She's too skinny..

I've finally had a doctor comment on DD's weight. I feel like such a lousy mother right now :cry:

She's had tonsilitis so hasn't been at all interested in eating anything, she only wants bottles so have been giving her as many as she wants. I thought that was enough to maintain her weight but she has lost close to 2kgs in the last 3 weeks and i feel absolutely awful about it.

People ALWAYS comment on how little she is, i get snide comments that i need to feed her more and i get asked do i even feed her at all! :shakehead:

I have offered her all kinds of food, ive left food on the floor, on her sofa and she grazes throughout the day but its obviously not enough. She doesn't like being fed and ive resorted to force feeding her which i absolutely HATE doing to her. I growl at her and bribe her to open her mouth and eat.

The doctor has ordered a pee sample which we'll get results back on tuesday, if it shows anything we'll get a referral to a pediatrician for further tests. He wants me to go into some program, QE2 and have us both monitored and learn how to feed her. God that just makes me sound so awful :( :(

He did say that she is a very active toddler so that may be why she's so little but he wants a second opinion. I also hope they dont think we are neglecting her...

Hugs how awful for you.

It is very common for kids to loose weight when sick but once well generally put on weight fast to get back to where they were.

I hope all is ok.

xoxo

What does she weigh Hun? I had a similar thing happen, we took dd to the gp and he freaked out and gave us a referral to the pead for failure to thrive. I took her back to the hospital and had her weighed by a midwife and the gp had weighed her wrong and she was fine. That aside, some kids are meant to bs small! Someone has to bs on theoerr end of the scale.

With the food thing,I went on a bit of a weight gain frenzy after the gp issue. I made up batches of vegie slice with cream, ricotta AND full milk powder added. I also checked labels and bought the fattiest yoghurt, cheese etc I could find. Dd's always been an okay eater though which I put down to baby led solids. I recommend keeping a food diary of food offered and food eaten, that way you can show what's happening.

Don't worry about other people thinking you are neglectingher, you know you are a great mummy!

LMS, My DD is quite petite & she ain't gonna change - with her mum being about 5'2" and Dad being 5'10" - she has no hope! In addition, both of my grandparents (apart from my maternal grandfather) are small people. DD does not eat ALOT but eats a variety of different TYPES of food. That being said, it has only been the last few months where she HAS NOT has a cup of milk before bed (she is 4yo). Don't stress too much about your DD being small!!!! I would take up the option of ruling out issues with your DD but if nothing shows up, stop worry about what other people say. Also, on a side note my gf DS does not eat a variety of food nor alot, however he is developing fine. GL x

hunny shes always been small, just like iz. you're not a bad mummy, its just the way she's built

argh that drives me crazy!!! How dare they make you feel like a terrible mother. Being concerned about her and making you feel like crap are totally different and one is not acceptable. There have to be little (and big) kids to make the average...it's basic maths and not rocket science, and yet some doctors think it's OK to forget about those basics....grrrr.

:hug:

I've got a 5th percentile kid. He always has been except for the couple of months after birth. He's just little.

You stand your ground chick. Make sure there's nothing wrong and then say thanks, but we're good, she'll be much better with food if we don't make it a war.

LMS - Honestly, your DD reminds me of how my DS1 looked (and still looks). I don't think you are doing anything wrong with her, and I certainly don't think you have anything to feel guilty about. Having said that, it is a good thing that your doctor is taking an interest in your DD's health. There may be an underlying issue causing her to be skinny, in which case you can get it resolved (I don't think this is the case, I think she is just skinny like my boy). But it also means that any underlying issues 'caused' by her weight should be picked up - in our case, we found DS1 had some severe vitimin and mineral difficencies, which when we addressed them (through multivitimins, etc - not force feeding) we found DS1 stopped getting sick as much. We had never thought of him as particularly sickly, but after addressing the problems caused by his fussing eating and low weight, we found that he got sick less often and actually gained a little more weight in general, despite eating no more then he normally ate. When he does still get sick, it is never as severe as it used to be either.

