My son hasn't gained a pound in probably the last year. He's gaining height though. We have a Dr. appointment on Tuesday. My question here is could this be completely due to lack of milk? He's not allergic, but I'm really bad at giving him milk to drink. He loves water, and that's what he asks for so that's what he drinks all day. At his two year well check in Nov. his doctor told him to stick with whole milk because he hadn't gained much weight.
History: Malachi was born at 35 weeks and was in the NICU for two weeks for reflux and jaundice problems. He has a great appetite and eats most of what's put in front of him (hate's green stuff). His mental development is fantastic, his motor skills seem to be a bit slow and I'm worried now that something's wrong with how he's supposed to be gaining weight. I don't really know how that works in people.
I took Malachi to the Doctor and he's gained three pounds. I really think this is due to the fact that so many people were praying for him. Thank you very much for the prayers and words of comfort!
Hey S.!
I think maybe a lot of kids his age go through this. Rylan hasn't gained a single pound in about a year either. He drinks a ton of milk & eats a lot of dairy but burns it all off pretty much as soon as it goes in his mouth. I'd double check with the dr. to be sure but I know that ours hasn't seen it as a problem. Not much other advice hear but wanted to let you know we are in the same boat.
Danielle
I would not think it would be due to the lack of milk. If he's eating well and not gaining weight, he absolutely should be screened for celiac disease -it's most common genetic disorder and is currently highly underdiagnosed. Celiac is an intolerance to the protein found in wheat, rye, barley and most oats. Here's a good overview of celiac (noting the broad range of symptoms):
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/
You don't have to have overt GI symptoms, the damage to the intestine can be partial and still result in malabsorption of nutrients. If your doctor won't run the test, then you can have it done yourself at: www.enterolab.com (the lab was started by a top GI researcher that got frustrated with the slowness at which mainstream medicine diagnoses folks with this disease - only catching a fraction of the folks with the disorder and only one the disease had caused much more damage).
My son was similar to yours in that he ate well, but stopped growing for a period of time (between 8 and 10), but he was always very, very thin. So the pediatrician didn't worry - he just said he was going to be "petite". If I known then what I know now I would have insisted he be screened for celiac when he was much younger. He did, however, catch up height wise once he started on the gluten-free diet (growing 2 inches and gaining 10 lbs in 6 months and continuing at that rate for several years).
Hello S.,
How about yogurt, more eggs, more meat/chicken. also, try not to get him hooked on chicken nuggets...(my kids won't eat chicken anyother way--except for chicken fingers). if it's more "protein" and fat... look at it this way: check how much fat is in a cup of whole milk then see if you can increase his intake by that much. do check for celiac disease or wheat, soy intolerance. by the way, how are his bowel movements? if you give him more milk and he gets constipated... then milk is not good for him. and whatever you do, don't get him hooked on pediasure! (been there...done that!) ~C.~
I would not worry if he is eating great and taking in dairy through other sources then he will be fine. My daughter is 2 1/2 and has weighed 26 pounds for what seem like forever. I have a son who is 14 months old and there is only a 2 pound difference between them. I think they are so active at this age it is hard to keep weight on them. If she gets sick she will lose 2-3 pounds and it takes such a long time to get it back on. Just wait talk with your doctor and I am sure he will tell you that your son is doing great.
If the Dr. said to give him whole milk, give it to him and give him how much he is supposed to have. Then if he still does not gain weight, he will go from there.
When my son started burning up more than he was taking in and I couldn't get him to gain any weight, he was just too active and burned it all up, I put him back on whole milk, he was 4 or 5 though. I kept him on whole milk longer because I think kids need the milk fat for developement. We had put him on our skim milk and he didn't mind the taste. But, when He didn't gain any weight, I started to worry more about the milk fat for a growing child and a growing brain. He did gain back to a normal size and is still a normal size now and is also very gifted! ...guess the milk worked or could it be great genes from his M.! LOL
