underweight children

[garlicoliveoil]

hi all, DS1 is 9, he has a serious and complicated heart defect, has suffered from Septecemia and Endocarditis and as a result of this he is quiet underweight, is BMI is 12,

He is under the care of the dietician and drinks a supplement daily which gives him an extra 300 calories a day but he appears to be losing weight again

Dietitian recommends 2300 calories per day for him which im finding hard to reach (seen as though that it was a typical man should eat in a day), so im constantly trying to find ways to add extra calories without over filling him so that he to wants eat his next snack meal iyswim

currently im giving him full fat milk, olive oil drizzled on salads and veg, a calorie laden pudding everyday such as meringue and cream, pieces of cheese, homemade peanut butter muffins and endless snacks, which i try to keep nutritious

Anyway im just wondering if anyone else as an underweight child and any other ways of adding extra calories to food to help them gain weight healthily

Hes such a thin child and looks more ill cos of his weight and im worried that when his next surgery is happening he will lose even more weight and be even more weak

The next thing to do if he continues to lose weight is to start another supplement which tbh i dont want him to, its hard to get the fortified drink down him because they are very claggy thick

Sorry for rambling on and hope it makes sense

Haven't many ideas I'm afraid, but could you add glucose to his drinks? (like squash)

I know my mums did that for me once when I was very ill and losing weight.

Milkshakes?
Energy bars/drinks that sports people use?

Hope someone else comes along soon to help

When my dad was losing weight from chemo, mum gave him fullfat milk mixed half-and-half with single cream to make it even richer.

For most people, I'd say a bit of fresh air and exercise can help to build an appetite, but apologies if his condition rules that out.

Butter instead of marge.

Pasta makes me gain weight what about a Italian night.

what do you mean by 'salad'? lettuce has bugger all nutritional value (ok, it has vitamins, but it;s hard for the body to beak down the lettuce cells to get them), veg & fruit much better.

things with pulses & beans in them can be high nutrition, with 'good' fats in, e.g. hummous.

avocado another thing that's v good.

friends of mine foster & they are currently looking after a baby who was v low weight, they have used a lot of avocado, banana, things like muffins (which you can sneak fruit, nuts, bran etc into).

does he like pizza? if you have time, can you make it for him, so it fits his diet?

NOT a nutritionist btw, but just been having this convo in RL with the friends.

sorry to hear about your ds btw, must be v worrying

Fresh pasta would be better than dried I think, with rich creamy/cheesy sauces & garlic bread? Cooked breakfasts?

thanks everyone for your advice, he is a good eater and will try most new things so ill try and get him to try an avocado, maybe mashed with some crisps and dips and stuff
I mostly home cook his food so he eats plenty of protein, carbs and veg, plenty of fish especially salmon and i dont ever buy marg, its always butter (cos i love it too),

KAA-the muffin idea has gave me a thought too, he wont eat peanut butter on sandwiches but he will eat it in muffins but also im going to put in some ground nuts into the mixture too to add more fat, say almonds or walnuts, he loves pizza and i make it at home with loads of cheese and olive oil
the salad i mean is spinach, he loves it,

F21- the cooked breakfast idea sounds good too but im pushed for time on a morning in the week as i have two other children, DS2 is 5 and DS3 is 1 and he is going through the very demanding stage, maybe a full cooked breakfast at the weekends will help

the pasta with a creamy sauce sounds good too, ill give that a try

thanks again

Coconut cream is good too, in curries or added to smoothies eg. pina colada style smoothie. I also add a proportion of ground almonds stirred into curry sauces to thicken them and also replace some of the flour in crumble mix and cakes and muffins with ground almonds too (sometimes have to add a wee bit less liquid as a result). What about creamy soups? (maybe not in this weather!).

Cheese scones? or cheese straws.

Pecan nuts sandwiched together with a generous blob of nutella is a delicious fattening snack (my invention one night when I had no biscuits left).