dd2 has had another growth spurt and now her hip bones are visable

[misdee]

how do you keep weight ON a child? she is very tll for her age and slim. her stomach looks like she does sit ups, its completely flat. her legs are skinny but solid iykwim. her hips however are jutting out a bit.

she eats well.

on the other hand i have dd1 who is overweight slightly and chunky.

how can i feed dd2 up a bit, jus to get some covering back on her bones, without dd1 getting bothered about her own weight. or will it even out again soon?

[cargirl]

I don't think there is anything you can do, my dd2 is also the lanky lean one who insists on wearing trousers which are impossible to find lean enough. They are different body shapes there is little you can do to change it. DD1 is solid, DD3 chunky, DD4 all over petite also with no bottom or hips - another trouser nightmate - lol!

[misdee]

i know she isnt underweight. was weighed last year at school and on the top percentil line for height and weight. probably back over the line for her height atm though.

its a pain tryign to get clothes to fit eafch of the girls. everything sits so low down on dd2 hips it looks silly, like she is wearing hipsters.

[IllegallyBrunette]

I think some people are just meant to be that way Misdee.

Dd1 is ultra skinny, but if you saw the amount she eats you would wonder where the hell it all goes. She is 11 in November, but this years school skirts are age 8.

[cornsilk]

She will be the envy of all her friends when she's 18!

[tortoiseshell]

Oh, ds1 is like this. Every time he grows, he becomes alarmingly skinny. He has NO fat at all, I can put my thumb and 1st finger round his upper arm, his ankles are the widest part of his lower leg, his knees the widest of his upper leg.

His pelvis not only juts out at the front, you can see two knobs at the BACK which I have never seen on any child! And his vertebrae rub on his car seat - they are regularly a bit red through rubbing.

I will put a pic of him on my profile if I can find a decent one.

Dd is chunkier - slim, but solid. SHe has broad shoulders, stronger looking limbs and a little tummy. Ds2 is in between - thin, but broader shoulders than ds1.

What we do is;

Packed lunches - slip in a Coco Pops bar for ds1, dd has an apple (which she is utterly happy with).

Tea - give him a double portion.

Supper - he has cereal with full fat milk every night - often 3 or 4 bowls. Dd has semi-skimmed milk, but they don't know the difference - just that 'this is my milk, this is yours'. And actually dd wouldn't mind, as she has the same milk as me.

Other than that, I basically don't stop him eating, because he can forget to eat, so if he is hungry I just let him. I am stricter with the other 2 about snacks, and they don't seem to mind.

[misdee]

oh dd3 does IB. the rate she eats she should be the size dd2 was when she was a baby/toddler. but is very petite.

i have to buy dd2 stuff for 8-10year olds depending on how large the waist is and the length as all shops vary. the skirt she was wearing today will have to go away for dd3 in a couple of years as it looked far too short . its for 8yr olds.

[Flibbertyjibbet]

It will even out soon. I can always tell when ds1 has had a growth spurt cos suddenly he seems to have an incredibly long neck and his trousers fall down.
Then he gradually fills outa bit (still tall and very slim though) until the next spurt.
ds2 is broader shoulders, has a belly, but I wouldn't say he is overweight, just a different shape.

[IllegallyBrunette]

Buying skirts is hard, but I don't mind if they are a little short on dd as she wears tights. It is buying her jeans that is a nightmare.
Even the ones with adjustable waists are no good because you have to adjust them so much that they look comical.

I was looking at dd today and she is just so straight up and down, like a beanpole LOL.

[msdemeanor]

I think you are supposed to see the bones on children. THey are meant to be skinny. It's just there are so many overweight kids about we've lost perspective. You can definitely see the hipbones on my nearly four year old. She is entirely healthy.

[misdee]

but they are jutting out.

6year olds arent meant to have washboard stomachs are they?

seriously when you tickle her stomach its like she has been at the gym toning her abs.

she is very active which is good. but she just looks so skinny atm. she was a chunky baby even though very tall, but now has thinned out.

which is good in a way. but am worried i ncase she isnt getting enough to keep up with her rapid growth.

[tortoiseshell]

I've put a few pics on - they don't really show how scarily thin ds1 is atm, but you can see the differences in build between them.

[tortoiseshell]

Ds1 is 7 btw

[tortoiseshell]

And, I take the point about losing perspective, but when a pair of age 6 M&S trousers literally fall down from your 7 year old, because their bottom is smaller than the waist, then I think you can surmise that they are a bit too thin! There is seeing the bones, and bones jutting out, and ds1 is certainly the latter - he literally has no body fat at all, feels the cold etc

[misdee]

yes. things slip down on dd2. bought age 8 skirt from m and s. back in the wardrobe for now as they slip down too low on her hips. length would be perfect if they stayed up properly.

[NotAnOtter]

will put a pic of ds last summer he looked awful - we had to laugh!

[msdemeanor]

Are they much thinner than this?

www.ladybirdprints.com/image.php?id=215799&idx=5&fromsearch=true

Tortoishell, your children are catalogue-beautiful and I honestly don't think your ds looks too skinny.

[msdemeanor]

My nearly four year old is pretty hard-bodied too! I think it's healthy. She eats cake though!

[misdee]

dd2 would live on cake.

lol.

will keep fingers crossed her weight catches back up with her height again soon.

she is now taller than dd1.

[msdemeanor]

I am not an anorexic food-fascist either btw. I'm a size 14 and the kids made two kinds of cake (inc cupcakes with pink icing) with me today and ate both, and had a bag of crisps each. Moussaka for tea. My ds and dd1 have different, rounder builds, though both are still slim.

[msdemeanor]

DOn't you think the Peter and Jane image is interesting? You don't really see children depicted like that nowadays - ie skinny and hard.

[tortoiseshell]

msdemeanor - that's very sweet of you! It's quite hard to get a pic that shows how thin ds1 is, because he is also quite short. But he is basically a very light build, and is always going to be narrow, I don't think he's particularly unhealthy, so have learnt not to worry, especially as he is supremely energetic!

misdee - when I was really worried about ds1 last year the HV said the height was the main thing they look at anyway, and as long as they are growing, then you don't really need to worry about them being too thin. Ds1 is between the 25th and 50th centiles, and weighs about 3 stone2 or so, but hasn't really put any weight on for a year or so (maybe a pound?). But he has grown in height, so he is obviously getting enough nutrition to grow.

[misdee]

thats true MsD, but i know loads of skinny kids, but it was just so sudden with dd2 this new change in her body shape.

there are baby through to spring 08 pics of her in my profile but she is all bundled up, so its hard to see what i mean.

[NotAnOtter]

ok pic of ds then 14 turning 15 !

[misdee]

ah the teenage growth spurt. i never got that one. so i'm short and dumpy lol.

[NotAnOtter]

its not a good look misdee - you are glad you missed it!