Any advice on very small prem toddlers?

[clairec81]

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if there is anyone out there that is still experiencing weight gain issues past the baby stage? My LO has just turned 2 and is 19lbs. She is on home oxygen, continuous up until a few weeks ago so the reduction of that is probably taking its toll. She wasn't without her issues from early on, undiagnosed pda and heart surgery at 1yr and rsv. She has always had feeding issues but has come on leaps and bounds and despite only eating a small amount, does eat and has moved on to most textures etc. She is under dietetic care and on various supplements. The docs say she is on the very bottom of normal and will most likely be a very slim, petite child, although has gained 11cm in 7 months, just weight that never seems to catch up. They are happy with her development and she is very active so again doesn't help with keeping calories for weight gain. This has always been my concern and i'm trying to just let it go and stop fretting but its hard, I can envisage her fading away. I want to end by saying that i know that my issues are nothing compared to many of you inspiration ladies out there, but any advice is gratefully received!

 

[OnErth&InHvn]

DD2 had severe weight issues, which i cant and wont get into on here...but after seeing a good pediatrician, a dietitian, and finding what works for her, she is finally at a good place for weight with her age.

High calorie foods, a food journal, Pediasure (or toddler formula), and we even used a bento box type plate because she this weird thing about food amounts and certain things touching.

 

[25weeker]

Holly was 19lb 2oz at the beginning of Dec and she turned 2 on Tuesday. I don't think there will have been much weight gain over the past month if anything she may have lost weight as she was in hospital with RSV before Christmas and since then her eating has been quite bad.

The dietician has partially signed us off as they have reduced her to one bottle of paediasure plus until March then she has to be stopped completely and will be reviewed again in June which I find a bit frustrating as a 2 year old in 6-9 month clothes is hardly caught up.

At the minute I am just hoping that she will eventually catch up but will take longer as one consultant said it would be probably closer to 5.

 

[Marleysgirl]

I have no idea what Andrew weighs, we haven't been near any scales for months! But he is tiny, he's 2yr 6m actual (2yr 3m corrected), and is wearing 12-18m tops but 9-12m trousers (because the 12m+ fall down from his middle). There is simply no "podge" on him, which is surprising because both his Dad and myself aren't slim!!

For the first two years his Paediatrician hoped he'd catch up, but nope. He's put on weight steadily and maintained his own growth curve, but its well below the 0.4th percentile.

 

[vermeil]

I can totally understand how you feel! Though my son`s case is a bit different. I had a csection at 27 weeks simply because he was soooo small, he hadn`t gained weight in 2 months. Severe growth delay (IUGR), he wasn`t even 3rd percentile.

Fast forward to now at 17 months corrected and he weighs 20 pounds - the same he`s weighed for countless months now. he eats a LOT but he`s still very slim and small. The doctors hoped he would start catching up sooner (they said until he`s 7 or so too) but corrected age he`s still about 2%. He still wears 12 month pants loosely and mostly 6 month tops. I worry about everything, as most preemie moms I think... I`ve tried different things but now that he`s walking he`s also very active so..

 

[clairec81]

Thank you all so much the reply's, i think its even reassuring to know my child is not the only one in this position, probably worse when I am around a lot of toddlers who were term and have no issues with weight gain - bad comparing i know. Time to relax a bit about it i think! Thanks again

 

[DonnaBallona]

my daughter Brooke is going to be 3 in 2 weeks and only weighs 24lb-she eats enough to satisfy me that she's ok but it doesn't stop me worrying! she is wearing 12-18m clothes still too. she just doesn't seem to grow at all!
Brooke had IUGR in the womb and was a tiny 2lb 4oz at birth at 32 weeks-I think that slow weight gain might be a legacy of that. xx

 

[clairec81]

Thanks DonnaBallona, that makes good sense, my daughter was born at nearly 34wks at 3lbs and although there wasn't a great mention of her size i know that due to low fluid from early on and waters breaking at 24 weeks, they said that the placenta wasn't working properly so think she wasn't getting what she needed and they felt that had affected her size. Its funny that pounds make such a difference in some situations and not in others, my husband, whilst trying to placate me, said well how much did Liam (our first and a full termer) put on from 2yrs til 3rs and I couldn't tell him, never weighed him since baby weigh-in's and have no idea what he is now. Yet with Erin i dread putting her on the scales and cross fingers and toes that she's gained a few oz's!

