Appetite stimulant

My duo has poor appetite, they are barely on weight chart,meal time is a strugle since they can't sit still in their booster for the durantion of meal and all my effort to "fatten" them up(like adding butter, oil, giving avocados, adding cream, carnation breakfast etc.)seem to me not really working.
I don't want them to go on any meds, but I red that there are some natural remedies to increase appetite in children.
Anyone has any experience with that or any other healthy "secrets" to make gyus a bit
bigger would be greatly appreciated.

 

My twins are on the small side as well and my dd is TINY! She just turned 2 and is barely 23lbs.
I haven't heard of any food stimulants so I'm not help there, sorry! Have they run blood work on them? If my dd hasn't gained the next time we go in (next week) then the ped mentioned having blood work done again on her.
Have you thought about putting them back on a toddler type of formula?

About the boosters--maybe you can try giving them fun things to do in the booster between meal times so they learn to enjoy sitting in them? Mine love to color and draw in their boosters. Just a thought!
Let us know if you have any luck!

 

are they hungry for the meals?? I know sometimes I feed to large of a snack and they aren't interested in sitting for the meals...

another thing, are you able to keep them in the seats? or are they getting out of the straps? I finally got a booster that works at keeping my dd in... the highchairs we had she could get out of... and that's really helped her to stay seated.

ours are small too... 22 and 24 pounds at 21 months. I used to worry a bit about it, but they are healthy and growing so I can't stress over it anymore!

I would just try to make sure you are feeding them well, and not with junk food...

I also just posted about hearing a pediatric dentist the other day in another post, and he mentioned that he had to quit giving his kids juice & milk throughout the day because of cavities... - he now just gives those during meal times - to keep the acidity of the mouth more neutral... he also mentioned that when he did their appetite at meals increased... so not sure if you are giving only water during the day in sippies or not, but that's what he recommended for those reasons. he said if you needed to wean them onto only water, to start weaning onto Propel or something that is flavored water, then on to plain straight water.

hope you get something from my ramblings!

 

Hey Daiva!! :wavey:

I could really write a novel about this; I've struggled with feeding issues with my boys since the day they were born. They only made it onto the chart at about 15 months; now they're about at the 5th percentile (we'll see for sure at their WBV in 2 weeks).

I've had a hard time "trusting" my boys to eat for a long time, and I've really had to step back and re-evaluate how I approach feeding. My guys were preemies so I had a hard time letting go and letting them control their eating. One book that helped me change my perspective is Child of Mine by Ellyn Satter. It was recommended to me on this forum several times, so I picked up a copy.

I don't buy into her approach 100%, and I won't summarize the whole book, but it was an eye-opener for me. Basically she says that kids can be trusted since birth to eat appropriately if you let them, and that some kids will be skinny, some will be fat, some will be short, tall, etc. and it's mostly just genetics. You offer healthy foods, kids eat them (or not), and everything else is pretty much out of your control.

This was a huge leap of faith for me (I was practically force-feeding my guys for the first year), but they have really come through. They're not perfect (I wish they'd eat a stinkin' vegetable!! :gah: ), but they eat really well and are gaining on their own curve. They're just skinny boys right now. ardon: And there's nothing wrong with being skinny if that's what's natural for them.

I'd talk to your ped and see what they have to say as well, but I really recommend you pick up a copy of Child of Mine. I started reading the book going "no way!" and ended up nodding along to it.

I hope you forgive me for not really answering your question, but I feel your pain and wanted to let you know how I've changed my approach to feeding.

Good luck! :hug:

 

My two are on the small side too, they've pretty much been on the 5th percentile for weight (except one time they both made the 10th percentile)...I have not heard of any appetite stimulants and I just tried to add butter, whole milk, cheese , etc to their meals. I started to worry less once I realized that they were staying on their growth curve and that's just how they are right now.
Have you tried moving them to the table in their booster seats? Maybe the novelty of that will help them to eat better? Have you tried to add Pediasure to their milk to give them some extra calories. I would talk to your pedi before adding any kind of appetite stimulant just to make sure it's okay.
Good luck!

 

Thank you all for sharing your experiences.

My guys don't drink any juice, just water through out the day and some tea after dinner.

Thank you Valerie for book suggestion, I am going to get here right away.

For some unexplained reason I just can't get over the fact that maybe my guys will be tall and skiny and there is nothing much I can't do.I just don't know how to relax about the meal time. I know it is my problem but I have not yet find a way to make piece in my heart about their eating.

 

:hug: Oh sweetie, I know exactly what you mean. When Nate started refusing bottles and they were both so small I was in a panic. Mealtimes were so stressful and I felt like if I didn't get them to eat every bite and drink every drop that I was a failure. I just couldn't do it any more; it was eating away at me. My guys seemed healthy, so after the first year, I did a lot of reading and tried to change my attitude. My ped has always been matter-of-fact about their weight, so I figured I really didn't have anything to worry about.

If I recall correctly, you were referred to a nutritionist before, but they weren't much help. Would it be worth it to go back to your ped and see if you can talk to someone else? I think your LOs are probably just skinny kids, and there's nothing wrong with that! But a professional opinion can never hurt.

I hope you can get some answers that will reassure you. Many :hug: to you.

 

hate meal times its the worst time for us, DD is so tiny only in the 5 percentile and i literally chase her to get some food in her when i can-she will take a few bites but i end up topping her off with the pedisure, we have been told she needs it as a medical expense since she wont eat anything but purree-'s atm-especailly before bed she gets a can i feel better knowing at least she has a full meal/vits at the end of the day--we were told if she loses any weight she will have to be tubed so i do my best to get her to eat as much as i can --its a struggle for sure! l would get him some pediasure thou if your concerned like myself.

 

My one is BELOW the 3rd percentile. This struggle has been since she was born she was in the 5th. I too was recommended the book "child of mine" (great for any parent really) and it helped me to change my perspective about feeding. She continues to slow down when she is sick and I just give everything with cream. Often you need to look at your family and my dh is about the same height as me so likely she is just petite. I think she is finally in size 4 and can wear size 12 month clothes. She has never had much of an appetite and prefers often for us to spoon feed her. I give her finger foods and then spoon in the last often high fat amounts. She was low in iron lately so I'd recommend a multi-vit with iron to balance things out. I've been offered a pedi nutritionist but I figured I don't have time to write down everything she doesn't eat and I know what foods are fattening. They were on formula for much longer than the 12 months but we were told to concentrate it by adding 1/3 more scoops. I've moved onto milk and just have cream always on hand.

Often I feed them every 2 hours and sometimes I'm sitting in the livingroom and they are coming up to me for a bite of something. It seems little snacks throughout the day helps. If I have something they usually want it. Maybe a high calorie shake halfway through the day using a straw (we keep straws for special).

It is hard not to look at the scales everytime. I have a 9 month old who has caught up to her 2 year old sister. It is tough but sometimes you have to enjoy THEM, and the moment and look beyond the worry of the food.