Weight Gain - Painesville, OH

You have gotten a lot of good advice so far. And I am just going to echo what everyone else has said, being more mobile will make it harder for him to continually gain weight like he did as an infant. My son is big for his age, however my daughter (who was also born in August of '06) has continued to gain weight, but not as much as my son. She is about 20lbs right now. But she eats more then my son!
Good luck!

I have a friend with a little boy who actually LOST almost 2 pounds between 9 and 12 months. Is your little guy much more mobile now than he was at 9 months? It could simply be that he's working off lots of calories by being active.

Good luck ... I'm sure everything will be just fine.

Well considering my son is 4 and weighs about 24 lbs I know all about this hehe. your son is active, so he wont gain quite as fast the more they go the less they gain. Some kids may just have a samll body type ( my 2 youngest are smaller then average) when my oldest is pretty average. I think It all depends. Also if he is a yr now you could always try the carnation instant breakfast, which is similar to pediasure. Just alot cheaper!

Yes, I went though this with my daughter. She weighted the same weight at 18months that she did at 12months. The Dr. just like yours had us start coming in every 2 weeks to be weighed. He said his concern was not in what her weight was, but that her weight growth curve had gone flat. When she did not show any gaining, and then started loosening, the first thing I had to do was to take a diary of everything she ate for a week. EVERYTHING, even if it was 2 gold fish crackers. She ate a tone compared to what my son ate at the same age, and the Dr. was shocked. He had figured she was just going though a picky stage and said that was normal. But when he saw what she ate, he made us go get tests done. The only thing they found wrong was that she was anemic (spell?) He gave her iron and we kept monitoring the weight. He also had me add a pedeasure once a day (but like I said, she was 18 months by then). She finally started gaining, and is perfectly fine now. The Dr. gave me several possible reasons. 1. His concern was that there was something wrong with her ability to absorb nutrients, so that is why he ordered the tests. (That was not her case) 2. He said it is not common, but he has seen kids just go through stages like this, and he said it will probably happen again, and it is unexplainable, and nothing to worry about. --- Also, as the other lady said, at his age, it may just be that he has gotten more active now. I hope that makes you feel better to know you are not alone. He is most likely perfectly fine, but your Dr. is doing the right thing by monitoring it to just make sure. It is better to be safe than sorry latter.

Is your son really active? If so then he is running his calories off. I wouldnt worry too much. My niece had the same problem, and she is healthy and quite athletic.

I went through a similar experience with my pediatrician over my daughter. She progressively gained weight until between her 12 month appointment and her 15 month appointment. The concern was her fall ont he growth chart by not gaining weight. My pediatrician had me start Pediasure (which my daughter hated) two times per day. I also asked if there were things that I could do in addition to that. The suggestion was to prepare my child's foods with butter, not margarine. So, I did that and I let her (and my son) have a few less nutritious snacks during the week. At her next appointment she had gained 3 pounds and had rebounded (that was over a 3 month time period).

Couple of things to keep in mind: 1. Are you currently giving your child the same diet you follow? Meaning are you following a low-fat diet and he is having the same. Although a low fat diet is great for us, for a toddler, they need the fat for brain growth. So, with a good balance of veggies and fruit and protein - the more fat the better.

Second: one of the main reasons that my pediatrician decided her size was not a problem is that at the second appointment I took my son. My son, who is a healthy 4 year-old, only just graduated to a 2T in pants (believe it or not, but when he potty trained at 2, we had to go back to 12 month pants for waist size and he still can fit a long 18 month pant). He is small for his age as I and my husband were at that age. My daughter is the same. Heredity is going to play an important factor in your child's development. In fact, my Mom was told that my brother was going to be a midget - yet he is 5"10" now. If you come from a family of more petite people, who tend to grow later in their teens, then the fluctuation in weight or heighth is normal for your family.

Good luck and I suspect you will see a change in his weight at the next appointment, with no worries! BTW - I think your son weighs as much as my 2 and 1/2 year-old daughter!!!! :)

Aleisha,
I think this is pretty common...they tend to get more mobile between 9 months and a year, so they're burning off more calories. I'd trust the doctor on this one. I'm sure they're graphing his weight...trust me, they'll let you know when they're concerned.
My son (who's now 2 1/2) didn't gain anything from 9 months to 15 months (he started walking at 8 months)...

Aleisha,
My daughter also has had this issue...she is perfectly healthy and her height also plays a factor...As long as he is eating and growing there is nothing to worry about. My dr had us bring her back once a month for about 5 months to track her weight. She is 2yrs and 3 months very active and wears 18 month clothes. She is almost 3 ft tall. Some kids just dont met the scale. With all the overweight kids sometimes i wodner if they have adjusted the scale to accomidate them.

HI,

I also experienced the same thing with my little boy. I think he gained one pound between his 6 month and 1 year check up. At that same time, though, he started moving a lot more - crawling, walking . . . . I think he just burned more calories than when he was little and not moving much. Just watch to make sure he's doing other developmental things. It sounds like he's getting plenty to eat! Hope this helps some.

J.

My oldest daughter was 19 lbs 4 oz at 9 months and 19 lbs 7 oz at one year. She was then 19 lbs 10 oz at 15 months. The drs. were not concerned and she is still in the 25th percentile for weight at 2 1/2. She is also very active (she walked at 8 1/2 months). My youngest was the same way--19 lbs 11 oz at a year and only 19 lbs 12 oz at 15 months. It does concern me with her since she only gained one oz. at the last check up, but we'll see what she is at 18 months. When I said something about it, the pediatrician told me they are only concerned if the child actually LOSES weight in between check ups. From what you said, your son seems to be eating and drinking enough. 24 oz of milk a day is great!! I think he will be fine. His weight gain throughout his whole life will probably be gradual, which is not a bad thing. :)