PediaSure for underweight toddler?

[Roni]

My 20 mo dd is in the 2nd percentile for weight. I'm not hugely concerned b/c everyone in our family is on the small side, but I think the lowest dd2 dropped was 5th percentile. Anyway, the Dr. seemed only mildly concerned at her physical but then had a nurse call to say that she wanted her put on PediaSure. My dh is concerned about that b/c the second ingredient is sugar, & there are a lot of unpronounceable ingredients. (He also thinks the percentile is skewed b/c so many kids are overweight, and questions why we should put sugar into her to make her gain weight.)

Any thoughts?

TIA

[rin]

No specific BTDT but I'd probably have the same concerns as your DH My 25-mo-old DD is somewhere between the 5th and the 10th percentile, but her pediatrician's never suggested Pediasure or anything comparable, and has actually told us not to worry about her weight at this point (as long as she doesn't show any other signs of being underweight, e.g. failure to meet milestones, lethargic, vitamin/mineral deficiencies) because kids grow so fast that they can be 5th percentile one month and 10th the next depending on when they have growth spurts and so on.

If you really do want to try and bulk her up a bit, I'd probably lean towards adding good fats to her diet rather than, as you said, processed sugar and unpronounceable ingredients. Does she like cheese, or olive oil/butter on her veggies? What about nuts/nut butters? Full fat yogurt or other dairy products?

[Roni]

She eats Yo Baby yogurt (which has whole milk), and she drinks whole milk. I could try olive oil. She likes Italian dressing, but I tend to get low fat. (It's tough, I'm trying to lose some of that baby weight and keep my dh's cholesterol from increasing, yet my kids need some fat.) She's not into peanut butter, but I can work on it. Thanks for the suggestions.

She does like meat and is a big fan of meatballs.

She doesn't have a great appetite but doesn't show any signs of delays or lack of energy--quite the opposite.

She is still nursing, but I don't know how much she's getting. I'm sure it's more of a comfort thing.

[Green_Tea]

When I asked my ped about putting DS on Pediasure, she said she'd rather see him eat ice cream after dinner each night - 1/2 a cup of Haagen Daz Five has comparable fat and calories and sugar content, and only five ingredients. Like your DH, she wasn't on board with the ingredients in Pediasure.

[lalasmama]

You may ask if it would be okay to add 1-2oz of heavy whipping cream to her milk. That's what our nutritionist had us do when DD started slipping too low on the growth curve. Calorie and fat wise, I was told, are pretty equal.

At the moment, DD gets a Pediasure every day, because she's a shrimp on ADHD medicine. Her insurance pays for it. But, I've never considered the ingredients, other than looking for what she's allergic to.

[Roni]

That's interesting about insurance paying for it. Ours probably wouldn't, but how did you go about getting that to happen?

[Simon]

Ds1 and Ds2 hover around the 2nd-5th% for weight. No one has ever wanted to put them on pediasure and I'm not sure i would do it. Small is okay.

[lalasmama]

Originally Posted by Roni

That's interesting about insurance paying for it. Ours probably wouldn't, but how did you go about getting that to happen?

Interestingly, DD has state medicaid. I think a lot of insurances will pay for it if their conditions are met. In our instance, the child has to have a prescription from her doctor, and to write the prescription, the child needs to have a recent nutritional consultation. So, we see the nutritionist 4 times a year. She says how many cans a day DD needs based on her weight and current activities (sports season vs non-sports seasons in our case), and then the doctor writes for whatever the nutritionist says.

In the past, my mom and I have both had private insurances that cover Ensure as well--if the doctor writes the prescription, and there's a valid reason (ie, failure to thrive, nutritional deficiencies, etc), many insurances will cover it, sometimes with little more than a Prior Auth (the doctor's office will do that part).

No harm in asking, if the doctor wants the child to be drinking it!

[Reader]

I'm not a fan of Pediasure, either, but maybe the doctor suggested that because he thought it would be the easiest fix? We have 2 underweight boys, and neither my husband nor I need any extra fat. We have done olive oil, heavy whipping cream, avocado as a topping, guacamole, or plain (one kid loves these & they are an awesome source of fat), and even bacon and cooking in bacon grease for them. Still they are thin, just like my DH was as a kid. Neither of them tolerate sugar very well, and I wouldn't want to introduce unpronounceable ingredients as a main source of their calories.

[Roni]

Originally Posted by Reader

I'm not a fan of Pediasure, either, but maybe the doctor suggested that because he thought it would be the easiest fix? We have 2 underweight boys, and neither my husband nor I need any extra fat. We have done olive oil, heavy whipping cream, avocado as a topping, guacamole, or plain (one kid loves these & they are an awesome source of fat), and even bacon and cooking in bacon grease for them. Still they are thin, just like my DH was as a kid. Neither of them tolerate sugar very well, and I wouldn't want to introduce unpronounceable ingredients as a main source of their calories.

I think you're right. I wish I had gotten to talk to the Dr. about it, but something made her decide this after the appt. was over.

BTW, since we already have some in the house, we decided to try it. DD will only take sips of it. So, we're going to need a new solution, anyway. She does like bacon.