My sons eating is causing major distress

[marknlinda]

Please help, my son a a livley very clever little boy. He is funny and as sharp as a tack. We have only one problem. He is never hungry and after only a few mouth fulls at every meal time he say's he has had enough. My wife and I as trying so hard not to get distressed but this is a major worry as he is so small for his age. Our own doctor has told us that they would rather see a child as slim as our son rather than over weight but this advice dosent help us at our dinner table. Could you please provide us with any hints, tips and techniques whaich we can use to help us to increase his food intake. Also any foods which may help to gain a little weight would be great. He went off milk at a very early age (approx 4 months) and we have tried many times since to give him milk, chocolate milk, strawberry milk but no success. We do give him cheese and any other products we see which have calcium in them as this is also a worry.

Please can you help.

Best Regards,

Mark

[Renee Radenberg]

His weight is approximately between the 10-25th percentile and his height is on the 25th percentile which he is normal for his age. For Calcium sources you can give yogurt, puddings, cheeses (you mentioned already), and ice cream. Some tips for additional calories: On pasta, then add cheese sauces to the pasta instead of plain tomato sauce or plain pasta. Add cheese to vegetables. Add dry milk to oatmeal, mashed potatoes, gravies, creamed vegetables, and creamed soups (add additional protein sources to soups such as meat). Add beans to rice instead plain rice for additional protein. Suggest milkshakes or smoothies with fruit - milk or yogurt, banana or strawberries (or any type fruit he likes), ice cream blended together 2-3 times a day for additional calories for weight gain. The most important thing is to RELAX. Remember meals need to be joyous for you and him. Do not force a child to eat and give them the foods they like. Slowly introduce new foods, and if he does not want it, do not make a fuss over it. Let it go. Hoped that helped you.

[marknlinda]

Thank you very much. Your answer has really relieved our anxiety, we believed our son to be way below average in both weight an height. We will try your tips and I hope we will see an improvment. I know we should relax more as meal times should be a family occasion. I think we will now ease off a little and ejoy our meals a lot more.

Thank you very much,

Mark