Skinny 2 Year Old

as long as she is healthy and active, I wouldn't be overly concerned. My daughter was tall and skinny too. You may go ahead and get a second opinion, but I wouldn't get too anxious about it. She may just have a high metabolism rate.

My advice is 3 fold. First, add either Boost Kid Essentials, Pediasure or another nutrient drink to her diet daily, do not use it to substitute meals, give it to her to drink after a meal, act like it is dessert if you must, they taste so good, she will think it is a treat, you can put it in the freezer to thicken it up if you would like and treat it like it is a shake! In addition, make sure you are feeding her a well balanced diet. When I say that I mean I want to make sure that you aren't one of those super health freaks that only allows their kids to eat vegetables, fruits, and extra lean meats. Kids do need a healthy amount of fat, make sure she is getting enough fat also. I am not saying that you need to give your kid fried fast food, but make sure that you aren't shorting her on fats to be a health food nut, you know what I mean? Macaroni and Cheese a couple of times a week can be a good thing!Fat is essential, just needs to be in the right amount. That will make you feel better in the meantime.

Second of all, I wish you had told us her weight 17 months ago and what it is now. You say she hasn't gained weight, but that is not enough information for me to give very manny suggestions. When you say she hasn't gained weight, do you mean she has gained 0 pounds, has she lost any at all, or has she just gained 1 or 2 pounds and that seems like nothing. If she has gained any at all, I wouldn't worry too much. Also, I wish we knew how much she weighs. Where does she fall on the weight percentile chart? Is she within healthy range? Is she below the 5th percentile? Even if she is a tad below, that is ok. If she is actually significantly below that is worrysome. However if she is in the range or close, no bigie. Kids are so active at that age some burn up every calorie they consume. Also, I am wondering how much she weighed 17 months ago? Was she a chunker for her age? Was she overweight at the time and maybe she has lost that "baby fat"? If she was chubby then, maybe now she has just lost that chubbiness and is developing the shape that she is going to have in life, she may be a lucky person who has developed high metabolism and will be thin!

Third of all, I think that to be on the safe side, but not be invasive, I would demand that the doctor do a unrinalysis to test for anything they can tell from urine. They can most definitely check her sugar levels in urine and that would be a good thing to rule out. Juvenile diabetes is often discovered at this age and wight gain can be a sign. At least the urine testing is painless, you don;t have to get your daughter scared and worked up, it would relieve some stress to rule a few things out and it might make your doctor think about it more.

I do not think that you have a bad doctor and need to switch liek someone else said. I think they didn't workt he mat properly when they were looking at the 17 month age time span. 17 months ago your child was one year old. My daughter has only gained 1 pound in the last 6 months since she was 12 months old. I think that it is important that you stick with your doctor at this time. The fact that he has seen your daughter through they 17 month time is a good thing, he has a better perspective of her grwoth and change over the last 2 1/2 years than a new doctor will. stick with him. He is most likely right that there is nothing wrong with your daughter and you don't need to worry about it, but as mothers, we all worry no matter what and if you follow these suggestions, I think you will sleep easier at night.

our 2 yr old girl is a tiny one too. we just make sure she gets plenty of nutrient-dense foods (avocado, turkey, sweet potatoes, etc.), don't give her too much juice (or any drink before she's eaten), and watch her carefully for nutrient deficiencies (hair shiny? nails smooth? skin clear?) and food intolerances (unusual, otherwise-unexplained mood swings? sleep disruption? pain?). we give our son enzymes to help w/ his digestion & nutrient absorbtion, so we recently started giving them to our dd as well.
i highly recommend enzymestuff.com for everything you wanted to know about enzymes & more. also, a good place for great advice (of course you kinda need to weed out some off-base posts!) is mothering.com/discussions - there's an entire board on nutrition you'll most likely find helpful.

HTH!

Hello B.,

I'd switch doctors... she has not gained weight since she was about 6 months old? write down every thing she eats, drinks, bowel movements, etc. could she have food intolerance like gluten/wheat, soy, milk? Is she healthy overall? Good luck and follow your gut! ~C.~

p.s.: how much does she weight?

hi there....i'd call ECI (early childhood intervention). they work with 0-3 yr olds with developmental delays as well as kiddos who are not gaining weight, thriving, etc. the dietician is great and will offer some great suggestions!!
good luck!

Hi, B.!
I have a 5 1/2 year-old daughter who has been long and lean her whole life. She actually fell off of the growth chart at one point. Her pediatrician and his nurses also told me not to worry. I took into account her behavior, activity level, energy level, the amount of sleep she gets and her nutrition intake. She checks out in all of these areas. She is doing very well. My daughter is happy, healthy and well-adjusted. I realized that kids come in all shapes and sizes. All of the development charts consist of general guidelines. None of them are intended to provide specific information for any one child. I trust my child's pediatrician. He has taken excellent care of her. I respect your concern and hope that I have helped to calm your fears. You certainly get to make the call when it comes to the well-being of your daughter. She is very fortunate to have such a wonderful caring mother! Take care:)

If she is healthy and the pediatrician says she ok I wouldnt worry. Just make sure she eats all her meals in a timely fashion daily.Id add Ensure , Nutrament or Nesquick to her diet also normally these beverages add weight to kids.

One of my triplets is quite small. Our pediatrician told us to add carnation instant breakfast to his diet. We provide healthy meals and snacks and add the breakfast drink to his after school snack. He's still small, but I know he's getting everything his body needs to be healthy.

good luck

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My child's 24mo and she has gained ~1 lb. in the last 12-14 mos. She was in the 50th %tile in weight when she was born, and she's tracked along there as she's grown. My doc says she's just fine. I was told kids hit a weight plateau at about 12 mos. (I didn't ask when kids usually start gaining again, though).

I agree with all the common sense advice you've gotten so far about her not drinking lots during/before meals, making sure she's getting well-balanced meals, feeling and looking well, etc. But I wouldn't worry--especially if your pediatrician isn't worried. And I'm not sure what a urine test would entail at your child's age, but my child had one done when she was sick not long ago. Since she wasn't able to use the bathroom on demand, they had to use a catheder (sp?) to get a urine sample. Not pleasant for anyone, let me tell you.

I, too, have a thin, tall child. My son is 5 and during his last checkup the pedi was concerned because his BMI was too low. As his mom, I knew hw was fine, but decided to go along with the tests the pedi recommended. After a trip to Ft. Worth, having blood drawn, and a sweat test, he was found to be perfectly healthy. He is just an active boy who cares more about playing than eating and who is in the 90%-100% for his height. I tried to include more healthy calories in his diet, but he didn't want anymore to eat, so I just leave him alone and let him be who he is-a tall, thin little guy. As long as your daughter's doctor says she is healthy and she is acting normally, then don't worry about it. Many people would be very happy to be a little underweight.

My 2 year old has weighted 25 lbs since she was like 20 months and is now 2 and a half. There isn't anything wrong with her and you don't need to do any test. She will eventually start to gain weight over the next year as she gets older. Each child is different. My 2nd child is 8 months & is almost 20 lbs, she is heavier than my last child ever was. Everything is ok.

I don't think my two year old has really gained a lot of weight either. she has pretty much been around 31-32 pounds for a while. they lose a lot of that baby fat; at least mine did. good luck