Now that we're on a long acting med, we are observing some decrease in appetite during the day with our 5 year old. His weight seems steady, but he is already in the 25% for weight, and I want to ensure it doesn't drop.
Things we're doing: high protein/large breakfast, offering snacks, protein shakes, bedtime snack, calories in beverages, etc.
Has anyone found anything else to help increase appetite, or otherwise optimize their child's growth?
This sounds very much like what we did, and while it took some months of work, everything did even out. It's not easy, getting those calories into a child who may be distracted at meal and snacktimes and who doesn't seem as hungry. It seems you're really working hard for your child, and I hope you see results.
Thanks for the vote of support, MomOfSuperheroes!
For us that was just the beginning phase.. our son is almost 6 feet and can put away 8+ pieces of pizza and in 1 hour be hungry. I hope you son grows out of it. We have no diet restrictions other than "reasonable" portions of unnecessary food. If you asked our son he would included ice cream in the necessary group. We are also luck he loves smoothies so we pack on the calories there with whole fat yogurt.
Good luck
I sure hope we end up putting away 8 pieces of pizza! My husband is very tall, and I am hoping our son follows this trend, as well. I try to offer anything I think will be consumed (provided we're eating healthy meals, too.) I may give smoothies a try! Thanks for the suggesiton.
My son is 12 and he is on extended release methylphenidate (generic Ritalin), which kills his appetite for lunch completely. He also does not have a large variety of foods he likes. So what I do is:- high-protein breakfast (sausages, yogurt, eggs, milk) around 8am
- healthy snacks for school (seaweed is one of his favorites) that he eats around 3pm, because he has no appetite during school lunch hour (it's around noon, too early for him)
- dinner as soon as he gets home, 4:30pm during school or 5pm during summer camps
- another dinner around 6:30pm-7pm. It has to be a different meal...
- his milk and yogurts are all whole milk (despite pediatrician recommending a 2% milk) because they have higher fats and he needs to catch up on his skipped lunch meal. He drinks milk or kefir with every meal and water in between. Juice and soda are only allowed when we are out, because I see them as empty calories (they are fun, I agree).
- I try to fit fruits in his diet once a day on school days and twice during weekend days.
- on weekends I give him half his medication dose and he eats lunch at regular time for our family, around 1pm-2pm.
He is skinny, but he's growing. 2 inches in the past six months.
I hope this helps.
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