These aren't football stats, but Sawyer stats. When he turned 20 months (last week) we went to the see the nurse and have him measured and weighed and we were a bit shocked by the results. Since the arrival of his sister I feel like my baby boy has turned into a full fledged little boy. He has grown so much that most of his summer clothes no longer fit and he is even getting a little bit of a tummy. For so long he has been so little (like 3rd - 10th percentile in height and weight). He never had little baby chunkiness, but he was starting to put some meat on his bones...so I thought. Turns out he measured in at 32.5 inches (50th percentile) and weighed 21 lbs. 14 oz. (below the 5th percentile). At his 18 month appointment he weighed 22 lbs. so in 2 months he has gained no weight! However, he has hit a major growth spurt which is kind of a double-edged sword. It's great that he is growing and getting taller, but his weight is not following suit. Thus he is now classified as underweight. In the past he has always been small, but his height and weight were very proportionate so the doctor was not concerned. And in all actuality the doctor is not too concerned as Sawyer did gain an appropriate amount of weight in the past 6 months (i.e. he is not losing weight) his weight just has not caught up with his growth.
So, where does that leave us?
- We could make him stop being so active...yeah right
- Force him to eat more (trust me he already eats plenty)...not going to happen he has a very strong will and when he says "all done" you better believe not another morsel is passing through those lips
- Feed him calorie packed foods: bananas, beans, peanut butter, cheese, etc...um this is already what he eats everyday, the boy loves him some beans
- Our other option is to supplement his food with dry milk to increase the calories without increasing the volume. We're going to give this one a try and see what happens.
I wouldn't worry too much about his weight. He will probably always be skinny. Both of my boys are on the lower end of the growth chart and as long as they are not losing weight and gaining (even if it is not much) they are fine. Eve decreased on the weight gain at her 18 mos appointment, but she had grown 1 1/2 inches as well. I'm not worried about them, since they eat a massive amount of food. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenny I'm not too worried either. Kyle and I were both stick figures growing up so I suppose Sawyer will be as well. I think it's just the days he doesn't eat much that worries me...but some days he eats like a horse.
ReplyDeleteWe had to supplement Elijah occasionally since he would get so sick from milk stuff. Once he lost 8 lbs in a week. Anyway, we found that a Pediasure a day added the necessary weight. We called them milk shakes and gave them at snack time. It's pretty filling, so I wouldn't give w/a meal! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat idea Beth! I didn't know Elijah had milk problems :( Sawyer already LOVES milk so I bet he would drink the "milkshake" very easily.
ReplyDeleteI have always heard that kids sometimes grow in height and weight separately-- i.e. they'll get taller but not much heavier, or they'll get heavier but not much taller... then it will switch. Mine all do that! If you think about it, to grow that much taller he DID have to gain weight somehow, it's just all upwards! LOL!
ReplyDeletePlus, 2 months is not that long at his age, they don't always grow or gain as quickly at these older ages-- it ebbs and flows.
ReplyDeleteThat's true Kit we have noticed that Sawyer does do that sometimes we'll notice weight gain and other times we notice he's grown a bunch. Hopefully by Novemember or his 2nd b-day in January his weight will have caught up.
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