Small eater and low weight gain not a good combination

[mum101]

Am hoping others can share their experience with small eaters. 

Leobin seems easily disinterested in food, I never know if he will accept a food. Some days I get excited because he eats a lot as he hasn't gained much weight from 8 months to now, so I think 'yah he might put some more on'.

He won't be spoon fed, unless he feels like it and it's usually a time where he's happy and not unwell.  (or perhaps when all the planets are aligned)

It's not even like he has a food I KNOW he will eat everytime. It used to be yogurt (the one thing he would actually let me feed him) but I changed the flavour just before he was unwell and now he won't take it. 

I'm feeling it's hard to think of new things he will like that he can eat with his fingers... it's exhausting... 

I should say I always approach meal times with positivity and never attempt to force feed him.

[~emmalou~]

Hi there, big hugs! Have you looked at the baby led weaning sticky which is on the solids board? I'm sure it is there anyway. How old is He now? Sorry I can't see tickers when web browsing from my phone. How much milk does He drink a day? My Abbi always refused spoon feeding, but I gave her a spoon instead to hold and try and eat with while sneaking in a couple mouthfuls while she messed about with it, so she ended up being able to spoon feed herself well by around 10 months, was so crazy! Most things can be finger foods I have found, lunchtime sandwiches etc, cut up fruit, veggies, even dinner time could be maybe shredded up meat, diced veg and potatoes cut into small pieces for little hands, give him a spoon too and let him do it that way? Also keep offering the new foods, one day He may accept them, I am now watching dd eat cucumber slices which she refused a good while back as a young toddler, and tastes do change. Does any of this help? I hope so. Can you also answer the q about milk intake etc? Thanks x

[~emmalou~]

Also can I ask what the docs think about the small weight gains? Has He always been small? Might be worth having a good chat with the doc, may just be He is like my niece, she's a small eater and on the 9th centile for weight, but always has been really x

[mum101]

Leobin is 13 months old now, at 11 months he was taking 4 breastfeeds, now I've dropped it down to 2, sometimes 3.

I've had to do the finger food thing from the beginning. When he started solids he got 2 ear infections and so we had to force feed antibiotics to a 6 month old (twice) so I think that's how his dislike for spoons started.  So I figured it wasn't worth the fight and have always given him things he can eat by hand. I started things like meat, toast, fruit, vegie, cheese early on. I have been giving him a small bowl of yoghurt and a spoon but it will be a while before he's a pro at eating with a spoon.

Yesterday he end up vomitting twice and having bad nappies, so I think some gastro would have been the reason for not eating much yesterday.  Unfortunately this is the second week he has been sick (first week possibly tonisillitis, which has gone) and I think any weight gains in the weeks the health nurse said to upp his calories has gone. 

This is the first time I've worried about either child not eating enough, and it's horrible. I feel quite upset today. He hasn't vomitted or had a bad nappy since 3am, and I'm torn between feeding him anything he'll eat or sticking to bm and bananas and toast (and the food isn't terribly high calorie or high fat).  It just feels like I if I do get a lot in him in one day (he's eager to eat most things) it's lost by not eating for a few days. I'm hoping like mad he doesn't vomit today.

His weight gain (and all other measurements) were always above 75th percentile. From 8 months to 12 months he's gone down to 10th percentile, so he's not doing as he always has done growth wise. The health nurse asked me to upp his food intake from 11-12 months to see if he did gain weight, and he gained 260gms.  But I suspect he's lost all that now and would be the same weight now at 13 months as he was at 8 months (9kilos). Her thought was if he couldn't keep any weight on, there might be a food issue (celiac's). She suggested we go to the doctor. The doctor asked me how I felt and I said there was nothing else wrong, he was developing as a 12 month old would and his height and head circumference were still growing. She felt I would know if something was wrong with food.

But that still leaves me with the issue that he hasn't gained weight since 8 months.  I'm going to write down all he eats and his appetite each day, I think I need to get a sense of what's really happening (rather than a blur).

[Sylvia.]

super big hugs hon, it is natural instinct for a mother to want to feed a child, charley went under zero percent at one stage, i remember being such a mess over it, so i really do understand, to make yourself feel better why not make a paedatrician appointment, it is such an easy thing to say to up food intake, wish someone could show us how it is done, he would certainly be getting plenty from the breast milk, good idea about keeping a diary, why not record it here and let us all have a look? tonnes more hugs hon xoxo

[mum101]

Do I need a referral for a paediatrician?  I looked at his charts and if he is still 9kg, then he would now be in the 3%.  It is hard not to get upset about it.

