Need high-calorie food ideas

[Mrs Mungo]

All of my kids are skinny, but my younger 2 are particularly small. They are good eaters, there are only a few foods that they don't really care for. I cook mostly from scratch, so they do not eat prepared/junky foods very well.

 

There have been a lot of threads on smoothies, but they are mostly trying to add vitamins. My kids eat everything from asparagus to kale. What I need is ideas of how to get more calories in them without adding sugar and mayo to everything (which seems to be the dietician's biggest idea, I don't think she encounters many people who cook nowadays).

 

We do lots of high calorie items like avocado, nut butters, cheese, olives, but I need other ideas.

 

Help!

 

eta: Oh, and I don't really want to give them ice-cream smoothies for breakfast. That's another idea from the dietician. But, she obviously doesn't have to teach children after feeding them ice-cream for breakfast.

[pink&bluemommy]

What about adding cream to smoothies? Coconut milk? Lots of butter , good butter on veggies etc.

[silliness7]

Maybe you already know most of these. But maybe it's worth a read.

[Pippen]

Add dried milk powder to things like baked goods and homemade pudding.

[Mom-ninja.]

Bananas are great for being high calorie but not empty calories.

 

Smoothie each day with banana, whole milk/cream, and whatever else you want.

 

 

If your kids already eat a lot of high calorie and healthy food, ignore their size (or lack thereof). :001_smile: My 10 yr old weighs 55 lbs, my 7 yr old weighs 48 lbs , my 3 (in two weeks) yr old weighs 24 lbs. I weigh 96 lbs. It's all good.

 

Oh, how about coconut oil? Use it to bake and make things like pancakes and such.

Edited November 3, 2011 by Kleine Hexe

[Heather R]

What about adding coconut oil to smoothies? It's sort of sweet so the taste should be ok...

Lots of butter or olive oil on their cooked veggies? Toss pasta in oil/butter? Basically look for ways to add healthy fats to everything... lol

[amo_mea_filiis.]

What about making homemade ice cream and using that for smoothies?

 

Pediasmart? I have not used it, but it looks like a healthy version of pediasure (I found it *after* my son started eating!). You could give them as a drink with a meal or 2.

[AndyJoy]

Stoneyfield organic baby/toddler yogurt is made with whole milk. You could re-package it before serving if they "baby" label would bother them or just use it in smoothies.

[Mom-ninja.]

Stoneyfield organic baby/toddler yogurt is made with whole milk. You could re-package it before serving if they "baby" label would bother them or just use it in smoothies.

 

You can get big containers of Stoneyfield Whole Milk yogurt that don't have the baby label. My kids love the cream layer on top.

[AndyJoy]

You can get big containers of Stoneyfield Whole Milk yogurt that don't have the baby label. My kids love the cream layer on top.

 

I wish we had that here!

[Crissy]

Quiche made with heavy cream.

Fatty fish like salmon or fresh tuna.

[Snickerdoodle]

I've come to terms with this scenario. Remember, I've got the 10yo who is 55 pounds soaking wet.

 

I also cook everything from scratch, make bone broths, add turnip greens to hamburger mixes, and give a huge variety of meats and veg. which they do eat, even if they happen to eat like birds.

 

I've decided that just providing a nutrient dense diet is all I can do. I won't try to puff them up with lots of sugary items just to increase calorie load.

 

At some point, puberty will kick in.

 

Good luck. :grouphug:

[Laurel]

Custard made with whole milk/cream/coconut milk

Sliced bananas with nutella and nut butter

Add olive oil/butter/coconut oil to mashed potatoes, etc.

 

Trail Mix Cookies (really nutrient dense as well as high calorie)

 

Chop together in the food processor:

1 cup raisins

½ cup dried apricots

¼ cup sunflower seeds

 

In a medium size bowl, stir together:

1/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup rolled oats or oatmeal (old-fashioned, not quick cooking)

¾ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup wheat germ

 

Cream together:

½ cup peanut butter

½ cup butter or shortening

1 egg

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

 

Stir the dry mixture and the chopped fruit into the creamed mixture. The batter will be stiff. Spoon the mixture onto cookie sheets, making 36 cookies about 25 grams each. Flatten the cookie slightly, it will be about 2 inches in diameter. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 8 – 12 minutes. Let cool on rack and store in a tin. These cookies stay very fresh for several days and freeze well.

