anyone have any tips for getting a kid to gain weight?

I have to add this as well - because we just tried it out and my daughter is gobbling it up. A friend of mine was telling me how she and her sister used to mix nestle quik with peanut butter as a homemade version of peanut butter cups since their mom wouldn't buy treats. So I took half an envelope of Carnation Instant Breakfast, added about 1 TBSP of Hershey's chocolate syrup and mixed until all the powder was mixed in. Then I added about 2 TBSP of peanut butter. (I wasn't measuring, so these are super apx amounts) Mixed it all together until it was the thickness of frosting.

She ate some plain, but it is pretty rich, so I spread it on graham crackers. Talk about calorie dense!

I entered those numbers into a recipe calculator and got 300 calories, 10 gr protein, and 25 grams sugar. (Not including crackers)

I definitely suggest speaking with your pediatrician. Being thin or having low weight does not necessarily indicate a problem. My daughter was always on the line between average and below average (but never under weight) however she was always in the 90th percentile or higher for height which means although she was thin she was still growing at a steady rate. The pediatrician had no concerns and we just let her continue as normal. She is 15 now and is about 5'8" (or more) and still slender but at a healthy and within normal weight range.

My niece on the other hand is both under weight AND height (as in not growing well, she is 7 and is basically the same size as a 5 yr old). The pediatrician (same as mine) did suggest that she gain weight. I won't tell you the specific suggestion on how as I think that should be determined individually for each child.

My nephew is bordering on overweight and his parents have been told he needs to lose weight. Same pediatrician by they way. See how that works out differently for each child?

So again I suggest scheduling an appt with your pediatrician and having a check up for your son. They will weigh and measure and bust out the charts to see if there is a growth issue. Best of luck.

eat lots of mcdonalds and KFC

IF he's eating healthy and what you would consider enough for a child his age I wouldn't be in a big rush to get weight on him. When I was young, I couldn't put on an ounce try as I might....I ate well enough but my activity level was so high I just burned it off. My mother would send my brother and I down the street to the Dairy Queen every evening after supper for ice cream trying as you are, to get weight on us. We loved the ice cream, but it didn't add an ounce to either of us.

In my 28th year that all changed. I finally began adding weight....not a lot, maybe a pound a year. This was happening because my activity level had changed....I was no longer playing baseball, football etc., or running or biking everywhere I went, but was sailing (sitting), working behind a desk, watching tv, (something I'd never done before) and reading. With the more sedentary lifestyle the pounds began sneaking their way onto me.

If the doctor says he's healthy and you feel he's eating well....I wouldn't worry about it. To try and force weight on him now might end up creating a pattern for him in the future where he ends up fighting weight the rest of his life.

The most shocking thing I find is sitting at crosswalk near a school with the kids passing in front of my car. When I was in school, we had maybe 3 or 4 kids in the whole school that were overweight....new it seems like half the kids passing in front of my car are portly...it's really sad.

Another vote here for 'Don't worry about it unless your Dr tells you that he is underweight'. Most kids who their parents are convinced are underweight are actually growing perfectly well and are not underweight at all. Trying to 'fatten them up' is needless stress for both parent and child, and potentially harmful.

Conflict of interest - I am a paediatrican :flowerforyou:

Over a year ago we were worried about our 12 year old son, who was 5'0" and weighed 70 lbs. Since then we have brought him to 2 doctors. Both say he is in the 2% of his weight class (98% of all other boys weigh more than him), very underweight and it needs to be addressed. They both suggested Ensure or Boost once a day. That's just not doing it. We've gone to whole milk, lots of butter, cheese, milkshakes, etc. He's now 5' 1 1/2" and weighs 85 lbs. He plays soccer and baseball so he's somewhat active. Of course, he's the smallest boy on the field. I'm his dad and I'm 6'3" and weigh 203. My oldest son is 16 years old and is 6'2" and weighs 170 lbs. A friend suggested adding protein powder to his milkshakes. Is that something we should try? What else can we do?

if he's gone from 70 lb to 85 lb then that's a big growth!