I will put his food here from tomorrow, I'm happy for any help for sure!  I just did up an excel thing for his food too, couldn't find one I liked online.

[Sylvia.]

yes he will need a referral, if you have recently been to the doctors say in the last week or two and discussed things with the doctor then tell the receptionist that you are worried and wondered if the doctor would write you the referral so that you don't have to do the visit again, tell the receptionist that you are really anxious, i have done this before, i would be more than happy to take a look at your food diary, i will be around all weekend, xoxo

[~emmalou~]

Huge hugs I can understand why you are worried, big hugs. Is everyone in your family very lean? Just wondering if genetics play a part? Good idea with the food diary and the referral. One really good fatty food I can recommend is avocado, its high calorie and full of good fats so would be a great addition to the dairy fats too x hth a little. Big hug! X

[mum101]

thanks Sylvia, I'll put a couple of days of food on here soon.

Emma, we aren't lean in our family. DD is tall and broad, as are her aunties. DH is 6 foot and broad. All parents are tall except my mum, who is 5f 4inch like me.

[Rebecca247]

I know how worried you must be as I am in the same situation aswell. Max is 16 months and doesnt weigh 10kg yet, we did everything and saw a paediatrician, both DH and I are small people so he figured Max would be like that, he is on the 5th percentile, and the paed thinks he will always be on that line! Our CHN also gave us a referral to see a dietician which we didnt end up going as the paed didnt think we needed to! But if smallness isnt in the genetics of your family like ours then get a paed referral and even a dietician can help wonders!
Even if the paed doesnt seem concerned like ours was then at least you can rest abit... The dietician can also recommend things to boost weight gain that we probably dont know much about, so its worth a try. Is he tall? sometimes height can make them look alot leaner!
Definately worth checking him with a specialist though! just to make sure!

:)xxxx

[rinajack]

Hugs Charm.  You know I totally understand, Hugh has dropped through the percentiles also, and at almost 21 mo still hasn't reached 10kg.  He is still wearing 6-12 month clothes and can still walk out of his pants if he doesn't wear a belt.

Hugh is under the care of a paed, I highly recommend that if for nothing other than peace of mind.  Paed won't be much help with specific diet stuff I don't think, but you don't need a referral to see a dietician.  Both my kids are also now seeing a dietician (but we have also diagnosed food intolerances for both).

His ability to take or leave food, and his lack of appetite sound familiar to me, so I really do think you should consider seeing a paed, and consider the possibility of food intolerances.

Is he a happy baby? or prone to irritibality, or tantrums etc? How is his sleep?

Where on the chart is his height? Is it proportionate to his weight, or is he much taller than he is heavy iykwim?

[MLK]

Sorry Charm to hear that he's still not gaining weight. Are you looking at the BF baby charts (I think they are on the FAQs on the BF boards) I recently got DS2 weighed and was upset that at 11.5 months he only weights 8.6 kilos and appears to be dropping down the centiles. Then I looked at the BF baby charts and he has been tracking along the 15th centile all along!

One thing I find I use to up the calories is smoothies. Very easy to pack in lots of calories and give it in a straw cup. I use coconut milk/cream (very good for upping fat and calories) because of milk and soy allergies  but you could use full fat yoghurt as well, plus a banana any other fruit. Also load up the toast with butter and/or avocado. Can he have eggs?

You could always try a gluten, soy and dairy free diet (for you both) for a couple of weeks to see if it makes any difference? There is a sourdough rice or buckwheat bread available from Sydney (I've forgotten the name but it was in my health food shop) that was the most palatable of all the gluten free breads I've found.

[rinajack]

Good point about the BF baby charts.  My paed has been using those to keep her eye on Hugh, and he has fallen through those too, but he did look much better for quite some time on those than he did on the other ones.

Hugh is happy to eat gluten free bread so long as it has honey on it .

[MLK]

Oh and another thing to look at re weight gain - did he triple his birthweight at 12 months? Though my DS2 hasn't followed the bottle fed baby centiles he has tripled his birthweight so that makes me feel OK.

Was looking at DS1's growth rates and he weighed more than DS2 at 12 months, even though tey has similar birthweights -  but then I remembered DS1 switched to formula at 7 months and sure enough there was a jump up the centiles then. Must be something about cows' milk/formula -  higher in protein and fat than BM?

Rina - you are lucky you can get them to eat the gluten free bread. Tasted like cardboard to me  -  which made it hard to stomach considering how expensive it is!

[Sylvia.]

my girl friends daughter is coeliac and she makes all her own bread and freezes it, anyone want me to ask her how she make it i would be more than happy and she would be more than happy to share