 

Nutritional analysis per cookie: 124 calories, 3 grams protein, 17 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams fat, 40 mg. sodium, 2 grams fiber.

[Cinder]

I'm no help, but this reminds me of back when I was in high school. Our math (and math club) teacher was trying to lose weight as her son, who was our age--about 15, was trying to gain weight. He was a little skinny guy. But no matter how many milk shakes he drank, he never gained.

 

Maybe yours have such high metabolism and they just won't gain?

 

Yeah, see, I told you I was no help.

[Parrothead]

Glass of whole milk at night before bed.

[Miss Marple]

All of my kids are skinny, but my younger 2 are particularly small. They are good eaters, there are only a few foods that they don't really care for. I cook mostly from scratch, so they do not eat prepared/junky foods very well.

 

There have been a lot of threads on smoothies, but they are mostly trying to add vitamins. My kids eat everything from asparagus to kale. What I need is ideas of how to get more calories in them without adding sugar and mayo to everything (which seems to be the dietician's biggest idea, I don't think she encounters many people who cook nowadays).

 

We do lots of high calorie items like avocado, nut butters, cheese, olives, but I need other ideas.

 

Help!

 

eta: Oh, and I don't really want to give them ice-cream smoothies for breakfast. That's another idea from the dietician. But, she obviously doesn't have to teach children after feeding them ice-cream for breakfast.

 

I can't add much except to encourage you that it may improve shortly (for the 15 yo). I cook the same way and 3 of my 4 are very slight. The worst was my 2nd son who weighed 115 lbs at 6 feet tall. That was when he was 17. Between 17 and 18 he added over 20 lbs! He still looks thin, but gone is the painful, sickly looking skinniness he had endured for so many years. I think he is up to 145 lbs now at 6'1". He was active, ate healthy foods, and was developmentally fine so the docs told me to just let him go and see what happened. This boy could pack the food away but not gain weight - now it's coming on slowly. We did have his thyroid function checked and it was normal.

 

We encouraged smoothies, second helpings of favorite foods, and desserts :D

[lakotajm]

 

 

If your kids already eat a lot of high calorie and healthy food, ignore their size (or lack thereof). :001_smile:

 

My kids are skinny, too, under the same conditions as yours-I cook a lot of nutritious food. I was skinny as a kid. Now when puberty hit, that was another matter altogether. So I would not really encourage heavy meals because it is hard to break such habits later.

 

If they are eating healthy foods, they will become the weight that is right for their frame automatically unless they have a medical condition. We modern-day Westerners are just used to weights that would have been considered fat by ancient standards.

 

You may have to buy pants a size down (that's what we do), but so what? Encourage healthy eating and leave it at that. I should know: when puberty hit and I got pudgy, I couldn't lay off the mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits, fried egg sandwiches, bacon, etc. Just don't go there, trust me! Good habits, good habits, good habits and let it go.:)

[Snickerdoodle]

 

Just don't go there, trust me! Good habits, good habits, good habits and let it go.

I totally agree.

[LisaKinVA]

I use whole milk, and add protein powder (Jay Robb's Whey uses stevia, no added sugar. I like Vanilla and Strawberry the best). My kids will drink the Vanilla (1 c. ice, 1.5 scoops of Jay Robb's and 1 c. milk) like a milkshake. I do the strawberry multiple ways. They also like a chocolate-peanut-butter-banana smoothie...

 

My kids also love guacamole... if I make it fresh (need food-service gloves for those jalapenos, though).

 

We have also made a frozen "green" treat with avocado (base is grape juice concentrate), that the kids love.

 

Homemade granola (oatmeal, nuts, real maple syrup, olive oil, vanilla, coconut, baked for 90 minutes, stirring every 15)... with greek yogurt, honey vanilla, and berries.

 

Sliced apples dipped in a nut butter OR in either Yogurt Cheese/Cream Cheese blended with honey and vanilla.

