Weight Gain Diet

Hi M., This same exact thing happened to my best friend. She was also breastfeeding. Her doc put her son on a high calorie diet and he too was not having it. Finally the doc told her she needed to stop breastfeeding. She did and he started having more of an appetite. He then gained more pounds. Her son was extrememly underweight though, All children vary on their weight. I mean my nephew is only 4 mos and he weighs 17 pounds. I think it more has to do with how much he weighed at birth. See my friends baby weighed over 8 pds, and then was not thriving at the level he should of been. Do you breastfeed him before he eats? That could be throwing off his appetite. Try feeding him the food first then breast feed. That is the best advice I can give. Just know that this is normal.

You want to make sure he gets his breastmilk first - it's the best thing for him. Also be very wary about percentile charts (as per on of your other responders). There are actually charts for formula fed and breastfed children - your doc may be going off thw wrong chart.

There is no nutritional benefit to cereal at all. I wouldn't waste your time with it. See if you can coax him to take mashed up banana or avacado (thinned out with expressed breastmilk) - these are much better foods for your child.

Also, my son didn't really take to solids (he hated the texture) until he was about 15 months old. He is 10th percentile weight and my ped is not in the slightest concerned at all!

Hi, you say he is not drinking out of a cup yet. have you tried introducing a cup and he just don't want it? Cause if you keep trying you will succeed. I started both my kids (now 8&9) out on cups at 4 months old nothing but a drink from my cup here and there and they loved it. he may not be able to hold it himself for a little bit but as long as you hold it and keep offering he should take it if not right away after a bit he should get used to the idea. My daughter gave up the bottle and formula at 9 months old. She was drinking all her fluids from a cup at 9 months I just had to hold it for her and offer it often enough for her. Mine never even used sippy cups. When we would go to a friends house and a sippy cup was offered they looked at it funny. I hope this helps.. good luck and best wishes.. K.

wow just to say you sound like me almost..im also 33 married 5 yrs with an 11 month old..well she will be 1 on march 24...what i would say is have you introduced any table food yet?? maybe yogurt..some foods to just get your child to eat like fingerfoods may help. my daughter is going thru thisd with her firmula. she doesnt drink much. so we're in the process of introducing milk mixed with her formula and flavoring it. good luck!!

How much did he weigh at birth? Typically children double their weight by 6months and triple their birth weight by 1 year. I disagree with the suggestion to feed him food before giving him breastmilk. Breastmilk is complete nutrition, baby food should be considered a tool for learning to eat other food. If your son was primarily breastfed, it's normal for him to weigh less than his formula fed peers. Breastmilk is more digestible (and again it is complete nutrition) so he'd be getting what he needs without the extra fillers in formula.
If your pedi did the percentile chart and that is where his concern comes from, understand most people (even doctors) don't understand the way the percentile chart works. First what's important is seeing something of a correlation between the height & weight chart- they don't have to match, but you'd like to see that one is in say the 30th range while the other is in the 40th range- you wouldn't want to see one at 90% while the other is at 20%. The numbers represent 100 children your son's age-the 100th spot would be a kid who's very big and the 1st % would be a kid who's tiny. Normal isn't the average or the 50th%- it's anywhere from about the 25th until about the 75th. Many pedis are moving away from using them anyway, as comparing a child on a chart just isn't an accurate reflection of where the child is. Is he meeting age-appropriate mild stones? Does he have plenty of wet diapers and a couple of bowel movements (daily or every other day is usually normal). Does his body look proportionate? If those questions are answered yes, relax. And tell your doc to relax.

Hi M.-
I would suggest seeing a pediatric nutritionist. I was lucky enough to have one who worked at my son's pediatrician's office. My son was 4 lbs. 11 oz. at birth and had a hard time with weight gain for the better part of his first year. Maybe his doctor can recommend one. She really helped with all sorts of ideas for weight gain. My son loved waffles, mac & cheese and I would add some extra butter to them. You could also get the whole milk yogurts from Stonyfield Farms called Yo Baby. My son loved these and they have a good amount of calories/fat. Cream cheese & jam on some bread too. His nutritionist gave me some Carnation Instant Breakfast junior drinks which had all the nutrition and calories as well. These are just a few suggestions. Good luck!

I had a similar problem with my 1st daughter regarding weight gain, but found that if I offered food first then liquids it made an improvement. Offering food 1st then liquids, worked well for us. I also found it easier with my 2nd daughter to switch to a sippy cup from breast feeding than trying to even transition her to a bottle from breast feeding. She really liked being able to hold her cup on her own. I also wished I had transitioned my 1st daughter to table food sooner, like I did with my 2nd. My 1st daughter is a much pickier eater than my 2nd who we used more soft table food (in very small pieces) and less babyfood from jars. Good luck!

My son is also not a big eater....always on the low end. He had his 2 year check up 2 weeks ago and only weighed 24 pds but this time my doctor said he seems healthy, is extremely active, and he is not concerned. He said this day and age with childhood obesity as it is he rather see a child on the low end than overweight. My son is 8 percentile for weight, 35 percentile for height and 90 for head size. He walked at 9/10 months, is talking well for his age, and doing great. I have always struggled to keep my weight down and his father is a good size. I would stress about his eating habits and worry but I try not to do that anymore. My doctor was also concerned with my son's lack of weight gain but now feels it might just be the way he is and thinks he is doing great. My son also never just sits there...he is extemely active always playing and going something so I also think that has something to do with it. My son also never like the jar baby food...other than fruit. I wasn't able to breastfeed so he did take a bottle and did okay with that. I know I probably didn't help much but wanted to let you know I struggle with the samething and he is still doing great just on the smaller side. Best wishes

what about kix or cheerios and finger foods. does he like any of those? he seems old ebough to bne eating adult food. does he like squash, mashed potatoes etc.. if not maybe you can introduce them if he hasn't tried them yet. i don't know of any thing else except i think it is a good time to introduce a sippy cup one thta is spill proof. it will take some time to get used too b/c you siad he doesn't drink from a cup yet. well hope all works out for you. good luck. kelly

