Aitch, I know you're very very busy right now but I need some help with underweight blw-er. Advice welcome from anyone else who can offer advice too.

[Dragonbutter]

DS2 (18months) has been poorly which resulted in his being assessed by paediatrics today. Turns out to be a viral illness but they picked up that he was underweight, now 0.4th centile or something. Something i knew anyway, but hate having him weighed because he's always been low on the centile chart and i can see his ribs and it worries me, then i realise he's developing fine and eating well and there's not much i can do, and we carry on, and decide not to have him weighed again.

Anyway, he's pretty much been baby led weaned purely out of laziness and being all AK'd out on DS1 (i had a mouli . He loves fruit and veg but leaves meat or fish on his plate or on the floor. Likes pasta, rice and dried fruit. He's not keen on sloppy food (sauces etc), he likes to be able to get a grip of his food.

How on earth do i help him gain weight? He insists on feeding himself and loves using a fork but i'm concerned that most of the food might be going on the floor.

Feeling guilty that i might be doing something wrong. i've always thought he was a good eater

no real advice - but don't forget if he's been ill then he could well have lost weight because of that.

Also as long as he's happy and growing (upwards i mean - not outwards ) I really would try not to worry.

I have the opposite with dS3......haven't had him weighed for a long time but I know he was off the top of the charts last time.....yet he hardly eats anything at all picks at little bits of food here and there then gets bored and wants to get out.

DS1 the opposite - eats like a horse and I can see his ribs.

does he still drink milk?

will he eat yoghurt? full fat of course. maybe try it frozen if he likes a firmer texure.

what does he like on his pasta? any sauce at all? add marscapone or philly to it.

what about avocado? babybels, sticks of cheese, cheese on toast? trying to think of firm things with plenty of fat in them..

will he eat sloppy things if they're on something more solid?

will he eat puddings at all? rice pudding, custard based desserts? ice cream?

where is he height wise? it's ok to see him as .4 for weight but is he in proportion? i can see dd's ribs too sometimes after she's been ill. but she kind of fattens up again after a while.

can you do a mixture of him feeding himself finger food and you spooning in more calorie dense/nutritious stuff.(or is he completely averse to any input (literally)from you?)

im no creative pioneer /expert or anything ,but that is what i do with dd.

she eats the pasta and veg from her plate with her fingers and i spoon in the 'whizzed' bolognese/stew/lentils/veggie cheese sauce etc.

aitch here, oh yuck it's crap when they weigh them and pull faces. dd2 is in this zone too atm.

at 18m it's a bit past BLW, but are you saying that he eats finger food and doesn't use cutlery? (don't think dd was that dextrous at same age). things like lasagne pack a calorific punch but if he can't eat that?

i think the gist is to make sure that everything that is going in has the most cals. you can stir peanut butter into things like light curries, whack it onto buttered toast, put avocado into things, an extra slug of olive oil into everything etc etc... can't think now, dh is bringing me dd2 to feed... was that any help?

thanks LL,
yes he has plenty of yoghurts and fromage frais. loves them.

he drinks full fat cows milk. he still has a 4oz bottle in the morning which we are going to cut out and replace with a bowl of porridge as he tends to drink his milk then pick at a few cheerios quite disinterested in the morning.

doesn't like cheese on it's own but eats pizza with it on.

he used to eat peanut butter and jam sandwiches but he went right off sandwiches recently.

oh loads of posts while i was writing my reply to the first one.
hang on i need to catch up.

Does he like avocado or sweet potato? Both quite calorific and great for finger food.

FAQ - yes, he's been ill for a couple of weeks and his cough has made his food come back up quite often.

Ruddy - he usually has tomato sauces but i might sneak in some cream cheese. I bought an avocado yesterday with the plan of mashing it onto a tortilla with some salsa type stuff on it. he usually doesn't go for avocado on it's own.

the doctor felt today that he was very in proportion as he is small all over and people presume he is younger. also worth noting that DH and I were both small for our age as children.

Lapin - he's very active. he's gone from being floppy and lethargic this morning to going up and down the garden slide in the living room all evening.

beans - he'll occasionally let us spoon in some beans or his yoghurt. but more often than not he refuses and screeeaaaams until you give him his own cutlery. then he spends dinner time faffing around trying to get them to work for him.

poppycock - thanks, i hate the looks they give you when they see you're kid is skinny. people mention his size all the time. he's definitely getting extra portions of butter and olive oil from now on.

well there you go then - he's probably lost quite a bit of weight if he's been bringing some back up with coughing.

