Should I Be Concerned. - Dubuque,IA

i have ALWAYS had weight and size problems with my daughter to the point her first peditrician told me he'd hospitalize her and tube feed her to get her to gain weight when she was an infant(huh?). i wouldn't worry too much about it, she's almost 8, still small for her age but can eat like a horse when she's hungry enough

he could just have a high motabolism, don't stress too much, he'll eat good when he's hungry

Try almond milk for one and two these blasted doctors want everyone in an average box. I have a skinny kid because we can't get him to eat very well. Honestly, every kid is different. There will be a time they won't stop eating. I was a thin child myself. Especially because I was active- like my son. Don't sweat it. Try to find foods he does like and bank on that.

There are some parts of your post that were very similar with what we saw with our daughter. As a baby, she also spit up a lot and had weight gain issues; but she also had sinus infection/congestion issues. Her pediatrician told me that we needed to significantly increase the dairy fat in her diet--"Give her ice cream, ice cream, ice cream; don't care about the sugar!". So for the next 3 months, she ate so much high fat dairy foods--I even made her mac & cheese out of cream frais and whole milk (omg, it tasted so good! My husband joked she would either gain weight or have a heart attack!). I thought she'd gain weight for sure... Nope!

We then did a skin prick allergy test which confirmed she is allergic to cows milk proteins--which was why she never gained any weight! Basically, the cows milk irritated her intestines so much that it interfered with the absorption of all other nutrients. (We previously had done a blood test to look for milk allergies, but it came back inconclusive.) Once we cut cows milk and cows milk diary completely from her diet (and I mean totally out of all food--had to read ingredient labels), she started gaining weight (and her congestion/sinus issues ended). She's not a large girl anyway, but at 4 yrs, she's in the 45% in height and 30% in weight. Her pedi has not been concerned with her weight since she was 2 1/2.

I chose not to do the soy route. Instead, she eats goat milk and goat dairy (yogurt, butter, cheese). If you haven't considered cutting out cows milk, perhaps you could do it for 3 months and see if he gains weight-?

Your son might have a cows milk protein allergy or he might be lactose intolerant. Being allergic to cows milk protein is not the same as being lactose intolerant. Those are 2 different allergies. A diet for someone with lactose intolerance might still contain cows milk protein... So, you can't feed one type of food for the other allergy. You really need to know which allergy you're dealing with... You can ask your pedi about how you can get a skin prick test for a food allergy. We were refered to a pediatric allergist.

Good luck!

From my understanding it's not so much an issue of "how much" they weigh as much as the "pattern of" growth. Is your ped happy with that? I would ease up on a lot of the dairy and concentrate on other high calorie, healthy foods that he likes and eats.
And make sure he is pooping regularly and not constipated, since he says his tummy hurts when he has to go.

Has the doc ran any tests on your little man? How is he developmentally? He may have a thyroid issue which can cause many issues if it goes untreated. Ask your pediatrician to test his thyroid so it can be ruled out!

I am always concerned with my daughter. She is 3.5 years old and weighs 28lbs. She weighed 26lbs at her 2 year check up. She's grown height wise though. I always ask the Dr about it and he said as long as they're eating and are active and growing then not to worry too much about the weight. I would check into the milk allergy just to rule that out. If you find out he does have a milk allergy or something then he might eat better. Or have you checked into reflux? My daughter had that when she was younger and it would cause her to gag on her food and sometimes throw up.

I would talk to the doctor just to rule out any health problems. If you think it is lactose intolorence you could try buying lactose free or soy milk. Most kids will drink the chocolate or strawberry flavored soy milk and it's a good way to get them used to the taste. If taking the lactose out of his system ends the sypmtoms, then you have your answer.
The problem is getting rid of all the lactose in a diet can be hard - think about all the things milk is in (baked goods, sauces, even chocolate).
There is also a prevelent allergy to wheat gluten. If it is an allergy then it is good to find the out now so you can learn how to make foods that he can eat happily.

