Need to put weight on 2yo DS

686 Views 14 Replies 12 Participants Last post by mamatosage, Apr 18, 2006

apcanadianmamma

Discussion Starter · Apr 16, 2006

My son is skinny (really skinny) He is almost 2 years old and he is lucky if he weighs 23lbs. We have to take him to the drs next month due to some speech issues he is having. I *know* they are going to be all over me about his weight. He's always been small but he is now getting to the point where he is even starting to worry me.

I've taken him to my naturopath and she has given him a couple of homeopathic remedies for his speech issues - she also felt he was having issues with cow dairy. He is now on a no cow dairy diet (goats milk/dairy products are ok - rice milk is also ok)

Can anyone suggest any good foods to put some weight on him? He doesn't like avocado - and we can't do cow dairy now. I'm at a complete loss what to give him. I'm terrified to go to the drs next month - I'm so afraid that we are going to be forced into the "system" due to his speech and weight. I just don't know what to do. Any advice would be really great.

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supercrunch

· #2 · Apr 16, 2006

my 2 year old ds is super skinny too. He had a reflux re-check about 2 months ago and he was 22 lbs and 6 oz. He has only gained 8 oz since his 9 month appt

what we are doing is sneaking olive oil into everything we can, and I am begrudgingly giving him a can of pediasure every few days. I hate the stuff, but he is so skinny that his belly button is starting to stick out

I'll be watching this thread for other things to try.

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Yooper

· #3 · Apr 16, 2006

My 2.5 yo is only 23 pounds and I do not think she in unhealthy. She is not even "off the charts" so you probably should not have a problem with this. You might want to look up a growth chart online and see where he falls so you know what to expect at the docs.

But anyway, smoothies are a great way to get high calorie foods in. You can use many different things as a base. Milk, yogurt, rice milk, soy milk, or even frozen berries mixed with a room temp banana. To up the fat content throw in some nut butter. He might tolerate avocado in the smoothie if mixed with berries or melon. Nut butter is a great way to go by itself. Dd often requests a spoonful of almond butter straight up. She also likes to dip apples, carrots, and celery in nut butter. You could do the same with cream cheese, refried beans, or hummus. My dd will sit and eat a bowl of hummus with a spoon.

But if your dc is not interested, I would not push it. I am of the opinion that kids need to learn to regulate thier food intake. As long as he has access to a variety of foods and is healthy, I would not worry about the weight.

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alegna

· #4 · Apr 16, 2006

I'm not sure that that's really underweight

My dd is ~25 lbs. has been since about 9 or 10 months.... she's fine.

Best thing at that age is to nurse nurse nurse.

-Angela

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shelley4

· #5 · Apr 17, 2006

ditto on the nut butter. straight nuts too.. cashews are a lil easier to chew. also, coconut milk into smoothies (the regular kind, not the lite one), hummus that is heavy on the olive oil. stir a lil hemp oil/flax oil/olive oil into his applesauce or other soft foods.

carnelian

· #6 · Apr 17, 2006

Full fat coconut milk smoothies! Coconut is loaded with lauric acid and caprylic acid among other things. Lauric acid is found in large quantities in breastmilk and is an antifungal as well. Lots of great things for your little one in it. And most children love the taste.

shelley4

· #7 · Apr 17, 2006

also, raw hemp seeds! or hemp seed butter.

BurgundyElephant

· #8 · Apr 17, 2006

Thanks for the smoothie idea, yooper. I'm going to try making that and see if the girls will eat it.

Another one here with skinny children - my 5 yr old dd has weighed 42 pounds for almost three years. My 2 yr old dd has been holding at 24 pounds for over a year. She was off the charts (as in 0%) for a while, but is not at 25% for weight. Yay! We still give whole milk, and she also eats a lot of peanut butter. (fresh ground with no sugar)

VikingKvinna

· #9 · Apr 17, 2006

ITA with Yooper about the smoothies -- I routinely put avocado in ours (well, when there's leftover avocado which is not often!) and it's never been noticed. Just throw some berries in with it.

