# Food ideas to fatten up failure to thrive toddler (X-posted on health board)



## tylerdylan (Aug 29, 2007)

Ok, so my 2.5 year old has been failure to thrive since he was a little under 1 year old. We are having a heck of a time getting him to eat well (the cause of his failure to thrive is still unknown - argh!). We were told to put butter and oil on everything we can and to add 18% cream to his **** milk to try to get some weight on him. He is no longer breastfeeding (weaned himself at 18 months). We also try to get him to eat lots of cheese and yogurt. He doesn't really like ice cream. He is allergic to eggs, peanuts and sesame seeds so those are out. He isn't a big meat eater, but will eat hotdogs and sausages. He also likes pasta, but only orange cheese tubes (because he can put them on his fingers). And he likes oatmeal. Unfortunately his favorite foods are all low-fat. He loves Special K, soda crackers, serbet, most fruits, and for veggies loves corn, peas and carrots. Any other ideas on fattening foods to try??? He's a picky eater too, but often eventually will eat new foods after being offered enough times.


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## eepster (Sep 20, 2006)

Read My Child Won't Eat!


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## Fiestabeth (Aug 4, 2006)

Will he eat avocados? And maybe tree nuts like almonds and cashews if you can find some not processed with peanuts? (My dd has a peanut allergy too, so I know how hard that is, but Tierra Farm doesn't process any peanuts at all.)

Maybe lasagna and pizza? Does he like cream cheese on anything?


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## tylerdylan (Aug 29, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Fiestabeth* 
Will he eat avocados? And maybe tree nuts like almonds and cashews if you can find some not processed with peanuts? (My dd has a peanut allergy too, so I know how hard that is, but Tierra Farm doesn't process any peanuts at all.)

Maybe lasagna and pizza? Does he like cream cheese on anything?

can you believe I have a child who HATES pizza!!!! He doesn't like spaghetti sauce period, but pizza blows my mind!! He does like cream cheese. We have been advised to avoid the tree nuts till he is a little older due to his severe peanut and sesame allergies though they don't think he is allergic to tree nuts....


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## Shanana (May 11, 2005)

How about coconut milk? It is VERY high in fat and calories. The Whole Foods near us sells it in the Asian food section, although it's pretty pricey. If he doesn't like it straight, maybe in a fruit smoothie?

Good luck!


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## coobabysmom (Nov 16, 2005)

Will he drink shakes? You could add lots of high calorie/good fats to this.

Since he does like oatmeat, you could add coconut oil and/or flax oil.


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## VijayOwens (Aug 26, 2006)

If he likes carrots he might like some sweet potato oven fries. Avocado was a good suggestion too and if he doesn't like the taste you could disguise it in a smoothie. I make these for my daughters and you could make a "hi-test" version that is higher in calories:

1 cup soy milk
1 cup apple juice
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 large or two small bananas
Several heaping TBSP of vanilla yogurt
a few ice cubes

You could sneak some avocado in there and maybe a few spoonfuls of flax seed oil. Though the soy milk we buy is high in omega 3s. You could use your cream/milk blend.

My DDs are both pretty picky eaters but like pesto on their pasta. With olive oil and pine nuts and parmesan it's pretty rich stuff.

If he likes cream cheese maybe you could make some carrot cake mini muffins with cream cheese icing. Kids love mini muffins.

Hope that helped! My older DD is very similar. Her fave foods are blueberries, carrots, and celery (eye roll) and at age 4 she is only 32lbs. Her younger sis is 2 and weighs 36lbs! HER faves are cheese, chicken, pasta, and nuts.

-Vijay


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## LynnS6 (Mar 30, 2005)

What about 'white' pizza without the sauce -- so basically cheese bread with maybe avocados, etc.

Cream cheese on bagels/bagel chips/crackers.

Mashed potatoes with lots of butter.

Smoothies with high fat yogurt.

Will he do sauces? My dd loves sauces/gravies of all sorts (ds won't touch them). So, you could do an easy Alfredo sauce (milk, flour, butter to make a thick sauce), add parmesean cheese - or I suppose you could actually do CREAM flour and butter). Gravy of any sort on anything. Ranch dressing or other high fat dressing.

You might post on the special needs board. There are several moms there who have kids with pretty severe feeding issues, and they might be able to help. They might be able to help direct you in terms of diagnosis as well.


