat and protein in it.
My DD was (and still is) really skinny. When she was a toddler she was all skin and bones. Around age three she started to fill in a bit- but still looks a lot smaller than most kids. The funny thing is she is tall (around 75th percentile) but because she is so thin everyone thinks she is so small. She is going to be five in a couple weeks and she is not quite 35 lbs. They were both born big- DD just under 10 lbs. and DS 10 ½ lbs. DD was almost two before she doubled her birth weight and didn’t triple it until she was four years old (she did have a congenital heart defect that was diagnosed at birth that slowed her growth as an infant). DS is growing a bit faster than she did, but he hasn’t quite doubled his birth weight and he is 13 months old. DS is also skinny and tall- although before he started crawling he did get some chubby baby legs that were oh so cute! Now that he is on the verge of walking he is so skinny again. He was playing naked in the backyard on Sunday and I could see all his ribs. I am sure he will get even skinnier when he is walking. They are both pretty good eaters so I don’t worry about them so much (although DD is pickier now, but I am sure that is a power struggle issue). Kids will eat if they are hungry, just keep offering healthy foods and remember all kids grow differently. As long as DC is hitting developmental milestones everything is probably okay.
I have a skinny toddler, too. Ds is 2 years, 8 months and weighs 27 lbs. I think he's average height, but I'm not sure. We get lots of comments on what a "little guy" he is when people hear his age. Dh tends to worry about him, but I don't. Dh and I are both skinny and I think ds eats well. He does eat tons of fruits and vegetables (not very fattening!), but also eats eggs, cheese, yogurt, beans and pasta/cereal. He's just a small fellow. Dh is 6' 4", so I'm thinking ds will eventually be rather tall and dh will forget that he was a small toddler.
I got curious the other day and weighed dd, she had been filling out for a while, she is 2.5 and now weighs 26 lbs! She had alot of food allergies, and still is choosy about what she eats, but she always nurses so I knows at least she gets something.
I have a scrawny 2 year old. She's just over 2, and is about 23lbs. I do worry about it, but give her plenty of opportunities to eat throughout the day. Sometimes she won't touch her meal, and other times she'll scarf it down and ask for seconds or thirds. I just have to have faith that she won't let herself starve. It's especially hard for me, because everyone else in my family has big babies. I have two relatives who have 1 year olds that weigh 5-10 lbs more than my 2 year old. I look at them and think "Gee, maybe that Big Mac and Pepsi aren't the best meal for your kiddo." And I'm sure they look at me and think "Gee, why are you so mean to your child? She can obviously use a Big Mac or two."
DD just turned 2 & weighed 20lbs 6oz at the dr the other day. 33 inches tall. She breastfeeds a ton but doesn't eat much. And she's super active (aren't all toddlers?)! I stopped worrying about it when I realized she is following my growth pattern very closely.
just wanted to add...it sounds like you're feeding a great breakfast to start the day (a similar one i USED to get my DD to eat but she won't have it anymore
) so you can probably be assured he's getting a good dose of what he needs. is the milk in the oatmeal whole milk? have you thought of switching to whole milk yogurt instead? that may help boost a few calories and add some other nutrients. and maybe some powdered vit's to sneak in extra goodness. and maybe some ground flaxseed meal? oh, one other thing to help w/protein intake...have you ever seen quinoa flakes (looks like oatmeal)? they sell it in bulk at whole foods...when DD ate her oatmeal, i used to mix that in with it. it really doesn't change the taste or texture but adds some goodness. other than that, i agree with everyone that it sounds normal and i'm sure he will go thru many stages and comeout fine
I, too, have a slim daughter. As an infant she was above 95th percentile for weight and height, but by a year she was down to 15th for weight and still over 90th for height. At almost 23 months she weighs about 22.5 lbs and is 36" tall. The only reason I don't worry about it is because her ped. is so laid back about it and thinks it's no biggie - just her physique. Oh, and she eats like a horse and is not really too picky when it comes to food. And I have to remind myself that her pop is a tall guy and I'm pretty thin myself. I just don't appreciate when people make comments about DD's thinness. As long as she's healthy I'm ok with it.
for my skinny girl I keep out a snack tray and only feed high fat foods. oatmeal has heavy cream and molasses, whole milk brown cow yogurt, eggs fried in olive oil. i add flax seed oil to everything if i don't have time to grind any, and I encourage her to nurse until she gets some hindmilk. I wish they had quinoa flakes at my hfs. . .