I hate to say this but I would ask the dr. to run some tests. In particular I would have his thirod (sp?) checked. I wish I could remember what tests my friend had her dr. run on her son because he was not growing or gaining weight and some disease runs on her husbands side that stunts growth.
On the other hand I know that another friend of mine has a son that would eat a whole chunky soup can by himself and not put on a single pound and is very small. I would have been very worried if I was her but she was not concerned at all because she saw what he ate at home.
Good luck. I do not blame you for being woried. Remember that around age 2 they do not put on the weight as much as they do their first two years.

I posted the same type of concern a few days about about my 4 year old who I think is small for his age compared to some of the other kids in his preschool class. At dinner time I still find myself hoovering over him to make sure he eats enough food. Sometimes I will actually fed him to make sure he eats his vegetables ( I know this may be going over the line for a 4 year old but It's the worrier mom part of me) I have no idea if he's eating his food to my satisfaction when he is at school so I make up for it at home.
Someone on my post did have an interesting comment on Gluten and how it can prevent some kids from gaining weight if they have an intolerance to it. You may want to check into that.
I would talk to the Dr. about his milk issues and if the dairy problems could be in some way contributing to his weight issues (if there is a weight issue) I know as a mom you won't be satisfied until you get the answers you need.
Both of my son's were considered sort of chubby babies but it seems as son as they hit 3 years old their appetite changed and they were just too busy to eat. My six year old was this way and now it seems as if dinner is his most important time of the day when he comes home from school. I'm still waiting for my 4 year old to pick up on this too,LOL

My 3 1/2 yo is at 32 pounds and hasn't gained anything (he has actually lost 2 pounds and gained it back several times) since his appointment in May. I wouldn't worry about the actually number on the scale. They are soo active at this age that it takes alot to make them gain anything :) I would just do your best to offer lots of healthy things he likes throughout the day and he will eat what he needs. We try to offer lots of healthy fats such as nuts and avocado. Most of our snacks are either trail mix (nuts, dried fruits and cheerios) or whole grain crackers and cheese...but I am really bad about offering snacks and I am trying to do better.

I have a friend whose daughter's growth was also very slow. She also had tummy aches after eating certain foods. It wasn't until she was about 9 or 10 that she was diagnosed with celiac disease. Ask your doctor about it.

Just let the ped know of the cycle, and make sure she realizes that you are very concerned about it. My oldest son was always pretty skinny and gangley... people thought he was under fed. He ate like a little horse but just had a great metabolism I guess? He's still slim built at 30.
At 3 they are so much more active they usually slim down and lose the babyfat during that year. Even if he's not into milk there are plenty of other things he can eat to get his fats and calcium. I'm sure you are aware of those. Does he play hard right after eating? That could make him barf on occasion.
Have him checked for a hernia.... that could be something that is messing up his digestive tract... ask about it at your doc appt.

What does his growth chart look like? I ask because my first is a peanut too. We worried like crazy the first year of his life, because when he was born he was in the 80 something percentile and has been hovering between 4th and 12th percentile since. Our dr said that his growth curve is consistent (no huge drops - except from the birth weight, but apparently that doesn't count). Dr says he is just going to be a small kiddo.

You also have to keep in mind that the first 2 years are such a huge growth period. They gain weight at an alarming rate. They will not keep that up.

I think it is definitely worth working with your dr to resolve the tummy issues, but I wouldn't worry too much about the low weight as long as he is still eating balanced meals.

I also wanted to mention that you can't really compare siblings. We have polar opposite boys. My 11 month old is wearing my 2 year olds (28 months) clothes. And I am sure that by the time our youngest is a year he will have passed his brother in weight. He is only 1.5 lbs away at this point!

My 3yr old son had wt gain issues as well. At 1yr, we tried whole milk and within about a month or 2 he was vomiting (alot) once a day and having diarrhea about once a day and had a really nasty diaper rash that turned into yeast and then some. We put him on soy milk and did pediasure for awhile. We stopped the soy milk at 2yr and tried whole milk again with no problems. He also doesnt' get pediasure anymore. He always tolerated other dairy products and has been on 2% milk now with no problem. The pediatrician did a Failure to Thrive workup which came back negative, so the thought is that his is just petite (we're not very big people). He went today for his flu shot and I had them weigh him, he is currently 27 lb - up from 26 lb at his 3yr appt in July. You should probably have him checked for dairy or lactose intolerance, but other than that I wouldn't worry too much. BTW, my son still sometimes (rarely) gets nauseaus and throws up for no reason (all though I do think he gets car sick sometimes if it's a long car ride and he hasn't really eaten much). I joke that when he gets sick, it's usually GI and not so much colds and stuff....that's what it seems like anyway. Good luck with your little man!

