Where am I going wrong? Weight gain

[makingmiracles]

So dd seen by dr for another issue at beg of sept, weight = 3st, she’s not had the most unhealthy diet but resolved to be very mindful of what she’s eating to ensure e it doesnt climb higher (76th height/97th percentile weight) age 3.

So we’ve cut out all puddings(genrally ice poll/yogurt/fruit) and bought a sectioned toddler plate to help with portion size.

So she’s been having bf:porridge or bel vita filled bf biscuit
For nursery she has matchbox size piece of cheese in cubes, a large Chunk of cucumber, a frube, a tiny pot of cheese savouries(crisp/cracker things) And a piece of fruit

Dinner is whatever everyone else is having, so shepards pie and veg, fish fingers, pots and veg, curry and rice, etc I try and limit carb heavy meals to once a week eg rice and pasta.

Drinks are water and extremely diluted squash.

DEspite this, She seems to have gained 3lbs since beg sept.

HELP, where am I going wrong?

Btw no snacks between meals either

Is she overweight? You know children grow?

She is suppose to be putting on weight as she is growing in height. Was it on different scales?

Has she gained in height as well as weight? How tall is she? Is she actually overweight? Doesnt sound like a lot of food to me

I'd say you need to take out the breakfast biscuits in exchange for porridge or a healthy cereal.
Maybe swap the cheese crackers for plain ones.
But overall it really doesn't sound like she's eating a lot so I can understand your frustration.

Sorry, hit post too soon.

Has she always been at such a high percentile for weight since she was a baby?

She must be eating more than that.

Did the doctor say she overweight for her age and height? What did they base this on? Do you think she looks overweight in terms of her clothes etc? My DD has always been quite 'solid' especially compared to her older sister who seems to have hollow legs! At times I have worried that she looks and feels overweight but I have never weighed her on the scales. I notice that she has a growth spurt and seems to appear more slender for a bit and then it slows down. She's quite tall for her age so is wearing older clothes for her years, I think it's about proportion rather than the scales. Sounds like you're feeding her a pretty healthy diet, definitely be mindful of portion sizes, I found I was serving up the same to both of DD's but one is almost 3 years older. If possible also get her running about everyday outside for a good 20 mins if not more, weight management is also in the exercise they take as well as what they eat

Children need carbs. I'm fairly sure that a dietician would want your DD's meals to include a portion of good carbs.

I would focus on ensuring she gets all the nutritional elements she does need: fibre, protein, vitamins, iron etc. and plenty of activity before removing anything from her diet.

Full fat plain yoghurt with fruit is a good filling pudding. For variety I sometimes blend yoghurt with banana and top with blueberries (idea stolen from someone on MN!) for a dessert that feels like a treat but is actually all good food.

I'm not convinced Belvita is a good breakfast as they must taste quite sweet which will make her feel hungrier sooner and encourage a sweet tooth.

What do you put on her porridge?

Aside from that I wouldn't worry that much. Her height and weight are only 1 percentile line apart which I thought is officially ok health wise?

The belvita biscuits are not great for breakfast, maybe try scrambled eggs on toast as an alternative, or something like peanut butter or mashed avocado on toast.
Lunch would be better with a slice of wholemeal bread, rather than the cheese biscuits.
Other than that, I would say her diet sounds fine, the two year old I look after eats similar but with two or three pieces of fruit as snacks as well.

I think there’s too much sugar . I’d ditch the belyvita biscuits and choose a protein asked breakfast option if she fancies a change from porridge. She doesn’t need a biscuit and a frube and fruit. I know fruit is good but it’s still sugar.

Is she eating enough at lunch..if anything that seems small to me..

I'd ditch the belvita, swap the cheese/frube/biscuits at lunch to a big wholemeal pitta or sandwich with chicken and salad, and keep an eye on the portion sizes for dinner. Do you have a childs portion size plate?

The belvita biscuits have only been since beg of sept, before that she would just have blueberry porridge(the satchets, not always finishing all of it) but she started to not want porridge and combined with a huge change of morning routine it’s been a quick ad easy bf when trying to get other dcs up and out the door. I will work on getting her back on porridge or something else for bf.

