15 month check-up: weight percentiles sliding down, down, down

[lukkykatt]

DS had his 15 month check-up today, and everything was great except his weight, which is 21 lbs. He is down to the 10th percentile. He was at the 50th percentile, and that has slid down at every visit for the past 3 check ups to now 10th percentile.

He is very very very active, and I am sure burns alot of calories that way. Also a very picky eater, and likes mostly grains/carbs, cheese and fruit. I struggle to find variety within the things that he likes to eat.

I am going to revisit Rachel's list of high calorie foods. But wondering if anyone has had success packing on the pounds with these - just looking for some reassurance! I did get powdered milk and ice cream on the way home to try to make a shake for him and see if he will take that.

BTW, the doctor is not too worried at this time. She said that a dip is common and weight usually comes back up around 18 to 24 months. Has anyone else experienced this? My first son was quite a hefty baby, so I am feeling a little sad at this turn of events.

[Momof3Labs]

Colin has slid from 50th to 10th percentile for weight, gradually, from 4 months to 9 months. I find that high fat foods DO make a difference - use butter liberally, and feed whole milk yogurt, cheese, cheese sandwiches, mac & cheese and other higher fat stuff when possible. Try to scale back on his fruit consumption a bit (not sure how much he is eating now). If he eats baby cereal, make it with formula or breastmilk (or whole milk, since he's over a year), not fruit or water. You can add a dollop of fruit for taste, but use the higher fat liquids to mix it up.

We've been focusing on high fat foods heavily since Colin's 9 month appointment, and it seems like it will pay off in weight gain (he was weighed a month ago at our ped dermatologist's and had put on 2.5lbs in less than 2 months). He may not climb percentiles, but I doubt that he will drop again.

[luvbeinmama]

DS started out at 95% for everything when he was born, between 1 & 2 (if I remember right) he settled down into 50% and has been there ever since. Don't know if that's normal, but that's what happened.

[karin4]

Don't worry! Your doctor is right-- this is very common, and if your son is doing well, there's no need for concern. All three of my older children slipped way down the percentile charts during their first year, and my 8-month-old has begun the slide as well. It's just the way they're build. My oldest child's pediatrician at the time explained it this way: a very young baby's weight is more reflective of maternal health than of the child himself. As the baby grows over the course of the first year, he or she kind of levels out at the size that's "natural" for them. All of my kids were good-sized newborns, in the 8 to 9.5 lb range. All of them have grown to be healthy but definately slim kids. I found that the percentile they are at around 12 to 18 months is the one they pretty much stay at from then on.

If your son is the same way, he might just continue to be a bit slimmer than his big brother; on the other hand, he might well bounce back up in a few months as your doctor predicted. Either way, I wouldn't worry, and wouldn't spend a lot of effort trying to load on the calories unless your doc recommends it-- if light is just how he's wired, milkshakes won't make a difference anyway (I know-- I practically force-fed my oldest ice cream, to no avail!). Besides, unlike us adults, young children generally do eat what they need when left to their own devices-- might not be a lot of variety, but all the nutrients are covered. Actually, a lot of fruit, grains and cheese sounds pretty healthy! Just keep offering him a variety of good foods, and I bet he'll keep doing fine. :)

[Roleysmom]

Andrea, it sounds like your little guy is doing just fine. My DD was 22.4 pounds at her 18 month check up and our doctor also isn't concerned at all. I know what it's like to be worried, I watched her weight gain fall from the 10th percentile to off the charts between her six month and one year appointments. I realize now that she's fine -- just small genes. Just to be on the safe side, though, like the other posters I'm very liberal with the pasta and cheese -- lasagne, mac and cheese, cheese sandwiches, cream cheese (or butter cheese as it's called in our house), cheesey omlettes, whole milk yogurt, the high fat content cottage cheese, ice cream (the only sweet she gets.) We also put peanut butter or soy butter on everything. I don't know if it helps but I figure it doesn't hurt and makes me feel better. She loves fruit, but we rarely give her juice to drink. I figure that she's better off with a glass of whole milk. I have also been told that weight gain drops off significantly after the first year because they are so active and burn off all those calories (wish I had that problem!)

Good luck!


Paula-- mom to Roley Julia 01-04-02

[lukkykatt]

Thanks everyone! It's just a relief to talk to others going through the same thing.

BTW, I forgot to ask - I am not a big snacker, and as a result, I've never pushed snacks on my kids. Of course, if someone is hungry between a meal, then can have a snack, but I don't routinely offer snacks everyday. I'm wondering if I should start offering DS a snack one or two times a day to try to get some extra calories in. Or would this cut down on what he eats at mealtime? What is everyone doing about snacks?

[Roleysmom]

I started giving Roley snacks around 10-11 months precisely because I was worried about her weight gain. The snacks generally were crackers and cheese. One mistake I made was that we didn't sit down at the table to eat the snacks, so it became hard a couple of months later to get her to sit down at the table for any meals. (We did fix that, but it was a traumatic -- for me, hopefully not for her-- to change.) I also realized that she was eating about 10 or 15 crackers a day. When we sat down to eat a meal, she would point to the pantry and ask for crackers. So, the crackers went away and we sat at our table for all meals. At this point, I really don't give official snacks but we did have five meals -- sometimes small -- a day. In the last couple of weeks, we have dropped the late breakfast, but here was the schedule:

7 a.m.-ish -- breakfast

10:30 a.m.-ish -- late breakfast (maybe toast and cream cheese or yogurt)

12:30-ish lunch

3 p.m-- ish snack (but at the table -- maybe rice, left-over peanut butter and jelly, cheese or fruit)

6 p.m-ish dinner

Like you, anytime she says she is hungry I bring her downstairs to eat. I do bring things with me when we go out, so I guess that counts as a snack.

HTH,



Paula -- mom to Roley Julia 01-04-02