Any advice on very small prem toddlers?

[mummy3]

I've got a tiny toddler too! Anja is 3 in august and 21lb, she still wears 12-18m clothes like a lot of the LO's here She has a skeletal condition like her baby sister so is disproportionate with her head being above the chart and her height/weight at the bottom. She will eat pretty much everything and alot of it lol, but she gets alot of diarrhoea. She sees a GI specialist and is on pediasure to help keep up her weight and ranitidine for an acid issue, she needs a scope but we're holding off for a little bit. Seems there's a few toddlers with diarrhoea issues Anjas completely potty trained and has been for ages, although she does get accidents when the diarrhoea catches her off guard, nightmare finding panties to fit as well! Her development aside from her size has been spot on if not ahead Oh and she was 4lb 11oz at 33 weeks so pretty big to start!

I'm sure all the toddlers will get there and to those waiting for diagnoses, really hope it brings good news

 

[mumjaney]

Hi Claire
I also have a tiny but amazing toddler, Oliver. He is 14th months and weighs 16llb7oz and is 71cm. He is a terrible eater but seems to be getting better in some areas as he's getting older. He is on full fat prescription infratrini and has 10-14oz a day and three meals which I basically force feed him (in a nice caring way of course). I think the past couple of months the one thing that has helped him with his weight is having 3 teaspoons of actimal porridge with his full fat milk in the morning. Since having this he has put on almost 8oz (amazing). I wish someone told me about it months back instead of struggling with weetabix, which is not as calorific.
My advice would be to take what the professionals say with a pinch of salt. You will learn more yourself by talking to other mums. I could bore you with all the things I've been advised to do, most of which has not worked. Oliver seems to have taken a fancy to naughty chocolate biscuits and milky way yogurts but if it gets those calories in there he can have what he wants. It is better than giving him melon or banana which yes is healthy but he just throws it on the floor. Today I gave him a mashed boiled egg with butter and tomato sauce and he sobbed. It became a bit of an ordeal. So basically if i find something he likes he has it, to give him that positive experience as he’s had so many negative experiences in Scabu with regards to his face and mouth.
So yes as you can see from all the responses you are not alone! xx

 

[GemFrel]

My little one is really struggling with her weight gain too. She went to see the dietician yesterday and was 15lb (she is just over 13 months, 10 corrected) She has been on infantrini for around 5 months now and is fully weaned yet she just doesnt like to eat hardly any food. She eats hardly any breakfast snd only marginally improves as the day goes on. She seems to think that taking a bite of toast and eating 4 dry cheerios is enough to sustain her ridiculously high energy levels! Dietician has told us to try and cut out the night feeds (she has one, two at most around 150mls per time) and give water instead so that she is really hungry for breakfast. We gave her diluted milk at 2am this morning and come breakfast time, around 9am, she still didnt want breakfast! I'm not overly happy about cutting out the night feeds as she doesnt really drink much milk during the day either so is pretty much getting all her calories during the night. We will be switching to pediasure milk when she reaches 8kg , if that ever happens and will be given a smaller quantity (she has 500-600 mls infantrini per day) It is so frustrating as her twin brother eats like a machine and weighs around 21lbs and loves his food.

 

[Fiestagal]

Connor is nearly 2y6m and weighs 18lb 4oz. He has a microdeletion on one of his chromosomes, it means his 'growth gene' is missing, he will probably need growth hormones when he is older. He is a fussy eater but getting better, unfortunately he prefers fruit and veg rather than the crisps, biscuits and fats that the dietitian would like him to eat. He is on infatrini 100kcals/100ml. Last time we saw her she was talking about weaning off the milk altogether, which I think is crazy because he gets 400kcals a day from it (a bottle morning and night). We are due to see her again next month but I don't think she'll prescribe 'toddler formula'.

 

[Marleysgirl]

Connor is nearly 2y6m and weighs 18lb 4oz. He has a microdeletion on one of his chromosomes, it means his 'growth gene' is missing, he will probably need growth hormones when he is older. He is a fussy eater but getting better, unfortunately he prefers fruit and veg rather than the crisps, biscuits and fats that the dietitian would like him to eat. He is on infatrini 100kcals/100ml. Last time we saw her she was talking about weaning off the milk altogether, which I think is crazy because he gets 400kcals a day from it (a bottle morning and night). We are due to see her again next month but I don't think she'll prescribe 'toddler formula'.

We were obviously fortunate that Andrew's dietitian agreed to switch him onto Fortini (150cal/100ml), as he was still having around 500ml/day at that point. I'd like him to stay on it for as long as possible, all calories are good calories!

 

[nineena]

Another tiny bubba here too, she got weighed at docs for abx on Thurs and at 20 months with clothes on was 20lbs lol. Ella's always been little though and on discharge from hospital was only 5lbs and always had poor weight gain and was under 0.4 centile until recently, is between 9th and 25th now woohoo. She's she same height though as she should be for her age which makes clothes an absolute nightmare unless theyve got adjustable waistbands. Sainsburys clothes seem pretty good though as they seem to be a long and slim fit and have always fitted her well so despite being about 19lbs for her height she needs 18-24 but waist wise would still fit in 6-9 months lol, she'll be alright in summer when she wont look silly in cropped trousers lol