More Calories For A Toddler

RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By Melinda from kansas (Guest Post) (06/08/2008) I have a 16 month old that weights a little over 19 pounds and her doc is having me use whole milk and whole cheese no low fat or fat free stuff for her and a lot of high calorie foods and pediasure too. shes 34 inches tall and is very tall for her age and has been since she grew 6 inches her first month after being born. shes VERY VERY active and eats a lot and snacks all day. I don't force feed her. She will eat when she's hungry. Force feeding her is the worst thing you can do. My daughter loves to drink, so I give her a lot of milk and pediasure, if she doesn't want to eat, but I always encourage food first. If she gets snacks, I do give her higher calorie snacks about 2 times a day not to take away from healthier snacks that she needs, and vitamins every day. She has also gone down to 1 nap a day now for about 1-2 hours a day. Try to feed her when she first wakes up. You wait closer to nap time or bedtime she will prolly be to tired to eat. but again don't force her to eat. If she skips a meal here or there she'll make up for it at another meal. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By (Guest Post) (06/03/2008) My child is 2 and 1/2 and weighs 19lb, very underweight and on peadiasure. I understand how you feel about it it is very sugary and can't be good for their teeth. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By Jennifer (Guest Post) (03/20/2008) I'm having the same problem, but my son doesn't eat peanut butter. Put oil/ butter on everything and try pediasure. good luck. Also, I heard that the growth/ weight charts were changed in the early 2000's b/c of obese toddlers and the gov't wanted them to seem "normal". You're child probaby is fine! Is she happy? Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post by Dartsmom (4) | (03/12/2008) Contact Make her oatmeal cookies, w/less sugar in them. Even if you have to sprinkle pretty colored sugar on top. You can add: cream of wheat (dried) and instant potatoes (also dry) to these to make them more fortified. Sincerel, Carol Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By Deana (Guest Post) (03/12/2008) My daughter is 20 months and she weighs just under 20 pounds and we have tried peanut butter, cheese, pediasure she just doesn't want to eat or drink sweet things...She will go about two days not eating anything and then 1 day she will eat more..but you can see her ribs and her shoulder blades through her back and it makes me nervous, so we are going to try to put some formula in her milk and see if she will drink that again. I just feel like we are going backwards becuase she will eat baby food and baby items but not big people food. I just want her to be healthy. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By aubrey'smom (Guest Post) (11/06/2007) My 20 month old daughter only weighs 20lbs. She has been put on an appetite stimulant called cyproheptad. Not working too well. I use Polycose in alot of her food. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By Mom (Guest Post) (09/17/2006) My 2 yr old is only 21 pounds and is a VERY VERY picky eater. She doesnt like eating the same stuff on 2 consecutive meals, so its hard to figure out what she likes. She doesnt like milk and hardly drinks any. She used to eat yogurt and cheese but not anymore so the docs have prescribed some calcium and multiivitamin syrups for her. She was 90% for weight when she was 4 months and then from 6 months there wasnt too much of a wt gain. So yes, sometimes I feel like a bad mother, but I get comfort knowing thats shes intelligent and healthy. All we can do as mothers is to offer healthy foods....And yes fat is important. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By (Guest Post) (08/26/2006) i have the same problem with my son, he is very petite, i am trying harder to give him more calories. it is frustrating. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By (Guest Post) (07/25/2006) I use avocado, melted cheese sauce on veggies, add an egg or tuna to macaroni, add butter to pasta with parmesan cheese ...anything to boose and give some extra calories without superloading on sugars Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post by Madelynnsmama (154) | (01/09/2006) Profile | Contact We have the exact same issue with our almost 2 year old. She's incredibly active, even for a toddler, eats like a horse and is still on the bottom of the charts for weight. But she is still very healthy, her weights and lengths are growing stedily and we've been told not to worry as long as she's growing consistantly. Her doctor also mentioned adding more "natural" fats from butter, whole milk, full fat yogurt, olive oil, ect.. Basically, a healthy normal diet is all she'll need to grow. Also too much water or juice can "wash" away nutrients, so we watch that as well and she's not allowed to wander around with a sippy cup anymore. We also know that my hubby and I were small kids and I never could gain weight until I was pregnant so genetics plays a large roll. I worry all the time about my skinny girl, especially when people comment all the time about how tiny she is, but I know we're doing alright! Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post by darween (56) | (08/12/2005) Profile | Blog! | Contact Dear Nancy, Jennifer & others with this concern, Following is an editorial article from our weekly newspaper. As soon as I read it I thought of you. At the end of the article is an 800# you can call. .................................................................... Typically, between ages two and 12 years, children should grow at least 2 inches per year. A lack of healthy growth could be due to a variety of conditions including anemia, hypothyroidism, or kidney problems. Poor growth is also common in a condition known as "Small for Gestational Age" or SGA. More than four million babies are born each year in the United States and an estimated 100,000 are born SGA. A baby is SGA when his or her birth length, weight or both is in the bottom third percentile for babies of the same gestational age. The majority of the children born SGA catch up in size by two years, but about 10 percent remain small. Nearly all the children who fail to catch up by year two will remain substantially short as adults. Being born SGA is a complex health issue that has been associated with growth disturbance, lowered intelligence, poor academic performance, low social competence and behavioral problems in childhood. Moreover, SGA has been associated with health complications in adulthood, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. More studies are being conducted to further understand these health concerns. IDENTIFYING SGA Parents and pediatricians should discuss and track a child's growth progress on a growth chart. It is important for children who fail to grow two inches in a year to be evaluated by a pediatric endocrinologist. PEDIATRIC ENDOCRINOLOGISTS specialize in helping children with growth and endocrine gland problems, such as diabetes, SGA or growth hormone deficiency. Early diagnosis of poor growth can improve a childs' chance of reaching his or her growth potential. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SGA OR HEALTHY GROWTH, CALL 1-866-244-1284. ........................................................................... Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By Jennifer (Guest Post) (07/27/2005) I don't have any advise but I sure could use some. My daughter turned 2 July 4th and just had her 2yr physical. The doctor requested me make another appoinment for a.s.a.p. to assess the fact that she weighs only 19lb 4oz. Her head and height have increased at a steady rate, so there are no worries there. She eats twice as much as her 4 (almost 5) year old sister and at least as much as I do. Her father is 5'9" and I am 5'4". At this point I don't know whether to be concerned or just go with the flow of doctor appointments. The thought of all kinds of testing and drawing blood on a 2yr old sickens me, but so does the thought of possible neglect (not taking her to the doctor). No joke when they say parents often feel as though they are bad parents when thing like this happen. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post by darween (56) | (04/28/2005) Profile | Blog! | Contact The high fat advice may be so for some children, as they are all different. But our pediatrician took our daughter off whole milk and put her on skim milk when she was a year & half because she was so pudgy she could barely get around. Switching her to lowfat milk helped tremendously. Children need protein, not high fat. I just lost my beautiful 36 yr old sister to pancreatic cancer, caused from obesity ever since she was a baby. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By nina (Guest Post) (04/24/2005) To the person who suggested low-fat. Toddlers NEED full fat foods. Its crucial that they get a large amount of fat in their diet in the 1st 2 years. An underweight toddler needs it even more. Fat is NOT the enemy. It is a required part of a healthy diet. nina Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post by nancyec (36) | (03/18/2005) Contact She's a very good sleeper. Almost always goes right to sleep, doesn't fuss about going to bed, etc. Bedtime is suppose to be 8:30 but sometimes that gets pushed to 9:30 but she sleeps until around 8:30 or 9:30 in the morning. Naptime revolves around "meeting the bus time" which is a pain but that will change soon as we're moving to a school district w/ house-to-house bus service. Even though she doesn't get to go down for a nap until 3:00, she'll sleep for anywhere from 1-2 hours. I usually wake her up at 5:00 if she's still sleeping (not too often) so she'll be sleepy at bedtime. So I guess she gets between 11-14 hours sleep a day, most days are closer to 14 hours. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post by darween (56) | (03/14/2005) Profile | Blog! | Contact HI, Just wondering how active your daughter is, how much sleep does she get? Does she nap during the day? [Longer sleep times would help] Sounds like you have all the nutritional aspects covered. [I was going to suggest whole milk, it's full of protein, calcium, & fat and it will put weight on faster than anything]. As everyone knows, eat & sleep, eat & sleep will put weight on us very quickly. Maybe she could just use more sleep. I'd hate to see her put on high fat foods now to bring up her size & have her develop a taste for it.Then later, if she starts growing into a weight problem of too much, it would be hard for her to change her taste and the high fat would cause health problems. Better to keep her on lowfat to begin with I'd think. You seem to be an excellent Mother, don't worry about what the nutritionist or anyone else has to say about your parenting skills. As long as she's healthy, enjoy her tinyness. Children go thru dramatic growth spurts all their lives. Most children get long lanky, & tall; then pudgy; then long lanky & tall; then pudgy again; till they became adults. [What we call 'up & out/up& out']. Good Luck! :) Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post by nancyec (36) | (03/14/2005) Contact Thanks for all the responses. Just for a bit of more info, I'm 5' 7" and my husband is 6' 5" although I do have a short sister. My middle child is tiny as well although not as small as the youngest and my oldest child is not small or large, pretty much in the middle of all graphs. I've started adding ketchup on eggs (bleh) which she likes and I've tried carnation instant breakfast but I hate doing it. If she was sick all the time or not meeting her developmental milestones maybe I'd feel like I need to gear up her eating but she's only been sick once in the last year & she's meeting her milestones fine, even ahead of when my other two did. I guess I'm just really stressed about the upcoming nutritionist visit. I had to take my middle child once and was told to load her up on sweet things full of protein & fat. I don't want to set her up for a lifetime of eating problems by over stressing food now. I think I'll probably just ignore the nutritionist but I'm sure going hate listening to him/her criticize the way I take care of my child. She's a perfect, happy, LITTLE girl and I'm ok with that. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post by mkneib86 (13) | (03/11/2005) Contact As a small child myself when I was that age, my mom actually didn't do what the doctor said (Adding more cals) because of how our society is,much past 6 we learn to eat because its fun or sociable, not out of true hunger(which is the ONLY reason we should eat anyhow) let her body be her guide. If she is hungry, offer fresh, healthy foods. Fresh milk, fruits and veggies, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. I wouldn't try and force her to eat any more than she really wants. With our society full of rising obesity, our children might be headed for the same path if don't teach them that food is for norishment, not emotional comfort. Best of luck with you little one! morgan Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By Marsha (Guest Post) (03/10/2005) I have a toddler who is also underweight. He likes chocolate milk, so I mix Carnation Breakfast Drink in with his milk. He gets more calories and vitamins this way. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By Linda (Guest Post) (03/10/2005) You can make her peanut butter cookie balls. Just mix peanutbutter with dry milk, raisins, wheat germ, ground flax seeds, dry ceral, coconut or grated carrots and maybe a little concentrated fruit juice and roll into balls and chill. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post by Luvyabye (398) | (03/08/2005) Profile | Contact Maybe she's just petite????? Is she healthy otherwise? I was very tiny as a toddler and that is certainly no longer the case. Short but not tiny...lol Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By Linda (Guest Post) (03/08/2005) Add powdered milk to lots of things-make her smoothies with milk, fruit and extra milk powder. Use milk powder in meat loaf, make breads or snack breads like banana bread with milk instead of water, . There is non-fat and low fat powdered milk-get the highest calorie kind. Learn to read labels. Even soups can be made with milk instead of water-think tomato vs. cream of tomato. Flour tortillas are good for wrap sandwiches and they are usually pretty high in calories. Take one, butter it, sprinkle with connamon sugar and toast in oven or on a griddle until crispy. Or spread with p-nut butter. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By ang (Guest Post) (03/08/2005) Nancy, My toddler was also a VERY picky eater. I just gave her the same meals as the rest of the family, the only concession being, making her plate full of food look like a clown, eg, scoop of mashed potato for a nose, grated cheese and carrots for hair. I also used a very small dinner plate. You are obviously a very good mother doing a very good job. Take heart in the fact that your daughter will grow into a picture of health. Good on you. God Bless. Ang Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By Sugar (Guest Post) (03/08/2005) Yogurt is a good choice. I like the YoBaby Yogurt. It's made with Whole milk. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post by nancyec (36) | (03/08/2005) Contact It's not just the "empty calories" of sweet things that I object to, it's sweet even if it is calorie/nutrient dense. I think when you give kids sweet stuff, be it nutritious or not, they start to develop a taste for only sweet things & shun other alternatives. I could give her whole milk with ovaltine or carnation instant breakfast mix in it every day and she'd be fine with that. She'd also never drink plain milk again. I try to limit chocolate milk to no more than once every day or two so she won't lose her taste for regular milk. I also only give yogurt as a dessert after she eats her other food. I give peanut butter as a "main course" but that's about it in the way of sweet stuff for meals. All other sweets (good for her or just for fun) are offered after she's eaten her meal. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post By Cindy Fanning (Guest Post) (03/08/2005) The meals from scratch is a great way to get more calories in, just watch out for yourself. She migh tlike the smoothie idea, and they offer serveral choices of already made yogurt drinks in the dairy section. I also used to make little ritz sandwiches for the kids to snack on with peanut butter. We tried peanut butter on apple slices and the kids loved that too. My kids also loved hardboiled eggs at that stage and still do. Another food that we used were the protien and nutrition bars and the granola bars. They are healthy snacks that are sweet, but nutritious also and usually loaded with calories. Report Spam or Abuse RE: More Calories For A Toddler Post by pjpark (4) | (03/07/2005) Contact If you make your meals from scratch, be sure to use full-fat everything: whole milk, real butter, etc. That way your little one can get as many calories as possible from the foods she already eats, until she catches up with others her age. Also, smoothies are quite kid-friendly, easily done in a blender using full-fat plain yogurt with sweet fruits like strawberries and bananas that have been frozen. You're right--pushing sweets with empty calories is not the best way, but Pediasure does have the advantage of being both calorie- and nutrient-rich. Even the addition of 1/2 a can a day can be helpful. Hope this helps. Report Spam or Abuse