Am I under feeding my 2 year old? Worried af

[Nc4post99]

Hi,

So DD is 2 and a wee slip of a girl. Little bit of a backstory for her, measured small in pregnancy so was induced at 37 weeks and weighed 5lbs- 1st centile weight and 5th length. Bad tongue tie resolved at 3 months. At 6 months 9th centile all around, except head at 25th. At 10months, just under 25th for length and weight head just above- she ate well at that point. At one year check Real tough time from HVs about her size (they wanted her bigger) and breastfeeding, told to force feed her which led her to have quite a bad food aversion. She fell a centile and she’s never recovered. We paid to see a private paediatric dietitian ( looked at her diet and observed her eat) and private paed who weren’t concerned about Dd but were infuriated at the HV suggestions.

Now at 2 she’s still in 12/18 clothes and just looks so small compared to her peers, a lot of people comment on how tiny she is and how they think she’s 1. She’s got bundles of energy and is quite developmentally advanced for her age (3/4 word sentences).

We have her 2 year check coming up and whilst milestones don’t concern me, I’m worried about the comments on her size. She’s unwell constantly (colds, coughs, the runs etc) so GP requested a full blood culture to check all is ok there so we’ll get the results if she’s deficient in anything this week but I just wanted to check that her daily diet looks ok or if we’re under feeding her.
We do 3 meals and 3 snacks a day, nursery have no concerns of how she eats. She isn’t breastfed anymore but has at least 10oz of cows milk in the day+ 2 petite filous yogurts + portion of cheese. She has a large cup of oat milk before bed (too much dairy can cause anemia apparently)

This was yesterday;

Breakfast- bowl of cereal -1 weetabix (but we alternate rice crispies, coco pops for a treat, shredded wheat etc) with about 3oz of blue top milk and half a medium banana ( the bowl is one of those blue munchkin adhesive ones)
Snack - slice of buttered malt loaf with a cup of blue top milk
Lunch- 3/4 slice of buttered toast with a scrambled egg (scrambled in butter) veggie sticks (hummus on the side but she left that) half a large apple and a petite filous.
Snack- cheese and crackers (3 circular crackers, you know the kind) with some cheese about the size of 2 index fingers. Small cup of milk.
Snack 2: box of raisins and 2 squares of dairy milk (doesn’t normally have a lot of chocolate but we went to a park where there was a fair so it was a treat, this also isn’t typical but we fed the ducks at the park and she ate one of the hot dog buns we’d bought for the ducks lol, she normally wouldn’t have that much for a second snack)
Dinner : nachos (dw not Doritos, I made the ‘chips’ from white tortillas that I sliced, spritzed with oil and baked. Topped the chips with tomato salsa, then veggies, then cheese and some shredded chicken from the day before and then more cheese) she probably ate about half a tortillas worth (just a normal
Size one from asda) with toppings. She then had some grapes about 5 and another petite filous
Bed-5oz of oat milk

Does this look ok to you? If not please tell me. Some days she eats really well but others not so much, not full on refusal anymore (thank god) but just smaller quantities.

I guess I’m just after a bit of reassurance if this looks ok or if actually I’ve been under feeding her.
Also any sort of ‘encouraging’ her to eat more leads her to dig her heels in and refuse. Lately we’ve been letting her ‘cook’ ie assemble things like the nachos and she’s taken a real interest in it but it’s not helped up the quantities xx

Ooh I never knew this existed @Megan2018, where do you do your shop? X

My DD was a tiny dot and when she started school 2 years ago I couldn't get a uniform small enough.
She was always tiny, she ate and drank well but still remained a very slight little thing, everyone would stop me to comment
In the last year and a half she's suddenly grown a huge amount, upwards, her feet have suddenly got huge and she's gone to her actual age in size of clothes.
I think she was just biding her time.

I think your DD's diet sounds fine, balanced and healthy.

I have a just turned two year old. 92nd centile, he refuses cows milk and yogurts. He doesn't eat as much as you have suggested.

Remember some children have to be the smallest or the centile would not exist.

I have had comments saying my little boy is too big, he isn't disproportionately big at all just rather tall and stocky. Some HV’s seem to get rather stressed if your child isn’t perfectly average.

My DD was exactly the same as yours right down to being born at 37 weeks. She was always tiny yet ate well (your menu looks great) and had recurrent colds/virus and stomach upsets. When she was 3 she was diagnosed as a Coeliac and the symptoms were slow growth/failure to thrive etc stomach upset. She then spent 5 years catching up and now she’s 11 and almost at the 50 percentile. Just something to keep in mind if you are having bloods done as you can just ask for it to be ruled out when the tests go in.

