also underweight

So Emily was diagnosed with asthma yesterday. My husband had taken her to
the doctor, and after he told me that she had asthma, I was busy processing
that. Later he told me she has also dropped 2 lbs in the alst 6 weeks. She
has been on or below the 5th percentile since about 2 months, but maintained
the appropriate growth curve. Now she is not. The doc didn't seem overly
concerned, but here we are at 17 months and back down to 20 lbs from 22lbs.
I am concerned.

The doctor indicated that the asthma may be allergy induced, because she
also suffers from terrible rashes whenever in a different environment -
grass, someone else's home, etc. She gets diaper rashes very easily too. I
am busy googling and reading as much as I can, to better understand all of
this. But I am not exactly sure where to turn next. Are there specific
blood tests I should ask for?

As far as getting her weight up, what are the best tactics? She eats almost
anything, just in really small quantities.

determined wrote:

As far as getting her weight up, what are the best tactics? She eats almost
anything, just in really small quantities.

Well, first of all I think it's pretty normal to lose some weight during
an illness. I wouldn't be overly concerned about that right now.
If you want to increase her calories without incresing the amount of
food she eats I would suggest adding healthy fatty foods and healthy
sweet foods. Bananas, Avocados, dried fruit,... Nuts is probably too
early and since I'm allergic to all sorts of nuts I don't even know if
there are any "recommended" for small children as I never bother buying
any except the rare macadamia or brazil nut pack (both of which my son
hates).
Also, adding a spoon of olive oil to her food will increase the
calories, though I find olive oil tastes a bit too strongly so if she
doesn't like the taste you're out of luck. Other oils will probably work
just as well, but off the top of my head I don't know what else to
recommend.

FWIW: Sam is a "picky" eater. He has a hard time chewing things due to
the muscles in his mouth not really being very strong, so anything he
has to chew a lot he usually doesn't like to eat. He's also extremely
thin for his age, though it's slowly improving (he's 7 and since I don't
own a scale I can't even tell you how much he weighs now, but he needs a
belt in all his pants because otherwise he will lose them with the first
step he takes).
When I mentioned him being so skinny one of our pediatricians simply
looked at me and said "Yeah, and I know who he gets it from." My dad
used to tell me to eat more and "I can play the piano on your ribs!"
That's when I stopped obsessing about his eating habits. He eats what he
eats, I'll give him sweets that he has to chew because at least those he
will chew. I stopped obsessing over food, though I still make sure he
eats somewhat regularly and at least recognizes hunger (perception
problems suck) and then does eat something. He's started getting snacks
out of the fridge, joghurt and small cheeses. And I think it's making a
difference. Sometimes I still wish I could cut some of my fat ass off
and slap it on him and make it stick!



take care!
nicole

having had a small kid, I'm not convinced there are any tactics, she's
probably dropped the last few weeks due to illness and the coughing, she'll
probably pick up again as it gets sorted out.

Sounds to me like it would be worth getting a complete allergy screen, if
there is food in her diet she's not processing well that could be a reason
for slow weight gain.

Anne

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
. ..
having had a small kid, I'm not convinced there are any tactics, she's
probably dropped the last few weeks due to illness and the coughing,
she'll probably pick up again as it gets sorted out.

Sounds to me like it would be worth getting a complete allergy screen, if
there is food in her diet she's not processing well that could be a reason
for slow weight gain.

Anne

And the allergy screen, that's a blood draw? I kept imaging 100 red dots on
her arms... my sister went through that as an adult, and it was miserable!

On May 2, 1:35 pm, "determined" wrote:

In my family, stopping use of Tide brand laundry detergent resolved
not only my hives but also DH's chronic "heat rash". And since then
all his other allergy symptoms have been far milder.


As far as getting her weight up, what are the best tactics? She eats almost
anything, just in really small quantities.

Increase the calorie content of what she does eat. Read package
labels. Buy milk, cream, ice cream with the highest fat content per
unit weight. Add a little cream to the milk on her breakfast cereal.
Put butter or virgin olive oil on her toast and noodles. Put butter
on her rice. Serve lots of maccaroni and cheese. Use good quality
(high protein) noodles. Serve a wide variety of meats esp. bratwurst,
sausage, salami, smoked fish, ham, bacon. Serve high calorie dried
fruits: prunes, figs, dates. Do her allergies permit nuts? If yes,
serve lots of them. Buy frozen juice and add a little less water than
directed. For chocolate milk add chocolate syrup to whole milk; most
chocolate milk is low fat. Seek out high calorie cookies and potato
chips. In short, make every bite count and don't fuss about the
quantity of bites that she will take.

My first child, Monkey Boy, is thinner than your Emily. We use all
these strategies to good effect. You can google m.k.* for my old
posts about dealing with his low weight.

"Pologirl" wrote in message
oups.com...
On May 2, 1:35 pm, "determined" wrote:

In my family, stopping use of Tide brand laundry detergent resolved
not only my hives but also DH's chronic "heat rash". And since then
all his other allergy symptoms have been far milder.


As far as getting her weight up, what are the best tactics? She eats
almost
anything, just in really small quantities.

Increase the calorie content of what she does eat. Read package
labels. Buy milk, cream, ice cream with the highest fat content per
unit weight. Add a little cream to the milk on her breakfast cereal.
Put butter or virgin olive oil on her toast and noodles. Put butter
on her rice. Serve lots of maccaroni and cheese. Use good quality
(high protein) noodles. Serve a wide variety of meats esp. bratwurst,
sausage, salami, smoked fish, ham, bacon. Serve high calorie dried
fruits: prunes, figs, dates. Do her allergies permit nuts? If yes,
serve lots of them. Buy frozen juice and add a little less water than
directed. For chocolate milk add chocolate syrup to whole milk; most
chocolate milk is low fat. Seek out high calorie cookies and potato
chips. In short, make every bite count and don't fuss about the
quantity of bites that she will take.