The other thing you can do is to make popsicles with leftover smoothies, or make them up fresh with yogurt (can you do soy yogurt?) and berries or other fruit blended up together -- and of course sneak in all the oils and flax meal and other good stuff that folks have mentioned -- and freeze in popsicle molds. My son will scarf down a popsicle that he has rejected in its previous incarnation as a smoothie. Heh, heh! I usually throw in a little honey if I'm making them from scratch, too.

hth! good luck.

justmama

· #10 · Apr 17, 2006

My daughter was 24lbs at 27months old. At 5 1/2years old now(nearly 6), she is a slight 39lbs. Looking at her height and weight combined, she's not even on the charts. But she's active, intelligent, and healthy and even our Air Force by-the-books pedi says nothing. Then again, I only take her in when I absolutely have to(ie, a physical for kindergarten or recreational sports). My younger daughter is pretty average for height and weight and next to her older sister, she looks SOOOOO chubby! My older daughter is just absolutely TINY compared to most of the kids in her class. There's only one little girl smaller than her.

Meg

apcanadianmamma

Discussion Starter · #11 · Apr 18, 2006

Thanks so much everyone!

I will def. give your suggestions a try. I do think he is just a little guy - and that is ok - I just would like to beef him up even a lb or 2 so that I can keep the dr off my back (and to give me a bit of peace of mind - it seems like he is sprouting up but not out - which is making him look even skinnier - I mean 12-18M pants are now falling off him)

Anyway thanks to you all. I guess I've got some experimenting to do

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shelley4

· #12 · Apr 18, 2006

my 2 kids are tall and skinny too.. i've always felt a little bit better when they put on an extra pound or two.. they really need it if they get sick (and especially don't wanna eat when sick!).

luckily, my dr. has never complained, it's not even a issue with him.

cjr

· #13 · Apr 18, 2006

We have a skinny minny too and I just wanted to point out that healthy fats won't help anyone gain weight. Avocado, olive oil, coconut milk...all good fats. I wouldn't want to resort to bad fats because that's just not healthy. Pata's and sugar. Put extra honey or maple syrup on his pancakes, a little honey on his muffins. Pasta's several days a week. I try to stick with natural sugars and give her lots of healthy carbs.

rareimer

· #14 · Apr 18, 2006

one great tip i got from this board is coconut oil--i add about a tablespoon of it to dd's oatmeal every morning, and to other things if i can...she doesn't even notice. also olive oil. she loves peanut butter and almond butter--she dips apples, crackers, things like that in it. she loves avocados, but if he doesn't you might be able to sneak them into other things.

my dd is 3 and just over 25 lbs. i think your son is fine. i suspect that alot of our kids are on the smaller side because they are fed a healthy diet and it's the "mainstream" kids who are not "normal" but are over-weight. i try not to worry as long as there are no other signs of anything being wrong. my dd has lots of energy and is as smart as a whip, so i try not to let the weight worries get to me.

mamatosage

· #15 · Apr 18, 2006

Hello,

My daughter just turned two and is 24.5 pounds. She was at the pediatrician last week and was weighed and came in on the 50th percentile.
I wouldn't worry too much.
Have you tried smoothies? I stick flax oil and avocado in them and lots of fruit and a bit of juice or water or rice milk.
Also---healthy homemade banana bread or cookies are a real hit.
One of her favorite dinners is pasta with a bit of olive oil and nutritional yeast.
Good luck!

my daughter LOVES these, and they have good fats:

Vegan Candy Bars

1/2 cup peanut butter or almond butter
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
1 cup powdered milk ( powdered skim or powdered soy)
1/4 cup chopped prunes
1/4 cup chopped figs ( or apricots)
2 tbsp raisins ( or more)
2 tbsp coconut
2 tbsp sesame seeds

Mix together and spread in a lightly greased pan (one that you don't worry about cutting). Fridge it for 1 hour. Cut into squares

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