Suggestions/advice for 6 Yr Old That Only Weighs 35 Lbs

My daughter is 6 and weighs only 35 lbs too. My doctor isn't worried and I'm not either as her grandmother and one of her aunts (both sides of family) never weighed more than 90 pounds.

No allergies in the family, just petite members. :)

My son still has food allergies, peanuts and eggs. He outgrew the milk allergy when he was 6. He loved soy ice cream. You can get ice cream sandwiches that are made with soy but I am not sure whether they are corn free. He loved sorbets but also preferred Vance's Dairi-free milk, chocolate flavored. He has always been skinny. Now he is 8 1/2 and weighs 48 lbs. My pediatrician says he is perfectly healthy and he just may always be thin. He has put on most of his weight in the last year because he is getting taller. So long as your child is healthy and eating, I wouldn't worry about the weight. Good luck.

Hey R.,
Doctors just go by a chart that tells them the average height and weight children should be, if your son eats regularly (and it sounds like he eats often and very well) and there are no other health concerns, then don't worry about it. He will catch up on his weight!! My daughter have both spent most of their lives underweight by the doctor's standards, but they are both very happy and very healthy!!
God Bless and I wish you the best!!

R.,
I have a five year old who weighs all of 28lbs. She was a premie so at first we thought it was just her catching up. About two years ago she lost four lbs for no reason. She wasn't sick or anyting. I knew something was up.

For the last two years we have run all kinds of tests, twice to rule out diabeties, celliac (sp), systic fibrosis and many other things. We were finally sent to an endocrinologist and discovered she has a growth hormone deficeincy. The treatment is a daily shot of growth hormone.

I guess what I am saying is that if your son is eating and eating a lot there might be a few things to test for. It could be that he is so active and with the limited diet he just doesn't gain much. Or there could be another problem. I'd just talk it over with your doctor and see what the next step is.

I will be praying for you and your family to discover the cause of the low weight gain.

My son is almost 6 and he only weighs 29 lbs! Our doc isn't concerned because he does eat well and has regular bowel movements. So many things can factor into a child being small- or large. For instance, are you and/or your husband small? Is he a really really active kid? It could just be his metabolism. It could be a family trait. I wouldn't worry about too much. If he's eating and is healthy, I would keep the doc close- but not too close :) Every child is different in growth, development, strengths, weaknesses... I think this is just one of those things. If you're concerned about it, then do something about it. If you're not terribly concerned, then just keep an eye on him.

I would try a different allergist. What about potatoe dishes.

I would ask my pediatrician for a reference to a dietician right away. I'm surprised this wasn't already offered to you, so ASK! Good luck to you.

I would ask your pediatrician/allergist to get you in touch with dietary specialist. With the many challenges of allergy's etc...you really need professional advice...and you need to just keep knocking on doors until you get one. You are the advocate for your child...and now is the time to address this.
Hopefully your little one will outgrow the allergies...but you need to get your medical advisors to be a little more hands on with this and help you find a solution
Good luck
R. Ann

Have you ever used brewer's yeast? You can find it at a natural market. 2 Tbs have about 120 calories. You can bake with it or sprinkle it on things...we sprinkle it on yogurt, but given your son's allergies, you could sprinkle it in baking items...leave out several tablespoons of wheat and add it in. We also use ground flaxseed in eggs. Or if you make tofu smoothies, put both in there. I add wheatgerm, brewer's yeast, and flaxseed to smoothies and my son never notices. I also add peanut butter but you could add a Tbs of almond butter or sunflower butter for extra calories and fat.

I'm sure you can google ideas. You can add powdered milk, butter, cream, etc to homemade items to make them richer. Nursing homes do this to help the elderly from losing weight. Just think the total opposite of what we have all thought all along :) Add butter to his veggies, syrups to his fruit, milk shakes, etc.

Did you explain to the allergist that he was sick the week prior? It's pretty hard to gain weight when you're sick!

I would ask the allergist, or his primary care physician for a referral to a nutritionist/dietician. It sounds like you will be needing some professional assistance in finding extra nutrition for your child that will not aggravate his condition. It is likely that his allergist already has a nutritionist she prefers to work with and will send you there.

Good luck!

C.

1st - congratulations to you for finding foods that DO work for him!

I agree with all the other Mom's that you should have been referred to a nutritionist/dietician and that you should see if there's something else wrong. The 1st thing they'll ask you do to is keep a list of everything he eats for about a week - so you might get a leg up on that.

My son loves smoothies. He can't have cow's milk either, so we use rice milk. 1/2 c frozen strawberries, 1/3 of a banana & 1/3-1/2 c rice milk. If he can do soy, you might even look into a soy protein powder - but we've always been cautious about giving too much soy to our son, since they don't know how the plant estrogens affect development in small children yet. I have a magic bullet and he likes to help me blend it. He loves it, and I love that he's getting 2 servings of fruit!

Good luck Mama - hang in there and follow your gut. If you think there's really something wrong, push the doctors!

T.

Certainly weight loss can be a concern. Please be careful about adding calories just to reach a number. If you son "lost" a pound, it may have been because he was sick. His appetite may have been off, if he lost of lot of fluids and solids, he may have lost a pound.

Also, kids don't always grow linearly. He may not have put on much weight this year, but may catch up next year. When my son was little, he grew 6 inches from age 4 to 5, 5 to 6 and 6 to 7. 18 inches in 3 years! He obviously didn't keep that up!

So, look at his general health and happiness. You may want to feed him a bit more. Others on this site might give you some food suggestions. Mine would include foods your son can't really have. I would really try to avoid adding too much sugar, which is the easiest way to gain weight. Moderate fat for kids is not that bad, although you don't want to become a life long habit. If he eats pasta, maybe sprinkle a little 100% olive oil. Little things like that may make a difference.

