Healthy Ways to help a 2.5 year old to gain weight

[Jennifer132]

My 2.5 year old hasn't gained any weight in over a year. She was born drug exposed and when we got the call to foster her, so was 4 pounds, 9 ounces and in less than the 1st percentile for her age. Within the next four months, she shot up to the 90th percentile. She was really roly-poly until she started walking, and then she thinned out and looked great. Now she is just getting taller and thinner, and she is now in the 10th percentile for weight. I find this bouncing all over the charts very disconcerting. I just think she is getting too thin, and I want to help her eat some healthy fatty foods. She doesn't drink milk, but she would if I offered it. Should I start there? She does eat nuts, eggs, avocado, cheese, and has a healthy over all diet (but no sweets). she drinks alot of water. Creative ideas welcome!

[IdahoHomeschooler]

Pediasure or whole milk with Carnation Instant Breakfast. Eggs mixed with heavy cream and scrambled, with cheese. Wheat toast with peanut or almond butter.

 

I sympathize with you. I go around at the grocery store looking at labels to find items with the *most* calories added to them, lol.

[bettyandbob]

Yes, go for full fat dairy products like milk and cheese. Add cream to eggs like the pp said. Look for full fat yogurt --my friend gets this for her ds and it's actually hard to find. Nut butters. 

[LibraryLover]

Assuming you have chatted with her health care provider...that sounds like a growing child with 'skinny' genes. :)  I think organic whole milk is fine, but  I wouldn't overly push it beyond what the child might want with breakfast etc.  Since she isn't picky and is eating good food at regular intervals, I would not assume there was a problem.  I would not resort to processed milks/ sugars at this --or any- point- unless there was a health/sensory/feeding issue.  Offer good food, with good fats & proteins etc.

[idnib]

My DS was in the 8th percentile and improved with eggs, kefir, and cod liver oil. He's still thin but better.

[momto10blessings]

Add powdered milk, heavy whipping cream or half and half to whole milk to make a super milk.

 

Copied from my notes:

Carnation instant breakfast (CIB) w/ whole milk- 280 cal

 

CIB milkshake- package CIB, 1/2 cup half n half, 3/4 cup ice cream- 509 calories

 

Yogurt smoothie- 8 oz yogurt, 1/2 cup half n half, 1 cup fruit- 380 cal

 

Chocolate peanut butter shake-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, 3T peanut butter, 3 T chocolate syrup, 1/2 cup chocolate ice cream- 1070 cal

 

-Wheat germ- mix into bread/pizza dough, pancake mix, ground meats, cookie batter, muffin mix

-Dry milk powder add 2-4 T/cup whole milk, mix into pudding, potatoes, milkshakes, pancake mix, yogurt, soup, ground meat

 

Eta: Hmmm, I misread and didn't realize the child is only 2 1/2. I'm not sure I would push protein rich food at this point... The above is for older kids...

[Carrie12345]

For my 6yo, I throw natural peanut butter on everything.  Lots of eggs, yogurt, and whatever extra calories I can shove into smoothies.

He would drink Ensure all day if I let him (I'm guessing Pediasure is the safer bet with a toddler) but I limit him to 1 a day and try to push the rest through real food.

 

FWIW, my efforts don't help all that much. He's genetically predisposed to be insanely skinny.  Dh has been rail thin his whole life, with a little gain when intentionally bulking on protein supplements.  I push the extras on ds b/c his doctor worries that a lymes relapse could be dangerous if he doesn't have any weight to risk losing.

[LMV]

Check back in with your pediatrician and make sure they don't want to do more tests to rule out some of the organic explanations for FTT.

 

Beyond that, our now five year old foster daughter lost a significant amount of weight between her four year old well child visit and when she came to us.  Weight loss in a growing child is almost always a concern so we were quite focused on getting her appropriately renourished.  She had no interest in food (likely because of the concurrent depression---that is much better now) so we also used supplemental smoothies a lot.  

 

Strawberry Smoothie

Grind in Blender:

1/4 C. Cashews

1/2 C. Oatmeal

Add in:

1/2 C. Fresh/Frozen Strawberries (we have a greenhouse so we do have these fresh almost year round)

8 ounces whole milk

1 whole banana (If you use fresh fruit consider freezing the banana)

*Blend together until desired consistency is reached.  

 

[This generally blends together quite well and the finished volume is about 10 ounces or a little less.  Calories~600]

 

She really likes strawberries but you can experiment with other fruit/nut combinations.  We've probably done almost all of them except for blueberries (which DFD-9 is allergic to) so if you're looking for other ideas let me know. 

[Seasider]

Mine was 4th percentile at that age. Doctor said let her eat whatever she wanted, as much as she wanted (not candy of course!). We ate a boatload of macaroni and cheese for a couple of years!

 

Will she eat good fats like avocado and olives? My kids loved putting olives on their fingers when they were little and then "biting their fingers off."

 

Cottage cheese can also be blended and mixed into a lot of things.

[TechWife]

What does her doctor say?