Yes dr said she is overweight. She looks solid but it’s noticable when she’s sat down she has a little Buddha belly and some rolls. She is in 5-6 clothes wise, Partly due to height as obviously she’s taller than average.

She’s been high percentile since birth, yes, 9lb 12oz baby, was bf for 14momths and was told I had to get more food into her by HV at one, now it’s gone the other way and they are concerned by her weight.

Height was just over a metre when measured beg sept. Exercise wise, yes she could be doing more, but walks part way to nursery, walks to park with nursery and plays there most days, also due to timings we’ve been to park before nursery a lot the past month and sometimes afterwards too.

She doesn’t have biscuits at lunch? They are small cracker type things that she has a tiny pot of. We’ve always had toddler plates but have now got a toddler one with small sections for each food.

The reason she has no sandwich/bread product for lunch is we’ve struggled to get her to eat them, occasionally she’ll eat a wrap but often leaves some of it. Will try pitta suggestion.

I didn’t mean she had biscuits at lunch, I meant if she’d had a biscuit at breakfast that would be too much sugar if she has frube and fruit later in the day

Has she grown taller? Also weight can vary a lot if they need a poo, particularly if they run to constipated.

The sachets of flavoured porridge can have quite a bit of added sugar. Better to make plain porridge and add a generous amount of blueberries (which are a good low GI snack).

She doesn’t sound like she is overeating so maybe give it more time?

Just echoing that Belvita biscuits aren't a good option here. How about scrambled egg on toast for breakfast? Nursery lunch - I wonder if a piece of chicken or similar protein would help?

Other than that just portions I think. Sympathies - DD (2) loves food and left to her own devices would eat her lunch and then tuck into others'. It's a constant battle to teach her to listen to what her tummy is telling her.

Ah Ok, i see what you mean with the biscuit frube and fruit

She's eating a lot of sugar. There is loads in those porridge packets unless you use the original plain ones. I doubt there's much nutrition in breakfast biscuits. Would she eat eggs or wheatabix?

She's not eating a massive amount so it must be exercise that could change things.

I would be vary wary of labelling a 3yo as overweight. They grow so quickly at that age.

Crikey didn’t realise quite how much sugar was in the porridge satchets ill ditch those and offer her plain porridge instead and try her with scrambled egg

DD loves Rude Health puffed oats which are just cooked oats. They aren't fortified though so I tend to mix them with some fortified cereal.

I would try to switch away from sugary porridge. When DD has porridge I don't sweeten it at all but sometimes add a bit of cooked apple or a handful of blueberries/raspberries just for variety.

I have an incredibly sweet tooth and I am trying to make DD's food appealing without lots of sugar/sweeteners, saving sugar for occasional treats like cake or biscuits.

I think the problem is all the hidden sugar. Flavoured quick oats sachets are v high in sugar and so are most breakfast biscuits. The nhs don’t publish sugar recommendations for under 4s and just say they should have very little or none but as a guide the recommendation for the 4-6 age group is no more than 5 cubes which is 18g (1 cube roughly is equivalent to a teaspoon). frubes are better than many flavoured yoghurts but two tubes contain 8g of sugar. Plain yogurt with fruit and a drizzle of honey much healthier. Plain porridge ditto. One sachet of golden syrup porridge from a supermarket brand contains 16g sugar. When you start to really look at how much sugar is in so many products it’s really shocking.

Sorry, crosspost! My phone slow to refresh today.

I don't think she's eating a huge amount. I'd ditch the belvita though. Lunch doesnt sound filling, is she eating too much at dinner to compensate?

She should be putting on weight though as she gets older, as long as she is going up too.

CRIkey, had no idea a banana has so much sugar in it, obviously I know fruit does but, 14g in one banana! Insane! She doesn’t always have bananas, sometimes two or three strawberries with a few blueberries, will make sure she’s having more of that as 2 strawberries apparently have 1.2g sugar.