 

[DonnaBallona]

^ haha, Claire if it makes you feel better I was exactly the same with Brooke. she gained 0.5oz one week whilst in SCBU and I was so pleased I phoned my mum to tell her! any gain was better than a loss

Brooke's younger brother Bertie was full term too, and he weighs more than she does! they wear the same size clothes and same size shoe! haha. x

 

[sleeping bubs]

Hey we have a simular prob with Mckenzie (wasn't prem but IUGR full term baby- 4lb 7oz) he is now 28months and weighs 19lb 7oz (almost 4weeks ago) but he has been the same weight for 4months now give or take a few oz. He below the 0.4th centile with a stastic horizontal line at moment he is wearing 12-18month clothes mainly cos of length and arm length but they full down unless he has his cloth nappies on. He is under the dietitian and when we saw her last (sep) she wanted him to go down to 1 paediasure by the time of his next appointment which is thursday. He weaned himself off the paediasure before bed decided he didn't want milk before bed (but now decided he does so has cows milk before bed) Anyway his eating has got so much better but he is such a whirl wind he never stops. Also I think he may have some digestion probs Mentioning it on thur. He seems to have bouts of constipation and bouts of diarrhoea and esp when he has anything to do with tomato his poos the next day all horrible

Sorry for long winded post but I will post again once had his dietition appointment and what she decides to do next

 

[sherryberry79]

We are still struggling with weight gain too (well, I say we're I WISH it was a struggle for me, unfortunately I have the opposite problem but lets not open that box)!!

Millie is around the 10kg mark I think she was 10.2 kg last time she was weighed. She was 2 yrs corrected on Nov 6th. Her weight is being monitored, she may be put back onto high calorie infant milk again...after they took her off it several months ago against my wishes. She is very skinny, all her trousers have to be adjustable at the waist or she simply can't keep them up. She has come along way in the last twelve months in terms of her eating, this time last year she was still on purees and could not swallow lumps. Now she will eat 'proper food' but her palette is vey limited. She will not touch anything with a wet texture, only dry food that she can pick up and self feed. We are starting a messy food play course at the hospital in a fortnights time, I am hopint that may help her overcome her fear of different textures and foods.

 

[sleeping bubs]

hey bless her that messy food play should help. Mckenzie was discharged from dietition yesterday but only weighes 9.06kg. She wants him off paediasure over the nxt couple months and having cows milk but if he drops weight again can ask gp to put him bk on it. I forgot to ask about multivits!

 

[Lottie86]

Findlay was 7.25kg at his last weight check in November (he's 3 in April and born at 5lb 7oz) and I doubt he'll have put much/any on since as he doesn't put on much anyway despite his huge calorie intake and he's had RSV so we were struggling to get his normal feed volumes into him as his tummy was emptying even slower than usual. We're finally back to full feed volumes so we just need to get him back on his bolus feeds in the day in the day now.

The other day F had a huge nappy leak, the nearest spare clothes to hand were a bag of clothes people had bought that are still too big for Iona so Findlay spent several hours in a pair of floral newborn pjs haha although as he's v long for his weight the trousers were knee length but they fitted perfectly round his waist and the top did up with room to spare around the tummy
I've resorted to getting some of his trousers made so he can have trousers that are long enough but fit around the waist. School uniform in August will be fun!!

 

[Annie77]

Hi
I was on here nosing for info for a friend who has had preemie twins when i spotted your post.