You have some excellent advice already. If the doctor encourages you to try getting more calories in him, I can tell you some of the things that have worked for my daughter:

1) As mentioned calorie dense foods, so you aren't trying to get him to eat more volume of foods. Put dressing, butter, dips, peanut butter, sauce, etc on anything you can. For example, we add a tsp of olive oil to my daughter's applesauce, and dip pretzels into peanut butter,

2) Consider a nutrient supplement such as Carnation Instant Breakfast or Ensure. We give her 1 in the morning with breakfast, and usually half in the evening before bed. 8 ounces of whole milk is around 150 calories. 8 ounces of Ensure is 250 calories.

3) Try to offer snacks often. I hate that I feed my daughter when she's not hungry, but I can count the number of times in her life she's claimed hunger on 1 hand. We do breakfast at 7am, snack at 9, lunch at 11, snack at 2, dinner at 5, milk before bed at 7. We have other food issues, including Selective Eating Disorder and tactile sensitivity, so sometime it feels like feeding her is a full time job.

4) We allow our daughter to watch TV while she eats. For the exact same reason adults who are watching their calories shouldn't. It's easier to get distracted and mindlessly eat. She will sit for longer and eat more.

edited for clarity

i have a hard time with some of these. Is she dangerously underweight? Seems like it creates bad habits. Many kids are small and grow into adults with weight problems. My kids are small for their age but I'm not going to start to force feed them and add oil and fat to everything. And encourage mindless eating and eating when not hungry? I would get a second opinion if my dr was recommending that. What will she do as an fault when she actually may want to lose weight and has been conditioned to eat regardless of her own body's cues. How small is she???

I know you mean well, so I will try to answer your concerns.

My daughter (now 6 yrs old) never made the transition to solid foods as an infant/toddler. At 2 years old she was diagnosed 'failure to thrive' because of her low weight. We have kept her pediatrician (who I love) through all of this. Additionally we have had her seen by specialists at a children's hospital, as well as allergy specialists. At the age of 4 we began work with a physical & occupational therapist, and at age 5 added behavior therapy. So we are well surrounded by a team of professionals who agree we need to feed this girl ANY way we can.

She is 80th percentile for height and with a huge effort on my part we keep her around 30th for weight. This is close to her percentiles from birth and her first 12 months while she was nursing. This is also up considerably from the 0 percentile she was at age 2. Her statistics were literally off the charts. We weigh her weekly, and I count her calories. It has taken her 5 months to gain 2 pounds this spring. Trust me, the tactics we use are needed. I understand we may be setting her up for bad adult habits, but at this point it's the lesser of 2 evils. I get her foods from every food group at lunch and dinner. We work tirelessly to introduce her to new and healthy foods. But the main focus is on getting calories in that girl.

She has a brother, who is also quite slender, he loves fruits and veggies. His metabolism is ridiculously high, and I feed him a lot of high calorie though healthy foods as well. However he eats and gains weight reasonably well. He's just a normal 'skinny' kids. I was as a child, so was my husband. Unfortunately our daughter is not.

take him out of the cage, let him out of the basement, and feed him?

I have to put my two cents in on this. First, you need to work with your child's doctor and map out a strategy, fine tuning along the way. Plan your child's meals ahead and if there is a few days you get a little nervous about the nutrition he/she is receiving, keep some Pediasure or another child approved supplement. For what it's worth, I am a 78 year old grandmother who raised two children with eating disorders. Today I made the following Mac and Cheese and both grandchildren (also with food problems) gobbled it up.
1 TBS butter
1 TBS flour
1 can of evaporated milk
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
a sprinkle of garlic powder, onion powder and Zatarain Creole Seasoning
Mix all together put in a casserole dish and sprinkle 1/2 more cheese on top, pop in a 350 oven for about 20 mins.
Also, I make my scalloped potatoes this way (cube the potatoes).

