[spitzlvr]

sigh. My daughter is 17 months old, and a peanut. she is barely 20 pounds. But healthy as can be. She is terrible at trying new foods - my doc says to just keep offering them to her. (She will very politely give them back to you).

So, Sunday I give her some toddler puffs. (Again). AND SHE EATS THEM!!! I am over the moon! Monday I give her some cheerios (I mixed them into the puffs). SHE LOVES THEM. Yes, this is the first time my 17 month old has eaten a cheerio. I am in heaven.

'Course the next item (toddler cracker) is handed back. But I don't care - she ate CHEERIOS!!!!

I am talking to my Mom on the phone and I tell her - she knows how tiny my girl is and all.... so what does she say?

Congratulations? nope
That's great? nope
I am happy? nope

I bet she will be fat by the time she is 12.

WHA????

If she EVER said something like that in front of my kids I would go ballistic. As it was I was speechless.

SHE IS TINY - the doc doesn't even want her to have water - he says if she is drinking, give her something with calories. She is 17 months old and happy in 9-12 month clothes. SHE IS LITTLE!!! IT IS A CHEERIO!!!!

sigh

[mom2justynsarah]

I just love how insensitive some people can be (sigh).

When my husband & I were wracking our brains on how we were going to afford adoption, my aunt (who happens to be a multi millionaire) proceeds to tell me the following:

"You already have one child." "You do not need a second." "Besides, you are waaaaaay too old to consider having another child." (mind you I was 38 at the time).

[bajj]

I'm sorry your Mother was not very supportive. I don't know some people have a hard time being supportive.

It is VERY THRILLING when a child will try something new, isn't it? Yeah for your dd!!!!!!

[StorkWatcher]

Wow. I cannot believe that..... I HOPE she meant - "oh, don't worry dear! It's great that she ate a cheerio - this means she'll start eating more and growing bigger, and you won't have to worry about it for much longer"....... in a kind and supportive way. I hope.

YAY that she loves puffs! We are just entering the stage where our 20 month old is getting picky. WHAT? Where'd my great eater go? And it's hit or miss. Some days, things are okay, the next, not allowed.

But I can always get him to take: yogurt, Gerber graduates fruit strips (like a mini fruit rollup) and fruit&cereal bars (like the Graduates or Earth's Best toddler bars). I just try to make sure the days he's on a food fast, he gets more milk.

My friend has a boy who, she swears, ate ice cream only for about a year. They couldn't get him to take anything else, but at least he was getting calories and fat that way. Sounds like your petite princess is maturing her palate!

[spitzlvr]

I think my mom tries, but sometimes she just misses the mark.

Like after I had my daughter - I had ecampsia, only it didn't resolve itself after birth. (I have permanent damage. I am ok with it - I have a beautiful daughter).
About 1 week after she was born my bp was off the charts. Literally. My dh called doc, he said ER immeadiately. My Mom didn't understand why dh wanted to call doc, and didn't understand why doc said come in right away.

She also didn't get why I ended up in intensive care. Truly, she didn't see why.

On most other matters she is top notch, but when it comes to health and related matters, she is clueless.

Weird. I have picked up some of her tendencies (I told hubby bp was not THAT bad...), but have learned that it is better to be safe than sorry.

[kelceesmom]

Boy, if you expect anything from anyone it would be your mom. Sorry she didn't react the way you needed her to.

As for your little one. I know how frustrating it is when they don't eat well. I am always exstatic when Kelcee has a good eating day no matter what it is.

So Congratulations to some new foods!!!

[Shai's Mom]

During the first 1 1/2 years of their life, both my boys were really small. As a matter of fact the little one was delicate.

All over sudden they changed, started gaining height and weight and no one could by any means call them small for their age or delicate anymore.

The older one is tall, extremely athletic and slender as a grayhound, and my baby boy is a robust toddler, with weight lifter potential, slightly above average height for his age..

Point is, she is tiny now (and hurray for the Cheerio!! This IS a big thing!!) doesn't mean she will remain tiny. She'll do her catching up, but to say that she'll be fat??