My daughter was born at 38 weeks due to placenta praevia and when she was born they weighed her at 6lb 9oz. However, when they got her onto postnatal ward 10 hrs later she weighed in at only 5lb 9 so I am guessing scales in delivery were dodgy or they forgot to take away the towel?

Anyway she only weighed 16lb at 1 year old and gained 4lb by the time she was 2. When she was potty trained at 21mths I had to put her back into 9-12mth clothing as the trousers didnt fit without a nappy! HV's kept asking if she was preemie and when when i said no, they started fretting about her weight etc and said her weight would be normal if she had been early ie before 37 weeks.

She is still tiny at nearly 9yrs old - still in 6-7yrs tops and just went into 7-8 trousers. I would invest in a sewing machine as I have to take in most clothes - even leggings!

Good luck to you all and your preemie wonders

 

[Marleysgirl]

She has come along way in the last twelve months in terms of her eating, this time last year she was still on purees and could not swallow lumps. Now she will eat 'proper food' but her palette is vey limited. She will not touch anything with a wet texture, only dry food that she can pick up and self feed.

I swear I'm going to sit Millie & Andrew opposite each other for a day and let them learn from each other. Andrew only likes wet food that he can be spoonfed - dry food and self feeding are a no-no. They couldn't be more opposite if they tried

 

[bek74]

My Paed has banned me from weighing them lol he does it when they see him.
Mine are terrible eaters, they won't eat anything with lumps, still on full purée and almost everyone has something to say about it. Mine have been in and out of hospital for full food refusal.
Mine are on toddler formula, they have 4 bottles a day still and whatever they eat it is high cal. I add butter to their veges, full fat milk into purée weetbix, yoghurts etc just to maintain a good weight gain, although they are still at the bottom end of average they aren't below it so well done to me lol.
Your not alone in this and it is nice knowing neither am I

 

[Marleysgirl]

Just to reassure you Bek, you're not alone and there is generally a light at the end of the tunnel.

We started weaning Andrew with puree food when he was 6m old. He happily moved from smooth puree onto mashed (known as Stage 2 over here) at around 1 year, but got stuck on one flavour (lemon chicken with sweetcorn!). We had a lovely Community Dietitian visit when he turned 2 years, who explained that he'd hit the "neophobic" stage (associated with the terrible twos); she said he'd probably be stuck on one type of food for quite a few months but it wouldn't do him any harm so long as he still got calories given his tiny size. He's obviously got fed up of the lemon chicken diet because he has finally started accepting other foods, and can now manage lumpy food ('Stage 3') so we are moving forward again But he absolutely refuses to self-feed.

The same Dietitian switched him from prescription baby milk onto prescription toddler/child milk (200kcal in 200ml) which will suit him for the next few years. He still has three bottles a day, we haven't found a trainer cup that suits him, and once again calorie intake takes precedence.

Ignore what others may say!!! (not on here, obviously, just all those "we know better" busybodies!)

 

[Marleysgirl]

Sorry to bump but I weighed Andrew! He's 30m actual, 27m corrected. And he now weighs 20lb (9kg).

 

[sleeping bubs]

hey marleygirl got mckenzie weighed on tuesday now weighs 20lb 12oz now 29m a new clinc as we have moved, no comments yet but got a home visit on 22nd! But now cutting out tomatoes looking for a subistute as they upset his tummy but also need to talk to hv or doc as he has frequent bouts of diahoree and constipation and screaming fits crying that he has done a poo but hasn't

 

[Marleysgirl]

It's not fair - both Mackenzie & Millie have well overtaken Andrew with their weight gains!

We alternate between bouts of constipation and very runny poos, Andrew takes Movicol about once a week just to keep things moving. I don't think he's got a tomato intolerance but he can't eat food that's too heavily tomato-ey (iyswim), that definitely disagrees with him. He's due back with the paediatrician in the next month or two, I wonder if she'll want to weigh him?