Printable View
Our 3.5 yr old is so skinny- hes all bone.
He weighs 12kg and is 98cm
We are worried about him. He eats little and is fussy. He gets sick alot and isnt strong- doesnt do much physical stuff.
Really really worried about him but dont know where to start or what to do to get him to put weight on.
my now 4 and half yr old at 3 and half weighed 28.6kgs
but he has always been a big boy like his dadda
My 2 yr old is some where around the 13 kg mark id say
i guess if ur overly worried see ur MCHN
My DD1 is 3 in 23 days and she is 14kgs she was weighed at the doctors the other day. If your worried speak to your gp hun :hug:
My 4 year old is 15kgs. I'm not at all worried about him. He's a very physical, happy healthy little man. He eats and drinks and uses the toilet like any other child his age so that's why I'm not at all concerned about his weight, but his diet SUCKS! I think he's the fussiest kid I've ever some across (which is why I slip vitamins into his daily juice to make sure he's getting enough good stuff :) ).
If you are concerned, give your health nurse a call. They'll be able to lay your fears to rest or send you on to someone else for some help.
my 3.5 yo ds weighs 20kg. i would second speaking to your gp.
My 3.5yo weighs just under 17kgs. He had is MCHN checkup last Monday. Agree speak with your gp or MCHN.
I second what the others have said, please see your MCHN or GP if you are worried :hug:
My DS is about 19kg at 3.5 and not sure of height, probably around 102 I would guess as has shot up a lot and was 97 in Jan.
DH took him to see a dr 2 weeks ago. A famous chinese kids dr who said DS has too muchy heat and put him on a diet on rice, vege and egg with just alittle tofu/ soy. Also gave as us some medicine for him but he wont eat the medicine- to take the heat out of his body. We did the diet for 10 days- we inc plain pasta bread and marmite cause he wasnt eating anything.
I dont see this helping and the drs here are not helpful either. On his last stay in hospital a month ago they said he had a weak immune system and gave him a booster, said he needs to eat more and exercise more. Exercise I am on to, talk him for a walk most days- my thinking is the more he does the more he'll eat- but its a fine line between enough and too tired, if he gets too tired he gets sick and then he wont eat for days and loses more weight and the cycle continues.
I wish we were home in au!
To help our DS' through winter we give them a daily dose of inner health plus for kids in their yoghurt & the kids vitamin pentevite. They say a healthy immune system starts in the gut & so far DS1 has only had one lot of runny nose & cough. DS2 on the other hand gets it back every month. We are just starting again but he's just turned one and building his immune system. I am not sure if you can get something like that where you are (probiotic) it may help.
Does he prefer cold food to hot food? What sort of foods does he like to eat? Can you get a vitamin supplement like Pentevite? Sorry I am not much help the above suggestions are what I would think of for my boys as a starting point. If he is low in vitamins & minerals he will get tired more quickly & take longer to get better. I am sorry you can't get the answers you need where you are. do you have any plans for holiday back here?
My almost 3yr old is about 15ish kg. He's also about 98-100cm tall. My 4yr old is 16kg and 102cm. My DS1 is a fairly fussy eater too and some days eats and eats but most days he just picks at his food. While I do worry about it because he is so active, he is happy and sleeps well, wees and poos as normal, so it seems to the logical side of me that he's healthy. I don't think you DS's weight should be too much of a concern, but if you're worried about his health, then maybe take him to see a paediatrician if the GP is no help to you. The diet he was prescribed sounds very limiting, and if you're worried about his health I wouldn't be limiting his diet at all. Lean meats and protiens are a healthy and important part of a persons diet. Do you give him vitamins, maybe a child-friendly vitamin will help? Sometimes it help increase appetite if they have added vitamins.
3LM Thats what I have thought- limit the diet of a fussy eater just seems weird to me and he doesnt eat vege! fruit till the cows come home but no vege that he can see or taste
Our next trip home is a year away. Sigh, I wanna come home now but cant :(
Guess we'll just soldier on. there is no miracle cure and hope he suddenly wants to start eating when kindy goes back in september.