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## cmoma (Aug 3, 2006)

A great high fat yummy product is called Fage it's a greek style yogurt sorta like sour cream and yogurt combined. I get it Trader Joe's the Total variety has I think 23 grams of fat per cup and I think around 200 cal!! My little slow-to-grow Annie loves this stuff and unlike yogurt you can actually cook with it. very versatile and easy to to use plus it tastes good, atleast she thinks so









Hmm what else....Smoothies are a good idea , you can add lots of stuff to them easily ahhh I see that was already mentioned.

what about pancakes they are another easy food to add lots of things to. I make mine with whole wheat flour, then add in fruit of some kind (usually) wheat germ, sunflower seeds (optional for you?) oat bran, flazx seeds even raisins, sometimes I'll add the fage into it or else put it on top after.

instant milk was another one that was mentioned by our nutritionist as a good add in, or Carnation instant breakfast not sure how you feel about those tho

It is a hard thing trying to get these little ones to gain weight even if they eat well. My sweet girl eats everything in sight and is still having trouble gaining.


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## ecoteat (Mar 3, 2006)

You could make granola and add sunflower seed butter and plenty of oil to the syrup and serve it with full-fat yogurt or whole milk/cream.


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## AnyMama (May 25, 2007)

just wondering: could there be an allergy issue at the heart of his ftt? Like a diary allergy or gluten?


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## tbone (Dec 17, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tylerdylan* 
Ok, so my 2.5 year old has been failure to thrive since he was a little under 1 year old. We are having a heck of a time getting him to eat well (the cause of his failure to thrive is still unknown - argh!). We were told to put butter and oil on everything we can and to add 18% cream to his **** milk to try to get some weight on him. He is no longer breastfeeding (weaned himself at 18 months). We also try to get him to eat lots of cheese and yogurt. He doesn't really like ice cream. He is allergic to eggs, peanuts and sesame seeds so those are out. He isn't a big meat eater, but will eat hotdogs and sausages. He also likes pasta, but only orange cheese tubes (because he can put them on his fingers). And he likes oatmeal. Unfortunately his favorite foods are all low-fat. He loves Special K, soda crackers, serbet, most fruits, and for veggies loves corn, peas and carrots. Any other ideas on fattening foods to try??? He's a picky eater too, but often eventually will eat new foods after being offered enough times.

Wow, do you have my child? Ds1 is 3 yrs old now, but this describes him to a tee and it started at about 1 year old. I do the oil, butter and cream too!

Would he eat cubes of cheese? Maybe some homemade muffins. I fry some of ds's foods in lard. How about some creamy soups, like cream of corn, and some rice pudding made with coconut milk and with dessicated coconut in it?

I know how frustrating it can be, mealtimes are definately my most dreaded parts of the day. Trying to get ds to eat is a nightmare. I hope the best for you.


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## cdahlgrd (Sep 4, 2002)

My kids like bread pudding with a little ice cream!

Whole milk yogurt!!

Coconut milk/cream on fruit makes a great fruit salad (and not sugar required).

I would go for Carnation intant breakfast or chocolate milk/drink too. If you don't work it out, you will be doing something much more serious.

Quesidillas dipped in sour cream and salsa?


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## medicmama (May 5, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tylerdylan* 
can you believe I have a child who HATES pizza!!!! He doesn't like spaghetti sauce period, but pizza blows my mind!! He does like cream cheese. We have been advised to avoid the tree nuts till he is a little older due to his severe peanut and sesame allergies though they don't think he is allergic to tree nuts....

Alfrado sauce?

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cmoma* 
A great high fat yummy product is called Fage it's a greek style yogurt sorta like sour cream and yogurt combined. I get it Trader Joe's the Total variety has I think 23 grams of fat per cup and I think around 200 cal!! My little slow-to-grow Annie loves this stuff and unlike yogurt you can actually cook with it. very versatile and easy to to use plus it tastes good, atleast she thinks so









Hmm what else....Smoothies are a good idea , you can add lots of stuff to them easily ahhh I see that was already mentioned.

what about pancakes they are another easy food to add lots of things to. I make mine with whole wheat flour, then add in fruit of some kind (usually) wheat germ, sunflower seeds (optional for you?) oat bran, flazx seeds even raisins, sometimes I'll add the fage into it or else put it on top after.

instant milk was another one that was mentioned by our nutritionist as a good add in, or Carnation instant breakfast not sure how you feel about those tho

It is a hard thing trying to get these little ones to gain weight even if they eat well. My sweet girl eats everything in sight and is still having trouble gaining.