Do I eat this? No, I am on weight loss food.

You have some excellent advice already. If the doctor encourages you to try getting more calories in him, I can tell you some of the things that have worked for my daughter:

1) As mentioned calorie dense foods, so you aren't trying to get him to eat more volume of foods. Put dressing, butter, dips, peanut butter, sauce, etc on anything you can. For example, we add a tsp of olive oil to my daughter's applesauce, and dip pretzels into peanut butter,

2) Consider a nutrient supplement such as Carnation Instant Breakfast or Ensure. We give her 1 in the morning with breakfast, and usually half in the evening before bed. 8 ounces of whole milk is around 150 calories. 8 ounces of Ensure is 250 calories.

3) Try to offer snacks often. I hate that I feed my daughter when she's not hungry, but I can count the number of times in her life she's claimed hunger on 1 hand. We do breakfast at 7am, snack at 9, lunch at 11, snack at 2, dinner at 5, milk before bed at 7. We have other food issues, including Selective Eating Disorder and tactile sensitivity, so sometime it feels like feeding her is a full time job.

4) We allow our daughter to watch TV while she eats. For the exact same reason adults who are watching their calories shouldn't. It's easier to get distracted and mindlessly eat. She will sit for longer and eat more.

edited for clarity

i have a hard time with some of these. Is she dangerously underweight? Seems like it creates bad habits. Many kids are small and grow into adults with weight problems. My kids are small for their age but I'm not going to start to force feed them and add oil and fat to everything. And encourage mindless eating and eating when not hungry? I would get a second opinion if my dr was recommending that. What will she do as an fault when she actually may want to lose weight and has been conditioned to eat regardless of her own body's cues. How small is she???

I know you mean well, so I will try to answer your concerns.

My daughter (now 6 yrs old) never made the transition to solid foods as an infant/toddler. At 2 years old she was diagnosed 'failure to thrive' because of her low weight. We have kept her pediatrician (who I love) through all of this. Additionally we have had her seen by specialists at a children's hospital, as well as allergy specialists. At the age of 4 we began work with a physical & occupational therapist, and at age 5 added behavior therapy. So we are well surrounded by a team of professionals who agree we need to feed this girl ANY way we can.

She is 80th percentile for height and with a huge effort on my part we keep her around 30th for weight. This is close to her percentiles from birth and her first 12 months while she was nursing. This is also up considerably from the 0 percentile she was at age 2. Her statistics were literally off the charts. We weigh her weekly, and I count her calories. It has taken her 5 months to gain 2 pounds this spring. Trust me, the tactics we use are needed. I understand we may be setting her up for bad adult habits, but at this point it's the lesser of 2 evils. I get her foods from every food group at lunch and dinner. We work tirelessly to introduce her to new and healthy foods. But the main focus is on getting calories in that girl.

She has a brother, who is also quite slender, he loves fruits and veggies. His metabolism is ridiculously high, and I feed him a lot of high calorie though healthy foods as well. However he eats and gains weight reasonably well. He's just a normal 'skinny' kids. I was as a child, so was my husband. Unfortunately our daughter is not.

ok it sounds as though she has other issues, isn't just a typical thin kid. I have a daughter who us in the 10% for weight and I do not count her calories or push foods but she is thriving otherwise. I'm sorry if I jumped to conclusions. I see a lot of people pushing the oils And fats and shakes and I feel if a kid is is healthy and gets a balanced diet then you do to need to go to extremes. Sounds like you had to get serious about it.

Indeed, as I mentioned she has SED (Selective Eating Disorder) and tactile sensory challenges, as well as anxiety. We see this affect other areas of her life, but the area it affects most is her eating. Add that to a naturally high metabolism and thin body, and we did indeed have to get serious about it.

I didn't go into all these details earlier, because, no matter what the reasons are for a child needing help getting more calories, there are lots of different things to try. I thought I would share with OP those things that worked best for us. Again assuming as I first stated a doctor is supporting the goal to gain weight.

Cheers