Weight Gain Recipes

My son was full-term but has always been at the 3rd to 5th percentile. Our ped has been happy as long as he is gaining consistently and staying in that range. A couple of things we have done: Stay on whole milk. Add malted milk and/or Nestle Quik/Ovaltine to the milk. There are some lower sugar versions out there now. Also, we kept juice to a minimum ... to try to keep his appetite up. Cheese and peanutbutter were two other things our ped suggested. PB on apples or celery works for us sometimes. Finally, as long as he is growing, healthy and hitting his other milestones, I've really stopped worrying. When my mom visits she trys to feed him constantly and I just won't do that. He eats when he is hungry. Hang in there.

If they are eating, I wouldn't worry to much about it. I have a daughter the same age who i cant get to eat really at all. If you know they are eating healthy and regularly thats all that really matters. Kylee, my daughter, only eats about 4 foods. I have tried EVERYTHING and have resorted to chocolate covered granola bars, for the benefit of the gronola. THe only other things she eats carrorts, french fries, almonds and junk food. Your girls are eating healthy and regularly. Thats something to be proud of. Doctors are smart, but they dont always know best. You know you kids and how they are doing better than anyone. My little brother was two months premature, and he didnt catch up in weight til he was 11 and he ate everything in sight! Your doing just great and dont let anyne tell you otherwise! SOme kids are just skinny.

I am in almost the same boat as you are. I have a 4 1/2 yr old who only weighs in about 30 lbs. She eats everything that you give her and more. Sometimes I wonder where she puts it. The peds have given us a hard time since she was 18 months about her weight. I finally gave in and allowed them to do blood work to make sure that there wasn't a medical reason behind her being so small....nothing. So now I just take what the peds say about her weight with a grain of salt. I know that she is eating and like one of the other moms said, she is continuing on her own little curve on the growth chart, so I am not to worried. Your girls may just be petite. I wouldn't want them to put on extra weight just so the doc would lay off, especially if it was just chubby weight. Know that you are doing everything in their best interest, they are eating and eating healthy, and let nature take it's course for a while. Good luck and congrats on the girls.

my boyfriend is a personal trainer and says that whey protein is ok for kids and will help with their muscular development and also suggests the whole milk. He makes us protein shakes all the time with frozen fruit. Sometimes he uses the choco protein with peanut butter in milk. Soooo good!

We did the CIB in 10 oz. whole milk. It had the same sugar values as Enfamil Next Step Formula, so we didn't see a problem with too much sugar. It worked great.

Also, Parenting magazine, I think February issue had a short little article about this. My doctor just let me have the magazine. The only thing we have really implemented is adding dried fruit to cereals, smoothies, etc. Also, rolling fruit in crushed cereal. I didn't believe it, but our son eats the same amount of fruit even though the cereal is added, so it really adds up to extra sugars. We have found almost any cereal works. He also drinks whole milk almost exclusively for the calories, and we offer whole milk yogurt almost everyday for breakfast.

I, too, hesitated to add butter to everything, but with the above changes to his diet, he gained 5 percentage points. He eats fruits and veggies almost exclusively and virtually no meat, so high fat is out for him.

Congratulations on the otherwise healthy girls! For as small as they were, I'm glad they're healthy. You do have to keep in mind that some kids are always going to be small. Our specialist said she was pleased when our son had a 1 to 1 ratio height to weight and bases his health on that more than where he falls on the chart. Unfortunately, the Peds don't feel the same way. But then, our son sees a lot of specialists, so I tend to go with their thoughts. GL

So long as they're maintaining their position on the weight and height charts, don't worry! My 4 1/2 year old weighs 30 lbs (10th percentile) and her 6 1/2 year old brother only weighs 41 lbs (about 15th percentile). The youngest is in the 85th percentile for height - so she looks incredibly skinny! The oldest has been eating more than I do for at least 6 months and has gained a whopping 1 pound in that time! The only time my peditrician worried was when the youngest dropped from 10th percentile to off the chart at about 18 months. I got her weight back up to the 10th percentile by spiking her oatmeal w/canola oil (it really has no taste and is a relatively healthy oil, so I didn't worry too much about giving her a taste for oily things). We also went back to pureeing a lot of things and did so until she was almost four. She had issues w/ the texture but not the taste of a lot of foods so it was just easier. Just feed healthy food and a mixture of protein, whole grains, and fruits and vegetables 4-5 times per day and they'll be fine. And if the peditrician keeps pushing - ask why and expect/demand a good reason! The only good reason to track kids' weights is that not gaining weight can be a sign of so many things - but again, if they're tracking on the charts at roughly the same percentile - there's nothing wrong! And, to reinforce that - I weighed 35 pounds when I started kindergarten and my brother weighed 27 pounds - we are both healthy adults - my brother's still on the thin side but is 6 foot - I'm not so much thin :) but not overweight and am 5'3".

I am just going to list some ideas for you.. But you might want to search online "healthy meals for kids" See what you come up with Rachael ray has great recipes for kids..

Whole milk, cheese, wheat bread, pasta (mac and cheese - we prefer homemade) Chicken can be a fun food to introduce, kids love the legs.. Vegetables with ranch dip or other fun dips. Most kids prefer raw veggies over cooked. Smoothies - you can made at home.. Fruit, bananas will contain more calories than say a orange.. Crackers with lunch meat..

Hope that helps.. I have always found kids eat when they are hungry and some are graizers..

Hope that helps..