How do I make toddler gain weight?

[Changemyname12]

Hi, my 2 years and 4 month old son has fallen under his percentile line at the last health visitor weigh-in.

She now has given me an appointment on January 14th for the Saturday weight clinic.

I have weighed my son today and he is still not gaining. He has plenty to eat and we feed him regularly. The problem is whenever he is ill he stops eating. He's had this horrible cough that he picked up from the childminder and is now on antibiotics for it. I literally have to force him to eat and he's just picking at the food.

How do I make him gain weight? Any suggestions? I am a bit scared of the next appointment, what they will say if he is still not gaining and what they will do.

Thanks for any advice xx

Slip butter and cream into everything. Peanut butter is also very good. Ask at a decent sized chemist if they have any suitable nutritional milkshakes.

What does he enjoy?

He's eating toast with peanut butter and banana as we speak 😂 He normally is a very good eater and eats everything, including apples. But when he's poorly he only picks at the food, so we end up giving him a bag of crisps and something chocolaty so that he at least eats something.

What @KindergartenKop said! If you serve vegetables, put butter on them (or in them with mashed potatoes). If he has a scrambled egg, cook it with a good knob of butter. Peanut butter on small pieces of toast if he doesn't want to eat much. Bits of cheese he can pick up with his fingers. If he likes some veggies - carrot sticks and so on - offer mayo or dressing he can dip them in. All these things build in calories. Children have such little stomachs and he needs calorie-dense food to put on weight, rather than a high volume of food.

Feed him what he'll eat when he's ill!

Do you feed him supper before bed on top of 3 meals?

It's difficult when they're poorly. Is there anything he's particularly enjoying at the moment? My DD is older but has had a similar virus for a few days, she's asked for the mini stollen from Lidl which isn't perhaps the healthiest but does the trick with calories

Can I ask what milk he's on too? The Follow-On Milks and Toddler Milks can have high amounts of iron which can act as an appetite suppressant.

What centile was he on? If he was on the 98th it’s less of a concern than if he was on the 2nd.

also, my children haven’t ever consistently gained weight. At some stages they weighed the same for months on end.

He's getting 3 meals a day and snacks in-between. The problem is he very often refuses to eat when he is sick.

He drinks normal cow milk

That's him right now. He's picked at the peanut butter toast for the last 20 minutes. No wonder the boy isn't gaining any weight. :(

Unless he's right on the bottom of the centile chart (for weight and NOT height) I'd stop stressing entirely.

All of my 3 have dropped and gained centiles dependent on growth spurts, illness, starting to walk etc.

If they're fine in themselves then dipping below a line on a chart really shouldn't be a cause for concern.

Next time maybe give him a large drink before they put him on the scales

Will he drink smoothies?

How much of a centile has he dropped? DS1 wobbled between just under 9 and just over 25 for several years.
He now hovers (bmi) between 6% and 9%, but is healthy and fit.
If he has just dropped from one side of a line to another, and you know why - he's ill - I wouldn't be too worried. Offer him (tempting, calorific) food, and let him pick.
If he's actively list weight, I'd be more concerned.

He's always been on the 25th percentile since he was born (think long, slender baby - that is just how he is built). A few months ago he then jumped on the 50th percentile, but then dropped again to the 25th percentile at the last weigh-in.

Did your health visitor make a fuss when your children didn't gain weight?

It might help to cut the toast into smaller pieces maybe? A little square with a piece of banana on it, rather than a bigger piece with several banana pieces. Sometimes it puts them off to see a bigger piece.

Does he like hummus? That works well on toast too, if he generally likes toast. Avocado? That's quite calorific. Macaroni and cheese, heavy on the cheese!

Sounds like you're panicking a bit over nothing.

25th centile is fine. He's still on his birth centile.

He hasn't lost weight, his weight gain has just slowed a bit due to being ill.

Would you be worrying if you hadn't had him weighed? If weighing him is causing you stress, then stop weighing him.

It’s not that unusual for them to lean out and plateau a bit at that age no? My DD was on the 75th as a baby but dropped to around the 40th at around 2 where she’s remained ever since. Also IDK about the UK but in the US they switch from the WHO growth charts to the CDC at 24 months so typically all kids drop. My youngest also dropped at around 18 months by virtue of being super active, he loves his food. How is actually he eating? What does he have in a typical day?

Has he been growing taller recently? If he's long and slender it could just be that his energy is going into growing extra inches?

The child weighs what the child weighs. You can't force feed and just because there's some bloody scale it doesn't mean every single child has to be on it at a certain weight.

He's been ill. Just leave him! He'll eat when he's hungry.
I really hate HV for trying to put the fear into us over something totally normal. Look around. Are we all the same shape size and weight? No. Neither are children.

So he’s back where he’s always typically been? Non issue. He probably just chunked up a bit before a growth spurt hence ending up on the 50th. As for the HV- both of mine were born in the UK and they weren’t interested even as newborns, I didn’t know that they even weighed 2YOs, or even more generally what the point of HV even is 🤷‍♀️

My son is and still remains a 25th percentile. He's 8 now.

Honestly I'd stop stressing, you know the cause of the weight loss, he's poorly.

When he peps up and starts to want to eat again he will gain.

Just offer butter on toast, butter on vegetables, full fat milk. Full fat yoghurts, cheese, nuts.

Then things like scrambled egg with full fat milk. Bagels and full fat cream cheese.

He will be fine. Honestly. Or he will just be a naturally slim person. He's not underweight, he's just poorly and lost some weight.

I honestly wouldn't worry OP. My DC moved around the percentiles quite a bit, it's fine and normal as long as he's generally healthy.

Are you worried about him in any other ways?

lack of energy, bruising, bleeding gums, tiredness?

has he crossed any centiles, or just fallen under the one he was following?

if it wasn’t for the number/HV, would you be worried?

you can refuse to see the HV. Honestly I’m surprised you still are.

personally if I wasn’t otherwise worried I’d let him eat to appetite, 80% healthy 20% treats, and stop worrying.

My child actually dropped from the 98th at birth to below the 25th by the time they were 6 months. No fuss was made at all. They fluctuate between 25th and 75th (now 9!) depending on growth spurts, activity etc. I weigh them about once every 6-12 months, I can see they’re healthy and they’re active and happy, eat well and developing normally.

op please don't worry unless he's drastically not gaining/growing. Toddlers are so active, and if they don't have a huge appetite many "slim down" and lose their baby fat. And if they didn't have much baby fat to begin with, they can suddenly look alot thinner as they're getting taller, and becoming more mobile. My dd was born on the 90th centile, and by 2, was under the 9th. Had to see various pediatricians and she was under a dietician for a while, which was hugely stressful, as she just didn't eat much and I couldn't force feed her. But she's now 6 and clearly just going to be petite and slim (like myself, her dad and sibling) she now eats constantly, but just doesn't put weight on. She's very active and intelligent, and her small size doesn't hold her back whatsoever!

I am not worried about him in other ways. He is a bit speech delayed, but that is because hes is growing up with different languages.

Thanks everyone for reassuring me. I am just worried because the Health Visitor made it seem like it is really bad and she invited me to a Saturday weight clinic.