First, a big *SIGH*....
I know too many parents who have been told by their doctor that their baby/child is underweight. And guess what, they are all Asian or have an Asian background.
I've had parents agree to have their child(ren) go through blood tests and see specialists, and guess what? The conclusion was: "Your child is fine."
Debbi, it sounds like you know that Zoey is healthy and perfect and you're really more worried about the testing she might have go through. Am I correct?
There are so many factors affecting weight and doctors tend to rely so much on these charts that are probably not representative of all babies. Here's an interesting article about that:
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/growthcharts.html
I agree with Leanne. Don't feel pressure from the doc to go for the tests. My child's doctor also recommended Pediasure and said that next time if she doesn't go back on the "curve" they'll do tests.
I tried the Pediasure as a supplement but she wasn't crazy about it. Also, her rejecting it may have been a sign that I was feeding her enough because she would turn it down after a meal even if it was her main source of liquid. Have you seen the ingredients list on the bottle? Yes, you might as well feed your child cake and cookies. It might be healthier. Lol.
I stopped the Pediasure and did not go back to the doctor. Of course, that's not something many parents would do.
A couple of months ago (at 1 year), her appetite increased big time. And her weight is steadily increasing. So obviously, nature is taking its course. Why force feed a child?
Things we did to make our child gain weight (because nothing like pressure from a doctor):
- High fat yogurt (Ambrosia sells plain 10%yogurt). I mix it a bit with lighter yogurt so it's not too thick
- Full fat milk (as you're doing) in porridge/oatmeal/cereal
- Added white rice to her diet (We don't eat white rice or white bread so our naturopath suggested that we mix a bit of brown with the white rice.)
- French toast (egg, milk, butter) and a bit of sugar
- Smoothies (banana, 10% yogurt, a bit of orange juice, some other fruit of your choice, water or milk) - She drinks it with a straw. Good for in between meals. But we were only able to maintain this before she went to daycare.
- Lots of fruit
- I made muffins (less sugar but with milk and the full fat yogurt and a bit of carrot and of course all that butter)
- Added a tsp of olive oil to her prepared food. An alternative to butter but that didn't go well.
- Avocado (definitely agree with Mireille)
- Scrambled eggs
Our naturopath actually did provide help and I won't get into it here as every child is different.
Good luck and keep us posted!