DD has "fallen off the charts" at her last checkup. I'm not worried, but it is hard not to be a little concerned. I know everything's okay, but it sure is nice to see reassurrance here. She's 19 months and not quite 20 lbs. yet. She doesn't eat many "table" foods but nurses frequently. I think she looks healthy and she's meeting all her milestones. Still hard not to dwell sometimes, kwim?
DS is a skinny toddler too. He is in the 95% for height but the 50% for weight. However, I am not worried at all. He eats when he eats. All I can do is provide the food. He has alwasy been tall and skinny, that is just his body type.
My dd is almost 3 (beginning of October) and she weighs about 22 lbs. and is 33 or so inches in height. She is a tiny one! She talks non-stop, plays non-stop and seems very happy and loving life. Our 3 yr check up is in 2 weeks and I'm wondering what our ped. will say about her weight. She eats tons sometimes and only snacks and nibbles others. She still nurses as well. Not finding clothes that fit is a pain!
I have a tall and skinny toddler this time around - there are days that he eats like a horse, then others where he eats nothing. Ribs are visable, but he's within the weight percentile... I try not to stress about it much, but I do give him daily vitamins and if I'm feeling very stressed about it, I give him some pediasure (he loves the chocolate flavored ones). He's very active, bright, alert and smart - so he's obviously getting enough, but since my older son is SOOOO small for his age (he's 12, weighs 65lbs and stands at just under 5'), I get a little paranoid about their nutrition.
I wouldn't stress too much - they say a child won't starve him/herself - they'll eat when they are hungry.
My ds is over 2.5 and just hit 20# last week...he's in 12 month clothes still.
Mostly he doesn't eat much, but some days he will do a good job. I try not to let him drink too much around mealtime b/c his stomach is so tiny, even a few ounces of milk will prevent him from eating.
Basically, I just offer him high fat/calorie foods and snacks. Unfortunately he drinks lots of soy milk which is low fat (I wish it were whole milk or breasmilk, but at least it's high protein). Plus we are vegetarian so a lot of the meat subsitutes are low fat as well.
The yogurt and flaxseed are great ideas- staples for us. Also nut butters on/in everything, oil or butter on everything, and we just stated making smoothies that I put the whole milk yogurt, nut butter, fruit, and honey in. He gets ice cream several times a week, and also snacks on nuts. Too bad he's allergic to eggs or that would be a frequent meal, too. I also make breads and muffins with flaxseed and nuts in themand put butter, honey, or nut butter on them for him.
i also have a skinny minni.. he will be 3 in december and weighs maybe 25 LBS.. he was sick this past week and lost quite a bit of weight as well.. so what his true weight is i dont know.. some days i stress about it and i too do the organic peanut butter and jam and butter samwiches often just to feed him something. he loves things like rice with butter, but it never seems to make an ounce of difference for him. recently i started drinking protein (whey) powder because im pregnant and felt i was lacking the protien, so ive been giving him whole organic milk with a scoop of that and some ovaltine and he loves it. he drank a cup or two a day before he got sick and i noticed a huge change in his body. he started to get kinda chubby! im glad he had gained some weight otherwise im afraid to think how thin he would be now
he is the smallest kid most of my friends or family know.. but hes smart as a whip.. i wonder if this baby will be different.. i kind of hope that i will have a kid i dont have to worry about alll the time. im constantly ofering him food, and since he stopped nursing about 5 months ago he does eat a lot more than before, but still its hard not to be concerned. he will really like something for a few days and ill be so happy"finally he will eat something healthy and nutricious" but then he will decide its his least favorite thing.. sometimes i think its the protein more than the fat that is important, because he eats quite a lot of good fats but doesant like high protein foods much, with the excpetion of beans and sometimes eggs..