Will get back into he probiotics- Thanks for that , had forgotten about those.
Hes not allowed eat or drink anything cold- and DH is really strict on that (its a real chinese thing)
Its nice to air this problem out and get a bit of support
Thank you ladies
That's really hard - my DD1 was 13kg at 3yo and DD2 is now 2.5 and already weighs 14kg but they are both very different body types.
Funnily enough DD2 won't drink anything warm (it has to be cold) and prefers to eat cold things - she hates soup and things like that. If your DS isn't allowed to eat cold things can they be room temperature? It might be that he doesn't like warm things? Another thought - my kids like to prepare the food with me and then snack on it - maybe if you help get him involved with the food he might be more inclined to eat it.
Hi doubletrouble,
My DS1 is 12 kgs (one week ago). He is a March 08 baby. He's skinny. He is offered lots to eat, but is rarely interested in food. It's not a big motivation for him. Every so often he'll surprise us and eat a 'big' meal but usually not. He's not fussed on fruit - but i have a PhD in hiding veges in a meal, so he gets a good variety in his diet. He'll eat mince, but seems to dislike chewing up chunks of meat. Like Nai's DD, my DS1 dislikes hot food - he prefers everything cold. He waits until everything has gone cold before he starts to eat. I take his dinner out 5 mins before i dish everyone elses up - otherwise he has a huge moan and blows on it for hours!
He eats about two thirds of what his 18 month old brother eats (who is also breastfeed). Breakfast is almost always a winner, then he eats progressively less and less through the day.
I am no longer concerned about my DS1 like i once was, because he's always been like this. He isn't getting worse, and keeps up with his peers in many other ways (except size).
I would be concerned if he seemed to be losing weight, or became lethargic or unwell. The "raising children" website has some interesting things on nutrition.
My DD at 3+3 is still around 12 kgs - fluctuates from about 11.5 to 12kg. She is 96cm. She is an appalling eater - extremely fussy and simply won't eat if she doesn't like something. I've got to the point with her now that if she has had a few days of exceptionally bad eating, I don't really care what she eats, so long as she eats something.
We are seeing a paed with her regularly for an unrelated issue, and he has no real concerns about her weight. Says she is obviously a skinny minny, but is otherwise mentally and physically healthy - she is very active.
I really can't give you any advice on how to encourage eating because I fail with my little girl too. I do worry about her when I know she is growing so much taller, but not gaining any weight at all, but the paed being happy with her has put my mind at ease a bit. It is definitely worth a trip to your GP or better yet a paed to discuss your concerns.
What things does he like to eat? When I was little I was so tiny and so fussy, my mum gave me egg & bacon pies every day because it was one of the only things I would eat. Is there something he loves to eat that could help fatten him up a bit? What about hiding healthy foods etc inside other foods? Finely grated carrot and zucchini in a bolognese sauce etc? I remember hearing about a book that makes recipes using different vegie mash and apparently the kids love them, maybe you could google it and give it a try?
Its REALLY awsome to hear about other kids the same.
Thanks for the website I'll add that to my favs
My little big girl is 3y2m and she weighs 11 kgs. We also see assorted specialists on a regular basis for other reasons and they would prefer she weighed more but it is not a big deal just yet. We have seen a dietican which suggested we use polyjoule to add calories to her meals/drinks. She also said to add as many fattening foods to DD's diet as possible, extra butter in pasta etc, cream to cereal, avocado on sandwiches. DD had vanilla icecream daily for quiet some time. But I don't think it matters what my DD eats or how much she is just a skinny minny :) I agree that if he seems happy and healthy I wouldn't be concerned, as Lenny said I would be concerned if he seemed to be losing weight, or became lethargic or unwell.