Good luck!

R.,
I'm no doctor. So take what I'm going to say any way you will. But I also weighed 35 pounds when I was 6. My family had been obsessing with trying to get me to gain weight for years. But what I want you to know is that when I finally started gaining weight I never stopped! I was 180 pounds at 16 years of age and I've been dieting my whole life. I've been over 200 pounds and even as high as 232 pounds the last 10 years. I finally weighed in at 194 today and feel so discouraged and like I'll never be to a normal weight again.

Is your sons bloodwork coming back ok? Is he active and seemingly healthy in other ways? Has he been checked for parasites or anything that would interfere with his growth?

Suzi

I would definately get another opinion. If he eats that well and he is not anemic then he is doing fine. I hate it when doctors put kids in a weight/height class and think that all kids should be there. Let me tell you I had a 7 lb baby boy, he didn't gain much weight after he was 3 months old. He rarely hit the growth chart and was never above 5% when he did hit it and then didn't stay there long. He ate well but just didn't gain weight fast. He wore a size 2T in Kindergarten and was less than 40 lbs for a long time. In fact he wasn't even 80 lbs in 9th grade and when they changed the car seat laws to 80 lbs he would chuckle and say I am in 9th grade and not sitting in a car seat lol. Anyway he is pretty healthy and has even grown out of the asthma he had when he was little. He is still very skinny but now is 16 years old, 5'7" and weighs around 120 lbs but he did grow up and isn't the shortest in his class anymore. After so many doctor appointments on this issue and they could never find anything wrong, even went to see a nutritionist and she looked at what he ate and said well I think it is just genetics because this child eats more healthy than most kids. After I talked to the doctor about the fact that his Dad is 5'6", I am 5'2", my parents are both 5'6" and his mom is 5', dad isn't tall either then the doctor finally determined it must be genetics and we no longer had this issue. he was just small and petite but was the happiest baby and grew at his own pace. My other 2 were in the 50-75% growth rate and now have to watch what they eat as they tend to gain weight easy so have to exercise or be more active to maintain a healthy weight. I think more kids in the "healthy" range when they are babies actually struggle more when they get older with being obese or a bit overweight so I definately would not be boosting calories or making their stomachs bigger by pushing more food when they already eat healthy. Start measuring out what a serving is for your child's age and if your child is eating those full servings then he is eating fine and is probably eating more healthy than the average child anyway. He just probably burns it off faster and can add in some healthy snacks if he feels hungry. He will let you know when he is hungry. I don't think that 35 lbs for a 6 year old is that tiny anyway. Even my healthy one was barely 40 lbs at age 5 and he is big now at 9 weighs around 80 lbs and has broad shoulders and most people ask if he is a football player. As long as your son is healthy and eating he will be fine.

R.,

I'm certainly not a medical expert, but one of my friends had a somewhat similar situation. Have you had him tested for Celiac (spelling?) disease. It is basically an allergy to gluten which causes weight loss in children. I would also go back to the allergist and ask if any of the foods you are offering could cause this (due to his allergies) and what you can feed him to help him gain weight. Best wishes to you and your family.

What about Pediasure or Boost-I'm not sure if they have one that's milk-free? We use the lactose free Boost with my almost 9 year old to gain/maintain weight. He drinks one every night before bed (350 calories) and it seems to help him. We can see a difference in him after a couple of weeks of consistently giving him one each night.

Hi R.,

I don't have advice for the weight gain, but I feel for you with the diet restrictions. My daughter also has milk and corn allergies, but we've been able to add wheat and eggs back in. I hope you've found resources for the corn allergy, as I think this has to be the most difficult to manage, depending on how sensitive he is. I have 3 websites that I use as my bible and support for managing the corn allergy...let me know if you'd like the links. I'm just wondering if he could be reacting to the corn that's sprayed on the fruits, veggies and meats, or if you're using corn safe versions. I thought my daughter was allergic to everything and it was freaking me out, then I realized it was because corn is in or on (or cross-contanminated on) virtually everything. Allergists and nutritionists are generally no help...I just had an allergist two days ago tell me that all citric acid is made from citrus fruit, when actually almost all of it in this country is made from corn. Good luck. C.

I know when actors want to gain weight they eat pasta, it has tons of carbs,which is a good way to gain weight. I completely disagree with the lady that said to add high fructose corn syrup as you said he's allergic to corn, obviously. Also the advice to sit around is horrible! Muscle weighs more than fat, and really muscle weight is what you want, also with a healthy amount of fat. So protein to build muscles, and carbs for energy and more weight gain. I do agree that you should talk to a nutritionist/dietician. Good luck, I hope you find a solution soon

First of all, as you said he was sick. It is not uncommon for anyone, child or adult, to loose a couple of lbs when they are sick. Generally, once you feel better, the weight comes back without any changes to your diet. Unfortunately, because of the milk allergy you can't do Pediasure. I'm not sure if they make a soy product or not but you might want to look into it. Generally, I would suggest something like this that you can give him as a suppliment. Maybe you could come up with your own nutrient rich protein type shake that you can give him along with the regular meals. As long as he is growing, eating, and active, don't stress too much about the weight.

Avocado is a good, fatty treat that I indulge in every now and again! Also, Mexican food is great and you can get flour tortillas instead of corn tortillas. Add some sour cream to his tacos or burritos, and he'll get some good calories in there.
If you are worried and you think that something is wrong, by all means, ask your allergist for a referral to a nutritionist. If you don't think that anything is wrong, don't worry about it.