Small and fussy one year old...

[crystal7]

I have posted about this before so sorry if it seems like I'm repeating myself!

My 14 month old has dropped from the 25th to the 0.4th centile in the last 8 months. She is a fussy, picky eater and it's difficult to find things she'll reliably eat. I saw my health visitor today who has referred her to a paediatrician. I feel that she's healthy, full of energy, meeting milestones etc. Her eating has improved in the last couple of months although the hv clearly didn't believe this as she weighs less than 17lbs...

I was wondering if anyone else has been through something similar? And if so did your little one's weight gain ever pick up or did they just stay small (dainty my mum calls it!)?

And those of you who have babies/toddlers that eat well any calorific meal ideas woud be most welcome!

Many thanks!

[Fuschia]

Crystal:one of my twins eats just everything, the other is a bit more dainty... but even the one who eats well isn't chubby like she used to be before she got mobile.

At least seeing the doctor will rule out anything sinister

Calorific foods:

grated cheese added to things

olive oil or butter added to things

plenty of protein of whatec=ver type she likes

hummous is pretty good

what does she like to eat?

[Claire29]

My boys are both on the small side but thats mostly due to genes as both me and my husband are small so mine have always been well under what is classed as average weight/height. My youngest is also what i would call dainty, he is coming up 2 and is a grazer rather than one for eating big meals.

Things that have worked for me are:

the small pasta shells/stars that you can get in sainsburys easier for younger ones to eat, with pesto and cheese

fishfingers

beans and toast

small bits of cheese cut up with chopped up grapes

waffles cut up

quorn goujons - my 2 aren't keen on meat so these are good and source of protein

full fat yoghurts

If she is active, on the move and doing well reaching milestones i would try not to worry, and at least seeing dr may rule out anything that would be stopping her putting on weight.

[sunbob]

If you have cooked some meat (eg roast chicken, Sunday joint) you can pour some of the juices over a few portions of starch (rice, mash, pasta etc) and freeze for later. It's tasty and absolutely packed with calories.

[crystal7]

Thanks for the replies!

She loves cheese grated and in cheese sauce- I worry about the salt content though, is it ok for her to eat it on everything?!

She likes pasta but other carbs are a bit hit or miss. It's also difficult to get vegetables and fruit into her unless they're well hidden/pureed.

When I think about what she eats over a week I feel like a bad mother! Not always 5 a day...

[alieh]

5 a day! Ha ha ha ha....

If mine spots a pea, he almost needs tweezers to pick out every last shred of it before he will take a bite.

He loves fruit, but I started to wonder if he was having a bad reaction to fruits like prunes, raisins, berries, etc. so am avoiding most fruits except pears and bananas.

I can't help but think about the many countries around the world that have much more restrictive diets than ours, with the same grains and pulses day in, day out and very little fresh fruit and veg, and they are perfectly healthy.

I would hide as many veg as possible in sauces or whereever, and stick with high calorie things that she'll eat. We do loads of cheese here...I just try to avoid other high salt foods as much as possible.

I think with most toddlers, 5 a day is a distant dream! Actually, for most adults too....

[Ann]

Have you tried Petit Filous? I used to add that to almost anything when my daughter was a baby. I know it sounds daft but I don't believe very young children are food 'faddists', it's more about getting calories into a child to maintain growth. They will soon eat more normally as they grow older and learn to eat socially i.e at nursery, playgroups etc.

Lot's of parents have been through your concerns, it sound awful but sometimes what's inappropriate for families in general is not always appropriate for a baby.

Good luck. From my understanding children who are small in childhood don't necessarily remain small in adulthood, it's all down to their genes.

Best wishes,

Ann

[sophiechristophy]

Hi Crystal,

I am a community cookery teacher, and lead a session for under fives (youngest participant I have worked with was 12 months)at a children's centre in north london. I often work with children who are quite particular about what they like to eat at home, which tends to be really frustrating and worrying for their parents. In the sessions we cook a whole variety of recipes (the kids do the cooking, with parents help :), a lot of recipes people are surprised by as the ingredients we use are considered to be 'adult', rather than for children. Anyway, i can't tell you how beneficial it is for the children to eat together - without fail, even the most choosy of the group try the different things we have made. So, maybe would it be possible to invite some friends with their young ones and maybe do a little lunch club together? Where the children eat together and the parents take a bit of a back seat? Or do any of the local children centre's have cooking sessions?

Just an idea that is a bit outside the box, environment as well as the actual ingredients can make a difference.

(Having said this, children's eating habits do seem to go in stages, with periods of choosiness, often common to specific age and stage of development, so don't be too worried!).

S

[Fuschia]

If she likes cheese sauce, I can recommend mixing some pureed sweet potato into it.

Little homemade pizzas might be good.

omelette/frittata?

I wouldn't worry too much about the salt in the cheese if you avoid other processed foods.

Have you tried hummous and breadsticks?

All the things Claire suggested are also favourites here

Mine are not fans of veg (except tiny tomatoes) which is a bit shameful as I am a veggy.. but I puree stuff into pasta sauce and they eat loads of fruit

Mine eat pasta at least once a day! Oven chips might be good?

