Fattenig up My Son

We've used duocal to add extra calories to the food my son eats. It was recommended by his pediatrician and dietician. He's always be under weight for his age and height and is VERY active. We've come the the conclusion that he'll just be a tall and skinny kid. Which is ok with me considering there ate manny many overweihgt children these days.
Good luck!

I think if he's at the right weight according to the doctor then you are not doing him any favors by trying to fatten him up.

Nuts and avocado come to mind for more fatty, heatlthy foods. If he's not a real good "chewer" I would start giving him nut butters. (I now they say not to give kids PB until they are two, but if he doesn't seem to be having any other allergy issues, I think almond butter or PB would be okay). The whole milk should help too. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much, if he is following his chart. It sounds like he is just doing the usual "lean out" when kids start walking.

Goodness gracious, why on earth should he need more fattening foods if he's perfectly healthy?? My son is exactly the same body type - he just turned 2 a few weeks ago & is a shade over 23 lbs, 34 inches tall. Long, lean & perfectly healthy. He's active (oh so active!), he goes through good eating spurts, bad eating spurts. I had him on whole milk & his ped said it obviously wasn't adding anything to him, so now he's on low-fat & doing just fine.

I think it's great to give our children healthy fattening foods, but really, try not to stress about his body image & what he should or shouldn't be like unless there are other factors involved that are causing him to be "unhealthy". I see my son & chuckle, wondering how on earth I'm going to keep his pants up as he gets bigger - & no doubt taller.

But I also see what a great potential swimmer, baseball player, gymnast he'll be simply because of his body type. He may be none of those things, which is fine too. As soon as the ped said everything else was on the "normal" side of him, I stopped thinking about it. Just want to encourage you that there are other kids just like your son & it's great being lean!

Dear M.,
In my nutrition practice, I always look at the whole picture, not just the weight and height. Some kids are just skinny by nature. If everything is going well, he is eating whole foods, and he is developmentally normal, i don't see any reason to fatten him up. I often feel like my son will gain some weight, and then all of a sudden grow taller and be skinny. Then they cycle repeats itself. it is just part of the growing. If your son is having any other symptoms such as developmental delays, chronic diarrhea or constipation, tics, etc, then I would consider talking to a health care practitioner about it. Otherwise just keep giving him the amazing healthy organic foods you are already giving him. Make sure to include plenty of variety, and plenty of fatty foods like avocados, nuts and seeds, cheeses, etc, that have lots of calories. Kids do need plenty of fat to develop properly. Please feel free to contact me if you need any further assistance.

Best,
E. Bender, NC, CHN
www.nutritionforthewholefamily.com
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M.,
My son is the same way. He's above the 95th% for height and about 25th% for weight. He is long and lean like his Dad. We have the same trouble with pants. And forget onesies. He stopped wearing those ages ago! We don't give our baby any gluten foods so that makes him leaner too. Grains put weight on, but the body doesn't need a lot of them. We give avocado mashed with banana. We use coconut oil for cooking some of his dishes. It's one of the good saturated fats. We also feed him full fat yogurt with cream on top. Balance out the saturated animal fats with olive or flax seed oil. Maybe you just need to give him more healthy meals per day. Our baby eats 3 full meals and 2 snacks and I am thinking of adding another snack somewhere to keep up with what he is burning - not to "fatten him up". Don't worry too much though. He sounds healthy. Our ped said our baby was very healthy.

I would just make sure he's getting whole milk, full-fat yogurt, etc instead of low-fat. But that goes for any child under 2 years. Fat in the diet is important for brain development. It's okay that he is not naturally chubby - my oldest is now almost 6 and she has always been skinny (95th percentile for height, 15th for weight). As long as they have healthy color in their cheeks and lots of energy, it doesn't matter what they weigh!

Although this wasn't exactly your question - since my daughter is tall and thin, I have discovered that Gymboree clothes tend to be sized on the slim side, and also Target carries slim sizes in jeans as well. It took a few years of my daughter wearing too-short jeans for me to figure that one out! =)

Hi M.,

If you live in a gingerbread house and your son's name is Hansel....No more play dates for you! And by the way, where is Gretel??