 

But, in general... if they are eating well some of it is just genetics. I have 5 children none of which look like the others in coloring or build. My oldest is "in" puberty, but hasn't hit his growth spurt...unless you count his nearly size-11 foot (I just bought him a 10.5 5 weeks ago, when he measured a size 9.5, and they are now "tight.") He is a little pudgy in the middle, but nothing he won't grow out of in the next year or two. My oldest daughter is built like me... mostly muscle with a bit of padding. My next son is a string bean, wears a size smaller pants than most kids his height... but based upon BMI is obese, because he is ALL muscle (you can see his abs, the kid already has a 6-pack). My next is smaller than a string bean, and underweight and eats all. the. time. I just had to enforce a one glass of water before a glass of milk, to aid with elimination issues (she gravitates to whole milk and cheese). My baby is in the 5th percentile for weight and the 30th percentile for height... and eating isn't an issue. The kids all eat the same foods -- but genetics takes it from there.

[Mrs Mungo]

Thanks for all of the ideas, I appreciate it.

 

If your kids already eat a lot of high calorie and healthy food, ignore their size (or lack thereof). :001_smile: My 10 yr old weighs 55 lbs, my 7 yr old weighs 48 lbs , my 3 (in two weeks) yr old weighs 24 lbs. I weigh 96 lbs. It's all good.

 

 

I've come to terms with this scenario. Remember, I've got the 10yo who is 55 pounds soaking wet.

 

I also cook everything from scratch, make bone broths, add turnip greens to hamburger mixes, and give a huge variety of meats and veg. which they do eat, even if they happen to eat like birds.

 

I've decided that just providing a nutrient dense diet is all I can do. I won't try to puff them up with lots of sugary items just to increase calorie load.

 

At some point, puberty will kick in.

 

Just to explain. My son has a lung disease. They are afraid that if puberty kicks in before he grows, then he won't grow. He is ten and weighs 40 lbs. They are threatening to give him a feeding tube at night if I don't manage to fatten him up. We're beyond relaxing and letting it go. I know you all mean well and I don't mean to sound dramatic, but that's where we are at. :(

[Dana]

We saw a dietician for my son recently. Her suggestion was to add margarine to everything. :glare:

 

My son has nut and dairy allergies so we don't have some options for foods.

We have started having him drink more juice rather than water.

 

Hope you find some good solutions.

[beaners]

Could you add extra cream to whole milk to make it more like half and half? Maybe that with a few drops of vanilla could sub for a milkshake without the sugar?

[Snickerdoodle]

Could he be having malabsorption issues from his illness or from medication?

 

:grouphug:

[Jennifer in MI]

Thanks for all of the ideas, I appreciate it.

 

 

 

 

 

Just to explain. My son has a lung disease. They are afraid that if puberty kicks in before he grows, then he won't grow. He is ten and weighs 40 lbs. They are threatening to give him a feeding tube at night if I don't manage to fatten him up. We're beyond relaxing and letting it go. I know you all mean well and I don't mean to sound dramatic, but that's where we are at. :(

 

Oh wow. I didn't know. As I was reading this I was nodding in agreement with the others who said to let it go. (I have a nearly 6 yo who weighs 25 pounds.) Now, I see why you want suggestions.

 

Do you do a lot of nuts? Sorry, I don't remember. What about full fat yogurt? Do you have a Trader Joe's nearby? They have wonderful full fat yogurt. Meats? Protein powder in the shakes? Cottage cheese? My boys like it with raspberries and walnuts.

[Momof3littles]

Berries and homemade whipped cream (we sweeten with powdered erythritol and stevia because we avoid sugar). My kids had this for a snack tonight, with generous amounts of whipped cream (lightly sweetened as mentioned above).

 

Heavy cream can be added to homemade bone broths to make a creamy soup base. You can add whatever you'd like to that base (turn it into cream of broccoli soup, or chicken and rice, or whatever works for your dietary preferences).

 

Full fat greek yogurt. Maybe add in a little maple syrup for extra calories.

 

Nuts, trail mix

 

Butter on homemade baked goods. Could you bake with almond or other nut flours to up the calories/nutrition?