My first child, Monkey Boy, is thinner than your Emily. We use all
these strategies to good effect. You can google m.k.* for my old
posts about dealing with his low weight.

Thank you for the info!

And the allergy screen, that's a blood draw? I kept imaging 100 red dots
on her arms... my sister went through that as an adult, and it was
miserable!

I don't know enough to know what she'd need, I suspect that there is a
simple blood tests to check whether she's reacting to *something*, but I'm
not sure if you can tell what just by drawing blood, I know you can find
something out about wheat just from a blood draw, so you'd get a blood draw
first. The full screen is not nice, so you have to figure out whether it's a
big enough problem to go through it, for me, weight alone wouldn't be but
asthma added in might swing it - though it the asthma turns out to be
temporary you might not. You could keep a food diary to see if you can spot
anything, or you could dry cutting out some common things, wheat and dairy
are the ones that spring to mind.

Anne

hi --

You need to find a good pediatric allergist who is comfortable with a
child as young as yours. Not all allergists will be.

Bear in mind that the younger the child, the less accurate the tests
are. So repeat the tests in a few years.

Standard tests include the prick tests (red dots up and down), blood
draw (no red dots) and elimination/challenge. The first two tests each
have their plusses and minuses. You'll get slightly different results
and varying accuracies. Discuss them both with your allergist.

Elimination/challenge should be done under a doctor's supervision of
there's ANY chance of severe reaction. It involves keep a comprehensive
journal of locations, foods, pollens and health, and then changing one
variable at a time while continuing the journal.

A book you may find interesting is Dr. Doris Rapp's "Is This Your
Child?" It's a very clear and helpful book, although I think the P/N
stuff has been invalidated?, and usually available at your local public
library or used online.

Good luck.
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would
like me to reply.

I have 2 children with asthma and my oldest has severe allergies. Rashes can
be a sign of food allergies. That can also trigger asthma. My 3rd child
started having asthma around 6 months. He had to get treatments at the
hospital until I bought my own nebulizer. He also had his adenoids out. He
cleared up a lot when we removed dairy from his diet. Dairy can cause
congestion and asthma even if it's not an allergy but an intolerance. I have
learned so much from this support group. You should check it out.
www.kidswithfoodallergies.org
Testing isn't a big deal. They can test for everything in bloodwork. It's
not 100% accurate though. My allergist does both together. My son had tested
negative to some things that he actually reacted to.
My 4th child reacted to dairy and eggs in my breastmilk. He would get hives.
And tested positive. He has outgrown it and doesn't seem to have asthma but
had symptoms this winter. I think breastfeeding him until age 2 helped him
not have severe allergies like my oldest.
Find a ped. allergist. They know the most about asthma and allergies.
Kris

"determined" wrote in message
. ..
So Emily was diagnosed with asthma yesterday. My husband had taken her to
the doctor, and after he told me that she had asthma, I was busy
processing that. Later he told me she has also dropped 2 lbs in the alst 6
weeks. She has been on or below the 5th percentile since about 2 months,
but maintained the appropriate growth curve. Now she is not. The doc
didn't seem overly concerned, but here we are at 17 months and back down
to 20 lbs from 22lbs. I am concerned.

The doctor indicated that the asthma may be allergy induced, because she
also suffers from terrible rashes whenever in a different environment -
grass, someone else's home, etc. She gets diaper rashes very easily too.
I am busy googling and reading as much as I can, to better understand all
of this. But I am not exactly sure where to turn next. Are there
specific blood tests I should ask for?

As far as getting her weight up, what are the best tactics? She eats
almost anything, just in really small quantities.

"determined" wrote in message
. ..
So Emily was diagnosed with asthma yesterday. My husband had taken her to
the doctor, and after he told me that she had asthma, I was busy
processing that. Later he told me she has also dropped 2 lbs in the alst 6
weeks. She has been on or below the 5th percentile since about 2 months,
but maintained the appropriate growth curve. Now she is not. The doc
didn't seem overly concerned, but here we are at 17 months and back down
to 20 lbs from 22lbs. I am concerned.

The doctor indicated that the asthma may be allergy induced, because she
also suffers from terrible rashes whenever in a different environment -
grass, someone else's home, etc. She gets diaper rashes very easily too.
I am busy googling and reading as much as I can, to better understand all
of this. But I am not exactly sure where to turn next. Are there
specific blood tests I should ask for?

As far as getting her weight up, what are the best tactics? She eats
almost anything, just in really small quantities.

I have no real advice to offer, but I don't think that 22lbs for a 17 month
old is really that under weight...
DD1 is 21 months and is 24lbs 4oz. A friend's DS1 is 5 weeks younger and is
right around 23lbs. I also have another friend who's DS was born the same
day as DD1, weighed exactly half a pound lighter at birth and was 3 weeks
early (DD1 was 4 days late) and at his 6 month checkup he was over 20lbs.
He now weights about 34lbs (My DS is 6 and weighs about 43lbs!)
I really don't think that 17 months and 22lbs is really underweight, and if
she has dropped a couple pounds over the past few weeks while she's been
clearly sick, chances are she will start to gain that weight back once she
starts feeling better.

Other than that, I have nothing I just don't think, and I guess I could
be wrong, that her weight for her age is so bad... And the weight loss, I'd
wait to see if she picks it up when she's not sick before I'd start to
panic.