5 Year Needs Help Gaining Weight

You have gotten some great advice already. One thing you might bring up with you daughter's pediatrician is whether or not she is lactose intolerant. Even though she is not allergic to milk, she might be having other issues with lactose. Good luck!

Not all kids are big. Talk to pediatrician. This can't be the first time this came up. What does he say?

As much as I enjoy your questions and answers, Jim...that was SO unnecessary. I don't think this question deserved the snark and jerkiness of your answer. Clearly, this is a girl who is lacking essential nutrients and actually has issues. Good lord.

Moving on. Have you had your daughter tested for nutritional deficiencies? Is she anemic? Even other food allergies, like gluten? We have celiac in our family, and it absolutely causes absorption issues. Nutrient and vitamin deficiencies do as well. She could also have a thyroid or other hormonal problem. I think it would be a good time for a full blood workup, and proceed from there. Oh, and ignore the useless comments from people clearly in a bad mood.

____@____.com, your answer is terribly rude. There ARE underweight kids, and it is an issue that is very concerning, especially for a child who has health problems. Have some compassion!

SP, as always, you should check with your pediatrician if you have concerns, but have you ever heard of the GAPS diet? It's goal is to heal the gut and increase absorption of nutrients, among other things. It's great for a TON of health problems.
There is a book by Natasha Campbell McBride and there are many GAPS diet websites that can assist you better than I can.

Definitely talk to the pediatrician. She may have a "nervous tummy" or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I'm not a physician, but I was extremely thin as a child. I had my share of tummy troubles. My parents just blamed it on me playing too hard before or after dinner.
That said, I have a very tiny mother. She is very short and petite. I got my height from other family members. However, I'm 5'7", 50 years old, and after having two children, I weigh 115. My daughter weighed 5 pounds full term and she is the cutest little pixie at 27 years old after having a child. 5 feet tall.

The one difference with my daughter is that her pediatrician was never worried about her weight because she was so incredibly healthy and thriving like crazy.

I think your best bet is to ask for a referral to a nutritionist to make sure your daughter is getting her digestive needs met and can help you with recipes or her pickiness issues. She may be picky if certain things upset her stomach. It's worth looking into further.

Unless the pediatrician feels she's "failing to thrive", I wouldn't worry too much and just seek the advice of the professionals.

Just my opinion.

Best wishes.

Talk to your pediatrician. My youngest daughter takes after me and is extremely petite. She turned 6 in June and she just hit the 40 pound mark. My pediatrician told me not to worry. He said that he can tell me to take her home and have her eat a ton of candy and fatty foods but that will just make her gain the wrong kind of weight. She is perfectly healthy and let me tell you she eats as much as a horse. However, she constantly picks all day. She loves meats, cheeses, vegetables - everything.

Do not allow ____@____.com's snarky response get to you.

Is your ped satisfied with her weight/ development? If not, ask for a recommendation for a nutritionist/ dietician. They can offer you more/ better guidance than anything we might have to offer.

My heart goes out to you. I was a picky eater, and near to the bottom of my recommended weight. I know it gave my mom, a natural feeder, a world of worry and grief.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

Is her doctor concerned? If not, I wouldn't be either. My understanding has always been that they like to see kids following a consistent curve. If they're in, say, the 30th percentile at 3, it's fine for them to be in the 30th percentile at 5. It's where kids are very, very small (say, under the 10th percentile) or they don't maintain their growth curve (say, they fall from the 50th percentile to the 30th percentile) that it can be a source of concern. Some people are just teeny. It's okay.

I would talk to her pediatrician before doing anything. She sounds small for her age but not horribly small. My 7year old boy is about 40 or 45 pounds, yet his 4 year old brother is closer to 50. Kids are build differently.

Call her doctor. Make sure you take good notes for a week or two first. Write down everything she eats and drinks and when. Make a note of all bathroom visits and what comes out. (Sorry, there is just no easy way to say that one.) And finally, make a note of all physical activity and if you notice times when she's not feeling well. Just really try to make notes about her behavior and anything that seems "off" about her.

It's probably not nearly as simple as trying to get her to gain weight. Not everyone is built the same, and you want to make sure you are addressing her nutritional needs.

My dd is also very small and light. She was only 31 lbs when starting Kindergarten.

