Hi everyone my son just turned 6 and is a little guy. My husband and I are both short so I don’t expect him to be big. He’s very muscular and his doctors aren’t overly concerned, they figure he’s just genetically skinny. When I look at him though he is just way too bony for my liking. He needs a little more meat on his bones. I (not diabetic) had a lot of trouble gaining weight as a kid. When I was a baby my mom even had to use an old school home made baby formula for me where she had to add malt to it to help me gain weight. It just seems that every trick I know to help him gain weight doesn’t work, even the ideas the nutritionist gave us. Every carb, fat, protein we give him is accounted for with insulin so it doesn’t seem to help him gain. The doctor supports us having him gain a little more weight, we’re running out of spots to rotate insulin since he has such little body fat. Have any of you faced this or have any ideas? Thank you!
My ds is older and was 8 at dx but he was also painfully skinny. He was 8 yrs old and 48 pounds. We were lucky that once he went on insulin he gained weight quickly. Have you thought of adding Pediasure or something similar to his diet? Since those drinks are designed for children who don't eat well they are full of calories and vitamins. Adding it to the diet of a well fed child will be double the benefit. I'm sorry I don't have better advice just wanted to offer my 2 cents :)
My son, who is also 6, is the same way—he's not small, he's actually good size for his age and looks like he's going to be tall, but the boy doesn't have an ounce of extra padding anywhere. I don't know that there's much you can do about it — some people just don't put on weight, and it sounds like he's one. I like Jennifer's suggestion, although of course you should talk to your doctor, but fact is, if he would've been skinny without diabetes, he's that much more likely to be skinny with diabetes. Not being able to find locations for sites is a nuisance — I can only put sites on Eric's butt and upper thighs, and a small patch on his abdomen (which he doesn't like, because he says it stings).
are you using thighs or back as sites for insulin. we use thighs for our son and it works well.with insulin pens earlier even upper arms also turned to be good sites. we still don’t use lower back since the child is not comfortable with it.
This is a funny topic to me, because I'm going through the same thing with my 9 y/o son right now. He's always had trouble putting on weight and is a little underweight for his age.
The nutritionist at his endo office suggested Boost protein shakes, which I see as essentially boxed YooHoo (see also: garbage). When I told her I would rather not give him garbage sugars she suggested milkshakes.... Sooo.... I guess she didn't understand.
Either way, I'm also interested in ways to pack a few pounds on my little guy without subjecting him to milkshakes or liquid sugar. Any healthier alternatives to boost caloric intake are appreciated.
We are also limited to my son's butt. He won't let us touch his upper thighs after the one time we did it and he cried like crazy, and he doesn't have nearly enough meat on him to use his abdomen.