How to get some extra weight on my healthy eater?

[YouAreTheFocus]

So we went for the 4 yo check up today, and DS has shot from 70th to 90th percentile for height but has dropped from 50th to 20th for weight. The Dr wants us to get him some extra calories. I'm stumped as how to do this. She suggested liquid calories, but he won't drink milk or smoothies or any kind of shake. He's not big on avocado. No nuts or nut butters (no sunbutter, either). He hates chocolate, doesn't care for ice cream or yogurt. For dinner he basically eats chicken/veggies/starch/fruit, which I guess isn't supplying him enough fat (just whatever we use for cooking). I do put butter on his bread/veggies, but it's not much. He will eat cheese, but one slice and he's done.

Any ideas?

[Kindra178]

Olive oil on everything. Put it on his pasta and have him dip it in bread. I swear olive oil and bread got my ds3 above the 9th percentile.

[123LuckyMom]

Olive oil on everything. Put it on his pasta and have him dip it in bread. I swear olive oil and bread got my ds3 above the 9th percentile.

Yup. I was going to say slather butter on EVERYTHING!!! Cream cheese is good, too. Might he put cream cheese on his veggies or eat cream cheese sandwiches? Dairy fats are great, so butter, cheese, yogurt, milk, ice cream, cream cheese. I know he doesn't like most of those, but sneak them into anything you can. If he'll eat eggs, put cream cheese or shredded cheese in them, for example. Leave the skin on his chicken. Will he eat potato chips? Those are good for calories. Unsalted ones don't taste so snack foody. Fried potatoes in general or other fried foods (chicken with skin on, fried) are a great way to get some fats in there. You can bread chicken with ground nuts, too.

[YouAreTheFocus]

Yup. I was going to say slather butter on EVERYTHING!!! Cream cheese is good, too. Might he put cream cheese on his veggies or eat cream cheese sandwiches? Dairy fats are great, so butter, cheese, yogurt, milk, ice cream, cream cheese. I know he doesn't like most of those, but sneak them into anything you can. If he'll eat eggs, put cream cheese or shredded cheese in them, for example. Leave the skin on his chicken. Will he eat potato chips? Those are good for calories. Unsalted ones don't taste so snack foody. Fried potatoes in general or other fried foods (chicken with skin on, fried) are a great way to get some fats in there. You can bread chicken with ground nuts, too.

He actually loves salty foods way more than sweet foods. It wouldn't be a problem to get him to eat potato chips or fries, we just don't normally have those things in the house. And if we are out I always order apples instead of fries! I guess I have to adjust my way of thinking. He also loves meats like salami & bacon, but not sure if those are ok to eat regularly? Cream cheese he will eat a thin schmear, if I load it on he's kind of grossed out by it. He used to love scrambled eggs, but recently he just wants hardboiled and won't eat the yolk. We normally buy boneless/skinless thighs or breasts, I will have to start getting skin on.

Thanks for the ideas, I wasn't thinking of the salty fatty foods.

[Kindra178]

Kale chips are another great choice. Make them very salty and oily.

[mikala]

Will he dip his fruit or veggies in anything? Salad dressing, guacamole, sour cream or cream cheese blends all have lots of calories. Quiche and cream soups can also be high in calories.

[Simon]

Ds2 had a more dramatic drop off the bottom of the chart but we did resort to regularly using bacon, black olives, and french fries to help him gain weight. He also prefers salty/savory and doesn't like sweets or any sauces so it was a challenge to add hidden calories. Creme or half and half adds calories without sweetness and we could sometimes sub it into hot chocolate or regular milk. Also, if you start looking you can find certain crackers have a lot more calories than others. Cheese-its are pretty high in cal. and I found some multigrain crackers that were something like 70 cal per cracker!

For Ds1, who was just really low on the charts, we managed to do well just adding extra protein or rather subbing protein for fruit/veg which just don't have enough cal per serving. So, for example, I offered mac and cheese/chicken fingers after school instead of an apple or carrots + ranch. Basically, it was an extra main portion vs. "sides" That took about 4 months but worked very well and we're moving back to fewer main servings without any real problems.

[mackmama]

Cottage cheese? Or maybe more breads and crackers? Mac and cheese?


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