Not Gaining any weight-how do I encourage him to eat more?

[Maximsmum]

My 7 month old son hasn't put on any weight for the past 5weeks. He's down to 3-4mouthfuls of food at each sitting and never manages more than 4-5oz milk (now only 3times a day) I've tried to interest him with finger food, different flavours, avoiding snacks between meals, to clapping and cheering every mouthful that goes in.His weight is fast falling to only the 9th centile on the growth charts, and I'm pulling my hair out, getting increasingly more frustrated with each meal that passes. He's started to wake up again at night, which is making me tired and even less patient. None of which is helping. Has anyone got any good ideas?

When I have concentrated on mealtimes alone and limited snacks through the day, she still isn't hungry enough to eat what you would call a substantial meal. I spoke to my mother about this and guess what - she said that I was a fussy eater!

I will see how we get on this week and if I feel there is no improvement I may take her to the doctor.

Meadow - I sympathise, because my dd was just the same, and still is now, in phases. I kept food charts at one stage, and got very excited if she ate 1/2 a chicken O or 1/2 a fishfinger.

I probably have to agree that children won't starve themselves per se, but dd certainly did sufficiently to be quite ill for long periods of time. After 2 1/2 yrs of trying different things, I cannot give you any advice other than never give up. It would be easy to give in to the crisps and chocolate, (both of which within a balanced diet are fine in moderation), but don't do it. I keep trying and still haven't come up with anything that 'works' - this is obviously why none of the healthcare professionals pay very much attention to the issue.

I could ramble on for ages about this one but won't. I still get angry, and believe me it too doesn't work (I know that but still do).

On a more practical note, the problem of iron deficiency is a vicious circle. The worse it gets, the less appetite they have. Try supplementing her diet with Minadex Tonic, which my dd seems to find quite palatable. If you can get her iron levels up, it should help her appetite.

It might be however that she will always have very little appetite - my dd has the appetite of a flea, and cutting out snacks makes no difference. On a good day I am resigned to it, on a bad one it really gets me down.

Good luck, I really know how you feel.

Thanks AliH. I have been using Minadex for a couple of months, mixing it in her milk. I offer her lots of different foods, but she just shakes her head and says no. In desperation I still offer jars of her favourite baby foods and even they now get rejected.

She is healthy, sleeps through the night and I just have to accept that she has a tiny appetite. Out of curiosity, how much does your dd weigh? Is she small in height or tall and skinny?

Meadow - another thought, does she ahve her meals at the same time as you ? In time, she might copy you or ask to try something from your plate ?

Meadow, I tend to pop up at the sight of a picky eater's thread and so I'll add my tuppence worth here too! Though everyone's given you such good advice already. I have had a picky toddler (as a baby she was no problem) for about a year (she's 26 months now) I have tried all sorts and tried hard to listen to the advice to the tune of 'she'll eat when she's hungry' but I do know how hard it is to think like that all the time...

Some useful tips I've picked up along the way are:

Snacks are GOOD, they refuel the child and keep their blood sugar levels up, so don't try and force a 3 meals a day routine when they are this little - a bit of a nightmare I know but its a better and more realistic way for them to eat...

A child's stomach is about the size of their clenched fist - thats not v big so portion sizes can be v little and still satisfy their hunger without you realising it (this is just a good one to keep in your head when your rationality is sliding!)

While milk on its own is seen as a bit of a 'filler' without containing all the various nutrients other than fat and protein, something like a fruit based smoothie is better. I use strawberry bio yoghurt (no additives) mixed with milk to which I add her vitamin drops (yes I feel like they help too) and her echinacea drops (my magic potion!). I feel that this with a slice or two of cucumber (with veg its either cucumber or frozen peas at the moment - and I MEAN frozen- she won't touch them cooked!) and some bread or rice cakes (or, funnily enough, Ryvita is a fave!)makes a pretty balanced meal if you break down the nutrition. So, basically, you can find what you may consider to be a 'weird' meal for them that they will actually like! Was interested in AliH's view on iron deficiency though - had never thought about it affecting appetite...

Also, I have heard that its better to view a child's diet based on a week's worth of eating rather than a day - the reason being that one day a child might just eat a lot of protein, but another day just carbs. Its better to look at the bigger picture to work out if they are really getting everything they need...

I have been duped into cutting food into smiley faces and trying the junk food is better than no food theory but if you can just take the panic out of the situation it becomes much easier for everyone (I'm saying this as much to myself as to you!!) If you really think there's a problem then talk to your HV - but I think that dd was 21lbs on her 21 month check and they weren't slightly worried though I voiced my concerns to them... She's still a bit of a string bean, v tall and gangly so I'm now hoping she'll become a supermodel and never have to worry about shoe-horning her big bum into a pair of jeans like her Mum! But joking aside I know what you're going through and hope everything turns out well for you...

Meadow - Dd is now 2yrs 4mths, and weighs around 27ish pounds. She has always been between 9th and 25th centiles, and smallish in height, and quite slender (lucky her). Recently she seems to have caught up a bit, but has never been the one who runs around a lot. Does your dd seem to have a lot of energy?

Glad to hear she will have the Minadex, I think its great stuff, and don't worry nearly as much now I know I can supplement with this.