O.K. Just kidding...Unless your child's doctor says he is NOT healthy, you don't need to fatten him up. He will be fine. Sounds like you are doing everything right, except to worry too much. There is so much child obesity, you can count your blessings! You sound like a great MAMA to me.

Kindest regards....

Hi M.,

Your child can be lean as long as he looks healthy and is getting a balanced diet and exercise. Don't worry too much. As the prior Moms have said, make sure that you are giving him enough calories during the day for him to grow and play. Unlike adults, children under two years old need to have fat in their diet. Whole milk is one of the best ways as well as using "regular" foods instead of buying "low fat" or "non fat" items. While you and your husband may be watching the fat content, your son does not need to. Also make sure that your son is getting enough carbs in his diet. Pasta, potatoes, and cheese are healthy ways to add calories. Again, as long as he is following his growth chart and his weight is appropriate for his height, do not let the fact that he is lean bother you too much. Organic foods are fine, just make sure he is eating a healthy. balanced diet. An occasional fast food lunch won't hurt him either. Good luck.

Avacodas and eggs both contain good fats. My daughter (18 mo) likes rice pudding made with coconut milk, butter and a touch of agave nectar to sweeten. Quinoa has a lot of protein, which may help to add some weight. And, don't forget that he still needs carbs since he is burning so many calories while walking.

As my pediatracian so bluntly put it at my last check up for my son... we have enough fat kids in this world. I understand that you are concerned though. As long as he is making healthy food choices, just offer him a bit more (not too much more) at his meal times. Normally if a child isn't forced to eat it when they aren't hungry he/she will learn to monitor what and how much.

Some children are lean and trim and others are thick and solid. I wouldn't worry about fattening him up, but avocado and nuts provide higher, natural fat calories.

My eldest son was a string bean at the same age, and got fat in 3rd grade and is a string bean again at 6th grade.

My youngest son weighs the same in Kindergarten as his older brother weighed in 2nd grade. He's a thick, solid (but not fat) child who is VERY active and loves to eat.

Both of my sons weighed the same at birth, were nursed and nurtured by the same parents, but at 6 months my youngest weighed the same as my eldest did at ONE year!

Every child is and will be different in metabolism, height, weight, activity and attitude.

Let your son be lean and healthy as it sounds like he is right now.

(p.s. my pediatrician suggested I give my eldest son french fries to fatten him up when he was your son's age - YIKES! I changed pediatricians)

Enjoy your loving and active son, just the way he is, M..

~ Mom of 4: girl, boy, boy, baby on the way (due 10/1)

My son was slow to gain... only weighed 18 pounds at 1 year. He saw an endocrinologist who determined there was nothing hormonally wrong with him so we were told to give him PediaSure every day, once or twice a day, to fatten him up a bit. Also, incorporate good fats like avocado and nuts. It worked great! At 20 months he is now 22 pounds. He has never been on the growth chart (below the 5th percentile) and now he is actually above the 5th percentile, which is huge! I'd recommend offering PediaSure once a day and see how that works. Good luck!

My son has been a string-bean since day one. We buy the pants that have the inner adjustment on the waist.. He eats like a horse and just steadily trots along or below the weight curve. We give him whole milk, avocado, cheese, hummus, olives, etc. (all organic), but he'll always be a long-and-lean boy.
Try different brands of clothing if you are able - Tea Collection runs slender.
Good luck, but you may find that it's wiser to forget about "fattening" him up. His body will self regulate as it needs.

R.

I have a similar son, long and lean. I can never find pants long enough and lean enough. European cuts work well, and so do Quicksilver pants. Please, may I ask, why do you feel the need to "fatten him up"? Don't you think he will have enough opportunity to do that himself as he ages? with childhood obesity at alarming rates. My husband tried to suggest we do the same with our son and I had none of it, and frankly, he & I are quite glad we didn't. It sounds like you take great care of him with organics, just feed him fresh wild salmon, meats, avocados, plain yogurt with honey, and whole milk. Please, accept his body type as it is. My doctor always tells me, "offer, don't force". Children know how much they need to eat, and as my little son told me, "mom, you know I don't need much of that stuff"

M.,

Because of the extreme weight increases in the general population two things have happened.