That’s interesting @ParisNext, her paed mentioned that as part of these most recent blood tests. So we’ve had that done.

Did your DD have other symptoms? I’ve always associated coeliacs with bloating, wind and tummy pain. She’s had looser than normal bms since her july virus, went back to normal yesterday and this morning bam loose again.

@Nc4post99

Ooh I never knew this existed *@Megan2018*, where do you do your shop? X

We mainly do Tesco and Ocado for main shop and Waitrose when feeling flush. Tesco/Waitrose always has them in store by us and online, Sainsbury’s are hit and miss but they do have the Yeo Valley fromage frais ones which are also no added sugar.

We don’t have an Asda so can’t comment on there, and we rarely go to Morrisons either as it’s miles away and tiny (we live rurally so limited choice for supermarkets).

The No added sugar only come in smaller packs and are lighter packaging.

DD eats plain full fat greek yoghurt too so we alternate what she has, but she usually has 2 servings a day so I am careful to buy the no added sugar ones only.

Wow my 2 year old doesn't eat anywhere near as much as this! hes on the 25th centile for weight and 75th for length. Still in 12-18 month clothes. He also has a dairy allergy and his diet is quite limited he hates veg but loves fruit, bread and spaghetti. HV and Paediatrician's have no issues with his size/weight. I wouldn't worry at all. We give multi vitamins to make sure he's getting everything he needs but he still gets a cold like every couple weeks. I wouldn't worry if I were you sounds like she's eating what she needs

That's a lot more than my 2.5 year old and he is really tall for his age. He has quite a limited diet, I wish he would eat all of this.

Some people are just petite. What size are you and her dad?

@Letsallscreamatthesistene

For those interested - theres about 3 tsps sugar per big pot of petit filous.

Im going to switch now too

I believe it's just over 1 teaspoon in the little pots. It's 5g of sugar and a teaspoon is 4g

More than my 2yo eats who is 25th percentile eats for the coughs and colds, try sambucol liquid. Amazing stuff. Give 'winter dose' when she is poorly and the usual maintenance dose otherwise. It's just a high tonic vitamin C

Also would get her multivitamins just for peace of mind x

We buy the No added sugar petit filous. Available in most but not all shops

It’s still processed shite

I think you’re doing a great job and that diet looks perfect. I’ve been there on the comments on weight by health visitors and It’s awful. Both of mine are bang on average now they’re 2 and 5 but I’ve stressed ALOT about food intake over the last 5 years believe me! I have a friend who’s little girl was so very petite, born small and stayed small (ppl always commented on the “tiny” age gap between her and her brother when there’s 2.5 years 😆) but now she’s only slightly smaller than her peers. I would try to stop comparing (if you can - I know it’s hard) but there are some very big children out there which also isn’t always good, and also can’t be helped much of the time !

Haven’t RTFT but my DD (now 10yo) was exactly like this. She’s still skinny-to-slim. She has always wanted to eat a little and often. Her pead has always advised butter, nut butters, avocado, full fat yogurts, oily fish. She naturally tends towards food that doesn’t make her feel full, so it’s hard work getting this stuff inside her.

But, she’s tall for her age, and hasn’t ever been a sickly child. There’s clearly no failure to thrive issue, as your DD’s doctors are happy with her. But the upset tummy, constant colds etc….it’s worth getting her checked out for allergies. Is she generally a happy, good natured child? Does she come across as being in discomfort, or does she dread eating?

It’s so hard when they’re not verbal enough to explain how they feel. All you can do is keep at it, try this, try that.

Don’t worry, everything will be fine.

Nothing wrong with being on the small side. Better than being fat!

@RosyPoesy

Mean!

Oh do fuck off.
DD also had chicken nuggets to tonight, hope you choke on your pearl clutching

Wishing death on people. How mature

@RickySpanishhh

We buy the No added sugar petit filous. Available in most but not all shops

It’s still processed shite

Yeah I get that it’s processed but you can make the same argument about bread and countless other things that we eat on a daily basis. Don’t take this as me saying a diet of pom bears and spray can cheese is a ok with me, more that it’s pretty hard to avoid processed foods. And a no added sugar child’s yoghurt (even though you can say it’s a bit of a con) is hardly cheese in a can

Here's a genuine question (sorry to derail the thread OP!):

If my 2 year old will only eat Paw Patrol petit filous and won't entertain healthier alternatives of any sort, is it better let her eat them or not have any yogurt-type food at all? She doesn't drink milk (apart from on cereal) and she's gone off cheese, including cheese spread.

