Dr says ds 5 needs to put weight on,how do I do this healthily and do I need to?

[MilaMae]

He is the spit of dp and his dad who are small, slim, wiry and superfit (fil is 75 and regularly cycles 16 miles). Dp and fil have washboard stomaches not an inch of fat .

Both never put weight on whatever they eat. They eat healthily most of the time but enjoy treats as much as anybody else.

Ds eats whatever I give him so he has a healthy diet(w/m bread loads of fruit/veg etc with the normal treats cookies after school,sweets on Sat,fishfingers and chips once a week.

I'm just thinking whatever I do he won't put on weight as he's like his dad. I have no idea how to get any weight on healthily. I'm not going to give him chips more than once a week because of his twin brother and sister and also because his cholestral level when he's older could be crap whatever his weight iykwim.

He's not a milk fan which doesn't help. What healthy foods can add on weight and do I need to bother?

My DS is five too and most of the time looks like a skinned rabbit! How heavy is your DS?

Why does the dr want him to put weight on? Is it because of a dot on a chart, or is it because it's affecting his health?

I was a skinny-minny (till puberty - wish I still had that problem), ds is also v slim and trousers are a problem . I did worry about it for a bit but surely worse to "fatten" him up needlessly so we're going on as normal (ds is 2.5).

If he didn't have so much energy or dr felt his health was suffering obviously I'd behave differently.

Surely as long as he is eating healthily then he's OK? What weight is he?

We have friends with a DD who is tiny and very low weight. They give her endless crêpes (shop-bought) spread with Nutella to fatten her up, on the advice of their nutritionist.

Errr don't know he just said he's not heavy enough for his height.

His teacher made me go to the dr as she thought he was too little and tired-but he's only 5 and in rec. Imho they're all knackered during this year.

He did say if he's not loosing weight I don't need to get worried but that I should try to put some weight on him.

Easier said than done. Let him have a sprinkle doughnut as a treat today but I can't do that every day.

I'll be watching this with interest because I too have a very slim child - a girl who is very pale with long thin legs (how I used to be!) and I get a lot of comments about how thin she is. But she eats fairly well and has lots of energy and although was sick a good bit earlier in the year, she is fine now. Some people are just thin! (And some people don't like that for their own reasons...) Sounds like your DS is one of those too

Should add mil said she had this too with dp from his rec teacher but he's very fit etc now.

Could try some of those crepes(actually have some of those in the cupboard)but they're full of sugar and e numbers. I know I sound a bit precious .

I'm not convinced that giving children sugary food is a good solution. My DD has just started school and they are all exhausted and crabby by the end of the day (and that's only 1.25 where I live)

Agree re fatty food rather than sugary - full cream milk, lots of cheese, yoghurts. Probably potatoe and pasta would be good too, thinking about it.

oops potato

I don't think you can expect your thin child to gain weight if you won't give him fat and sugar! It really isn't unhealthy for a thin child to eat extra fat and sugar - it's good for them!

Sorry I meant to say I make porridge with full cream milk (my DD doesn't like milk either)

What about teeth though BosoirAnna?

Porridge is a diet food, though!

Whole milk/full fat yoghurt
Bananas
Veg/mashed potatoes with butter/cream
Mmmmmh at crepes with Nutella!
Pasta with whatever he likes
Home baking?

Basically tempt him with whatever he likes.

I do not think it would be unreasonable to try this for, say, a month, and then see, not so much how much weight he has gained, but whether he seems more energetic/less tired.

Home-made milkshake: whole milk, banana/strawberries/any other fruit, add icecream/custard/cream if you wish, and blend. Mine would crawl over dead bodies to get to one of those!

BTW, DS1 is skinny, DS2 not. They both eat lots, heathily, with lots of sugary treats thrown in; DS1 probably eats more than his brother. So genetically predetermined body shape does come into it, IMO.

You can brush your teeth after meals. Sweets and sugary drinks are not good (because they stick to teeth) but cakes etc don't especially.

Right he has dry cereal and apple for breakfast (occasionally a cup of milk)could force him to have toast too I guess.

He has fruit at school break.

For lunch he has w/m peanut butter sandwiches made with 2 slices of bread, cream cheese and breadsticks,yog,fruit and a treat.

After school 2 choc digestives or 4 cookies.

Tea it varies but he'll generally eat what I give him- chicken curry, roast chicken, does leave my stews,lasagna,pasta,fish etc. I don't do puddings and if he's tired he doesn't clean his plate iykwim. I don't give them huge portions but don't want to force feed any of them.

Do puddings! That's a great way to fatten him up. His diet does sound a bit lacking.

Just fishing out his size and weight that the school nurse sent me(don't know how she got invoved)bear with me.

Milk Puddings: Rice Puddings and Custard are good for gaining weight, as is cream/cheese stirred into cereals, or in foods i.e pasta sauce etc. Breadsticks with cream cheese is a good snack too.

I happily give my children full-fat milk/yogurt, fatty meat etc etc and bake cakes/breads with a healthy dollop of butter and sugar in them. What more can you do? You don't want to get them addicted to crap, now, do you?

My mum tells me that when I was little they were nagged into taking me to see the doctors by friends who said I was just too skinny. The doctors never found anything wrong with me. I was skinny all my life, until after two kids...