1 yr old in 5th % in weight. Need suggestions

[2luvies]

My little Miss had her 1yr check up. Weighed 16.7 lbs and 28". BF baby never took to a bottle. Dr. didn't seemed to alarmed gave me some brief suggestions and we have a follow-up in a month. I'm trying whole milk, she doesn't care for it. She now is becoming a picky eater which the Dr. said may happen at this age. Any suggestions? I want to give her healthy fats. I don't know if this is a factor just came to me but she gets very sweaty. She has tons of hair on head and easily gets hot. Could she be sweating her calories away?

[Gracie'sMama]

My girlie loves baby yogurt.  She didn't like whole milk at first, but the yogurt is good fat and a dairy substitute.  Just make sure it's not the reduced-fat kind... Yo Baby makes a good organic yogurt, and Horizon makes another.  Also avocados have lots of healthy fats.  I sneak that in with her rice/oatmeal cereal and she doesn't mind.

[First Time Mom]

My dd just turned 7 months and is 13 pounds (off the chart according to my doc). These charts are very old, there are new ones for babies that are bf. If she is gaining, is healthy and happy, I wouldn't fret about the weight. You don't want food to turn into a fight with her, she may end up with eating problems when she's older as far too many females have. I remember when I was a child I was very skinny and my mom always tried to get me to eat- even made special dinners for me that were different from the rest of the family, I was still fussy and my twin sister would clean my plate for me to prevent the food battles in the house. She ended up with a weight problem and has been obsessive about her weight and food her whole life. Just try to ensure she's eating healthy, as pp suggested- yogurt and avocado are great choices, banana is higher in cals as well.

In terms of sweating, she's probably an active lo, just make sure she's getting enought fluids so that she doesn't get dehydrated.

[2luvies]

Thanks for the support I will  give your suggestions a try. Funny thing you mentioned your situation First Time Mom. My mother jokingly said "watch in 20 years she'll be dieting".

[Fife_Mum]

Are you or others in your family tall and skinny? Have her percentiles changed a lot? If your doctor is not alarmed then you should try not to be - remember that all the numbers mean is that 5% of the babies in the study used to make the charts (in 1977 I think) weighed less at that age. Like has already been fed they include babies that were fed solids early and formula fed babies too. "A growth chart isn't a test... Healthy babies, just like adults, can come in all shapes and sizes".

I found the information on growth charts here useful when I had concerns about DS: http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/growthcharts.html

Having said that, if it helps you both then follow the advice given but try not too worry too much about faddy eating or your DD not polishing off her whole meal. I have my Mother staying and the hard time she is giving Fraser to eat more when he is full makes me realise why I don't stop eating until my plate is clean. 

It does occur to me though that when DS started being really active (walking etc.) I started to give him a healthy snack in between meals. That might help if she has dropped down the charts a little recently. Also, is she still breastfed? Just out of curiosity, is your Doctor suggesting whole milk instead of breast milk - why?

Vicky

[Mom to M&M]

Agree with everyone - if your doctor is not alarmed and a taller/skinny body type runs in your family, try not to worry. In terms of healthy fattening foods, like others have mentioned, cheese, yogurt and avocado. Also you can add flax oil to certain types of foods - but don't go overboard or you'll see very loose stools. My niece is similar age and LOVES the Danimals drinkable yogurts - much more than plain milk.

[lindsaysmom]

I agree with everyone.  My LO actually had a significant drop in weight percentile between 6 and 9 months (from close to 50% to 25%), but has stayed around 25% since.  It was probably partly related to frequent colds/bronchitis during the winter.  But I did also read somewhere that the growth during the first 6 months is more related to the womb environment/early nutrition, etc, but after 6 months, the baby's genetic make up would play a bigger factor in how much the baby weighs.  Both my husband and I are short and relatively thin (my DH more so), so I stopped worrying, and just try to provide nutritious food.

[dkjokisch]

Dd has been off the bottom of the chart off and on since birth.  On the advice of our ped, we upped her calories by introducing more fat into her diet.  She ate alot of full-fat cream cheese, on graham crackers or mixed in with her veggie purees.  In our grocery, the highest fat yogurt was the Dannon La Creme.  She loved that.  We used to give it to her at bedtime before she was drinking whole milk well.  Stick with the whole milk too, it took dd several months to get to the point where she would drink more than 6-8oz total per day, but now she'd drink 24oz if I let her.  We also tried some fattier meats like salmon and dark meat chicken.

[deb]

Avocados (Nat and Josie LOVE LOVE LOVE guacamole and J likes to dip veggies in it! , flaxseed oil, fish oil, olive oil, butter - and a lot of these oils you can add to food they already eat, just stir it in. J and N like some orange-flavored fish oil (Nordic Naturals brand - I find it at Whole Foods and some places online) in yogurt with a little stevia (natural sweetener) and vanilla - YUM - and I'll add a dollop of flaxseed oil to cereal and slather veggies with butter AND olive oil. Fatty fish and meat are good too - when cooking chicken, make sure to use thighs/legs (dark meat) as they're fattier than white meat.

HTH!

[~tess~]

both my kids are off the charts...like not on them!  -5% most of the time.  both started normal and went downhill from there.  i wouldn't worry. long as the growth line continues on an upward slope from here on out, don't stress.  i was a skinny skinny child, but gained weight as an adult in huge amts(sigh).  so let the child be skinny.  it catches up eventually. 

[avt888]

Likewise with my child.  She's identical in that she's one and is about 16+ lbs and probably at 29 inches at this point.  She loves to eat, but is just petite in size.  My doctor figures that both parents are on the petite size as well that she's the same.  No need to worry and as long as your child is eating, that should be the only thing to really think about!

[NYCKelly]

Hi there, I too am in the same situation. My daughter is almost 14 months and weighs 16 lbs 7 oz and is 30 inches tall.  The doctor didn't seem too concerned that she is underweight.  As long as she's growing and developing fine that all that matters.  My daughter loves to eat but she is VERY active.  All day long she's either playing in her playpen or running all over the house so she's constantly burning all the calories she's taking in.