I fought this issue for a long time. Trying to add calories to my son's food (he was thin for medical reasons) on a constant basis. It can be very frustrating to try so hard and see not much of a weight gain. I know people say- oh they won't starve themselves- but it can get serious and become "failure to thrive". Luckily we did not get to that point- the doc gave us Duocal- ask your doctor. It is just a calorie powder. You add 1 tablespoon to food, drinks or whatever- it is tasteless. My son did so much better on this. We had tried the pediasure, carnation breakfast, butter, powdered milk, cheese....nothing really helped. Insurance did cover it. My son is now 2 1/2 and 27 pounds (25%). Pretty good considering all his prior medical issues. Another idea for the cup would be a straw cup. It is still a "sucking" action and my son took right to that- no interest in "sippy" cups. Hope this helps.

If you do not mind me asking how tall is your son. At one year my daughter was barley 19lbs, and she was 29inches long. Has the doctor told you where your son is on the chart, because sixteen pounds at 10 months is not the smallest i have heard of. Some kids are just ment to be tiny, not all kids have to weigh a lot.

Is your son really really active? My daughter is and she is 15 mths old and 23 lbs., and it sounds like your son eats more than her. She's extremely picky about food. There are sippy cups out with all different kinds of tops to them and characters from tv. Check around on different baby websites, like baby.com and webmd.com for info. Maybe even a 2nd opinion for another Doctor about why your son isn't gaining weight. In 1 month he'll be able to have regular milk, maybe that will help some. Good luck.

My son is 11 months old and going through the same thing. At his 9 month he was only 15 lbs. Then at his 10 month weight check he was 16 lbs. I have been giving him Pediasure before he goes to bed also. My older son went through the same thing at 12 months. Your child could just have a high metabolism. You just have to keep on feeding him throughout the day. Three meals a day plus snacks in between. I ended up giving him less fomula and more food. He was waking up at 3 in the morning crying and would not go back to sleep. Since I have been giving him less formula and more food he has been sleeping better. I would suggest to give him more table food than baby food. It is higher in fat and calories. Give him whatever you are eating. Try everything. As long as he can chew it up with his gums.

Sounds like my oldest child. He was only 19 lbs at a year old and 32 inches in height. He just had a very high metabolism. When he was a toddler he was so skinny you could see his ribs. His doctor always pushed ice cream at that age to fatten him up but he hated ice cream. Don't sweat it too much. At almost 16, he is a almost 6 foot and weighs 225 lbs. They catch up. Now my baby who will be a year old on the 23rd is 27 lbs and almost 34 inches. His height verses wieght ratio is dead on 50%. You could ask your doctor what your babies height verses weight ratio is.

Hello M.,
Don't be so concerned about your son's weight. When my daughter was a baby I went through the same thing. She was over a year old before she hit 20 pounds! She is now a healthy and active 7 year old; she is still on the tiny side. All kids are different. If he's healthy and reaching all of his growth devepolments other than the weight chart I wouldn't be too concerned.

At 11 months old he may not like having so much puree textured food. The lack of variety may be unappealing to him. My daughter never ate much of the baby cereal or baby food jars. She did much better if I ground her food up in a food mill or gave her soft or easily meltable solid (graham crackers, cheerios, etc) finger foods. Ever since I introduced regular table foods to her, and let her try to feed herself, she was a lot more willingly to eat. My recommendation would be to introduce more table foods, and if necessary increase the calories he is receiving by adding butter, cheese, salad dressings, etc, rather than giving him extra supplements. The supplements might increase his calories, but it won't address the underlying problem that he isn't eating a whole lot (if I understand you correctly).
My daughter also was a breastfed baby who never took a bottle. We used a sippy cup for a little while, but found it easier to go right to a straw cup (which is better for them anyway) or an open cup with my help.
My daughter LOVES to eat and eats a wide variety of foods. She is also a very active little girl. Yesterday she ate an entire Annie's Easy Mac and an apple for lunch. Because of her level of activity she burns a lot of calories and is pretty thin. At her 16 month appointment she was only 19.5 lbs, but 31 in tall. Our doctor isn't concerned. This may just be her body type.

That sounds like my daughter (she's almost 4 yrs old and weighs about 30lbs.). My daughter has always been light. She hardly used to eat at that age, but did eat when she was hungry. As long as they are eating something, I wouldn't be TOO concerned about it. Like my doctor told us, you can't MAKE a child that young eat. They WON'T starve themselves. They WON'T make themselves sick on purpose. They will only eat when they are hungry, and at 11 months old, there isn't anything else you can do about it.
I honestly would get another opinion. Or, just listen to the doctor, and just keep doing what you're doing. Sounds to me your child is very healthy and eats well for HIM. As my doctor told us, she is small....in todays world, small is uncommon so we try and fix it. My daughter doesn't and never has needed to be "fixed" due to her weight. I can't force her to eat. She eats very healthy. Healthier than a lot of other kids her age. By 2 years old, she was almost 25 lbs. when most kids are over 30-40lbs. She's not fat and she's not sick from not eating, because she does eat. As long as you have those two in play, your fine. All you can do is watch and make sure they're healthy.
I wish you the best of luck with your skinny minnie! Don't fret!