One: the waist lines on the pants have gotten rather large. I have a box of my neices pants from 20 years ago, and they all fit my slim daughter perfectly. I can't find a pair in the store that will fit her height and not have a huge waist. My neigbor's kids eat a LOT of fruit and veggies, and they are even slimmer than my daughter. They may look a little skinny but they will grow up looking good! Conversly, My freind's kid eats Cheese Crackers, high sugar yogurt and other carb processed foods and he is quite chunky. It is not flattering for him.

Two: the growth curve weight/hight avg. record of today is higher than it was 30 years ago. We are a nation of junk food eaters now, and the growth charts refect the avg. kid. Look back on a yearbook from the 1940's. People weren't fat. They were really, really slim. It was good. Just the way God intended. They have even proven that people who eat less live longer.

If you really want to give him good "fat", I suggest Cod liver oil, bananas, olives, nuts, etc. I would check labels on Pediasure, and instant breakfast, and some yoghurts because they may be WAY TOO HIGH in sugar. Sugar is linked to many, many diseases. Plus, once you get him accustomed to the taste of high amounts of sugar, you can say goodbye to some of those halthy eating habits.

The food industry has lied to people saying that it is the fat in food that makes them fat. Good fat is not bad. It is actually the sugar in food that makes people fat...the kind of fat you can't get rid of. Putting sugar-with fat, in processed foods creates the perfect food for yeast to grow in your gut and stick to your cells. That makes fat, the kind that people have a very hard time get rid of.

My nearly 6 year old son was always on the thin side and for the first two years I worried about like crazy. At one, my little one weighed only 17 lbs and at two he weighed 21 lbs. Because he was breastfed, his dad is very lean (the body type is known as ectomorph), and he has always been active, he was always so much thinner than his counterparts. He turns 6 next week and he only weighs 45 lbs.

That said, he did not even make it on the weight chart (less than 5 percentile) until I gave him some "junk food" on some occasions. I am not advocating to give your child junk food 24/7 but things like full fat yogurt, ice cream, cheese all are good choices that even give him some nutrition too. At this point, we take the time to label healthy food "all the time" foods and other less healthy food as "sometimes" foods. It helps to teach moderation and food boundaries.

Hope this helps.

Hi M.,
My daughter, now 3, has ALWAYS been a tall skinny kid. She also eats healthy, organic food. Her shorts and pants have always been big in the waist, she's built like a beanpole! We try to give her healthy fats like avocado, almond butter, and lean red meats. Also make sure he is drinking WHOLE milk until 2 yrs old. The fat in whole milk is needed for development and growth. We just went for her 3 yr check up and the doctor said she was extremely healthy (has had one cold all year) and is above average in development.
Sincerely,
L.

Hi M.,
Healthy fats come from seafood (especially salmon), flax oil, avocados, vegetable oils, and nut butters. Seafood and flax oil are rich sources of omegs-3 fatty acids, which are essential for optimal brain growth.

Meat, poultry, full-fat dairy, eggs, butter, chocolate, cocoa butter, palm and palm kernel oils, and coconut oil are saturated fats which don't need to be limited until after a child is two years of age.

"Hydrogenated" fats should be avoided.

Hope this helps, K.

Dear M.,
I don't really know what to say about fattening up your baby. As long as he's healthy, you don't have too much to worry about. My daughter only weighed 12 pounds at a year old but she was perfectly healthy. She ate just fine and was walking at 7 months. She's 22 and still tiny. Built just like my mother. I was always tall and lean myself. Anything long enough was too big around. Anything that fit around was too short. My mom made most of my clothes because we could never find anything to fit me. Your little son just may always be built that way.
I guess you could try avocados and olives, peanut butter if he's not allergic. Those things have healthy fats.
Chubby babies are darling, but like my daughter, your son just may not be cut out to be one.
Just make sure he has a well rounded healthy diet and he'll be fine.

Best of wishes!

A friend of ours had a son with failure to thrive and they too were told to offer fattier foods. The doc recommended 1/2 whole milk and 1/2 half and half with Carnation Instant Breakfast drink mixed in. Eventually, it went to all half and half because he was so active and so thin. The mixture had the calories, fat, and vitamins he needed.

He loved it too!

I wouldn't worry about fattening him up. All children thin out after they start walking and then he will fill out again after a while. I just wish that would happen to us and we ould lose easier chasing after them.

