If you are a mom wondering how to get your toddler to gain weight, welcome. We are in the same boat! From the very beginning, one of our twin boys has been off the charts. On the lower end. At each and every one of our pediatric checkups, I listen the doctor complain about his weight. Here is the thing though. Both of our boys eat normal healthy food, drink their milk and there is nothing unusual about their eating habits. Yes, sometimes they eat more and other days less. But that is a typical toddler behavior, so no red flags there. We are also a very active family and spend a whole lot of time playing outdoors. Which means our kids burn a lot of energy every day. But they also eat accordingly. I normally don’t worry about this weight thing a whole lot. Why? For two reasons. One is that the “skinny kid” runs in the family. My dad used to attend a weight gain summer camp as a child back in the sixties. Imagine! And as for myself, as a woman, I have been lucky to inherit the skinny gene and never have to worry about my weight (even though, I am myself currently on a mission of gaining a few pounds). Another reason is that I see that my son’s development in every other area is fine. His motor skills are amazing, his cognitive and emotional development is right on track as well. So why to lose my sleep over it, right? But that doesn’t mean I don’t want him to put on healthy weight. I also want to make sure he is getting all the nutrients he needs for his growth. Therefore, a few months ago we implemented some new strategies into our feeding schedule and my 21-month-old toddler has started to gain weight more rapidly. This is an article about what we did. Foods to help toddler gain weight If your pediatrician is anything like ours, she probably always tells you to feed your child healthy fatty foods. What exactly are they? 1. Avocados Of course. The #1 fatty fruit out there and also one of the healthiest foods to help toddler gain weight. The problem usually is that the flavor is pretty bland and if I just served it sliced up, my boys wouldn’t touch it. But ever since we introduced solids into our boys’ diet, I tried to mix avocado with as many fruits and veggies as possible. Here are our favorite combinations: avocado + banana = mashed together make a tasty breakfast spread for toast avocado + pears avocado + mango avocado + peaches avocado + tomato salad Most of these are more of puree-style snacks great before our afternoon nap. 2. Full-fat dairy only We love to drink whole milk. I don’t think I will take it out of our boys’ diet for quite some time. Whole milk is one of the best high calorie foods for underweight toddlers. It is a good way to add extra calories and some healthy fats into your toddler’s diet. But every other dairy should be “full-fat” as well. I know we have always been told to buy all the “low-fat” products for better health. Not only this is questionable these days (low fat=more sugar) but this certainly shouldn’t be the case with underweight toddlers. Therefore we have only been buying full-fat plain greek yogurt, full-fat cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, etc. To my surprise, our boys actually enjoy eating plain yogurt. But if I want to add some flavor I simply slice up some fruit or put a little bit of honey in it. I try to add cheese to as many foods as possible. And we often add sour cream to our sweet potatoes or squash meals. 3. Carbs, carbs, carbs Adding plenty of carbs into our toddler’s diet has made a difference as well. According to Orlena Kerek from Snotty Noses, a popular pediatrician’s blog about healthy eating and kids, 1/4 of toddler’s daily calorie intake can safely come from carbs. We always have bread available, pasta dinner at least once a week, cereal, rice, cream of wheat, oatmeal, etc. Toddlers burn so much energy with all the running, climbing and jumping every single day, that their bodies need quite a lot of carbohydrates to keep up. Remember, we shouldn’t compare our toddler’s diet to any adult dieting systems like low-carb diets. 4. Nut butters They are tasty and quick snack option. We spread a thin film on a cracker, add some fruit or even natural jam on occasion and our boys lick their fingers! Some of the best foods to help toddler gain weight! Almond butter, peanut butter, they are all good and fatty. There are many varieties these days, so don’t be afraid to try different flavors until you find the one your toddler loves. When diet isn’t enough Here is the thing, though. We have more or less always fed our boys in this manner. Therefore, when at their 18-month check up our doctor mentioned yet another time to add avocados and high-fat yogurt into my boys’ diet, I silently screamed in my head. That’s what they’ve already been eating! Now to be clear. I like our pediatrician and I know she has the best intentions in mind. But sometimes diet just isn’t enough. So after our 18-month checkup, we decided to take another step. Toddler weight gain supplements Not only our 18-month check up didn’t bring desired results, our doctor scheduled us for a weight check in two months time. My toddler actually had a timeframe for weight gain so I felt like we needed to do something more this time. After doing some research, we looked up toddler weight gain supplements and found the Similac Grow & Go Toddler Formula. And we decided to give it a try. Now, to be honest, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about this idea. Even when our twins were just infants, we only used formula until I was able to produce enough milk. So why to start now? Well, it was the last option we could think of. And please understand, I am not sponsored by Similac in any way. I only mention it because I believe it was this extra step we took that finally brought some results. We opted in for non-flavored type and instead of mixing it with water, we add it to his morning and evening glass of milk. The flavor is hardly noticeable and he got used to drinking it fast. Let me just quickly show you the numbers when using toddler weight gain supplements. 150kcal formula + 136kcal per 8oz whole milk = 286 kcal This adds about 286 extra calories to his diet every single day. Does it work? You bet! At his weight check, the doctor was very pleased. He put on 700g (1.5lb!) in the span of only two months. At 20-months of age, this is great! This was actually the first time ever he’s put this much weight in between two doctor’s visits. As you can imagine, all of us were really pleased. Therefore we still continue giving him the toddler formula. At least until his 2nd birthday. In conclusion I hope this article has given you some hope and ideas about how to get your toddler to gain weight. If you can do it with adding extra high-fat foods into your toddler’s diet, that’s great. But if it doesn’t seem to work over time, try the formula. At least for a month. It might make a difference you have been so long hoping for. This article serves for educational purposes only. Talk to your pediatrician about any concerns you might have about your toddler’s weight. Losing weight or losing weight rapidly can be a sign of serious illness. You might also like Original article and pictures take http://www.planesandballoons.com/2017/06/25/how-to-get-your-toddler-to-gain-weight/ site
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