Do I need to "fatten her up""?

[angelaartsstudent]

DD is 19 months, 87cm tall and weighs 13.5kg.

Looking at the charts, this is a tad underweight for her height, is this right? How much can you trust these charts?

Do I need to fatten her up? If so, how?

She doesn't eat meat (have tried - just doesn't like it - even nuggets), dairy (lactose intollerant) and so far, I haven't been able to make eggs in a way she'll eat them (but I have cooked them into savoury muffins and etc and she'll eat them if she can't see or taste them).

I am vegan, so the meat thing isn't going to happen (and during this pregnancy I can hardly handle seeing it LOL), but I am all for upping her calories in other ways.

Breakfast is usually Weetbix with commerical Soymilk (the kids type with all the added vitamins and etc) and a serve of fruit. I think this needs some variety.

Lunch and afternoon tea is what daycare provides...am having a hard time getting a copy of their menu from them! Afternoon tea, from what I have seen, is things like fruit and rice cakes, vegemite quartered sandwiches.

Dinner is made by me and at the moment (until I see what she gets for lunch) and always has some fruit, some veg and some source of protein. Today for example was Pasta in a creamy sauce (with corn, peas, carrots, green beans, onion and asian greens in it), a savoury muffin (spinach, egg and mixed veg in) and a whole apple but usually it's a lot more varied than that...I was a bit lazy when packing it up last night!

Evening snack is sometimes some soymilk (about 130ml, very seldom, she just doesn't finish it) and whatever she picks of the fruitbowl/out of the fridge - grapes, apple, banana, cucumber, tomato, whatever really. Tonight she's had a tiny bit of milk, 1.5 bananas, a strawb and 4 or 5 watercrackers (that I had leftover on my plate).

Of course there is water during the day whenever she wants it too.

She'll eat any fruit or veg under the sun (as long as I prepare it in the correct toddler way LOL) and is very active - doesn't look like a sallow vegetarian or anything, but I have been a tad concerned about her calorie and nutrient intake (B12 and Calcium, mainly).

Thanks in advance from paranoid Amanda :-D

[*Beema*]

Nope she is perfect as she is The point with the charts is that there are babies all over it, if they were all in the middle then we wouldn't have them, not everything has to match up percentile wise for height, weight and HC either.

FWIW DD is all over the charts, head on the 90th%ile, weight is the 25%ile and height on the 3rd%ile and she is 2 1/2 years old, and she is perfect too xxoo

[Arimeh]

Well if you have to, then I have to as well!! LOL.. DD1 is nearly 2.5 and weighs 14kg but is 96.5cm tall.. she's very lean, and you can see her ribs.

But I put the food in front of her, she just chooses not to eat, so there isn't much more I can do until she stops this stupid non-eating phase!

[Gigi]

DD is 19 months, 87cm tall and weighs 13.5kg.

my DD is FOUR, 100cm tall and weighs 14kg. i wonder what your charts say about that. No-one ever says to me "she's too thin" because she looks in proportion and healthy. Does your dd look in proportion and healthy? Early on, a nurse told me, what you go on is skin tone and if the eyes look alert. not the kilos or charts so much. that reassured me a bit.

i have a child who is not interested in food or drink and doesn't go to the loo much but isn't constipated (i have no idea why not). It's hard to let go of the anxiety about food, all the kids her age are so much bigger.

[angelaartsstudent]

Yeah I can see P's ribs too, just, but apart from that she doesn't look like an underweight child, kwim?

Thanks for the words of wisdom, ladies!

I guess at her height, anything that isn't too fat will look a little lean on her becuase she's so tall, if that makes sense.

[angelaartsstudent]

Thanks for the advice about the supplements...it's mainly the B12 that worries me becuase it was never ever something that crossed my mind as a lactose intollerant vegan...and I recently discovered that I am very low in it. Apparently the only good sources of it (apart from supplements) are meat and dairy.

[leesha]

My DS is 2.5yrs and weighs about 12kg and has always fallen off the charts. We did try this powder called Polydule. In a can like the formula cans and got it from the chemist. My MCHN and a dietician put us onto it. You just put it in their milk or sprinkle on their food. I don't think it did much for him but he did gain a bit of weight for awhile but very slowly.
I just put butter and cheese in everything and lotsa yoghurt. It's hard but I think some kids are just different and develop at their own rates!

[*Beema*]

Well if you have to, then I have to as well!! LOL.. DD1 is nearly 2.5 and weighs 14kg but is 96.5cm tall.. she's very lean, and you can see her ribs.

But I put the food in front of her, she just chooses not to eat, so there isn't much more I can do until she stops this stupid non-eating phase!

ROFL DD1 is more than 10cm shorter, and a 1/2kg lighter, but doesn't look skinny

[angelaartsstudent]

DH had a 26 inch waist until he turned 30, so maybe DD takes after him!

[*TripleJ*]

jamie is only 12.15kgs last time we checked and hes the same age as P so i dont think u need to fatten her up at all at his 18 month checkup the nurse didnt say anythingabout his weight so it must be ok i say dont stress

[Fleur]

Should have added, Pie doesn't look underweight, in fact she has a very nice little pot belly

So I tend to go less on weight and more as other have said, on how she IS. Looks healthy, happy, active etc.

[Ryatha]

My sister has problems with her DD, she is very skinny and doesn't eat much at all. Mum said it is just like my sister when she was little. The Paed is concerned so my sister gives her DD suppliments and offers full cream milk at mealtimes with milo to initiate her appetite. She also does egg flips I think, which is eggs in warmed up milk, so it is just thickend milk, like custard maybe...

Not too sure, DD2 is 18mo and 11kg, and eats like a horse but is still skinny!

[Fleur]

Hmm, I don't know how tall Pie is but she's 17 months - so not too much younger than P - and last time I weighed her (couple of weeks ago) she was still around the 10.5 mark, maybe just under 11kg. So I would consider 13.5 to be fairly decent...

...oh dear now I want to measure her & I'm afraid she'll be underweight

Truthfully I don't think there is much you can do. You can't make them eat ( I know ) It sounds as though she has a pretty healthy diet (better than some ) and if she's active & healthy that's the best thing to go on IMO. If it helps put your mind at ease, maybe a supplement, you can get a liquid one for littlies, but I don't know that she'd need 'fattening up'.
I think too that by this age, general body type becomes a factor.

[Visitor8]

I personally wouldn't worry about it unless she looks unwell and sickly, or is loosing weight over a period of time.

We recently had weight issues. In the end we put it down to reflux and illness (he had chest infections and pneumonia). Eli started on the 50th %ile and by 4 months he'd dropped off the chart. We were lucky to get a 60gram gain in a week. He's now put weight on at 7 months and is 7.4kg so back on the chart and we're no longer worried about it If she's happy, and healthy looking, and putting weight on at whatever is the normal'ish rate for her age, I wouldn't stress it