Thread: Growing issues

i am not sure about older kids hun......with my little man we MAKE him....but he is tiny too

I can't comment on it from a teen point of view but i can from an underweight sparrow point of view, as G is about a foot shorter than every other kid her age & petite with it. It's quite noticeable, but she's a good eater so good things come in small packages too i guess. Not much you can do about height and I was a very skinny kid. L is a picky eater but we sit on him hard at dinner (his worst most distracted meal) because he is so underweight he needs to eat. He would rather skip dinner and play trains.
When kids are underweight it's easy to fall into the trap of letting them dictate the rules around eating bc you obviously want them to gain and take in lots of calories, especially with junk food. But if they're anything like mine they would snack all day then refuse main meals.
My sparrow eaters do get some junk food as i'm not a complete food nazi, but it's pretty limited. The fruitbowl is unlimited at all times, and i make sure they eat good food about 90% of the time.
I guess how to get yours to eat good food is just make sure junk treats aren't available if that's all he will eat. If it's not there, there's no choice. simples :) Of course they will fuss and moan about it, but that's a given!

Adrian is nearing 8 and he is big compared to his peers, he's always been the taller kid with maybe 1 or 2 around his size, so we have the opposite problem. We also have a problem with junk food with him, but he does eat lots of fruit and veggies.

But, I don't think it has anything to do with his diet. He could be a slow grower and could spurt up at any point! I have a second cousin that is 12 this year, and he is very small, his 9 year old sister is almost the same size (and so is Adrian). His dad was the same way, and was small and skinny until probably 16 or 17 and hit a growth spurt, and he's probably around 5'10" or 5'11". Has puberty hit him yet??

One of Adrian's favorite healthy meals is a spinach wrap with a side of salad of some sort. It's just a spinach tortilla, spread mashed avacado on it, put some deli turkey slices and swiss cheese on it, then lettuce and tomato and wrap it up. Really healthy, and he loves it!! I don't tell him how healthy it is either, lol.

Originally Posted by Katie

I can't comment on it from a teen point of view but i can from an underweight sparrow point of view, as G is about a foot shorter than every other kid her age & petite with it. It's quite noticeable, but she's a good eater so good things come in small packages too i guess. Not much you can do about height and I was a very skinny kid. L is a picky eater but we sit on him hard at dinner (his worst most distracted meal) because he is so underweight he needs to eat. He would rather skip dinner and play trains.
When kids are underweight it's easy to fall into the trap of letting them dictate the rules around eating bc you obviously want them to gain and take in lots of calories, especially with junk food. But if they're anything like mine they would snack all day then refuse main meals.
My sparrow eaters do get some junk food as i'm not a complete food nazi, but it's pretty limited. The fruitbowl is unlimited at all times, and i make sure they eat good food about 90% of the time.
I guess how to get yours to eat good food is just make sure junk treats aren't available if that's all he will eat. If it's not there, there's no choice. simples :) Of course they will fuss and moan about it, but that's a given!

Thank you Both for replying!!!
Katie...I like how your fruit bowl is unlimited! Nate would totally snack ALL the time if I let him!! He won't eat bread and a limited number of dinners although he HAS to eat dinner weather he likes it or not!!! I did tell him tonight that if he does not start eating better foods there would be NO sweets period!!!! He ate MUCH better tonight!
I appreciate your comments and thoughts!!

Originally Posted by Jennifer

One of Adrian's favorite healthy meals is a spinach wrap with a side of salad of some sort. It's just a spinach tortilla, spread mashed avacado on it, put some deli turkey slices and swiss cheese on it, then lettuce and tomato and wrap it up. Really healthy, and he loves it!! I don't tell him how healthy it is either, lol.

This sounds yummy :) Mine are also quite into wraps as they like choosing the fillings.
I agree with Jen too, growth spurts kick in at any random time, he might just be a late grower and be towering over you one day while you blinked!

Originally Posted by Katie

The fruitbowl is unlimited at all times, and i make sure they eat good food about 90% of the time.

I've recently incorporated the fruit being unrestricted (well, really to a certain point, they can't gorge themselves).

