My 2 year old has a horrible time gaining weight. Have any advice or maybe just some "been there" support?

Question

My son was born at a healthy weight, and until he was about 8 months old, he was in approx. the 50th percentile. When he was 8mo, I stopped producing enough milk and had to switch to formula. He took it fine, but soon dropped to the 25%, and the last time I took him to his well-baby appointment he was only in the 5% for height and weight. He's very intelligent and the docs all said he's either average or above average in everything except height and weight. They put him through a battery of tests last year, testing him for celiac's disease, allergies, cystic fibrosis and so many other things that I can't remember them all. It was horrible, and since nothing came back abnormal they simply listed him as failure to thrive with no given reason why. I thought failure to thrive meant he'd be having developmental issues with thought, speech and motor function as well?
How can I get him to gain weight? I offer food all day, we don't eat junk food and he only drinks milk, juice and water.

He's very active as well.
I can't force feed him obviously. I'm just starting to get nervous about his 2 year appointment because I'm afraid they're going to send him through all those bloodtests or tell me I'm doing something wrong again. I do the best I can for him and cook every meal he eats. Have any of you gone through this?

As a matter of fact, he is pretty picky. He doesn't like meat with the exception of chicken and occasionally fish. He loves fruits but hates most veggies and won't touch potatoes or anything with too soft of a texture. He'll even turn up his nose at pudding. I'm going to try the multi-vitamin, that sounds like a great idea.

Answer 1

Has your peds suggested use of a toddler beverage instead of milk? There are a couple of them out there like Pediasure and Nutripals but I prefer organic and natural foods for my kids. I used Baby's Only Organic Toddler instead of milk until they were eating really well. Small amounts of good foods more frequently...like every couple of hours ... pieces of cheese, crackers, slices of bananas, pieces of a bagel with cream cheese...my kids liked all of these. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Oh, I feel for you honey.

I certainly can understand your frustration and concern, I have been there. My 5 year old is as thin as a rail.. i swear you would think that I never feed him. Problem is, he is an EXTREMELY picky eater.. only fruit he eats are bananas, and vegetables... forget it. he will only eat red meat if it's hidden. (Before someone jumps on me about him.. my son was adopted when he was 3 and the foster parents would only feed my son baby food.. so he has a real issue with textures).
Your son is also 2 and 2's are hard. They get really active and very picky. Is your son eating and not gaining, or is he not eating?
Failure to thrive can cause developmental issues, but it seems strange that he would suddenly stop growing? I think that needs further investigation. Right now, I would suggest that if you're not already, give your son a multivitamin-- the best one is called Infantol, it comes in liquid form and tastes like orange juice. For one, it will keep his immune system strong, but the best part is that it often stimulates kids to eat. I have given it to both my sons, and believe me, they ate constantly(it gave me a glimpse of the future when they're teenagers..lol!).
The other thing I noticed with my 5 year old is that because he is lactose intolerant, we have switched him to Soy milk, which is fattier, and just this morning in fact, I noticed that he is getting a bit thicker. So maybe try some soy? Also, he may grow out of it, when I adopted my 7 year old, he was 2 and a half at the time, and he was in the 5th percentile too (he could still wear 12 months at 2 and 1/2). He is now 7 and a half and has almost caught up.. so there may be hope.

I do so wish you the best of luck, and please, please feel free to email me if you need an ear. [e-mail]



I do so wish you the best of luck.

Answer 3

My oldest daughter(now 11) was the same way, healthy weight at birth and then kept dropping into lower %. As long as she was still growing, her pediatrician said she was fine she was just on the smaller side. She was a very picky eater and still is, but she has grown into a healthy active 11 year old. She has no health problems, and she is smart and get very good grades in school. She's a petite girl but her doctor says she's doing great'. She still doesn't eat a whole lot, but you can,t force feed them. All you can do is offer them foods and them eat until there full,if it's only two bites, and they refuse anymore you can't really do anything, except maybe offer snacksize healthy meals throughout the day. I would get a second opinion, it sounds like he's avery healthy child because he's smart and very active, my daughter was very active too and her doctor said she probably was burning off all her food by running around all day. I feel bad that your little boy had to be put through so many tests, I used to worry all day about my daughter not eating a lot and her not gaining very much weight but her doctor always put me at ease.
I'm sure everything will be okay with your son too.

Answer 4

Ask your doctor if he or she can recommend some sort of child nutrition expert. He or she really should have anyway.

Also it can't hurt to try another doctor for a second opinion if you haven't already. There's no need for additional testing unless there's some possibility of some disorder that your doctor hasn't considered. The second doctor can just look at the results from the previous tests and maybe give you better advice.

I'm really horrified that you were given a diagnosis of "failure to thrive" without further explanation. Any pediatrician should realize how scary that can sound to a parent!

In any event I'd talk to a dietician. There may be weight gain supplements you can safely add to his diet to help him. I wouldn't consider using things meant for adults without talking to an expert first.

It may be a good idea to increase his protein and, even, fat intake. Fat seems bad but we do actually need some. It may simply be that his metabolism is naturally high enough to require a lot more calories than seems safe.

I think it's unlikely that there will be developmental disorders. I'm so not an expert but I've known both men and women who are shorter than average and appear anorexically thin but eat at least three times what I could eat without becoming ill. They have all been intelligent and emotionally stable people.