 

Like a PP we use Jay Robb protein powder for smoothies. It is the cleanest one I've been able to find. I use unflavored/unsweetened Jarrow sometimes. Some people bake with protein powder (check the lowcarbfriends forum) added to recipes for added nutrition. You could do smoothies with blueberries, nut butter, spinach (easily hidden in smoothies), probably a drizzle of an oil that doesn't have a super strong flavor, and whatever sweetener. That would be pretty calorie dense. Add half and half, heavy cream, full fat yogurt, etc. to it to up the calories and fat content.

 

Quiche

 

custards. Some custards call for extra egg yolks. Look for one like that that also uses something like heavy cream.

 

Coconut milk is very calorie dense and has great fats. I make myself homemade hot chocolate with it (sweetened with erythritol and stevia). You can use it in curries and smoothies. Look for the full fat kind. I like Native Forest. Lauric acid has some nice benefits.

 

Search online for a recipe for coconut oil "candy." There are tons of variations on this. You can use alternative sweeteners or lightly sweeten, or use whatever is acceptable to your way of eating.

 

eta: sometimes we use guacamole as a mayo sub. It is good with things like canned salmon and sardines. Not sure if those work for your kid though. Mine go through phases of really liking those things or sometimes really disliking them. You may be able to find lots of recipes where you could sub mashed avocado in for the "mayo" portion of recipes. You can also add avocado to salad dressings, etc. (blend it up first).

Edited November 4, 2011 by Momof3littles

[Jennifer in MI]

Cream cheese? I make an alfredo sauce that uses cream cheese as a base with cream, onions, garlic, and lots of parmesan cheese. Serve it with chicken and noodles or rice. Yum!

[Denisemomof4]

one of our family's favorite breakfasts is to have banana smoothies. For kids you're trying to put a little weight on, put heavy cream inside, whole milk, banana, and peanut butter. Yes, peanut butter! I am heavy on the peanut butter on these. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good and very, very filling.

 

Baked egg casseroles with lots of cheese.

 

My dd is very thin. I make sure every meal and every snack has adequate protein and fat. She eats a LOT of raw nuts and seeds.

[Moxie]

What about upping his carbs? That always makes me gain weight :glare:. Lots of bread, pasta and potatoes?? My friend with a skinny child fed her jello made with fruit juice instead of water. I'd probably give him lots of calories in the evening so he can't work it off. Good luck!

[Paige]

Add dried milk powder to things like baked goods and homemade pudding.

 

That's what we were told to do. We were told we could add it to almost everything, not just baked goods and sauces.

[LaxMom]

Thanks for all of the ideas, I appreciate it.

 

 

 

 

 

Just to explain. My son has a lung disease. They are afraid that if puberty kicks in before he grows, then he won't grow. He is ten and weighs 40 lbs. They are threatening to give him a feeding tube at night if I don't manage to fatten him up. We're beyond relaxing and letting it go. I know you all mean well and I don't mean to sound dramatic, but that's where we are at. :(

 

In that case, I will add that a friend of mine in highschool drank SlimFast shakes with meals in order to keep weight on during soccer season. She just couldn't eat enough to keep up with her metabolism when she was active otherwise.

 

Maybe something like that or one of the nutrition shakes would help? I realize it's not the most delightful prospect when you eat real foods, but that is what Ensure, Boost and the like were intended for.

[Annie]

Does he eat oatmeal for breakfast? When my little guy isn't eating well, I mix some coconut oil in his oatmeal. It's yummy and adds some good fat. I also occasionally put coconut oil in green smoothies.

[Mrs Mungo]

Thanks, everyone, keep the ideas coming! It is really helpful. There are several that I had not thought about.

 

Could he be having malabsorption issues from his illness or from medication?

 

:grouphug:

 

No, his levels are all normal, so no malabsorption as far as we can tell.

 

What about upping his carbs? That always makes me gain weight :glare:.

 

Over the past two years *I* have gained 20 lbs due to changing up the way that I cook. :tongue_smilie:

 

In that case, I will add that a friend of mine in highschool drank SlimFast shakes with meals in order to keep weight on during soccer season. She just couldn't eat enough to keep up with her metabolism when she was active otherwise.

