Underweight DD’s

[blankcanvas3]

Hiya,

DD1 (3) and DD2 (9 months) are in the 1st and 2nd weight percentile respectively. DD1 is fussy, DD2 is not. I’ve struggled to get DD1 to eat since she was weaned, she never says she doesn’t like anything, she just doesn’t like eating? DD2 will dig into anything I make, she just doesn’t eat enough of it.

GP says I need to get more calories into them, even if I just resort to sweets and chocolate. DD1 isn’t even bothered by sweets and chocolate! I’d prefer not to do it that way anyway, I want calorie dense meals that still have veg in etc.

Does anybody have a) any meal recommendations? or b) any advice on this issue as a whole?!

Would your elder DD drink smoothies? You can really jam them full of calories with things like nut butter, banana, full fat greek yoghurt, avocado.

I haven’t tried her with them, but that’s a good idea! She does love drinking. Would I be able to freeze them? DD2 loves an ice lolly

You could definitely freeze them. If you freeze the bananas before blending, it comes out a more ice-cream like texture too, if that is appealing to your DD2. You can spoon feed it that way too. You'll need a decent blender for that though.

What percentiles were they on at birth? Have you had input from dieticians?

DD1 was 15th and DD2 was 28th. They have both always been small but recently I can really see how tiny they’re becoming compared to their peers. I feel like a shit mum, I have an older son who’s 16 now and he was always big so never had this worry. I’m small and was a child but DH is 6”4.

GP has referred me to a dietitian but we haven’t heard back yet. I’m worried its more of a psychological thing with DD1 since she ‘doesn’t like eating’

My son was very slim and a dietitian told me to make porridge with double cream. It really helped get the calories in.We also used to slice a mars bar thinly and leave it on a low table.He wouldn’t eat a mars bar but would get through a few slices while playing or watching tv.

Lots of small meals.
DS1 had: first breakfast, second breakfast, mid morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, supper.

Puddings - we did fruit crumbles and custard, rice pudding type ones - or even just fruit and custard.

Butter or oil where you can - on vegetables, potatoes etc.

But, if both of them are on the small side, and so are you, maybe they are just destined to be petite??

I will try the small meals - we’ve just been doing 3 a day plus snacks so far so maybe smaller portions but more often will help.

Yeah, they may just be small, I think I’ve been confused because their brother was always so big but they are far more similar to me in appearance than he is, whereas he’s more like DH

DS is on the low end for weight and high end for height and constantly on the go so I have to try and get extra calories in. I wouldn't go sweets and chocolate from the off. Gold top milk, cream, butter etc. DS loves a bowl of porridge made with full milk with a little cream on top with sliced banana and a drizzle of honey for example, overnight oats with a mashed banana, full milk, nut butter and fruit, snacks toast with whole nut butter and a cup of milk. Home made rice pudding is easy and DS loves it in winter especially, again use gold top or add cream to whole milk, add cinnamon and sultanas. Smoothies with frozen fruit, milk, full fat greek yogurt, nut butter, put in some cocoa powder and it's a milkshake! 😁
Homemade banana pancakes freeze well and can go in the toaster. We also got a waffle maker in Aldi and make banana peanut butter waffles. Make snacks count for calories. I just have to make sure I don't join him!

this is really helpful, thank you! i’m doing an ocado shop now so i’ll make sure i add all of this stuff.

don’t suppose you have any advice on how to get them to eat it, do you? i’ll do smaller meals more regularly for DD2 as i definitely think that will work for her, just not sure how i can get DD1 to ‘enjoy’ eating

Are there things she does like? You could start with those and try to increase the calories. DS is past the not eating much phase he's 6 now and eats more than I do but I still have to keep up the extra calories or weight falls off him, he has his father's metabolism and does do a lot of sports. When he was younger it was the calorie filled snacks that did it, he wasn't a fan of sitting and eating a big meal. Cheese on everything was another touch. I'd also put a snack plate out while he was doing other things, cheese, crackers, apple slices and a pot of peanut butter and he'd graze.

The way I saw it was he might just be thin naturally but if I was offering nutritious calorie dense food casually throughout the day, he'd get enough overall.

Take this with a pinch of salt because she’s 3, but she says she does like food she just doesn’t like eating it! I’m starting to wonder if she has some kind of neurodivergence.

She’s always been better with DH than me in every aspect, bed time, bath time etc and she does tend to at least TRY to eat when he’s around but because of his work it’s not always possible. I’ve tried feeding her and DD2 at different times, I’ve tried being oh so casual and leaving her to it with a plate both at the table and in front of the television, one day she will say ‘i love this mashed potato’ for example and eat quite a bit of it, so I’ll make it for her the next day and she won’t touch it 🙄

@blankcanvas3 it is stressful, isn't it. My daughter was born on the 75th percentile and dropped to the second and I was tearing my hair out. My daughter dropped centiles due to a medical condition, and when she was seen by the dietician she was put on high energy milk. She's now back up to the 25th. I'm not sure about your older child, but they might be able to do that for your 9 month old. How is she taking her milk?

She’s still breastfed, she’s brilliant and always has been. The weight loss happened when she started eating solids at 6 months. I’ll ask my GP about the milk, thanks so much. Older DD has actually just woken up (very unlike her) and asked for something to eat!

Both have put on 2lbs this week! I did small meals 6 times a day with shit loads of cream in most of them and smoothies. Thanks all so much xx

That’s really good news @blankcanvas3

My daughter was under a dietician for being really tiny (related to a medical condition) when she was a baby. The main advise seemed to be adding peanut butter or ground almonds or cream in to everything! Ground almonds can be stirred in to anything they like and don’t change the flavour or texture, just increase the calories in a healthy way.