Putting weight on a kid using stimulants?
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Anonymous
| My DD is on Concerta and doing well. She has lost weight, however, and is pretty skinny now. She is a picky eater and refuses to drink anything other than water. We have been pushing cheese, eggs, etc., and she is eating her meals, but she hasn't been snacking very enthusiastically. Any ideas for getting some calorie dense stuff into her? |
Anonymous
| My DS is also on concerta. He is a VERY picky eater. He drinks a boost kids essential (same as a pediasure) daily to make sure he gets calories and nutrients. So far he has maintained and also gained a few pounds. I do monitor so that on days he actually does eat and eats a good amount of food we skip the nutritional drink for other foods. |
Anonymous
| If she doesn't like drinking the supplement, I would trade her something she does like for drinking it. IE. drink this can of Boost and you can have an extra half hour of video game or TV time. |
Anonymous
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Our son's a generally good eater but, when he was taking stimulants as pills, we would give him waffles with peanut butter for breakfast. In general though we just tried to get him to eat anything -- even late evening ice cream was fine. Even pop tarts. He's now on Daytrana and his eating habits are more balanced.
All that said, he hasn't LOST weight on stimulants. This past year, he gained 4 lbs between annual check-ups (he's 9 and now weighs close to 60 lbs and is about 4'3"-4'4"). Even prior to stimulant medication he had a very lean build and was not destined to be tall. |
Anonymous
| Yeah, we pretty much let our son (6 yo, weighs about 43 lbs) eat anything to maintain or hopefully gain weight, even if it means putting chips and cookies in his lunch. I put healthy stuff in there too, but it's hit or miss. Plus, he does not like sandwiches or peanut butter, so it's challenging. He does like milk, so we give him whole milk, and I put butter and parmesan cheese on his pasta (something else he will always eat). Lately he's been eating mac and cheese for breakfast, but I've also done Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches, which pack about 450 calories. He's gained a pound and grown 1/2 inch since June. |
Anonymous
This is pretty much our plan as well. Overall our theory right now is to focus on getting as much protein into our DS as possible for breakfast, snack on whatever he wants although I always make suggestions, at dinner we focus on making him try new foods/healthier foods, and then he gets dessert. Our son is extremely picky - does not like "meat", will not eat fruit, and eats limited quantities of veggies. He would live on poultry, dairy, pasta, rice and corn if he could. I'm going to list sample meals here in case any of these give you ideas OP. Sample breakfasts: 4-6 waffles, always with butter, and I try to have him eat at least 2 also with peanut butter, he may also have some with butter/syrup, or 2-3 mini bagels, again always with butter, and then at least 1 with butter and peanut butter, or several bowls of cereal, always starting with something dense like granola or Kashi go-lean crunchy varieties b/c they have so much protein As much milk as he wants Sample school day: Hardly anything. If he eats a Nature Valley granola bar and has a milk box, I'm happy After school snacks (as much as he wants): Nachos (microwave corn chips with shredded cheese) Crackers with cheese - goat cheese, brie cheese, cheddar, sliced american, whatever we've got! Frozen mozzarella sticks that you put in the oven Mini pizza bagels (we've tried mini quiche - he loves quiche but not with "stuff" in it) Chicken nuggets Left over pasta or rice, but only if it's with some sort of protein hit as well Milk or water **We do cut the snacks off at a reasonable time before dinner, otherwise he of course skips dinner. So this timing for us is critical. I have to say it really helps that, with 2 working parents, we tend to eat on the late side. So there is enough time in the day for him to eat a large meal-like snack and then have dinner.** Sample dinner: Always some type of a protein - cheese burgers, meat loaf, chicken prepared different ways, pork tenderloin, quiche with cheese and bacon, scrambled eggs with cheese. Starch - pasta with butter and parmesan cheese, any kind of rice (brown, wild, mixed, white) also with parmesan cheese. He is not one for any kind of potato if prepared at home! Always a veggie, even if he just takes several small bites. We keep trying and trying...and you know now he will actually eat a real serving of peas, and half a serving of green beans without much complaining! We use liberal amounts of butter and salt. We of course also do pizza. And some nights I make huge grilled cheese sandwiches and soup from a can. I know you say your DD doesn't drink milk, my son drinks a LOT of milk. So I know that this helps with his overall protein and caloric intake. Do you think your DD would do smoothies and/or creative milk shakes that contain a smidge of protein powder and/or peanut butter with milk, or ice cream, or whatever? My son won't do milkshakes or smoothies of any kind, but I wish he did. OH - and we never ever ever miss that multi-vitamin. |
Anonymous
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Thanks so much for your replies. I try to get this kid to eat more, but she fills up rather quickly. Fortunately she is somewhat bribeable -- eat the cheesestick and get a cookie. Win, win. Too bad she often won't even finish the cookie because she is "full".
