Falling off the growth chart

[Anonymous]

Noah is 14.5 months old is only 20 lbs 10 oz. He hasnt gained hardly any weight in well over 2 months. I was able to keep him at the 10th to 15th % on the growth charts for much of his life. Now he is at the 4th % and is off the charts. I dont know what to do. I cant force anymore food into him than I already am. Plus I add formula and butter to everything I give him. He’s walking now and I guess he’s burning more calories than he’s taking in. Does anyone have any ideas on how to pack more calories into him? I dont know how to get him to gain any weight!

[Anonymous]

Lisa

I am sorry… don’t have any advice to offer, just thinking of you. It is so hard to get them to gain weight (even with the tube we struggle sometimes). Darshani (Nitara’s mom) has some really really high cal and high protein recipes that she uses with Nitara (other board). They really are packed with calories adn babies seem to do well on them.

[Anonymous]

Lisa – I’m sorry to hear this. I know how hard you work to keep Noah
eating and his weight up. Have you tried flax oil? Will he eat cheese?
If so you can add that to almost anything. Avocado?

[Anonymous]

Lisa,

Since you are still using formula have you ever heard of NeoSure? It’s by Similac. I see you use Isomil which I’m pretty sure is not milk-based. NeoSure is milk-based. It’s formula they usually give preemies because it’s high calorie. My twins are on it, it’s 24 cal instead of 22 cal. I know it’s not a huge difference, but it’s the only thing I can think of right now.

[Anonymous]

I worked as a nanny for a little boy who would hardly eat a thing. He never even made the charts from one year up. I worked with him 9-13 years. Ounce he hit puberty he stated eating everything in site. He is now in the 10% for weight an 20% for height. Considering his mom is 5 feet and his dad is only 5’5″ that is not too bad.

I don’t have any advice to offer. He drank Met RX weight gain powder in his milk twice a day, but I doubt that would be appropriate for a one year old. I just wanted to offer a little reassurance that an underweight child can be health and end up growing ok.

I hope you get some good advice and can get Noah gaining.

[Anonymous]

Lisa, my nephew is 19 mos old and only weighs 21 lbs…he doesn’t eat much, but he’s ok…dr’s aren’t concerned, he’s just a very little kid.( although I know noah’s case is much different, Denver does eat when he’s hungry) juat a little light that thereare even “normal” ie non refluxers who are tiny too.

[Anonymous]

Lisa,

Have you tried adding a scoop of powdered Isomil to each bottle? I still do this to Brodie’s morning bottle of milk (yes, he is still on bottles at 2) He doesn’t seem to have a problem with the taste and I still add 1 teaspoon of organic canola oil also. With the scoop of powder and the teaspoon of oil, it adds 80 calories! If you do try this, I would start with a half of a scoop of powder formula to see how he adjusts. I really feel for you. I still allow Brodie to have bottles because I know his weight would drop substantially if he didn’t drink milk. He just refuses to drink milk out of a sippy or straw cup!!!!! He screams ba-ba and throws the sippy!!

[Anonymous]

Lisa,

I’m so sorry. No real advice. It’s so frustrating, that’s for sure!!! What does his doc say? Hailey has stopped eating, only took 10oz of formula today (with lots of effort on my part, and 6 of that was at night!), and has dropped 4 oz in the past 2 days….stinking viruses!!! I’m starting to get nervous. Thinking of you guys and hope that you’re well.

[Anonymous]

Just a word of caution adding the powder…I tried adding some soy concentrate to Myles bottles’ when he wasn’t eating. I thougt it would be a good way to add some calories to his bottles, but he got VERY constipated from it. Maybe the scoop of powder with the oil would be better, but I’d watch closely to make sure it doesn’t plug him up.

How about Flax Seed Oil? I give it to my kids just because it’s healthy (omega fats are great) and it helps with keeping their stools soft. They are so used to it that they take it from a spoon. I tell them it’s vitamins! I think it’s like 30 cals a teaspoon.

How about almond butter? My kids love it and it’s less allergenic than peanutbutter. I put it on toast or crackers for them. My girls were eating it around Noah’s age. Add some jam/jelly to help it go down better because it’s a little drier than peanut butter.

Can he eat pancakes? They are pretty high in calories.

Maybe some smoothies? I think you can make them with bananas and berries, juice and ice, if he can’t have milk. Or maybe make them with soy milk or rice milk if he can’t have dairy.

Can he eat dairy at all? Ross makes several higher calorie formulas but I think they only come in milk; not soy.

Most babies don’t gain much this age, but he should definitely not lose. What does the doctor think of his drop to the 4th percentile? Is he concerned?

[Anonymous]

Lisa : Have you try polycose yet? I remember you said you want to make puree for Noah, you can pack in more cal by doing so, I use a lot of olive oil to pan fry tofu, veggi and meat, then puree them.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for your ideas. I’m currently making his bottles with Isomil at 30 cal per oz. It’s really difficult to add calories because he only eats purees. If he ate table food, I’d find it much easier to give him higher calorie foods. I’d give him donuts and cookies if he’d eat them! With being on a limited diet of pureed baby food, there’s only so much versitiltiy. I definitely will try flax seed oil though.

[Anonymous]

Avocado purees well too and has a lot of calories and fat! You can thin it with some Isomil for more calories too.

Does he eat meat? I remember Thais posting about cooking red meat for
Matthew – I think she fried it up in olive oil and pureed it with
potatoes and carrots for a high calorie meal.

[Anonymous]

Lisa, if you try the flax seed oil, I’d only use a very small bit. It causes pretty loose stools. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

We used Duocal. It is manufactured by the makers of Neocate. Every Tbsp. of powder is an extra 42 cal. Those calories consist of fat & carbs. It is expensive for a can but it lasts awhile. It helped us.

[Anonymous]

i’m a little confused——-you said he is in the 4th %, but you also said he is off the charts???

i don’t think it is particularly uncommon for a child to slow their weight gain when they start to walk—-they are moving so much more. if your son as been 10-15th % all of his life, chances are he is just going to be a smaller child. they are not considered failure to thrive unless they drop 2 major growth percentile marks, or if they are below the 3rd %—-and even then, if they are staying steady in their growth pattern there is probably not alot of reason for concern. you can expect that they will bob up and down a little on the growth charts. what is your doctor saying about his weight?

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