 

Maybe something like that or one of the nutrition shakes would help? I realize it's not the most delightful prospect when you eat real foods, but that is what Ensure, Boost and the like were intended for.

 

We are doing nutrition shakes too, super-high calorie ones. :)

[kitten18]

 

We do lots of high calorie items like avocado, nut butters, cheese, olives, but I need other ideas.

 

Those are definitely the things I would have started with too. Is he getting carbs to go with those high-fat foods. I eat the high-fat foods, minus carbs to lose weight.

 

If they eat cereal, some cream to go with the milk.

 

When I was little, I liked toast with pb, then butter put on top. Yum. :tongue_smilie:

 

 

When my mom was in hospice, she was given a high-calorie juice drink. It looked like a juice box. I did a quick search but I can't seem to find it.

 

 

 

 

We saw a dietician for my son recently. Her suggestion was to add margarine to everything. :glare:

 

Margarine?:ack2:

Now if it was butter, I'm all over that.:D

[LaxMom]

...

 

 

We are doing nutrition shakes too, super-high calorie ones. :)

 

Good grief! He's a tough one, isn't he? :D

[Joker]

My brother used to eat a (or two) peanut butter and banana sandwich with a big glass of whole milk every night during football season to add pounds. It was rather crazy how big he could get doing it. I hope you figure something out soon!

[Dana]

Margarine?:ack2:

Now if it was butter, I'm all over that.:D

 

He's got a dairy allergy so butter would be very bad.

Many of the suggestions here wouldn't work for us due to the allergies we've got.

[Mom-ninja.]

Does he eat oatmeal for breakfast? When my little guy isn't eating well, I mix some coconut oil in his oatmeal. It's yummy and adds some good fat. I also occasionally put coconut oil in green smoothies.

 

Coconut flakes with heavy cream in any type of hot cereal is so good. You can add just about anything to hot cereal. :) Quinoa and buckwheat are high in protein. Both of those are yummy as hot breakfast cereal.

 

Can he eat eggs? Keep boiled eggs in the fridge at all times and encourage those as snacks throughout the day.

[WeeBeaks]

My youngest is falling below the 5th percentile so I'm getting this.

 

Pediatrician suggested adding protein powder to things. It's good in smoothies and jumps the calorie count. She also suggested adding fish oil or flax oil by the tablespoon to smoothies. It doesn't increase a feeling of fullness by volume, has good oils for the brain and is 100 cal or so a tablespoon I'm recalling (could be off on that).

 

Mine is only 15 months so we are not as worried as your situation but there are a couple things.

[Sandragood1]

OP, Is he willing to eat more, even when he's not hungry? It sounds as if he is eating a good diet, but you need to pack a few pounds on him pronto. Maybe you need an appetite stimulant for him - herbal or rx.

 

It can be very difficult to eat when you are not hungry. When DS loses his appetite due to ADD meds, it is hard to get him to eat - even knowing that skipping will give him stomach pain and an ulcer eventually. And he is 15.

 

With that in mind, have you shown him someone being fed using a feeding tube? Does he understand that that is what's coming if he can't make himself eat more (often)?

 

I know a family that tube fed their severely handicapped daughter for 8 years. It is not anyone's idea of a good time, but it is do-able. It is just another chore. It is also not great, wholesome food (IMO). But, it is not the end of the world. If that is what it takes, then maybe it is worth a try. You guys have to decide whether possible gains are worth it.

 

I hope you find something that helps,

 

Sandra

[Liz CA]

Perhaps it's a metabolic issue?

Got somewhat confused above. Is your son allergic to dairy or is it someone else's?

If not your son, then lather some butter on bread.

Try some mashed potatoes with cream.

Perhaps some ice cream smoothies after school but with plenty of time before bedtime.

Have you tried Nutella? You must have come across it in GER.

Also, hot chocolate / cocoa with whipping cream.

 

Geez, wish I had the calorie problem - not the lung problem. Hope you get a few pounds on him. I would not let them insert a feeding tube at any rate but this is just my opinion. Have you consulted other physicians or naturopaths?