I chop up or separate our fruits and veggies (melons, grapes, oranges, carrots, celery, broccoli, sugar snap peas, pineapple, strawberries, blackberries, all staples in this house) and put them portion sized into snack baggies, and put in baskets in the fridge. Before they even think of grabbing a non-healthy snack, they have to eat one of the baggies in the fridge, and then at the next snack time they're allowed to grab a granola bar or cookie or something from the cupboard. But, they absolutely love being able to go and get themselves a baggie of fruit and are more than content with that. It's kind of like a bribe, but it really works here. Also, we do it with drinking enough water (my boys get the attitude from their dad, who like his sisters got it from their mom, that water tastes gross), we have those re-usable inuslated straw cups, and they have to drink one full of water before they're allowed to have any juice (minus the milk they have at breakfast), and then if they want more juice, they have to drink another one full of water. Another trade off, but usually they're full after the second cup of water (well, not all the time, because Jaxon can drink all day!).

It takes a bit for them to get adjusted, but then it becomes second nature!

Originally Posted by Jennifer

Adrian is nearing 8 and he is big compared to his peers, he's always been the taller kid with maybe 1 or 2 around his size, so we have the opposite problem. We also have a problem with junk food with him, but he does eat lots of fruit and veggies.

But, I don't think it has anything to do with his diet. He could be a slow grower and could spurt up at any point! I have a second cousin that is 12 this year, and he is very small, his 9 year old sister is almost the same size (and so is Adrian). His dad was the same way, and was small and skinny until probably 16 or 17 and hit a growth spurt, and he's probably around 5'10" or 5'11". Has puberty hit him yet??

One of Adrian's favorite healthy meals is a spinach wrap with a side of salad of some sort. It's just a spinach tortilla, spread mashed avacado on it, put some deli turkey slices and swiss cheese on it, then lettuce and tomato and wrap it up. Really healthy, and he loves it!! I don't tell him how healthy it is either, lol.

Thank you for replying!!! The Spinach wrap sounds amazing...may have to try that myself!!! lol
My hubby was very small growing up and did not really grow until after highschool. My issue with Nate is he doesn't eat much at all. I'm concerend it stunting his growth...maybe not!!!
I don't think he has hit puberty yet! With him being our first I'm not real sure what to look for! He is getting ALOT of hair on his legs and when Chris asked him the other day if he had hair anywhere else Nate said...not yet! He has always had a fairly deep voice (people comment on alot).

Hoping he starts to grow...It bothers me because it is bothering him!!!

Originally Posted by Jennifer

I've recently incorporated the fruit being unrestricted (well, really to a certain point, they can't gorge themselves).

I chop up or separate our fruits and veggies (melons, grapes, oranges, carrots, celery, broccoli, sugar snap peas, pineapple, strawberries, blackberries, all staples in this house) and put them portion sized into snack baggies, and put in baskets in the fridge. Before they even think of grabbing a non-healthy snack, they have to eat one of the baggies in the fridge, and then at the next snack time they're allowed to grab a granola bar or cookie or something from the cupboard.

I LOVE LOVE this idea!!!!!! I may try this one!!! Thank you for sharing!!!

Originally Posted by Jennifer

I've recently incorporated the fruit being unrestricted (well, really to a certain point, they can't gorge themselves).

I chop up or separate our fruits and veggies (melons, grapes, oranges, carrots, celery, broccoli, sugar snap peas, pineapple, strawberries, blackberries, all staples in this house) and put them portion sized into snack baggies, and put in baskets in the fridge. Before they even think of grabbing a non-healthy snack, they have to eat one of the baggies in the fridge, and then at the next snack time they're allowed to grab a granola bar or cookie or something from the cupboard. But, they absolutely love being able to go and get themselves a baggie of fruit and are more than content with that. It's kind of like a bribe, but it really works here. Also, we do it with drinking enough water (my boys get the attitude from their dad, who like his sisters got it from their mom, that water tastes gross), we have those re-usable inuslated straw cups, and they have to drink one full of water before they're allowed to have any juice (minus the milk they have at breakfast), and then if they want more juice, they have to drink another one full of water. Another trade off, but usually they're full after the second cup of water (well, not all the time, because Jaxon can drink all day!).

It takes a bit for them to get adjusted, but then it becomes second nature!

yep I'd probably take exception to them eating a banana 5 mins before dinner, but you get the drift! Good idea with the fruit/vege bags, never thought of that. fruit always seems more appealing when it's peeled, cut up and ready to go.