13 month old not eating- very underweight- is this bad?

[Larissanne]

I have a 13 month old who used to be a good eater and all of a sudden stopped eating most of her food. I get about 3 bites of applesauce in the morning, 3 bites of spaghetti for lunch and about 5 bites of spaghetti for dinner.  She won't even eat her puffs!  What concerns me is that she is only 19 lbs and the Dr. told me that my main goal is to get calories in her, because she is very underweight for her height (5%).  Is her not eating something that I should be concerned about and call the Dr?  Or is this a phase?

2 things that happened recently
1) She had a virus 2 weeks ago
2) Her right top gums where her molars are supposed to come in is swollen.  However, there is no teeth yet and she does not seem to have any signs of teething (ie drool, rash etc). 

If it wasn't for the Dr. being concerned about her weight, I woudn't stress about this.  But, I am and getting very frustrated!  I have even tried reducing her milk intake and still no improvement!

[EllenS]

I know they do go through reduced appetite at that age.  Has she dropped in percentile, or has she always been 5% in weight?

I wouldn't reduce milk intake if it is all she will take, I'd think she needs the calories, certainly she needs the fluids.  If she is still bothered from the virus or her molars, what about making the foods really smooth and bland, like offering purees (stage 2 type)?  And focusing on really high-cal foods, like whole-milk yogurt, avocado, cheese, or sweet/tempting foods like banana, sweet potato, etc.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

[Shdef]

I agree with Ellen.. also you can get cereals that you can put in milk and pureed fruit to go with it. Really nice and nutritious.

[woopster]

I've just had a look in DS1's red book and at 13 months he weighed 19lb 1oz.  How tall is she?

Has she lost weight since she had the virus?  How much? 

Don't forget if she isn't eating her tummy will have shrunk so it won't take much to fill her up anyway.

[Larissanne]

I feel better after you told me that.  She lost 1 lb since 2 weeks ago.  She used to be 20.6lbs and now is 19.6 lbs.  I went to a new pediatrician today and she told me to add Instant Carnation powder to her milk.  But, not to worry about her weight, because this is the age where they begin to get picky.  She definitely had a lot more positive attitude than her last Dr.  Her last Dr. kept on telling me how skinny she was and that I had to work hard to get food in her.  Also, this Dr. noted that my baby never stopped moving in the office and was extremely active.  I wonder if she gets bored eating?  lol

thanks everyone for all the feedback!  I just wanted to make sure that my baby was ok.  It just looks like this is something that we are going to have to work through.

[woopster]

I wouldn't know about the carnation milk!   

Is she crawling? Maybe she is burning up calories that way. It could be that she is more easily distracted now. What about keeping a food diary for a couple of weeks? You may get a better picture of the amount she eats and the type of food she eats. I wouldn't worry too much. Kids are good at regulating how much they eat if they've been ill. Whereas we think 'oh, I haven't eaten for a few hours, I must have something'

[Larissanne]

She is a walker and just goes and goes!

Today, she finally started eating!  I mean, full bottle, plus all of her food and asked for more!  It was great.  As I was putting her to bed tonight and was brushing her teeth, I realized that she got 2 new teeth on one end.  I bet this and her being ill a month ago caused her fussiness in eating.  I hope that her appetite is back to normal!  Thanks for everyone's help!

[EllenS]

Great news!

[woopster]

That's really good news!