[LynnG in Arizona]

Hi Mrs. Mungo! :)

 

As you know, we have this issue as well. No lung disease (that anybody knows about, anyway), but definitely a similar issue.

 

I too have felt frustrated with well meaning people telling me not to worry about it. It's one thing to be ok with being naturally thin, and it's another to have your child look like she just walked out of a concentration camp. When NO ONE else on either side of the family does. So I definitely empathize with your concern! (In our case, we've done all kinds of testing and nothing has turned up, but I can't shake the feeling that something is simply wrong.)

 

Anyway . . . we have tried Pediasure and all the variations, and our child simply doesn't like them. But we have had luck adding in a packet of French Vanilla Instant Breakfast to her morning glass of whole milk. I think the 8 ounce combo is something like 270 calories.

 

Would you mind sharing your best recipes for high calorie, kid-friendly shakes?

[ks-sunflower]

My daughter had severe growth retardation due to sleep apnea caused by enlarged adenoids. Apparently growth hormone is released at night during sleep. If the child's sleep is disrupted (by adenoid obstruction or perhaps lung disease in your son's case), the growth hormone is not released and growth is inadequate. In my daughter's case, removal of her adenoids resulted in a 20 lb. weight gain within a year as well as growth in height of several inches. She is still small, but her height and weight are on the charts at least now.

 

I would have him evaluated by an endocrinologist who can perhaps determine whether his growth hormone levels are normal.

 

Best to you!

[Carpe]

Are you vegetarian? My butcher DH suggests more fatty red meat :001_rolleyes:. He says that meat in Europe is "natural" (free from the additives found in North America) and the eating fatty rather than lean will contain higher calories and more nutrients. (I shortened what he said because he rambles.) But that obviously won't work if you don't eat it.

 

I read somewhere that North Americans get something like 40% of their calories from beverages. If that is actually true, you should be able to drastically increase his calorie intake by giving him lots of calorie-heavy drinks.

 

Hot chocolate? (If someone has a way to make nutella into hot chocolate I am :bigear::bigear::bigear:) Root beer floats? I really have no idea, especially if you are already feeding him high calorie smoothies.

 

The only other suggestion I have is more fat. Oil, butter, etc. in everything you can get it into.

 

:grouphug: I can't imagine because my not yet 2 year old is nearing 35lbs. (Must be all that meat DH brings home :001_rolleyes::lol:)

[ZooRho]

I'm so sorry you are dealing with this. I had a son that was on super low fat and needing 4,000 calories a day because he is a swimmer. We are off the super low fat now so it isn't an issue.

 

But I can tell you I used sparkpeople.com for him. They have a kids section but I had to put him on the adult section. I did all his work so it wasn't like he was the one on the site. but I couldn't change the perameters on the teen site.

 

That helped me keep track of his calories, and doing a bit of "forced" feeding. That is probably what you will need to do with your son. SO look for things that you eat in higher calorie counts. Like he would eat bagels, so I found ones that were higher calories, (oh lots of fun since I didn't need the higher calorie things) anyway the bagel we found was 300 cals per bagel.

 

We also used Greek Yogurt in his smoothies.

 

The other thing you will have to work on doing especially since he is so small is to work on him eating more meals and trying to stretch his stomach too.

 

So for us ds ate breakfast, mid mornig snack, lunch, pre workout snack, after work out snack, dinner and dessert.

 

I would talk to the dietician again about how many calories he needs, and then divide them out during the day. That is what I had to do make sure he had half his calories done before swimming.

 

That will help you work on the things that will help boost his calorie counts. Mine also did protien shakes, he used skim milk but you could use whole milk.

 

I think others suggested it too but add powdered milk to his stuff, some people add protien poweder to baking stuff.

 

Sparkpeople has a recipe calculator so that you can work on how many calories the recipe has. That will probably help you too, to really know what difference it is making to adding things to your recipes.

 

I agree with using whole milk, butter, Nuts, oatmeal.

 

but really the biggest thing you will have to do at least until you have a good grasp on calorie counts is to literally count his calories. I did get good enough with ds that I knew if he had all his snacks and his meals he got enough calories.