Probably the one thing that helped was whey protein smoothies. I would use a large scoop of whey protein, add milk, then add some sugar to sweeten, then add ice, then add a couple oreo cookies. put everything in the blender - if too thick add water. Tell her it's a "blizzard" - my dd is very picky but would eat this. I also added some benefiber, but it sounds like your dd doesn't need that.

You should talk to her pediatrician and perhaps try to meet with a nutritionist. 27 pounds at age 5 is quite small (less than the 3rd percentile), but maybe she's meant to be a smaller person. What would worry me more is the bowel movement after even the simplest meals.

And no, to answer your last question, vitamin B will not help her gain weight.

Have you asked to have her tested for Celiac disease? This is a classic symptom. My daughter was diagnosed at 4. Once she stopped eating gluten, she started growing again. Just a thought. It is a simple blood test to get the initial diagnosis so it is worth asking. I do NOT recommend going gluten free until you know it is Celiac, though. It is not a healthy diet for a child unless it is medically necessary.

I absolutely LOVE (and so does my daughter) our pediatric gastroenterologist so if you need a referral, I am happy to give you his information.

Fist, what does the Ped/doc say? Is she/he concerned? No.. Stop, take this issue off your plate of worry. If yes, have you tried any of htese.

I did a food chart, this is what X needs to eat during the day.. Lets see how often we can get it all in us. This chart was not crazy but it showed how many servings of dairy, fruit, veggies, grains, protein he needed to eat at day.

Sometimes absorption needs other nutrients to help other asorb.. they go hand in hand.

Good luck

Always try to fill them up with the best foods you can. Vs. junk.

What does your pediatrician have to say about this? I would think that if she's unable to absorb nutrients, that's not something a bunch of moms on the internet can really advise you about - this is really something the pediatrician needs to help figure out.

If the pediatrician is not worried, I'd just continue to feed your daughter nutritious, healthy foods. Continue to offer her a variety of foods (don't get stuck on just offering things she "likes," since then she will never try anything new). You may want to cut back on the Carnation instant breakfast drinks (unless your pedi says otherwise), as that is probably why she isn't hungry for any other kinds of foods. My youngest is very small for her age as well (just over 50 pounds at 8.5 years old) and I've learned that she just doesn't need a whole lot of food to maintain that body weight. If she's on a growth spurt, she'll eat a bit more, but for the most part, her portion sizes haven't changed much since she was a toddler. Our pediatrician isn't worried and says she's healthy, so we just let her eat until she's full, and don't worry about it.

I like the protein powder idea but don't sweeten with sugar. Sweeten it with a banana or pineapple. There is also no nutritional value in junk food so I would avoid adding calories by adding pure junk.
You could make her homemade whipped cream to go on top of berries however.

Your daughter should not be having bowel movements after even simple meals. More than once or twice a day is concerning as her body is not absorbing nutrients (since the food is not present in her system long enough). I would seek the advice of a pediatric gastroenterologist. Her being underweight is not a concern if she has a slight build and is otherwise healthy but it doesn't sound like she is. I am having a hard time imagining a 27 lb. 5 year old. My son just turned 5 last week and is 20 lbs. heavier than her and he's not fat by any stretch although he is fairly tall. Still, she sounds tiny. The other thing you might consider is having her tested for food allergies. My sister-in-law has colitis and IBS and they are no joke - lots of pain and difficulties. Should everything come back normal and it's simply a matter of gaining weight, put peanut butter in everything if she likes it. Smoothies, on toast, on crackers, in her Carnation breakfast, etc. PB can pack on some calories and give a much needed protein boost too. I would go with a high quality, all-natural product to make sure she isn't getting extra sugar and/or chemicals. You have my sympathy on the picky eater part - my son is a real pain in that department too! Good luck.

If her doctor isn't worried, then you shouldn't worry.
She's on the lower end but she's still on the growth chart.
Weight gain seems to increase a lot for some kids by the time they are in 3rd grade.
They are sitting a lot more to read and do home work and the more they use the computer, the more sitting they do.

Our son was 25 lbs on his first birthday - he weighed 9 1.5 oz at birth.
He's always been at the top of the growth chart and occasionally off the edge of it.
He's 14 now, is 6ft 1in tall and still growing.

Hi, S.P.

Check the web for digestive enzymes and
probiotics.

www.enzymedica.com

I don't think being underweight is a problem.

Good luck.
D.

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