And he's in proportion (DS2's best friend is a tiny little thing, short and light - but she's perfectly in proportion) that's what really matters

I have the opposite problem with comments from people about DS3 "oh he must eat really well"

ermm no actually he doesn't - he still loves his milk, and I can't get him to cut down for love nor money - we're still stuck on 4 9oz bottles a day (mind you that's a vast improvement from the 7 bottles he was having just a few months ago!!). Does eat "something" at meal times, and a few snacks, but really not overly interested in food.

I dunno aitch, DD makes short shrift of lasagne with her hands .

What about risotto, with lots of cheese in it?

Is he better with a spoon than a fork? How about not giving him any cutlery? We sometimes have to not give any to DD (16mos) as though she has a bloody good try sometimes they just distract her and she doesn't eat enough as she is trying to use the cutlery. Could it be a simple as trying different styles on spoons? Some are easier than others. Someone on my PN thread won some bowls on here that were really good for weaning, I'll ask her what they were called.

You should stick with your instincts though. if you already have a DS you'll have something to compare to so you know if he is a good eater or not. Some LOs are just little. I was always tiny, making up for it now though!

LL glad you are still feeding yoghurt to DS. I sometimes let dd feed herself yoghurt but mostly it's the one thing I won't let her BLW because it's soooo messy!

dd1's v particular now about using cutlery... although often puts the food on the fork using her hands.

the stuff from ikea looks big for a wee kid but it's the best cutlery i've found, and also the cheapest at a quid for ten sets.

he screams and points at the jar full of plastic cutlery, then is quiet and purposeful as soon as he gets them.

i'll see which ones he's more successful with.

his older brother is a dreadful eater. hates anything new although loves tuna and mackerel. only veg he likes in corn on the cob, and baby corn but not just corn
he is small also, but has a bit more bulk to him. again very very active.

we have a very artistic glass jar full of ikea cutlery. very colourful.

oh and his big brother eats NO FRUIT

except dried fruit.

between them, they manage a full meal. jack sprat....

where'd everybody go?

What about actual meal timings? Could it be that they are not hungry when you feed them, or perhaps over hungry? Not suggesting that you aren't feeding them at the right time or anything (gawd knows, DD gets fed tea at 6.30 which is perhaps too late, but we like to all eat together) but just trying wildly to find ideas for you.

What about milk? Does he still have bottles? Too many, not enough? too close to meals? What are favourite foods? If they like cake could you try making the sugar free banana loaf on the BLW site? Or a courgette or carrot cake. Muffins sweetened with fruit juice? Not ideal I know, but if it gets them to eat and is marginally healthy...

i grate carrot into mince to make beefburgers. and into muffins. and i make tuna mayowith grated carrot and (squeezed) cucumber. pads it out. [mean]

what about baked apples in winter?

Aitch, I have turned into you and now also grate carrot into everything! banana bread, pasta, bolognaise, risotto..works for DH who isn't keen on veg as well as DD!

i'm going to have to keep an eye on all those things stumpy, i've been really relaxed about it all and just presumed he was getting plenty nourishment particularly as he prefers the healthy choices.

last night they had a lovely fresh pasta dish with tomatoes, sausages and spring onions. he ate all the tomatoes first before eating the pasta and a tiny amount of sausage.

is juice a good idea. i usually give him water to drink as was thinking of his teeth but he loves fruit juice, i just didn't think it was very good for him. he certainly gets plenty of vitamins from his fruit and veg. so should i be prioritising more along the lines of calorific value?

he'll eat raw carrot sticks.

see what i mean about him eating well. should i dip them in chocolate?

Not sure what to suggest about the juice, if anything I would give it diluted.

Funny you should say that about the tomatoes, DD loves tomatoes (though actually only eats the insides) and we found if we gave them to her she would only eat them and nothing else, so we either don't give them to her or give her them last.

Eggs is another one I meant to mention, lots of fat but not too bad, loads of different ways of serving, boiled, fried, scrambled, added to things, when we are having a "use up all the ingredients and shove them in pasta" nights I chucked chopped boiled egg in pasta (actually I love it).

What about having a "picnic"? Often for DD's brekkie we just give her toast or muffins or something and she sits on the floor and eats some of it, but keeps going back to it through the morning. It means you sometimes find crusts behind the TV or in the toys basket, but you soon get used to it!

Well, maybe not chocolate , but what about homous? It's also yummy if you add a bit of pesto to it as I find it quite bland.