 

I really am sorry.

 

I'd also suggest doing a google search for his particular issues, and needed weight gain, I was able to find lots of help for my ds's particular issue and that helped me a lot to know how to help him.

 

Oh for his smoothies, I used 2 cups of frozen fruit, the green goddess juice, 6 oz of the yougurt, that eneded up being about 300 cals each.

[Mrs Mungo]

Trying to remember all of the questions without quoting everyone. My son isn't allergic to dairy and we eat meat (it is his favorite food). We have seen several pediatricians, 4 endocrinologists, 4 pulmonologists, 3 nutritionists/dietitians and 2 gastroenterologists.

 

Hi Mrs. Mungo! :)

 

As you know, we have this issue as well. No lung disease (that anybody knows about, anyway), but definitely a similar issue.

 

I too have felt frustrated with well meaning people telling me not to worry about it. It's one thing to be ok with being naturally thin, and it's another to have your child look like she just walked out of a concentration camp. When NO ONE else on either side of the family does. So I definitely empathize with your concern! (In our case, we've done all kinds of testing and nothing has turned up, but I can't shake the feeling that something is simply wrong.)

 

I know you all have been through the medical gauntlet too. It is frustrating because it seems like they are looking at each issue in a bubble. The endocrinologist only deals with his size, the pulmonologist only deals with his breathing issues, neither wants anything to do with the fact that he has started to have migraines. They don't really know what is causing the issues but insist that each issue is unrelated from the rest. It is frustrating.

 

Anyway . . . we have tried Pediasure and all the variations, and our child simply doesn't like them. But we have had luck adding in a packet of French Vanilla Instant Breakfast to her morning glass of whole milk. I think the 8 ounce combo is something like 270 calories.

 

Would you mind sharing your best recipes for high calorie, kid-friendly shakes?

 

I'll have to type this out tomorrow on the computer.

[Annie Laurie]

Cream cheese? I make an alfredo sauce that uses cream cheese as a base with cream, onions, garlic, and lots of parmesan cheese. Serve it with chicken and noodles or rice. Yum!

 

Would you mind sharing the recipe? My teen loves alfredo sauce and is skinny as a rail.

[Truscifi]

Ds was underweight for a while when he was younger. Our ped suggested making a smoothie with Carnation instant breakfast added. It is a meal replacement, so it adds a lot of calories. She also said to add butter to everything - veggies, toast, even meat. I didn't do that one so much.

[Cinder]

Ok, I hope this doesn't sound too outlandish, but I was remembering a show I saw long ago about sumo wrestlers. They nap after they eat to gain weight faster. I think a pp alluded to a high calorie snack before bedtime. Perhaps this kind of strategy would help?

[Jennifer in MI]

Would you mind sharing the recipe? My teen loves alfredo sauce and is skinny as a rail.

 

I usually just throw stuff into a pan!

 

Saute an onion (or two) in some garlic and oil. Cook the chicken (I usually use 2 pounds of boneless, skinless) in the onions. (I cut it up small) Add a block (or two!) of cream cheese and melt it. I usually add a little chicken broth to water it down a bit so I don't burn the cheese. Then, I throw in some whole milk. Grate some fresh parmesan (lots!!) and add it. All of this needs to be done over pretty low heat so you don't scorch all the milk products!

 

Taste it. If it's too thick, add milk or chicken broth.

 

Serve over noodles or rice.

 

Very easy! And really good. But, really not very healthy! LOL

[jenangelcat]

We saw a dietician for my son recently. Her suggestion was to add margarine to everything. :glare:

 

My son has nut and dairy allergies so we don't have some options for foods.

We have started having him drink more juice rather than water.

 

Hope you find some good solutions.

 

That's awful. Why wouldn't she recommend butter. It's a lot better for you.

 

Kids need a lot of fat in their diet anyway. All of us here eat lots of cream, butter, lard and bacon. I have a super skinny daughter and the only thing she gained (a tiny bit of) weight on was whole goat milk. She has the same body type and metabolism as my husband.

 

A friend of ours has a daughter with CF, they too were always trying to fatten her up but they went with high calorie junk food to do it. It didn't work.