I feel you as I had the same problem with DS.....At 12 months he fell off the bottom of the graph and I felt terrible.
My mchn was supportive enough to refer to a dietician she knew and then gave me the info I what I can do to boost him up a bit!
We bought from the chemist a tin of POLYDULE which you just pop into their milk or sprinkle it on their food. They use it alot in nursing homes and hospital to keep the oldies well nourished and help to keep weight on. Also just putting cheese, butter in everything. I thought I was being good by not giving him too much fatty foods etc but apparently I had to:doh:
She also suggested that those foods like macca's and kfc would not hurt for him to have in moderation but not to avoid it like I was....again thought I was doing the right thing!

Maybe speak with your mchn as you may meet the requirements to be referred to a dietician first and try diff foods :D

Thanks everyone. I feel better now. She's just shy of being 9kgs. I have tried her on all sorts of food from the age of 6 months. She took to jar food really quickly, then we moved onto those squeezy ones and she'll eat about 5 of them a day. Plus she always snacks on biscuits and bars. Though since shes been sick the amount of food she eats has decreased quite a bit but i have just upped how many bottles she has. I tried to get her on cows milk but again she refuses it. She does have a pot belly though thats the only place she has fat.

Misty- Thank you! It really helps hearing that i shouldn't worry by somebody who has seen DD. I have considered maybe she is lacking in vitamins and minerals considering shes not eating as much as she should. So once ive had all the tests done ill look into a multivitamin.

Ahh yep very annoying... I have a friend who's little girl just turned 3, she weighs less than Elijah who is almost 2 1/2... he is around 14 kgs and I reckon Kaylah would be lucky to be 10 kgs! I almost throw her over my shoulder when I pick her up, I swear! Her arms are like half the size of Elijah's lol... she's just little... always has been and her mum is only around 5'2 and her dad isn't overly tall and not fat at all... so some people are just smaller.

Just think how jealous everyone is going to be when she gets older. ;) I have siblings like that, size 8, looks fab and gets to eat what they want. I am extremely envious. :)

Maybe it's not her size but the fact she has lost almost 25 per cent of her body weight that is of concern :dunno:

Also, pot bellies are sometimes not a good sign (not saying this is the case with your DD but it may have something to do with doctor's concern???)

I Hope the tests come back okay on tuesday and Im sure once she is feeling better she'll start eating again.
My DS2 is 3 and weights 12-13kg thats bottom 3% so we know what its like to have everybody comment.
:hugs: Some people are just smaller- slimmer So definatley agree with not making food a war or power struggle. We did for awhile and its not worth the stress for the whole family

:

---

Maybe it's not her size but the fact she has lost almost 25 per cent of her body weight that is of concern :dunno:

Also, pot bellies are sometimes not a good sign (not saying this is the case with your DD but it may have something to do with doctor's concern???)

---

He made the comment when he lifted her shirt to listen to her chest. He then started mentioning the program when we weighed her. He didn't say much about her belly only about her hernia because her belly button was protruding a lot. I did ask if that could be affecting why shes not eating and why her belly is big and he couldn't answer it and said to wait until our appointment with the pediatric surgeon next month.

I can't stand knowing something could be wrong with my baby :(

Ya know, my DD is 4 yo (turned 4 in June) and she weighs just over 15kgs....

I wouldn't be concerned about her weight at all, pp have explained why. DS is in the 5-10% percentile. He gets called everything from 'tiny' to 'normal' to 'gee he's big, isn't he?' (NO, he's not, but thanks for asking!!)
But, I agree with n2l that the worrying part (sorry to use that word, I know it's not going to help you feel better) is her weight loss. If she's been sick, it could explain it. Could the force feeding could be turning her off food, making it feel like a punishment instead of something fun, normal and natural. Does she have a favourite food? I thought the 'adding secret ingredients to her food to boost it' was a great suggestion! Wait and see what her test results turn up, and try not to worry too much in the meantime (easier said than done I know). You're doing a great job! ;)

DS is on the 2nd centile for weight now: he just isn't gaining. No-one has mentioned it to me though.

Losing weight as a young person isn't good. Maybe that's why she's being monitored. I had tonsillitis a couple of years ago and couldn't eat anything, even ice-cream, so I sympathise with your daughter.

DD1 had gastro at 12m and lost a lot of weight hitting the 3rd percentile at 12m. She only hit 10kg at 18m and had to be checked at 15m and 18m to ensure she was gaining back the weight. I would be weighing her regularly to see if she is gaining it back once she is well and only get concerned if she isn't. FWIW - DD1 is still tall and skinny!