[Helen GV]

my 19 month old will pretty much try anything that has been dipped in ketchup....

[GinaG3]

I have a 14month old daughter, continually sitting on the 0.4th centile since she was born. Now at 14months she has only just reached 20lbs. She is a rather good eater but can also be very fussy. She loves toast, buttered, with philidelphia, jam, mashed banana, anything. If its on the toast she will eat it. I tend to give her just usual rolled oat porridge in the morning (she loves it) I occasionally mix it with some banana or blueberrys to make it different. Throught the morning she will eat a fruit bar, some chopped grapes, berries, maybe some toast. Then she now loves a picnic lunch, little sandwich, cubes of cheese, more chopped fruit, few pom-bears and a yogurt. Between lunch and dinner she doesnt tend to want anything maybe just a little snack after afternoon naptime. For dinner she will now eat whatever we eat, sometimes she wont. She absolutely loves pasta, anything with pasta that she can eat herself. Fish fingers are a good source of vitamins and fatty acids. I have definately noticed her getting chubbier, wether she has jumped a centile im not sure I haven't been to HV for over 3 months now. I'm someone thats very cautious of sugar and salt levels in my daughters food, and tend to make everything fresh so I know what goes in it. Try to experiment with things like cheese, potatoes tend to go down with babies, breadsticks, pitta pockets. I found once my daughter started feeding herself and becoming more interested in food what she eats definately has more variety now.

I know how frustrating it can be, after being put down for my daughter being on the lowest centile since birth, battling through weight gain issues with breastfeeding etc. At the end of the day if your child is happy, active and of course outgrowing their clothes (my daughter can still fit easily into clothes ranging from 0-6months so dont worry if they are a little behind) every baby is different. Almost all babies I know the same age as my daughter are double her weight and size, but she is no different to them. Dont let it worry you, your baby will pick up on eating when she feels ready.

Hope this helps a little. Your not on your own. :-D

[crystal7]

Thanks again for the replies everyone! She likes most of the foods suggested...sometimes and only ever in small quantities! Just need to keep trying and stay calm- hard when she throws lovingly cooked food on the floor and just wants yogurt. Step mil tells me i'm encouraging her to be fussy- urgh! Ginag3 it's good to know i'm not alone- all my friend's babies are twice the size of my little one too! She also eats very little with the childminder 3 days per week. Thought this would improve as she settled in but mostly she'll eat yoghurt or ella's kitchen for lunch then be be really hungry that evening. She is otherwise happy there .

[SteveT]

Our first one was a fussy eater and very light weight, she had a belly which stuck out rather like a starving third world baby and the doctor was rather worried she was not doing well.

Eventually she started to eat as she became more active but she's never had a big appetite and never ate heartily like the second one.

She ran for Southwark whilst at junior school so she couldn't be that sickly.

Both are 5 8" and the youngest one now resents having a large appetite and having to maintain her curves is a pressure she would rather not have.

[ceebeebee]

I had a small and fussy one year old and now he is a small and fussy 4 year old - in most cases its nothing to worry about. He just doesn't have much appetite and the slightest thing puts him off his food, but he's full of energy, tall and skinny, happy and healthy. Like Steve says above, its just the way they are!

[plimsoul]

the tyranny of charts. i was completely off the chart as a child and poorly all the time but the 70's the NHS treated my mum like a freak for caring. i still stand by the principle that a child will eat when they're hungry and that we put too much pressure on ourselves about their diet.

only the other day i read that the 5 a day mantra does not actually apply to children. my kids are normal vaguley fussy eaters, forget anything green etc... love all the sugary things. this is normal. the trap not to fall into is feeding them processed food and fizzy sugary drinks, but you don't sound like you are anywhere near doing that.

all that to say, she sounds fine to me. she's happy, active and eating basics. it's hard when the 'system' is making you feel like that's not good enough but it is.

[redjam]

Oh gosh, crystal7, I feel your pain! My youngest one dropped off the bottom of the charts when she was a baby, we got referred to Kings and she ended up having loads of tests and depressing check-ups. I thought it would never end. Eventually, after about a year of this, they concluded, 'She's just small.' And here she is now, aged 2 and a half, and she's still small, but you know what? She's fine. She's just small. And doesn't ever seem to want to eat a lot. I can't lie: it's still a source of worry (my husband still gets very stressed over it), but I'm more of the opinion that it's not such a big deal for a girl if you're small, and once you get past the toddler age she won't get pushed around physically so much anyway.

We saw endless nutritionists while she was a baby and the advice was always to make sure that everything she eats is high calorie (though don't go down the high-sugar route, obviously). So we put cream on her breakfast cereal, gave her lots of hoummous, nuts and olives (bizarrely she likes these, though there's conflicting advice about whether you can give babies nuts so you might not want to try that with your child), slathered butter on crackers, lots of cheese etc. If you give her pasta, cover it with Parmesan and use lots of olive oil in the sauce, that kind of thing. I'm sure the rest of the family will balloon with all this high-fat stuff in the house, though it doesn't seem to have made an appreciable difference to my daughter! But I'm sure your kid will be fine - good luck with it and try not to worry (easier said than done, I know).