I have a skinny toddler AND DH, they are making ME look bad! No seriosly, I just keep telling myself he will eat when he needs to.
I second the stonyfield smoothies, DS LOVES them, but it is so hard to find full cream dairy products, they should make more! I also give him ***** ( he won't eat meat so the protien init is great) and he loves hommus , eggs, cereal and Ice cream. I am in the same boat as all of you, desperately trying to cram as much goodness into everything they will eat.
Question: what do you put nutritional yeast on other than popcorn? I have some I just don't know how to use it!
I have a skinny minnie, too. He'll be 3 in October. He's about 36" tall & *might* weigh 26 or 27lbs. Developmentally ahead of where he should be in most things. He's always the skinniest kid his age on the playground & he loves to show off his "manly little chest" - ribs & all. :LOL
I'll 3rd the Stonyfield Farms yogurt smoothies. Even the adult ones, though they happen to be lo-fat. DS LOVES the berry ones, which they don't make for the kids. Yobaby also has good smoothies. I use/add the Kraft Amer. cheese (I know, it's processed & icky, BUT it's made with milk products & adds some calcium) to DS's scrambled eggs, cheese toast, etc. We add parmesan cheese (which he loves) to popcorn & everything else I can think of.
lots of good suggestions. DD is 3 and finally weighs 25 pounds. i used to worry a lot but gave up because she is healthy, happy and hitting milestones at or before. i make sure i get full fat milk, yogurt, cheese, etc and also let her snack on healthy things a lot. when she was smaller she loved avocado.
her ribs still show, but it doesn't bother me anymore. she is healthy. just because she is thin, doesn't mean she isn't healthy and i am not going to force food into her because who knows what kind of food issues that will lead to.
toddlers are usually picky anyway, try to find healthy things he likes and keep them available throughout the day. most toddlers aren't good at just having 3 meals a day.
try not to worry. as long as he is healthy and happy, just keep healthy choices available for him!
s
DD likes whey protein smoothies and with whole milk it has fat in it, too. she doesn't realize she is drinking something healthy. i get it at trader joes. i like it too!
Hi Fern- I didn't know your little guy was a skinny minny, too
Just wanted to pop in and tell you about ds's nutritious meals lately: last night I made him a healthy meal, including veggies with butter....well, he completely ignored the meal, and grabbed the butter, and ate 1/2 the container! At least it was lots of calories
Then, this morning, I made him 1/2 a bagel with cream cheese, and he did the same thing- ignored the bagel, but ate lots of cream cheese out of the tub! Nice, huh? He needs the fat, though, so I'm happy
can i just say, thank goodness for this thread. my ped is constantly giving me cr@p and stupid advice b/c my dd is so small (short & thin). Like: stop breastfeeding and give pediasure -- wtf? she's not growing like me, she gets to her milestones later, but we have some very tiny late bloomers on both sides of the family, and she's happy. i'm just starting to get my confidence back about our feeding. it's good to see that other mamas have small kids too.
Where do you get quinoa flakes? I love oatmeal for breakfast in cold weather, but the glycemic index on it is horrid. I know quinoa is higher in protein. Last winter I added protein powder to it, but that can leave a funny aftertaste, and I eat enough soy as it is...
We give DD goat's milk. I've tried to get her to eat goat's milk yogurt, but it's kind of hit or miss as to whether she's in the mood for it. It's got more fat and protein than cow's, and we don't drink cow's anyway, so the ped suggested it to boost her calories. She at least gets it on her cereal in the morning (she prefers Life, which I'd never have bought if it wasn't for WIC and it being DH's fave).
We, too, get tormented by the pediatrician. Which reminds me I need to get DD's 2 checkup scheduled...ugh.
My DD will be 2 this week & weighs 22lbs. She's been that way for over 6 mos. Her build is petit like mine. You'd be shocked at how much she actually does eat. I never worry about it b/c she always has food available & eats what she wants. I never push her to eat anything she doesn't want & we eat a lot of very nutritious food. With all the food hang ups our society has I'm glad to have my skinny minny.
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