Dd failure to thrive...help me with high calorie meal ideas

Executive Member Joined: Mar 04 2009 Posts: 361

shes been off the scale since she was in utero, very small for her age... she hasnt gained any weight since the summer and although she is on pediasure I still need to try to feed her real food but I wanna make the best of each meal adn try to pack some calories in all her 7 bites she takes from me if she even takes any.

her dr said if lets say im gonna give her bread I should shmear on it butter or something fattening, not empty calorie stuff (not fill her up on cake and candy, but make her healthy food but heighten the calories) so far she likes schnitzel, but what else?

oh and she is obviously also low on iron so iron rich foods would also be appreciated.

I really never know what to feed please help

tia

How old is she? For my DD I used to add full cream or olive oil to anything I was cooking for her, like to her pureed vegetables or fruit. Avocado is high-calorie and super healthy. Bananas are also high cal. Full fat yogurts/cheese snack. Nuts are high calorie too, but that depends how old she is. You can mix finely ground nuts into her food so she doesn't notice it, or coat shnitzel in ground nuts (like on pesach).
Avoid fruit juice - empty calories. Foods that are high in iron include green leafy veg like spinach, and red meat. Also to boost iron absorption, give something from the citrus family, for example tomatoes, or orange juice (even though I just said to avoid fruit juice) at the same time as the iron.
Good luck.

Diamond Member Joined: May 10 2010 Posts: 3030

My DD has FTT but she is allergic to many high fat foods, such as all dairy, all nuts, eggs, and red meat. Any ideas for her?

Silver Member Joined: Jun 11 2009 Posts: 529

my dd was ftt they told me to deep fry things she liked made her deep fried cuttlets, french frys, fried kreplach, eggrolls, I also used to use puff pastry dough and make all sorts of bourekas caus you couldn't feed her all had to be self fed so when she was on dairy I took veggies and cheese, I made meat sauc ground meat( pieces of chicken or any ground) some veggie and sauce into dough traditional fillings also and baked the dough is very fatty

Posted: Sun, Feb 26 2012, 8:59 pm Post subject:

Sandwiches:
Chumous
Peanut butter
Cream cheese with tomato

Silver Member Joined: Jul 24 2007 Posts: 763

I was given something called duocal it adds calories to food its a powter also I was given I really of sheet of calories count in bits of food like a 1 egg is 75calories every 2 Cheerios is 1
calories and so on its really helpful also I started added carnation good start breakfast powter to her pediasure I also was giving a list of high calories pudding recipes if you want let me know

also have you done any testing yet we are in the middle of testing for everything that can possibly case ftt

PediaSure?

Silver Member Joined: Jul 07 2009 Posts: 932

Ice cream....

I know its not nutrient rich but it will stimulate her appetite open up her taste palette a little. It might give her some interest in eating new foods.

Ask your dd what she would like to eat. Take her to the supermarket and have her pick out a treat.

IM not advocating eating icecream and junk food in place of a nourishing meal. But Even adults can get sick of eating the same hum drum all the time.

Also when my son needed to put on some weight, I drizzled extra virgin olive oil on his homemade pizzas. I skipped the cooking spray and coated my pans with oil. One table spoon of oil is like 100 calories!
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Executive Member Joined: Mar 04 2009 Posts: 361

thanks so far for your replies...

dd is 14 months old but think of her as a 7 month old because she just started tolerating solids like 2 months ago (she used to react with projectile vomiting and gaging as a result of swallowing maybe not even the tip of one baby spoon worth of baby food - cereal and jars or even soup and real mashed fruit like banana--- for days after one of such feedings)

but she also doesnt like pureed stuff so dont think of her as a literal 7 month old who needs everything mashed, she likes chunky but not so much. like pasta is sometimes too hard for her and she gives up.

now you see why I never know what to feed her?? I end up giving her scrambled eggs for breakfast every morning but she is getting sick of it.

is she too young for the nuts? I forgot if its 1 or 2 yrs when they can eat them so ive been skipping them to be safe

were in the middle of testing the source. but she was small even in pregnancy... severe IUGR translated into FTT Sad

any more ideas now that u know her age?
tia

Avoid the nuts.
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Gold Member Joined: Mar 16 2009 Posts: 2293

If you buy, get stage 3 food, which are pureed but with chunks.

Maybe mashed fruit, not pureed with water, or only very little. Sweet potato and carrot. Chulent?
No sweets at all, maybe little bits of chicken and meat if she likes it.

Try to give her a tiny bite from each thing, and vary meals. Chummos, bread, maybe just the yellow part of the egg.

Ask your doctor for ideas, or even a list or chart.

Diamond Member Joined: Feb 14 2007 Posts: 2888

My 14 month old loves meatballs -they have iron and are finger food.
Techina.
If nuts are ok - almond butter.
Scrambled eggs.
I also make carrot/zucchini muffins - You can try cutting out the sugar entirely (or use a smaller amount), and I use whole wheat flour, olive oil, and add a few tbsp of raw techina and some flax seed oil.

Senior Member Joined: Dec 03 2009 Posts: 206

OP, my 12 month old DD also has trouble with solids- she gags and even vomits occasionally? Did you get any good advice on how to handle that?

im also trying to fatten her up- I started adding olive oil to soup, because she likes that. also try butter in mashed potatoes (preferably organic)...I also buy the simply plain yobaby yogurt and add fruits/veggies to make it healthier.

Gold Member Joined: Sep 22 2009 Posts: 1451

Techina is very high in healthy fat, you can mix it with honey and then it tastes like Halva.
Even if you are not giving nuts, almond butter should be ok.
You can also try avacado on bread or oatmeal.

Gold Member Joined: Mar 16 2009 Posts: 2293

I don't think I emphasized this enough, but its really important to offer a variety of healthy foods and snacks. I'd say more than trying to sneak in oil and fat. Just offer a greater variety. And speak to your ped or even ask for a referral to a nutritionist.

Silver Member Joined: Jun 11 2009 Posts: 529

another fav of my kids when on dairy was a baked potato in micro could boil I peel add butter and cheese I use mozzerella cause healthier than american and one of my kids liked it with sour cream now you could add other veggies but its mushy but clumpy enough that they could eat with fingers

Silver Member Joined: Apr 28 2009 Posts: 831

put a little flanken in a crock pot covered with BBQ sauce- maybe honey flavored for 4 hours. It will be so soft and sweet, she might go for it.

Also pancakes, make with whole milk + protein powder or whatever calorie added thing, put in oil, chocolate chips.

French toast soaked in whole egg and milk with syrup- some kids hate syrup, so you have to see.

I used to deal with this with one of my kids, but it sounds like your case is more extreme, we were 10% below the weight chart for 2 years. By 3 years old he was eating normally. Still very thin, but also very tall at 5 years old and doing great BH.

Executive Member Joined: Mar 04 2009 Posts: 361

Diamond Member Joined: Apr 18 2010 Posts: 3040

BH, I don't have this with my kid, but DH is very underweight and has to eat high cal foods just to stay at a minimally safe BMI. Whole milk and whole-milk dairy products only; throw some cheese in the eggs. Avocado, any kind of nut butter, butter or cream cheese on any bread you give her. For iron, red meat. Shnitzel is good. Mac and cheese made with cream and high fat cheese.