Try making Smoothies or yogurt shakes with Carnation Instant Breakfast Drink. He can get extra calories without lots of extra fat. May also try mixing in some Boost Nutrition drink too for extra calories. We used these ideas for my grandma when we had difficulty getting her to take enough calories and she hated the Ensure type stuff... The Boost does have the "yucky" after taste. But she drank them right down when mixed with the Carnation stuff in a shake or smoothie....Good luck!

Hi M.,

Has the doctor recommended the pediasure? If not, have your doctor write out a prescription and send it to either Apria Health care or any other Health care agencies in your area and your insurance may pay for it unless if it is necessity for your son's medical health condition. Pediasure has high calories and has all the nutritions in it. Try cut out of organic foods. That is why he is thin. Give him egg yolks not the white part of the egg. The yolk has high in fat. Or try the fatty liquids called Benecalorie. You can use it to mix in his foods, or drinks. It is fatty and high in calories. You can ask your doctor for Benecalorie. If your doctor doesn't know about it, ask for nutritionist and you should be able to get more info and details on what you can do to help your son to gain more weight and still be healthy. I have a little girl who was born 3 1/2 months early and she is now 15 months old but her adjusted age is 12 months right now and she is only about 17 pds. She is very petite little precious baby and also defnitely my miracle baby. I give her benecalorie and soon will give her pediasure. The benecalorie is helping her to gain weight. I hope this info is helpful and wish you best of luck!

Try a quarter of avocado every other night. Also make your own juice from peaches, apples and pinapple (need to buy a juicer for this if you don't have one already). They love it and it will give him planty of vitamins and good sugars.

Hi M.,
My 12 month old son is the same way, except that he doesn't eat very much table food. He's just not really into it. Our doctor told us to give him Pediasure, which is basically like Ensure for babies/kids. It has tons of vitamins and extra calories and it comes in vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. My son prefers the vanilla and we actually buy the Target brand ($1 cheaper, same exact ingredients). You can give it to him as a snack, basically like a smoothie. Hope this helps!

My son has always been very thin and at the bottom of the growth chart for weight and just above average in height.
A fat baby doesn't equal a healthy baby!
Stop comparing him - feed him as healthy as you can and give him at least 5 meals a day. Ask your Pedi about adding vitamin drops to his juice if it will make you feel better.
Old Navy & Carter's both make jeans and pants with adjustable waist bands - buy 1 size bigger and draw in the waist and roll up the cuffs and they will last him a long time without being highwater or too tight. They cost a little more but will fit longer, so in the long run you save $$, and they are tough enough to hand down to the next kiddo.
We called our son "Wiggle-Butt" before he was born because he didn't stay in one place for more than 2 seconds and kicked a big hole in my water bag and was born a month early. He has yet to sit still - if he is quiet it means he just broke something or wrote on something or found a really big bug.
He's almost 4, and at your son's age was at the 4th percentile for weight -now he's at 56%. he never had the little fat folds in his thighs or dimples on his hands - but with all of the obese kids these days - I'll take a Speedy Gonzales with baggy pants!!!
Take Care & don't worry until the Pedi says you should!

My daughter had the same problem. Avacado is great, if he doesn't like it plain, use a thick layer on his sandwiches. Turkey avacado or grilled cheese and avacado are yummy. Also cottage cheese is very good, lots of protein, the best is the Knudsens. Peanut butter and banana on wheat for breakfast is yummy and lots of good calories.

I am assuming that dairy was already suggested by the doctor, like whole milk? I would think that yogurt and cheeses would be a good place to start - they are yummy AND healthy! However, my child was/is very active - sounds quite similar to yours! Her metabolism is very high also and we never worried about her calorie intake as much as long as she was getting enough to eat and eating healthy. She is very healthy and she will be three this week!

For a short time I had similar issues with my daughter. They need fatty foods at this age both for the calories, and for their brain development. We got Trader Joe's baby yogurt - it's made with cream instead of whole milk and has a higher calorie and fat content than Yo-Baby. I also put extra butter on whole grain toast and english muffins, then topped that with simply fruit instead of jelly.