Being allergic to milk is different than being lactose intolerant (unable to digest the sugar lactose). My son would always complain his tummy hurt when he needed to poop, and we would always say so you have to go poop, and after a long while he understood the connection.

The percentile charts are only useful to compare your own kid against himself. If he has always been at 5 or 10% for weight, but has grown steadily on his own little curve, then he's fine. If he was at 80% for height and weight and then suddenly dropped down to 5%, that's when you start to worry. My son didn't break 20 lbs until after his 2nd birthday, but his older brother was 20 pounds at one year - and my niece was 20 lbs at 8 months. Lactose intolerance or dairy allergy can cause weight issues, and it's certainly worth looking into. But as long as his growth has remained consistent over time, there's no need to worry.

I don't know if you should be concerned but I'll just say that 29 lbs isn't outrageously small. My daughter is petite, too. She weighed about 29 lbs at 3 years and now at almost 4.5 years she weighs about 32 lbs. Our ped has never been concerned about her weight. He says as long as she eats well and doesn't drop growth curves, it's okay. It is not a problem that she's on a very low growth curve (5th percentile) as long as she stay on that curve.

Is your son below the 5th percentile? I think that's when the docs get concerned--my daughter isn't quite 3 so not sure what the average weight is. I do know that they slow down a lot after age 2.

My daughter has always been in about the 5th percentile for weight, falling below around her first birthday, which we fixed by changing her diet.

Are you interested in some diet ideas? If not, stop reading! :) If so, read on: When my daughter didn't gain weight, we added sunflower seed butter to her diet, because it is full of protein and good fats. We also had her eating a lot of avacado. I think you are wise to be concerned about the milk/dairy issue. Does he get enough natural fiber from foods? (thinking about the going number 2 issue) Fresh fruits and veggies (pears are especially good) and legumes? We eat lots of black beans, lentils and chick peas in our house--tons of fiber.

Try going without milk, my almost 4 y/o never drank or wanted it - he is fine. Milk is not good for everyone. Also many behavioral issues related to milk consumption in kids who are unable to digest it because the toxins accumulate in the growing brain.'
It is easy to go without milk. My son drinks water, teas, diluted juices. He doesn't like the taste of soy and I would not push it because soy has substances similar to estrogens, female hormones. Do you want your kid to eat that?
Calcium comes from cheese, broccoli, yogurts, farmer's cheese, etc.
Try with your son a generaly healty diet, avoid anything with artificial stuff, preservatives, colorings.

Im no expert on what is normal but I have a 3 yr old girl who had her birthday in may and she weighs 24 pounds. She has always been on the low end of the charts. She eats wells sometimes but at others it is difficult to get her to eat. She is very active and I think that she runs off everything that he eats. She is healthy, happy and her ped has always said at her checkups that she is fine. Yes doctors always say they need to gain weight but I think that some kids have a very fast metabolism. I figure as long as she eats and is happy she is fine, especially since she has always been small. Plus with how active some kids are it is no wonder they are so small.

For the weight, I wouldn't be overly concerned if he is staying consistent on the charts, but I would take him in for the other issues. While there, you can have them check his weight just to make sure.

My daughter has always been behind in weight and height. We went for her 5 year old checkup and she is only 32lbs but otherwise very healthy. Many children including my oldest had pooping issues. You may want to talk to your doctor about Miralax. It sounds like a milk allergy to me. If you can't get answers from your doctor I would consider seeing a specialist at your local Children's hospital.

My daughter was very similar and just recently after her 4th birthday she started growing. Like someone else posted, every kids grows at different rates. From the age of one her doctor as been watching her weight and suggested full fat yogurt every night before bed. My daughter doesn't drink cows milk because it upsets her stomach but the yogurt is fine for her. She does drink almond milk (very easy to find next to the soymilk in most grocery stores). She likes the flavor of almond milk over soymilk. I always assumed she'd be the smallest in her class and now all of a sudden she's growing like a weed!

sounds like he is lactose intolerant