Have fun with your sweet little peanut!!!

[Barksum]

We have a dainty little one. She's a little bigger than yours, but at 20 months only weighs 22 lbs. Not SUPER tiny, but still pretty slim. She's always (from what I understand) been small and doesn't gain weight well. She wears 18 month dresses and shirts because she has long limbs, but pants are the hardest thing to find! Nothing stays up, so she wears 'capris'; that is, infant sized 6-9m pants that are inches too short.

I do know what you mean about being happy when they FINALLY give you a glimmer that they might begin doing something you've been working so hard to get them to do. Keep up the good work.

With your mom, if she is always like this don't expect her to be excited in the same ways that you are, particularly about the things she is clueless about. Having her say that maybe your Dd would be 'fat by the time she is 12' could also be a way to suggest that the struggles toddlers have ARE often resolved over time. As maddening as it is, don't hold it against her. Is your mom supportive in other more tangible ways? Treasure THOSE things.

[spitzlvr]

Thanks guys, you made me feel better.

Yes, Barksum, my Mom is great in other areas, she just misses it here.

I don't tell her about this kind of stuff now. I celebrate with DH.

And I gotta tell ya, you make me feel better on another front - I feel silly getting 6-9 month pants for her, but the larger stuff falls off her. I use safety pins.

But if you use the 6-9 month clothes as well, I don't feel so silly.

I guess I keep expecting someone to yell at me for putting my 17 month old is 6-9 or 9-12 month clothes. (I dunno who - the clothing police??)

She has some 18 month clothes. They are very pretty and summery. I wonder when we will use them. January? Next summer? Oh well, clothes last a long time with her!

[Barksum]

Still snickering over the clothing . 'Ok, ma'am, I'm going to have to cite you for having an 18 month old wearing a 6-9month outfit. You can explain it to the judge.'

I also bought these really CUTE summer outfits for this summer. They were on clearance last fall, all in 18m size because I thought she'd be wearing that size by this summer. She can wear the little tops, and the one piece outfits, but the little puff shorts just fall right off. LOL I swear the child has almost no body fat, and it freaks me out when she gets sick and loses a few ounces.

[spitzlvr]

Oh! I understand about the weight loss. My girl was sick about a month ago, and didn't want to eat or drink. She lost over a pound soooo quickly!!! When we had her at the docs, he gave us meds and a timeline - she had to at least be drinking x amount every hour. If she wouldn't, she was going into the hsopital! Scared the xxxxx out of me! He was concerned because she was so small - no reserves there at all.

When we got home we coaxed and coaxed, and got her to take some drink. Then, when the meds kicked in, she started feeling better enough to eat and drink.

but BOY! were we scared!

I can just imagine what my Mom would have said.... (I didn't feel the need to tell her, unless dd went into the hospital.)

[ourdreamcametru]

My sister in law's girls are so over weight and when we are all at my husbands parents house his mother just pokes the sweets in all the grandkids. Our three kids don't ever want to eat more than a slice of pie or a bowl of icecream because we just don't buy sweets at our house very often. Needless to say our kids are not large at all weight wise, our oldest is 6'3" and weighs 150, 13 year old son is 5'1" and weighs 85 and our three year old daughter, who is part filipino, is 37 inches tall and weighs 26 lbs. My mother in law is always remarking when we are around that the other grandkids just look so much healthier and that our kids look malnourshed!?!!?!?! Yes, she says this in front of our kids but luckly our boys are old enough to know that the other kids don't eat healthy. Some people just aren't very good with words!

[thediva320]

I don't know if you looked into it, but Walmart (and I'm sure other stores) sell PediaSure. It's like Ensure or Boost but for lil toddlers and such. Anyway, if she won't eat very much you can try those, they give great nutrition to help build up her weight. My son went thru a brief period of not wanting to eat (no longer an issue......now i can't get him to STOP eating sometimes....LOL) But that seemed to help when he wouldn't eat. I think they make Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla. Just an idea.