I also make chicken strips coated in corn flakes and pan fried in Canola Oil, which has omega three fats for brain development. (Cut into strips, dredge in flour, then a little egg, then roll in crushed corn flakes, and then fry in Canola Oil). These are very yummy, crunchy, healthier than the processed frozen nuggets you can buy, and my whole family loves them. I haven't tried freezing them yet because they disappear before I get a chance to do so, but I imagine you could.

Good luck!
A.

I have a son who is as you describe yours - very lean, very active, in the very low percentile on the chart but consistent with his curve. Our pediatrician was never concerned, since she could see that this was a normal pattern for him from birth, and that he had no medical problem.

She let us know that low weight in itself is not a problem to be solved, for some kids it's just normal. Knowing what is the norm in your family helps too. I'm very lean and need lots of protein and fat in my diet or I may lose weight. So while the way I eat may look like a "gaining plan" to some, for me it's maintenance. My kids have that same metabolism.

Try considering this in terms of maintaining a level that is within normal for your son, as an individual, not in comparison with anyone else or a chart or the sizing choices of a clothing manufacturer. I could put size 24 month clothes on my son til he was over three, but there was nothing abnormal about him!

The food suggestions from the previous posters sound pretty good. We responded to our son's need for more nutrient and calorie-dense foods too. He loved avocado, almond butter, coconut milk and coconut oil. We couldn't give him dairy and eggs til he was about four but if you can, whole dairy and range-fed eggs rich in omega-3s are great choices for a toddler. If you rely on dairy a lot, you may want to look into the benefits of unprocessed dairy vs. pasteurized.

Our son never filled out the waist of his pants, lol, and would sometimes grow and not gain for a while, but he is very healthy and is the usual size for a kid of his age, for our family.

You can also sneak calories and protein into foods. I used avocado and almond butter as substitutes for less healthy vegetable oils when I baked muffins, a snack my son would always go for. I think smoothies have been mentioned, coconut milk makes them really rich and creamy, and you can pour them into popsicle molds to make smoothie pops that most kids love.

Hi M.:
I have the same issue with my 15 month old daughter. She's in daycare and they feed her lots of snacks during the day, which she's just burning off. I try to give her cheese on a regular basis, since it is not only a good way to get calcium, but also has "good" fats.

Try whole milk yogurt and full-fat cottage cheese. You could also try Pediasure or add Carnation instant breakfast to his whole milk.

I know fat babies are considered healthy and they get a lot of attention (my son is very chunky an is off the charts since birth - but not unhealthy, he's just big). But don't worry about it. Your son is lean and healthy.
You could try giving him richer foods, like avocado. But what you train his body with now will effect him later. So just keep doing what you are doing, he will be a healthy thriving adult...congrats to that!

You should not try to make your child fit the clothes but make the clothes fit the child. My kids have always been tall and lean. i.e. clothes that were long enough were always too large around the middle. My solution was belts and suspenders. -- and they have those pants with the adjustable waist bands.

I would only worry about increasing his weight if the doctor says there is a problem.

I don't think it is neccessary to fatten him up. If he has always followed the same growth curve then that is his body type. Continue feeding him as you do and just be sure you are not giving him "diet" type foods or low calorie foods. Whole milk, cheese, avacado, peanut butter, these are all healthy for a little guy. But no need to push him gaining weight. I'm glad he is a good eater. It is normal for them to thin out as they are more active. I wouldn't be worried unless he falls off the growth chart.

That's the same problem I have w/ my daughter! We ended up seeing a nutritionist and she told us to use DUOCAL. It's a calorie supplement (powder) that I add to everything that I feed her. Also, Carnation Instant Breakfast (comes in 3 different flavors I think) works when I make her a chocolate shake or hot chocolate. I ordered DUOCAL on line - price them out as each case is expensive. Amazon I believe has it, but I got mine from Allegro (I can't remember the exact web address). Otherwise, her father and I are not genetically big people so she won't be big either. She's active and is on par w/ the growth curve, so I'm not really worried. I just have buying pants that are big on the waist & short on the leg! :) Children's Place & Old Navy have great deals on pants and they have an adjustable elastic waist! :)

You've gotten some great suggestions. One winner that has worked great for us is whole milk yogurt (we like Trader Joes because it's cheaper than yo-baby).

