athomeontheprairie Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 About a year ago my oldest son went through test after test after test trying to figure out why he was feeling to gain weight. nothing was ever decided . And then the symptoms stopped, and slowly but surely he began to gain weight. and as long as he remains on the chart and on a curve we've just been monitoring his growth. well my pediatrician is 75 miles away, so instead of driving all that way every couple months just for a weigh I take him to the local health department. We went today and he has completely bottomed out.again. :-( I'm so sad. And so worried. He went from the 25th percentile back down to the first. I can see that he's getting thin, just can't get him to eat. I knew when we went in it was going to be low but I honestly did not expect it to be so low. What do I feed him to put on the pounds? What high calorie foods do your kids love? (I realize that every kid is different, and some of you probably have very small petite kids that are absolutely perfectly healthy. And truly, that's wonderful. This post is not about them. This is about my son who has had a history of failure to gain weight despite my efforts, the help of our pediatrician, local, and major Children's Hospital.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeghansMom Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 My daughter is underweight. She is a preemie, twin and has VATERS Association. She is 63 pounds and will be twelve the beginning of October, she still sits in a booster seat! We put pecans in the oven doused with cinnamon and sugar. She eats whole wheat waffles with strawberry jam, cream cheese and whipped cream slathered on, smoothies with peanut butter and such. Graham crackers with almond butter. Adding butter or gravy to things, extra cheese on items. All her numbers are great and she is good at eating salmon, brown rice, olives, broccoli, onions, green peppers, spinach, cherries and other berries. It is a balancing act. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Another recent thread that may also have helpful information: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/561094-help-me-sneak-calories-into-my-boy/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Healthy high calorie foods I can think of include guacamole, nuts, and nut butters. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caribbean Queen Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 apple slices dipped in warm peanut butter string cheese hot dogs cooked in a skillet with oil chicken salad on crackers not really snacks but... meatballs fried chicken ribs I've noticed that swimming gives my kids a big appetite. They eat better when they are amongst a group of people enjoying eating. They don't eat as well when they are given food and told to eat it because it's good for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 I make smoothies in the Vitamix using whole milk, Vanilla Instant Breakfast (now called Breakfast Essentials), and frozen strawberries & bananas. Peanut butter on graham crackers with sprinkles on top, chicken quesadillas, lots of PB&J sandwiches on whole wheat bread, tuna sandwiches made with lots of mayo ... If he has cereal for breakfast we pair it with chocolate Instant Breakfast. Most days he has a Zone protein bar. Our doctor mentioned using a children's nutritional supplement like Ensure if we need to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Spoons of peanut butter Chocolate milkshake with ice cream and instant breakfast (and a spoon of peanut butter!) Replace red sauce with homemade alfredo (butter, cream, Parmesan) Hollandaise on everything Avocados, dried fruits, and nuts for snacks Cook everything in bacon fat . . . fry his eggs in bacon fat and serve with hollaindaise on top! I make a snack called island balls. Put a handfull of macadamia nuts and a handfull of unsweetened coconut in a food process and grind until almost powdery. Toss in enough pitted dates and to hold the mixture together when processed. Form into balls and roll in coconut flakes. These are generally a hit with anyone who likes dates. If he's not a fan, you can try this with a different dried fruit like apricots. Maybe a fatty snack or some chocolate milk spiked with cream before bed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rattfink Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 My older son (almost 4) is very thin and will eat nothing but fruit if we let him. The real breakthrough with his weight gain was to find milk from grassfed Jersey cows which has a higher fat content. I have also had good luck feeding him smoothies made with yogurt and fruit as a drink for breakfast along with scrambled eggs made with butter. I make real mac&cheese which he will eat pretty well. I also make fritters out of leftover mashed potatoes, shredded summer squash, egg, flour and whatever meat and veggie scraps I have. I fry them up in 1/2" or so of oil which the potatoes really soak up and most kids seem to like them. He also likes burritos made with refrained beans, cheese and sour cream. Good luck, my son has just started filling out a bit and I didn't realize how worried I had been until the day I realized he finally had some meat on his bones. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeghansMom Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Yes, Ensure is good although my daughter won't drink it or Pediasure. She loves mac and cheese and she loves Alfredo, good ideas! She eats guacamole quite a bit. She also loves bacon egg cheese croissants, lol I wish I could eat like her! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 My dd12 is underweight even though she eats a decent amount of food (not a picky eater, which helps). For the past 1.5 months she has been drinking an Ensure Plus shake (store brand, actually) with 350 calories per 8oz shake, every day for a snack. We are very pleased that in that time she has gained 4 pounds and is actually back on the weight chart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 A couple more easy things .... full-fat Greek yogurt (I like the Greek Gods kind, yum!) and the breaded chicken patties that Costco sells. That one isn't winning any awards for healthy and fresh, but the kids eat them and they are fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 I tried so many things with Calvin. But he just doesn't have much appetite, and if I fed him high-calorie snacks he just didn't eat the next meal. I always make sure that there is a carbohydrate loaded with fat with every meal and he eats a fair bit of that. I keep an eye on what he will eat lots of, and make sure to serve it regularly. He put on weight at university: managing his own budget, I think he ate a lot of chocolate. At 5'11 he now weighs just enough to donate blood. That's the shape he is. He seems otherwise healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 We had good results with raw milk and cream. I would whip the cream, add some sweetener, and DS would dip fruit in it. He's slowly moved to the 25th percentile from the 5th and has held steady. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athomeontheprairie Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 Thanks for the ideas! Regarding the raw/whole milk that several mentioned: this is actually what caused him to stop losing weight and start gaining it. And then the cow we were getting milk from died. The family replaced the cow but currently she's bread so it will be a couple more months before we can start getting raw milk again. Beyond this one lady I don't know anyone else that has a milk cow close enough to us. Anyone here have their own milk cow? I am seriously considering it, we have space for one, even space close to the house! but I'm so concerned about the demands of taking care of such an animal twice a day. Every day. Especially in the winter. and the many extra dishes it would involve. (I don't have a dishwasher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Anyone here have their own milk cow? I am seriously considering it, we have space for one, even space close to the house! but I'm so concerned about the demands of taking care of such an animal twice a day. Every day. Especially in the winter. and the many extra dishes it would involve. (I don't have a dishwasher. It is a lot of work and milking a cow by hand is an enormous amount of work for your hands and arms. Milking machines are expensive. If you have the space, why not try a pair of dairy goats? Goats are harder to fence in but they are smaller, cheaper, eat less, and much easier to milk. The milk is still nutritious and delicious. Just don't keep them with a male goat or everything will stink. The milk won't separate nicely like cow's milk for cream. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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