Lizzer, I'm glad you too have a frozen pea eater, its the only way dd will eat both peas and sweetcorn. Meadow, I give dd frozen peas as a snack, and she loves them. Give them a go, you might be surprised, I was.

Meadow, I too pop up whenever I see a thread like this as I have a 20 month old daughter who since she started eating was fussy. I have to say recently she has got better and at least one meal a day she actually look as if she enjoys!!
One thing I put this down to is drastically reducing her milk intake. As we've all said on other threads, when you have a poor eater you get some comfort that they are at least getting some goodness from their milk but I now believe this has been adding to her problem all along as it fills them up. My daughter now has a huge bottle, 9oz or so, before bed and another 2-3 oz on her breakfast and that's it. She has come on leaps and bounds. I too put vitamin drops in her milk. She has watered down juice in the day, when she wakes up, etc. May be worth a try??
Also, very pureed spag bol. is a fav. and a good way of getting lots of veg into them (won't touch anything on its own except cooked peas!). Pasta has now become popular, eg filled tortellini with a tomato and cream sort of sauce. Sausages like chipolatas are good to gnaw on with a bit of mashed potato. She also likes cold food such as chopped ham and tomato with some cheese. A friend says hers loves the inside of jacket potatoes with maybe a cheese sauce which sounds a good idea. Another says hers loves those little packets of cod in parsely sauce. Mines still likes her yogurts and fruit which is some goodness and goes to increasing calcium intake (yogurts) and can replace about 2 oz of milk, roughly, if you are worried about milk intake. Have you tried 'soft fruit' such as raspberries, blackberries, strawberries - mine loves them.
I can so sympathise but I think the less I worry about it the better it gets (so much easier said than done, I know!!). If she really doesn't eat a meal then try and just stop it there and get her out of the highchair and forget about that meal and I always hope they are hungry for the next sitting. This is much easier on you and at least they don't see you wound up and it doesn't turn into a battle which is the thing to avoid.
Good luck.
PS I haven't weighed mine for about 3 months now which is great as I don't know if I should be worried or not!!! (was about 21 lbs at Xmas and doubt she's put on much).

AliH - frozen pea eaters of the world unite!

I think I may have to get some of this minadex stuff in -is it just vits and iron?

Janus, dd hasn't been weighed for ages either and I feel the same as you. If I were weighing her a lot it would stress me out and it might give her a bit of a complex which I'm determined not to do...

I definitely go with the "no-weighing option". Since turning 1yrs, ds has only been weighed twice, he's nearly 17months now, and I've become much less stressed about the weight issue and subsequently the food issue. Infact this coincided with ds starting to eat more. Wonder if thats a relevant point?

At my last visit to the HV, she said that she should be drinking a pint of milk a day (20oz). She doesn?t like yoghurts but will drink a smoothie. Do children really actually eat frozen peas? I can?t believe it! Do you just rinse the peas under the tap?

I tried veggie chipolatas, but doesn?t like them. DD will eat a tiny bit of mash and gravy, or rice with chopped up veg and gravy. I?m talking about a couple of teaspoons here. She?s even refused food before I?ve actually started feeding her by turning her face away as I put the spoon to her mouth. I have to feed her otherwise she wouldn?t eat anything and the dish would just end up on the floor.

She has loads of energy ? she wakes up around 7.30 and sometimes won?t go to sleep till 3pm. In that time she is constantly doing things, barely sitting still for 5 minutes.

Well I have to just put a quick comment here. I have two girls, 2 years between them (1 and 3) and they weigh about the same! Admidtidly the older one was premature, but she eats like a bird sometimes, and then like a pig the next day and doesn't put on weight. The other one will eat and eat until I stop her.
I have no idea whet they weigh, no2 hasn't been on scales since she was about 6 months old, and then they were about 5lbs apart in weight.
I think we all get obsessed with those charts and making sure our kids follow some average line, and eat an average amount. My only bit of advice is stop wieighing your kids! It only causes you heartbreak and worry. If they are happy, bright and active kids they will eat enough to sustain themselves (you may not think so, but no child in this country has died through self starvation!) I read toddler taming and it has some great lines like like it takes about 60 days of total hunger strike (providing drinks are drunk) to die of starvation (this sounds flippent, but please stop worrying)

Meadow, I'm with Janus on the milk thing. I stressed myself with the 20oz of milk thing for the first year and a half - she would never take more than 4-6oz in a bottle (when she eventually went on to them, but that's a whole different story!). She rarely got to 14 oz even when tiny.

Dd gets about 3oz first thing in the morning and drinks about 4 or 5 at bedtime - (shame on me, still in a bottle, but if that's how she drinks it, so be it and her teeth are cleaned afterwards). Milk is definately a filler upper, and the calcium can be given elsewhere in their meals, in lots of forms.

Lizzer, Minadex is actually sold as a tonic - it gives a full dose or iron, along with vitamins A, and D (and K?, not sure). If you check some of the childrens vitamins sold as 'with iron', they only provide 50 - 80% of the RDA.

How sad am I, resorting to becoming an expert (questionable) on vitamin content. That's how you get with a fussy eater, isn't that true?

Meadow, I confess to giving the peas straight from the freezer. Not sure if this is ok, but has done her no harm for about 9mths now.