WE added carnation instant breakfast to smoothies and shakes every night for about a year. He loves it! it works. My son who now is 7 eats every thing under the sun,still is on the thin side. He weighs 43# and is 44 inches. its just his curve. He just burns those callories up.

Good luck! My ds is followed at a feeding clinic at a big hospital. they had great Ideas.


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## p.s (May 27, 2005)

hugs


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## CathMac (Jan 10, 2006)

This is going to sound bizarre, but my DD1 has constipation and retention issues. The Miralax isn't working as well as it used to so I have been drizzling triscuits and mini wheats with Olive Oil and Vegeatable Oil.

I don't think this would work with any other type of cracker or cereal but the "weave" allows for the oil to penetrate. I'll warn you it is messy. I've started putting a headband on DD1 when I give her these so she's less likely to run her hands through her hair.

Good luck, ~Cath


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## tylerdylan (Aug 29, 2007)

Wow! Lots of good suggestions. Thanks everyone. I can't wait to start trying these!!!


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## tylerdylan (Aug 29, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eepster* 
Read My Child Won't Eat!

Yes, thank you. I am going out to buy it this weekend!!


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## tylerdylan (Aug 29, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *AnyMama* 
just wondering: could there be an allergy issue at the heart of his ftt? Like a diary allergy or gluten?

Unfortunately no (since that would be easy to deal with). He was allergic to cow's milk protein and soy as an infant, but outgrew both of those allergies around 11 months age. And he was tested for celiac disease/gluten allergy and that came back negative. There was also a huge span of time where he wouldn't eat any bread, crackers or anything with gluten and that didn't make a difference....


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## tylerdylan (Aug 29, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *p.s* 
At the risk of getting flamed....

is your son happy? FTT can be caused by lots of reasons, both what can be called organic or non-organic. Organic would be for example: cystic fibrosis, asthma, celiac dz, etc.

After all those have been ruled out, there are still many kids left with the diagnosis of FTT, yet have no clear medical reason why. Sometimes, hints can be found in the home enviroment. I was curious and read through your prior posts...sometimes kids have trouble triving in really stressful enviroments. OTOH, there are lots of kids in difficult enviroments, like foster care, that still manage to grow well.
Could you husband's issues be affecting the home enviroment? Could your son be internalizing and manifesting his stress response in this way?


Thank you for your concern, but my son is a VERY HAPPY little boy. When we were going to the FTT clinic at our local Sick Kids hospital we had to see a social worker at every visit. It is their routine and even she admitted you just have to take one look at him and see that he is thriving in all aspects except his weight and height. I think part of the reason we got no where with them is that he is too happy and full of energy running around the office being a clown making everyone laugh. He is also very bright and talks non-stop. Each time we came to see them they would say "there is nothing wrong with him he just needs to eat more calories because he burns off more than he consumes".
My husband's issues, since you asked, are caused by him internalizing the stress of dealing with a child who is FTT. We have been dealing with this for 2 years now and it is very stressful, but we do a good job (most days) of hiding our anxiety from our son. We know that letting him see us upset will only add to his problems...


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## mom2tatum (Mar 14, 2007)

This is a very helpful thread, I am sure, for many moms out there. I am going to take some ideas for us to use also. My ds is 15 mo and only 18 lb 14 oz (according to last well visit - which we only go to get weighed...isn't that a joke?) But yeah, he is 31 in tall, so he is really really super skinny! Never had a roll in his life and probably never will. He always has been this way. Born 4 - 13 and has been following his own growth curve ever since - way under the "chart's" growth curve of course. Eating is a constant struggle, especially since I bring him to work with me, I already have a hard enough time finding a minute to prepare him something worthwhile and then I am lucky if he touches it. I usually end of giving him grapes, strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, peaches, grape tomatoes, or carrots - because he loves those. And, we try to nurse as much as possible, but he will only nurse for more than a few seconds if I hold him and walk around or put him in the pouch to.

I have taken much from the thread and have these good ideas to add:

1) To Oatmeal: We add wheat germ, ground walnuts/almonds, and ground flaxseed along with butter and banana or shredded apples and cinnamon. Good protein, calories, nutritious, and yummy flavor, too!

2) Keep nursing. As much as you can - offer!

3) Invest in a copy of these two Dr. Sears books (as well as the My Child Won't Eat one previously suggested - love that one - sets your mind at ease, truly):

The Family Nutrition Book and The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood.

He gives a lot of fabulous, not so out-there recipe suggestions in the back of both. Along with both books giving lots of advice on how to pack in as much nutrition as possible into your toddler's diet.


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