Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Power Packing

Allan took Ally, Natalie, and Lilly in for check-ups today. (I have been sick with food poisoning since Sunday night and so he stayed home to help me with the kids)

Allyson was in for her 5 year old visit, she had her birthday last month. She weighs 36 pounds and is 41 inches tall. Natalie went in for her 3 year old visit, also having her birthday last month, she weighs 26 pounds and is 35 1/2 inches tall. The doctor also mentioned that she is a little behind on her speech and that we he could refer us to a speech pathologist if we wanted. Lilly weighs 15 pounds 3 ounces, and is 26 inches tall. She also has an appointment to get her tear ducts opened next week. Also, the doctor said that Lilly is under weight and that we need to feed her more calories....

Okay, anyone who knows my kids knows that they are bottomless pits, and that I am constantly feeding Lilly, HELLO, breastfeeding every two hours day and night for 8 months and on top of that giving fruits, veggies, and cereal since she was 4 months old.

So anyway, he gave us a paper on "Power Packing" basically adding butter, sugar, karo syrup, and mayonaise to add calories to their diet. I kind of have a problem with this. I don't think adding these empty calories to her diet is going to help her. All of my kids are small. I am also pretty serious about having my children eat healthy things. I make sure they get plenty of fruits and vegetables and the other things that they need in their diet. I watch the ammount of sweets I give them, but I let them have cookies and cake and other snacks and desserts too.

How is it beneficial to give Lilly bad habbits of adding butter and sugar to everything just so she can weigh a few more pounds? There are some suggestions that I don't mind, like giving her high calorie foods like peanut butter, cheese, and eggs, but really I am already doing that and it doesn't make a difference. So I want to know what you all think about this, do I need to start loading on the butter and sugar or not?

7 comments:

Nat said...

Doctors may know some stuff about some stuff, but they don't know everything about everyone.

I say if she isn't totally off the charts small, that I wouldn't worry about it. My niece at a year old was only 14 pounds, I think, but she's totally normal. Just little. (Now she's 5, and still on the little side but totally fine.)

But...have you ever pumped to see how much milk she's actually getting? My friend was nursing, and thought everything was dandy, and it turns out she had basically dried up and didn't know it, so her son wasn't getting much of anything when he nursed. Though he started LOSING weight...

Anyway, you're the mom, and you know what's best for your kids.

Jamie said...

Frannie was 18 lbs at one year and 21 lbs at 2 years. Now she is 4 years old and weighs 28lbs. Adam at 20 months weighs 26lbs. Anyways, my doctor also thought Frannie was too small when she was one year old. He suggested the same sorts of things, and honestly, he freaked me out. I did try giving her egg salad sandwiches and things, but I truly do not think anything I did made any difference. She was petite then and she's petite now. She has always been developmentally normal in every other way. As a side note, while my doctor was telling me about her weight I noticed that his growth chart had Similac printed all over it. This made me quite suspicious!!

B. Surfer said...

Power Packing! We are very very familiar with this term at our house. And i agree. Empty calories are NOT the way to go. Cheese, eggs... things with protein is waaaay better. But dude. You have small kids. No amount of food is gonna get them any bigger. Carter eats like a horse all day now and still he's only 10%. I don't think he'll ever achieve anything greater than that in the weight category. I love DOcs that think all kids ought to be chuncks.. i say kick him wear it counts and keep being a good mom.

B. Surfer said...

Power Packing! We are very very familiar with this term at our house. And i agree. Empty calories are NOT the way to go. Cheese, eggs... things with protein is waaaay better. But dude. You have small kids. No amount of food is gonna get them any bigger. Carter eats like a horse all day now and still he's only 10%. I don't think he'll ever achieve anything greater than that in the weight category. I love DOcs that think all kids ought to be chuncks.. i say kick him wear it counts and keep being a good mom.

The Olsons said...

Power Packing, Sounds kinda messed up...but i wouldn't know my breastfed only 6 week old weighs over 15lbs, and I was told Skylars body mass index was high at her 2 yr appointment because she was 30 lbs but she is really tall. I think if kids are not in teh middle of the spectrum doctors aren't sure what to say. If they are healthy then i wouldn't be freaked out

raw mom said...

yeah..i'm kind of nuts about feeding our kids healthy...okay not just kind of...really nuts. DONT DO IT! i would never feed my BABY butter karo syrup and MAYONAISE to chunk her up! never! you're a smart girl...go with peanut butter, eggs cheese...we eat a lot of almonds but i dont think she can yet, right? you'll have fat baby not a healthy one if you give her grease. anyway. thats my silly 2 cents! :)

ps...i forgot to add you that night you gave me you emal and i've forgotten it!! will you email me so i can add you to our blog? teresa4andy@yahoo.com

oxox ♥

Emily said...

Christine is now 14 months and only 16 1/2 pounds. She's still nursing around the clock and eating more than her older sisters... she just also runs all over the place and can't sit still for more than 30 seconds... so she's just burning off all the calories anyway. I never respond well to a pump, so that would not be a good indication of how much milk she's getting, but even if she's not getting any breastmilk... she's eating plenty of solids at this point, and still not gaining weight... but she's developing perfectly in every other area... I wouldn't worry about it. :)