Fattening-up food for a toddler, any ideas?

[Janus]

My daughter has always been on the light side, for some time she slipped into the 'red' on those stupid charts. Once she pulled out of the red I stopped weighing her as didn't want to get that obsessed about her weight again but I know she is still small for her age as if she's in 18-24 months clothes (she's nearly 23 months) they can sometimes fall back off again (certainly with H&M clothes, do they make them big??)!!
Does anyone have any ideas on what is really fattening food? She has certainly become less fussy with her food but still eats small portions. I think if I could just give her one really 'fattening' meal a day, even if a small portion, this may bump her up a bit. Tried bananas and custard last night which she liked, assume custard is fattening??
Thanks.

My dd went through a phase of being small, and is still slight (still in some 12-18mth T-shirts and shorts, and 18-24 months leggings, even though she is 30 mths now), so I know what you're getting at. I'd suggest full fat yoghurt and fromage frais (the Yeo Valley organic ones are particularly scrummy). Custard made with full fat milk is probably good, and ice cream. Croissants are good too, especially the chocolate ones (but probably not so good for the teeth!). The problem I've found is finding fattening things to give her that still have vitamins and minerals. If my dd was left to herself she would live off fresh fruit and chocolate, which is part good and part not so good.

Are you a petite person. Some kids are just small all together. My daughter was small for her age since a toddler. She was the exact same way as your child. She is now 9 and her height and body size is slowly catching up with her. Most of her friends are a little taller. My mum said I too was small but eventually filled out. Shell probally have growth spurts here and there. Maybe things with peanut butter she can eat. It has a good bit of fat grams and is still healthy.

Be wary of going by clothes sizes, as well. They seem to differ so much. As I said, my dd is 30 mths. She is wearing 12-18 mth T-shirts from Tesco and BHS, 18-24 mth leggings from Tesco, but any clothes my Mum buys in France are always on the small side for her. At her 2yr check up she was 75th centile for height, and 50th for weight, so she's not really unusually small.

My 4yo DD was also exactly the same - hovered on those red bands on the weight chart and even fell off it completely now and then! She just wasn't a big eater (and still isn't) but I did give her fromage frais / custard / milkshakes / fruit smoothies and rice pudding. She also liked these fattening meals - pasta made with a sauce with mascarpone cheese in it and a mild korma curry with coconut milk. She is also a big cereal fan, and will sometimes have a bowl before bed after dinner. The only problem I had with her being so slight was that when she got sick, she didn't have much extra weight to loose, I just made sure she ate a little often and pretty much whatever she liked just to get her back into the habit of eating.

As for clothes - yes I find H&M big and she still has size 2 - 3 clothing that fits!

I wouldn't worry too much about clothes sizes... I think if she looks healthy and appears happy and isn't deseperately skinny - she should be fine... but as mum you worry... and so do I !
DS is 2 1/2 and wears 3yo ONLY because he is very tall.... that means that all the trowsers are too large but not too long !
I did ask myself how I could fatten him up... I didn't succeed but I increased potatoes and avocado... don't know if that helps

The funniest thing we had with dd being small was when she was quite young (had just started solids) I was working one day so dh took her to baby clinic to get her weighed. He was home doing DIY, and was wearing his old Army Surplus gardening trousers and a ratty old caving club T-shirt. She had slipped across another band on the chart - she hadn't lost any weight, but hadn't gained much either. The HV was very solicitous, took dh on one side and asked him if he needed any help or advice on feeding and weaning etc, then asked him if he was coping alright on his own. It then dawned on him that she thought he was some poor single Dad who had been left holding the baby and who was struggling to cope, and that was why she wasn't growing too well! He was very happy to reassure her that this wasn't so, and that if she could see his first child (ds was 95th centile all the way) she wouldn't be worrying about whether he knew what he was doing!

Dd is on the skinny side too and as well as avacado (which unfortunately she hates), full fat dairy etc my HV suggested houmous which apparently is often recommended for boosting weight. Dd often has a little pot of it with some bread sticks.
Sizes seem to be massively different, she's 3 in September and in 3-4 from Kids Stuff but still wears her 12-18 month PJ's from Tesco & Mothercare and her 18-24 months coat from M&S.

But if she's fit and well, stick the red book at the back of the cupboard and leave it there !

My dd is also on the small side. Been told to add double cream to her milk and butter to rice, which I do. She is now officially off the "underweight" section in her red book. Clotheswise, I'm no longer concerned with - she is 2yo and still wears 9-12 month trousers which fit perfectly.

Peanut butter?

Thanks everyone, you're all right, I just shouldn't try and keep up with her age in clothes size, better to buy something that stays up!! She does eat loads of yogurt (would just eat yogurt if she could!), I have started sharing the odd icecream with her (the van comes right down our road and parks outside our flat, yippee!). Am not allowed to give her peanut butter until she's 3 (allergies in family) but, of course, peanuts are so fattening so that was a good idea. Funnily enough, Indie, mine scoffs the Sainsbury's mascapone sauce mix they do and it is always lurking in my fridge or freezer, I like it too! Must try curry again as lots of people say theirs love it. A dollop of double cream (another thing always lurking in my fridge!) will be added to milk too.
Thanks everyone, loads to work on here.

Janus - silly question maybe, but why do you want her to 'fatten up'?

The reason for my question is that my dd is also small, weight wise, and always has been since about 2 mths old. She too was in the red zone, and my HV suggested weaning at 14 weeks, and then very helpfully suggested fattening puddings etc later on.

She is now 21/2, still light and slight, but eats a very healthy diet, has lots of energy and vitality, and is fine. She too eats very small portions of food, and has been, up until recently, very fussy with food.

Surely it is more important to give your daughter a healthy diet, bearing in mind their requirements at this age for full fat etc. You are doing the right thing by ignoring the charts.
Keep her diet healthy and balanced, and she will settle at the build that she is supposed to be.

P.S. Dd can't wear trousers because they dont stay up, she has no waist, so she wears lovely dresses. Bonus!

AliH, I was worried because I bought clothes for an 18 month old (mine is nearly 23 months) and they, literally, fell off, ie shorts fell down round her ankles, suntop fell off a shoulder. It just got me thinking that she must really be small. I do think she has a healthy diet, she eats loads of fruit, fresh veg such as corn on the cob, beans, a smaller amount of meat, pasta, freshly squeezed juice, organic yogurts, etc. I too have long been more concerned with her eating a healthy diet rather than (as my 'helpful' dietician recommended) feeding her chocolate and wotsits to fatten her up. I don't want to go down this road but things like, such as you mentioned, fattening puddings was just what I wanted to give her once a day to just try and keep those cute shorts up around her non-existant waist!!
I just bought some curry for us to share tomorrow and a tub of mascapone to make a nice sauce with and she's really getting in to her custard and, most importantly, I am just going to buy clothes that I know fit her rather than worrying about what age she should be in (or at least try!).

My dd is also a tiddler, and I've been advised that a high-protein diet is a good idea - lots of calories in a small volume of food. So things like hard cheese, oily fish, meat etc are good.