I wish my children and I had this problem! :)

I used to make smoothies for my son (who is also very slender and long and not a good eater) around that age. He was premature and very small but has always grown at the same rate (height was always in the 60th% but weight was only at 5th% on the charts). I would put what ever fruit I had and then add protein powder (either whey or hemp) and coconut milk and whole milk yogurt. Hope this helps and don't worry too much about your slight guy unless his growth curve changes or pediatrician is worried (it sounds like it's more your concern that the docs, which is always better than the other way around ;))

I'm sure this is not really what you want to hear, but I speak from experience (and from the advice of my son's pediatrician and 2 ped GIs [because he had wicked reflux as a baby]): you do not need to fatten him up if he is staying on his own growth curve. My son is quite thin (37 pounds dripping wet at age 5). He has always been thin, and we added cheese, an extra calorie powder the doc gave us, ranch dressing, avocado, butter, etc., to his food when he was younger. It made no difference. He is just thin. He is very strong and healthy, though -- very strong! He's just a string bean. The doctors all said that he was fine as long as he stayed on his own growth curve. They also mentioned to take the percentile charts for weight less seriously because so many children are overweight these days. Focusing too much on fattening up your son can unintentionally lead to unhealthy relationships with food later on in life. Our docs suggested we read "Child of Mine," by Ellyn Satter. It's a fantastic book about helping kids develop a healthy relationship w/ food. Our son was 2 lbs, 6 oz at birth, so I completely get being worried about weight. Also, as a cautionary tale, my father was very thin as a child (I'd even say scrawny). My grandmother was a great cook, and she worried about how thin he was (he was quite thin even through high school). He ended up being 5'10" and 351 pounds. I'm not saying that his overeating is my grandmother's fault, but I do think he equates food with love and comfort -- being taken care of -- and I think, in no small part, he developed this attitude based on his mother's concerns about fattening him up. All docs and nutritionists I have spoken to, read, or heard speak have said not to worry if your child is staying on his own growth curve. My son has had no problems of any sort -- health, athletic, social, etc. -- because of his weight. The only problem is that he can only wear pants with those elastic pull w/ button dealies inside the waistband. I've been in your place (never thought my child would hit 20 lbs!). Please try not to worry.

This is normal growth pattern. You should talk to your pediatrician to confirm this, but my first reaction is that he's growing and stretching. We have such a problem in our society with overweight children and too many parents overfeeding them. Good eating habits start at an early age. Be happy he's not a chubby kid. Many chubby kids turn into chubby adults and they have to fight that fat for the rest of their lives. Good luck.

You could give him Greek yogurt. It is high in fat and tastes really good. You can give it to him plain or mix in pureed fruit to make it a little sweeter. Avocados are another good food, high in calories but also very nutritious.

It's funny because my daughter is the same way but my son is the opposite! :) My daughter has started to fill out a little bit more now that she is almost 3. I have always fed them both really healthy but their body types were just different. If anything try adding in more protien and wait about an hour after the protien to give him a carb. don't give them to him together as it will defeat your purpose. ;) Hope it helps!

Try avacados. They are "good" fat. My son loves them.

Based on what you said in your post, I'd assume you are already feeding him things like cottage cheese (the higher the fat content, the better), whole milk plain yogurt, cheeses, and other healthy fats like avocados or eggs. It sounds like your doctor was suggesting you increase the fatty foods so that he maintains his weight, not necessarily gains weight. His metabolism and body will continue to adjust to the extra activity that comes with his newfound freedom and mobility.

Keep up the good work, and trust your mama instinct as much as (or even more than) you trust your doctor.

I have one word for you: AVOCADO!!!!!!

My little girl is also a tall, lean baby. One thing that was recommended to us was avocado. It's healthy and has good fats. Plus, it's squishy and your son might get a kick out of eating something green and squishy. You might also want to try adding a little more cheese into his diet, (unless your family is vegan). It would be a good source of calcium for his bones now that he's more mobile, and would be another source of fat in his diet. Anyway, I hope this helps!

You can try increasing his carb intake. We also give our 16 mo. old son Brown Cow Cream Top yogurt. I can't really think of anything else, but those may help! Good luck! It sounds like your little guy is doing great.