Hi OP haven’t read the full thread so sorry if this has been mentioned but make sure the blood test includes a test for coeliac disease. Not that I think you have anything to worry about re her size but you mentioned she often had the runs. It’s worth ruling out.

@doadeer I’m 5’3 and dad is 5’10 both relatively small in terms of build. The concern is that she is at the bottom (actually rn even slightly below) what’s deemed to be genetically appropriate (2 standard deviations below mid parental height).

@needtogetfit21 I’ve never heard of sambucol, no ones ever mentioned this before? I’m going to google, can you buy it anywhere? Thanks for the suggestion. Should have said in my OP but she gets a multi vitamin a day, abidec or wellbaby.

@BeenThruMoreThanALilBit occasionally we have trouble getting her in her booster seat but primarily we think this is the legacy of her food aversion thanks to the HV or because she wants to do something else. She must be similar to your Dd, she loves fruit and veg and will always prefer to eat that, healthy but not exactly full fat. We can’t leave them off her plate as they’re her ‘safe foods’ and she gets a bit less experimental when they’re not included. The high fat things, aside for cheese and yog she’s not fussed on, she’ll leave peanut butter on toast and she won’t really eat salmon (unless In a fish cake ). Was so much easier when she was a baby lol. She’s never been classed as faltering growth but as she was born so small that’s sort of why. How do you go about testing for allergies? It’s never been brought up, as she’s never had a skin reaction or anything and the upset tummy has been attributed to a virus and it wasn’t what you’d call consistent until July x

[quote Nc4post99]@doadeer I’m 5’3 and dad is 5’10 both relatively small in terms of build. The concern is that she is at the bottom (actually rn even slightly below) what’s deemed to be genetically appropriate (2 standard deviations below mid parental height).

@needtogetfit21 I’ve never heard of sambucol, no ones ever mentioned this before? I’m going to google, can you buy it anywhere? Thanks for the suggestion. Should have said in my OP but she gets a multi vitamin a day, abidec or wellbaby.

@BeenThruMoreThanALilBit occasionally we have trouble getting her in her booster seat but primarily we think this is the legacy of her food aversion thanks to the HV or because she wants to do something else. She must be similar to your Dd, she loves fruit and veg and will always prefer to eat that, healthy but not exactly full fat. We can’t leave them off her plate as they’re her ‘safe foods’ and she gets a bit less experimental when they’re not included. The high fat things, aside for cheese and yog she’s not fussed on, she’ll leave peanut butter on toast and she won’t really eat salmon (unless In a fish cake ). Was so much easier when she was a baby lol. She’s never been classed as faltering growth but as she was born so small that’s sort of why. How do you go about testing for allergies? It’s never been brought up, as she’s never had a skin reaction or anything and the upset tummy has been attributed to a virus and it wasn’t what you’d call consistent until July x[/quote]
It's not on prescription, buy at Holland and Barrett, boots and Amazon. Amazon is cheapest

@Ihaveoflate

Here's a genuine question (sorry to derail the thread OP!):

If my 2 year old will only eat Paw Patrol petit filous and won't entertain healthier alternatives of any sort, is it better let her eat them or not have any yogurt-type food at all? She doesn't drink milk (apart from on cereal) and she's gone off cheese, including cheese spread.

You can tell by the thread I’m no expert in parenting or food, but our dietitian did say don’t let kids see packages because then they only want that particular item.

Do you think you could put her fave yogs in another pot and she’d eat them? Or maybe put another yog in a paw patrol pot? Gently wean her off those kinds?

Personally though I don’t think having a favourite yoghurt is the worst thing In the world xx

Health visitors get caught up on them being too and bottom of the chart, someone has to be though, they can’t all be on the middle line. I’d be more worried about her being ill all the time but again could be nursery.

Thanks @Nc4post99 - we've tried that but she's a wily beast and not easily fooled!

She used to eat everything but she has become much pickier over the last few months. I think she'd happily live off plain Jacob's crackers. I'm hoping she'll eventually start expanding her repertoire again if we just keep putting things in front of her.

Food is so emotive, isn't it? I sometimes envy parents of good eaters but I'm sure they have worries of other kinds. What I have learned is not to be so bloody smug about having a good eater - it came back to bite me in the arse!