4 year old needs to gain weight - ideas?

[wrenster]

My triplets were born at 30 weeks and we were very lucky in that the only health issues are that they have are size. They are all on the small side but one of my boys is really struggling at the moment.

He is now 4 and has always been around the 2nd centile for weight and height. December was a tricky month for us with illnesses and his weight has dropped fairly significantly, so much so that we can't move them into their new car seats we've just bought and he's now heading towards the 0.9 centile!

So I want to try and build him up with high calorie foods that are still good for him but maybe give him a chance to put some weight on rather than just filling him with cakes and biscuits because then he won't eat his main meals.

I've switched back to full fat milk with his cereal and giving him more hot choc (he won't drink milk on its own as a drink). Anyone else have any ideas?

Thank you

Sorry, i should also have said, he does have some behavioural issues and sensory processing issues, so food can be tricky. It has to look and feel right, which is why this is proving rather a challenge!

His favourites are meat related such as spag bol and sausages.

Creamy fish pie
Lasagne with etc cheese

Generally using full fat milk/ cream/ yogurt in things. Does he like avocado or nuts/ nut butters?

Could you bulk out things that you know he already likes:

• blending milk and bananas
• adding loads of cheese to Spag Bol
• making toad in the hole with a higher fat sausage. Maybe potato wedges with it?
• will he eat hot breakfasts? i.e beans on toast (with butter not marg), egg on toast, sausage sandwich?
• more snacks? Bread sticks with a cream cheese dip? Pitta bread and full fat houmous? Would he eat an avocado dip?
• make some flapjacks?

Hope some of those ideas might work!

cheese batons as a side dish at lunch?
Butter rather than margarine?

Thanks very much for the replies. Butter is such a fab one, I can't believe I didn't think of it! He enjoys cheese too, so I guess I could just mix in more before I give him his pasta dishes and he will never know the difference.

PPT - I think a lot of your suggestions will work if I introduce them very gradually (he's not one for change). Although if I offered him a sausage sandwich for breakfast he'd be delighted! Thanks for taking the time to post.

I've bought lots of unsalted nuts today as he loves them and some sesame seed bars, but not sure what He will make of these.

Fingers crossed by the end of next month he will be back on track again.

Could you do more mashed potato for your son, e.g. to go with sausage, lots of milk and butter?

Also, how about hot puddings and custard for desserts, if all 3 are lower weight, it won't hurt any of them to have a pudding.

also, would he eat cheese straws? It's my DS's latest snack of choice but relatively high calorie.

We were told to cook with lots of butter. Add it onto vegetables, slather more than usual on toast... Flapjack is brilliant. I add banana-mashed- and dried fruit, including apricots. I have had to remember that what we would normally consider a healthy diet does not apply to ds1 who needs as many calories as I can get into him.

Definitely butter, it will give him lots of calories without filling him up.

Will he drink milkshake? If he likes hot chocolate he might drink chocolate milkshake - possibly even a meal-replacement shake?

Fruit juice is surprisingly high in calories, could you get him to drink a glass of apple juice a day?

Will he eat peanut butter? Very high in calories! Give it to him on toast for a snack or make cookies with it in.

If he likes meat, what about salami or other antipasti-type cold meats as a snack? You can get bags of snacking chorizo or mini pepperami or something like that.

French toast / eggy bread, with ketchup. Or with maple syrup or honey at breakfast if he's interested - mine wasn't so keen and preferred everything plain.

Is it actually a problem? My youngest(7) is perfectly healthy but has always waivered between the 2nd and 0.4 second centile from birth.She dips down after an illness, or after she thins out (even more) after a growth sp but I have always been told this is not a worry.It is when they stop growing or drastically slow down without obvious cause.
But I think a high calorie diet for him should be fat-rich rather than sugar-rich

Thanks everyone. Butter definitely looks like the way forward and some more substantial breakfasts. He loves peanut butter, but I only let him have it occasionally so, that would be a real treat. Milkshakes are a good one, I just need to find a flavour he likes. After nursery treats area a great idea too, I just need to give more than raisins I guess. He's very fussy about liking plain things I.e. no custard on puddings, no ketchup, no honey over cereal, nothing mixed together than in his view shouldn't be mixed up!

Realcoalfire - it's not necessarily a problem him being small, but I feel like he will struggle to regain what he lost on top of being small in the first place. He had such a tricky start in life that I want to do everything I can to help him develop into a strong, healthy boy. My husband is 6ft 6, as are most of his family, so the premature as well as the multiple thing have clearly affected him, for which I feel v guilty. My boys are the smallest in the whole family ever, so I want to try and give them a chance to grow some more in a healthy way.

Onto the full fat milk this morning so will see if his crazily sensivtive palette detects any changes!

Thanks again