She's not too big on PB, but I'm trying to get it in there. |
Anonymous
| We have two kids with this problem. We switched back to whole milk for the boys and I do a lot of the things 13:14 mentioned. Our go-to breakfast is generally greek yogurt (more protein) with the Kashi go-lean cereal sprinkled on top like granola (again, more protein). If not yogurt we do oatmeal for breakfast - I make instant with milk instead of water and I usually mix in some protein powder, banana or berries, and top it with coffee creamer. For school "snack" I send Luna bars - the boys like the chocolate peppermint and the lemon zest ones. They think they are getting a treat, I'm loading them with calories. The only lunches I've had reliable success with are bagel thins with cream cheese or sandwiches made from nutella, peanut butter, and banana. Not really the healthiest option, but they actually eat them. Usually an hour or so after dinner I end up scrambling a few eggs for second dinner - I add some cheese and try to sneak in some veggies too. |
Anonymous
Will she eat Nutella? |
Anonymous
We put Hersey's chocolate syrup and whipped cream on waffles. When I serve whole strawberries, I get him to dip them in sugar. |
Anonymous
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OP here. DD will not eat nutella. She loves whipped cream and ice cream, so we put those on her waffles with chocolate chips, along with a protein-heavy granola bar or cheese, and some dry cheerios and maybe a poptart for breakfast. Lunch is just two cheese sticks. We give her more, but that's all she eats (and she says that's all she has time to eat) -- she won't even eat her cookie most of the time!! She also has a snack at school -- veggie sticks when she'll take them but she usually demands goldfish, but I doubt she eats much of it. For dinner she will eat 3 cheese sticks with some veggies or fruit, and a little rice or pasta (loaded with butter), but that's it. And then the cookie, which she can barely finish.
She says she gets full, and how can I argue with that? I offer food as much as I can. And of course, the gummy vitamin. Thanks, everyone, for your ideas! I appreciate the support!! |
Anonymous
| OP, my DS eats after the mess have worn off. He eats a second dinner right before bed. I manage to get calories into him that way. |
Anonymous
| My pediatrician suggested a calorie-rich snack right before bed. By then the meds have worn off, so my DS is hungry, and he goes right to bed so doesn't run it off. |
Anonymous
| DD8 has been on Concerta for about 9 months and the eating has been a BIG issue. She was very thin to begin with, and Concerta only made matters worse. I found that she gets hungry at unusual times, so I no longer fight the eating battle at regular mealtimes knowing that in an hour or so she'll be hungry (and it's not within her control to be hungrier earlier). She picks at her packed lunch then eats it when she gets off the bus at 4. Eats dinner a little on the late side and then invariably wants a snack right before going to bed (and usually after having brushed her teeth, of course). She doesn't like cheese or whole milk, sadly, but she'll eat bananas cut up with Nutella, and eggs, and is pretty good with vegetables. I also cut her dose occasionally and make it an eating-focus day, where she can call the shots on menus and restaurants. I also don't sweat the more-than-occasional ice cream treat. |
Anonymous
| We also go out to eat a lot on weekends, because our son tends to eat much better with the novelty of the various kids menus. |