Anyone with proper training in nutrition and child development, if not medicine, should be able to give you a far better idea of what to do and what your concerns should be. Doctors cover medical issues. If this is more a matter of nutrition than medicine then turn to someone with more knowledge in that area. Doctors do have some training in it but it is a separate field. A primary care physician knows no more about dietary concerns than he does about brain surgery.

Really, I'm still disturbed by your doctors failure to give you any information beyond "failure to survive." It just seems cruel!

I'm so sorry that you are going through this and Ii can imagine how very scary it must be. Just be as obnoxious a parent as you can with the experts. Bug them as much as you need to until they realize the only way to make you go away is to help you.

His height and weight may nt be optimal but it sounds like he has a mom that really cares about his physical, intellectual, and emotional needs. He's got a good leg up with you by his side ;-)

Answer 5

My son also had failure to thrive. But he did have a reason. All you can do is feed him well,no don't force it.Every child is different.They have already done tests. It just may be that he is going to be a small child.Look at all his family members,ask his grandmothers if any of there kids were that way when young. If it's the health department telling you on that groth scale...don't let that bother you! It's all bull. If he is fine with mental and physical part of it all..so be it! Just because he is skinny and a little short does not mean there is anything wrong with him! And remember..It's up to you whether YOU want him to be tested for more things! Wait until he has a groth spurt and wants to eat all day long!

You can try fruit,oranges have alot of calories,and banana's also! Mashed potato's with ranch dressing on top for lunch. Ensure is a drink for old people that has alot of calories in it and other good stuff too! But thats exspencive. But it works. When my sone was a baby I had to double up his formula and not add as much water to it so he would get more calories per ounce! Been there! Try not to worry so much,those heatlh pros like to try to find a reason when there just may not be one. Like I said before..it might just run in the family! Good luck!

Answer 6

My 23 year old was an extremely active 2 year old. I couldn't get that boy to sit through a meal for anything. I started to buy stawberry flavored powder that was meant for dieting. Something like metrecal shakes, but I can't remember the name of it. It was meant as a meal replacement. As long as he got one glass of that into him a day I knew he was getting enough vitamins.

I also started making open faced pizza sandwiches and chopping apples in cinamon. I would make him stop running long enough to sit and have 1/4 of an open face sandwich and 5 or 6 pieces of cinamon apple.

I was always afraid he would never grow, but he hit his teens and wow did he get big. He's a 6 feet tall 210 pound solid wall of muscle now. He still moves like lightning.

If nothing is obviously wrong and you are obviously doing a good job, you'll just have to wait until he hits a growth period.

If he really becomes far too small for his age group it could be a growth hormone problem or hyperthyroidism. If you have not had these tested I suggest its your next step. Most doctors miss hyperthyroid in young children because it is rather uncommon.

Answer 7

i feel for you, my daughter is not even on the chart for her weight and is in the 25th percentile for her height. however her doctor has not listed her as failure to thrive, the doc and also a nutritionist told me that as long as the height and weight are proportional she is okay. are you and your hubby small? that could be a good sign that your son will be small. Honestly, if i were you i would not worry about it, he has met all the other developments so that means that he is NOT failing to thrive, a baby who is failing to thrive would not be making any developments. how much milk are you giving him? i used to let my daughter have as much milk as she wanted and then the nutritionist told me she was getting too much, milk fills up their belly so they dont want to eat solid food. your son should be drinking about 16-24 oz of milk a day. Same thing with juice, if he drinks too much of it, it will raise his blood sugar, making his body think that he ate so he wont want to eat solids. limit his juice to 8 oz a day. if he likes to drink a lot, give him water. also, have you tried giving him some beans? they are an excellent source of protein and can substitute for the veggies he doesnt eat. also, you could give him a little bit of peanut butter on some crackers, that has a lot of healthy calories. these are all tips i got from a nutritionist. hope it helps.

Answer 8

I going through the same thing with my 19 month old. She has multiple food allergies, milk, eggs and peanut products. And she had a really bad reflux problem. I started giving her Pedia-sure about 5 months ago and she has gained and maintained her weight. She was under 20 lbs at 15 months, now she's 27 lbs. Maybe that will help him, its kind of expensive, but drinking the Pedia-sure and taking medication to improve her reflux has helped her gain weight. Good Luck and I hope this helps you.

Answer 9

I have a 10 month old who was just placed in the 10% for her weight. My pediatrician recommended that I introduce more fat in her diet (I make my own baby food and we eat healthly). She said that the best way to add fat into the diet is by putting a little butter (real butter) or heavy whipping cream into the babies vegi's. When offering meats try not to offer the leanest pieces and when eating poultry make sure your child eats the dark meat pieces, they are higher in fat than the white meat. Also I was told to offer food all the time, which I see that you do. Offer vegi's that have a higher fat content, like avacado. I know that your little guy is older than mine, but hopefully some of this will help. Good luck

Answer 10

Stop giving him so much liquids, try to feed him yogurt, cheese and make sure he is getting whole milk. Try giving him smoothies made with yogurt, milk and fruit (bananas are good as they are more fattening) My daughter is 2 and loves these. He will probably cry for a milk or juice, but just don't give it to him (or give him a little bit) it sounds cruel, but when he is hungry he wants to fill up with the liquid(my daughter did this) So when he is hungry don't give him a drink try to give him something you know he really likes to eat. Give him a drink after he eats, and only let him have a drink witha meal or snack.

Answer 11

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