If you would like professional advise ask your GP for a referral to see a dietican (for children), they will be able to advise what is an acceptable weight for his age and put together a food plan that will suit him if it is required, it might help you to feel a little more at ease :hug:.
My DD1 is 3.5 as well and she is very skinny too. Her last weigh in was 15kg and she is 100cm tall.
I agree with the others to see your GP to put your mind at ease.
i too have a march 08 baby DS and he weighs a 10.2 kg hes tall and thin i get questioned everytime we go to the doctor wether i feed him enough etc etc, hes fussy he hates meat will eat fruit vege and chicken but only small portions. He was born average size but thinned out pretty much right away. to get extra calories into him we have fruit smoothis and i add yoghurt and sustagen to them, hes very active and does have muscle tone in his arms but he looks so thin everywhere else. also gets sick regularly.
on the other hand my DD 18 mths eats like a horse and i only weighs 8.2kg again i get questioned at every gp visit, and she eats more then most her age.
i think as long as they remain on their own line in the health book, and they continue to gain weight then thats all that matters.
It would be hard to be in another country dealing with this.... Such different cultures. My ds will be 4 in October and any Chinese doctor would think he was a sumo wrestler.... Weighing in at 23kg and 106cm. Everyone is different.
My ds is fussy too.... Especially to veggies. If you're in Asia, does he like dim sum? Dumplings and the like?
I wouldn't limit the diet of a fussy eater, just keep trying over and over again. Give him some kids vitamins... And listen to your gut instincts on how he's going.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - I wonder what the kids are up to....Better go!
I hope you found some peace in knowing that many children around the same age are not big eaters. The reason I asked about the hot & cold food is that as others said DS1 will not eat anything hot even chicken soup from a can he will go off his tree if it's been warmed with ours (makes me feel ill seeing him eat it & often pop it in the microwave before he sees & swop the bowls lol). We also have to dish up his food before ours to allow cooling time otherwise he sits at the table waiting, demanding we blow & generally annoying his brother.
Also another thought was that he may have large tonsils/adnoids (sp.) our nephew would always be the last to finish his meal & would eat it cold but like said above a lot of kids do this so it wasn't until he was 8/9 and he was still doing it that they picked up on it. He had them removed at this age. He is still thin & eats just enough.
Are you able to leave food out for him to graze on throughout the day rather than set big meals?
I hope you find someone to hear you out if you continue to be concerned. It's very hard when you are in a different country. I hope the probiotics give a little assistance.
Hugs
DD is 3 in October and weighs 14kg. Shes quite tall for her age ( we are both almost 6ft) and she is "underweight" according to the MCHN but Im not worried. You have to look at genes too and see if lighter people are in his gene etc. Just because a child is abit smaller than everyone else, doesnt mean they are unhealthy and at the end of the day, thats what matters right? Maybe try some Inner Health Plus Immune Booster to boost his immune system a little. Try and get the things that he does like to eat into him in a more high calorie meal. For eg, if he likes toast, research some home made spreads that have avacado in them..
Ofcourse, when in doubt, get it checked out :)
I'm not certain how much DS weighed at 3, at just over 2.5 years he weighed 12.5kg. He's very slight, but also shorter than your boy.
Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about the scales at this age. Is he full of energy, developing like he should be? If not, then talk to your GP or nurse. Maybe also consider probiotics to improve his gut if he's sick a lot.
Miss 3-and-a-half is about 14kg and has been that weight for ages, although I think she's porked it on a bit since she was last weighed, we've had to let her jeans out. We had them adjusted to the smallest setting before.
My 3.5 year old is 13kg and is fine and very active.
Thanks ladies, really good to hear from you all and know we are not alone.
We have decided to worm him, here it needs to be a regular thing. Started putting probiotics into his smoothies this morning. Last few days he has eaten almost nothing- not even his regular foods so gotta do some serious re-thinking today. Think we'll start back with very plain foods and build it from there, small meals often- try getting him use to eating and slowly build it from there.
X X X