3 year old small for her age. Only 24 pounds...but healthy. What can i feed her to promote growth?

Question

Hi,
My daughter is tiny. just 24 pounds at 3 1/2 years old. good weight to height ratio. My husband is vietnamese, and many of his sisters are only maybe 100 lbs. She also has a milk and soy allergy- we found out when she turned 3, so I think that made a difference as well. Now she is eating a milk and soy free diet. Not being able to give her milk, I give her rice milk fortified with calcim and juice with calcium. What else is good to help her grow? She eats broccoli, meat, peanut butter and everything really. But eats like a bird. Takes me hours to feed her and playing games to get her to eat. It's exhausting. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Answer 1

I also have a 24 lb 3 1/2 year old daughter. I am petite and my husband is average size. My daughter's pediatrician asked about the height of our parents (mine small, his avg to tall). After telling the dr this info he said that my daughter will always be small. I guess it has something to do with the family tree!! My daughter is also a picky eater and we found out that she has an allergy to all nuts (they are contained in the darndest foods we wouldn't think of). Sounds like you are doing all the right things. Speak to your pediatrician, maybe he can also tell you what he predicts your daughter's size will be. Mine has consistently been in the 5th percentile on the growth chart. Good height to weight ratio as well. Dr. said as long as she is consistent and gets enough nutrition that there is nothing to be concerned about.

OK, so my almost 4 year old still wears size 18mos-2T!!

Answer 2

That's not funny but it puts a smile on my face because it reminds me of the games we sometimes would play with my now four (and a half) year old daughter. I thought we were the only ones to play games like that. Well, I found that a sticker chart worked really well. I made one that broke up the days into three categories: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She got a sticker for everytime she ate well and didn't (go figure) play with her food. At the end of the week if she got so many stickers (you decide how many) she got a surprise. She loved it and it works really well without all that stress of the child not eating so good. It helped and now the most she sits at the table is a half hour. And usually that is to talk to her daddy and me while we eat and feed her little brother. Matter of fact, I need to get it back cause it's all starting to happen again. The sticker chart is like the "go to"... "if you don't eat up you're not gonna get a sticker for your chart"... and she would just be so excited to get a sticker. Also, offering desert helps too. I try to a few times a week if she eats good. And sometimes it's just buttered popcorn (which does have fat and fiber :). Also, try not to waste too much time feeding her. She will probably respond well to frequent snacks. My daughter always has. Some kids just are more of a frequent snacker. I try to offer my daughter pretty good sized snacks with a variety of food groups. Where my daughter is petite (weight- wise) I do add a little butter to her veggies, bread, and before I thought that was a bad idea. But now she likes it and I know that she doesn't eat a lot of junk and she needs the fat. Avacados are really good for fat too- the healthy kind too. We eat really healthy so it was hard to realize that some kids need more fat than adults do. Once I realized that my daughter started gaining more. Good luck and don't worry :) (easier said than done, I know)

Answer 3

You did not specify how tall you were, we do know that some Vietnamese people are of short stature but that doesn't have too much to do with it depending also on yours and your family heigths. Don't try to force her to eat, that might be why she doesn't. When a child is hungry they will eat. As far as the lactose intolerance, also has nothing to do with her weight or height. Take her to endocrinologist to see what he says. Doctors can take x-rays of the hand and other bones and tell approximately how tall she will be. That way you will not have to worry so much. My daughter when a baby had to take soy milk also because she could not Similac or other baby's milk neither could she drink regular milk. I can't even tell you how many milks we went through. After getting a bit older she was able to tolerate any milk product. She is now 12yrs old, she is 5'10" weights 180lbs. and her skeletal bones show that she should be 15 years old not 12. So check with your regular pediatrician and ask him what your next step should be. Never force a child to eat because I am sure at 3 she is smart enough to know that is what you want and she will take her sweet time about. Children are very smart, don't underestimate your baby, she knows that the longer she takes to eat the more games she will play.

Answer 4

It seems like you are putting a lot of effort in already. My kids started out huge until they were about 5 and now they are all small for their ages. Some kids are just small maybe she is one of them. My 10 year old is about 4 ft. 2 in. and about 65 lbs. She eats everything in sight constantly. I think that you are already doing everything you can. But if you really want to bulk her up peanut butter is probably the best thing at her age. As for her eating like a bird that may be because you try so hard to feed her. I am not saying you are doing anything wrong you are just a concerned parent. Maybe if you don't try so hard to get her to eat and she doesn't get as much attention about food she will begin to eat more on her own. I imagine that would be difficult for you where she is so small but it may be worth a try. Most of the time kids can self regulate what they need to take in for food. Try and relax, you are obviously a caring mother.

Answer 5

i have a 9 year old with much the same story. she barely weighs 50 pound now. her 6 year old sister is bigger than her.
she is happy and normal and i don't worry about it too much anymore.
like your daughter she was allergic to milk products allthough i could give her soy. she eventually outgrew the milk allergy and she still is a bird like eater. Sometimes it takes her 30 min to get a small bowl of soup down.
my doctor did a bone growth test on her, they take an x-ray of the hands to see if they are growing at the rate appropriate for the age other child. turned out she was right where she is supposed to be. we figure she just takes after someone who was small in the family in past generations.
please try not to worry too much. as long as she is healthy otherwise. small can be a beautiful package too!

Answer 6

You said yourself she is tiny, and she has Vietnamese heritage.

As long as she is growing, showing measurable growth each year, you should not worry so much.

Maybe, by making such a fuss over her food (which you have to do, since she has allergies) you have made eating seem like a chore to her, rather than a pleasure. I think, if you make her food that she likes, and then just be more casual about it, she might eat better. If you find something she likes, give her as much as she wants, that will help her to add some extra weight.

Answer 7

My daughters are at a good weight, but don't worry as long as she does eat and she runs and plays, this should tell you she is healthy. Vitamins are a great way to make sure she is getting everything her little body needs to grow, they have gummy vitamins now, she may enjoy those. There may be a drink like ensure that is made from rice that will help her gain weight, but don't worry, sounds like being little runs in her genes, and she will always be tiny, she has a high metabolism and I am sure she will be just fine with your love and support.

Answer 8

Oh no leave her alone!!! Your not going to promote height growth your going to promote weight problems if your not careful. My son was only 18 lbs at 3 and very small but once he turned around 11 his growth spurt came and now he's pretty competetive with the other children his age. If she's meant to be small she's going to be no matter what you do. Just keep up the good HEALTHY eating habits and if she "skips" meals she will eat when she grows hungry. Trust in her she isn't going to starve to death.

Answer 9

I have a 3 year old myself (iam a single parent) and she is thin as well but i took her to the nutritiuonist concerning her weight and she asked what type of milk i fed her i told her 1 percent fat. she told me i was doing a good job that she is seeng a lot of overweight kids so young, that kids under 2 years old need the 100% milk. but at this age 1% is fine. so as long as your child is healthy i dont see why you would like to make her bigger. i guess she's a lean toddler

Answer 10

She's really light at her age, may I ask how height is she? How is her growing chart doing? And how much did she weight when she was 2 or 2 1/2 ? If her growing chart is showing normal, then you should not be worry. But if she's showing sign of stop growing or stop gaining, then you should talk to her Dr .