What about the long run?

[craftyashley]

So I had preemies- 4lb and 6lb twins. They have always been really small. They can't seem to get above the 5% in their weight. The doctor is having me feed them often with as much fat as I can.... loading them up with real butter, whole milk, etc. She even said "pour on the syrup! Just get their weights up!"
This has been working- they haven't lost any weight, but at 23 mos, they are barely 20 lbs. Catie might still be under that.
Anyway, back to the point- I was wondering today, I am feeding them all this fatty high-calorie food, but what happens when they grow up and only want this kind of food? Am I setting them up for failure as adults? They are eating lots of fruits and veggies, but we go out of our way to make sure that their food is very heavy and has lots of protein. I'm just not sure a diet like this would be good for a person of normal weight. Most articles I've read suggest to put kids age 2 on 2% milk. I'm not sure if I should be worried about childhood obesity because the girls are still so tiny- but I am worried about it nonetheless. I've also heard that they are still mimicking what happened in the womb (in terms of the size differences between them) and that at age 2 they will start growing on a more consistent scale. So are they going to balloon up?
This is starting to sound a little crazed, but any advice you all may have would be great. Anyone have preemies that are a bit older- like 4-5?

[mschuman]

I had a preemie at 30 weeks and she weighed 3 pounds. We have always struggled with her weight. She is now 2 1/2 and weighs 21 pounds. She is on Ovultine supplements, which really help boost her intake of vitamins and minerals. She is still on whole milk until she catches up. She eats a lot of fruits, veggies, etc. Her peditrician told me not to give her just crap to beef her up, she will catch up when her body is good and ready. Hang in there, I know it is tough. I constantly worry about her weight!

[lechyrechy]

My daughter was born at 25 weeks. She is also skinny (but tall). She's 17months and not even 20lbs. We gave her Beneprotien for a while, that seemed to help. She's off it now, but eats well. We feed her a balanced diet.

[pandm63]

My son was born at 26 weeks, we have been lucky, although we had a tough time at first feeding him solids (he has a very high palette from being on a vent for 6 weeks) he's started catching up, he is now 15 mos actual, 12 adjusted.

According to his therapists and his pediatrician, babies under the age of 2 have different nutritional needs than when they get older, they need the additional fat for brain and eye development, especially in preemies, I've found it worked better to go by his adjusted age with feeding, I do still give him toddler formula (they have formula especially for toddlers aged 9 mos to 24 mos) too much milk constipates him. It's a good way to get calories into him. I do little things to add fat to his meals, like making scrambled eggs with cream cheese and butter, or spreading cream cheese on a rice cake, my plan is that when he is ready to gradually reduce the fatty stuff I feed him while keeping the basic food (like when he is old enough reducing the amount of butter and cream cheese in his eggs, but still give him eggs).

It's so hard to tell what you are supposed to do, there is not too much info out there on nutirtion for older preemies! In discussing the eating habits with the ped, he told me that adding extra fat is okay, most of the studies on eating habits refer to feeding children junk food (french fries, chips etc.), and "There isn't a window of time to develop their eating habits, it's not like you have a period of time to get them to want to eat right and if you miss it they are doomed to eat horribly for the rest of their lives, eating habits are developed over a period of years, it's never too late, the best thing you can do is set the example with what you yourself eat as well as feed them mostly healthy food."

He also told me that toddlers will know when they have had enough food, they really regulate themselves and not to worry about weight gain now, weight gain is good until he gets caught up, I've noticed when my son goes on a growth spurt he looks like he is getting chunky, and then thins back out, I take him to the dr and he has gained weight and length. I've also read that they will need to eat more and more as they become more mobile because they are burning the extra calories by running around.

Hope this helps. : )

[craftyashley]

Thanks! I guess I'm just going to hang in there. They must be going through a growth spurt because they are sleeping a ton and eating me out of house and home!
I like putting cream cheese in the eggs. Great idea!
I also want to clarify- I'm not giving them junk food- for instance with the pancakes, I make them myself with whole grain flour, flaxseed meal, whole milk, and bananas. but I do put syrup on them.... but I won't eat them! I'd gain 5 lbs just by looking at them too long! That just seems weird.
We give them a lot of oatmeal, eggs, and grilled cheese sandwiches on whole grain bread.... along with the fruit and veggies on the side.
They will probably always be small, thin girls (I'm secretly jealous). Thanks for all your help!

[KBoyd326]

I am so glad I joined and read all this. I have 8 month old twin girls, identical....except size. Jordyn was 6 lbs 8 oz and at 8 mos is now 20lbs. But Marley only weighed 3 lbs 15 oz and at 8 mos is only 12 lbs. We are feeding her the neosure still in her bottles or mixed with cereal and I am giving her the gerber baby food that has added DHA in it. The doc was very worried the first couple of months, but they ran all the tests (poor thing) and she is perfect, just small. But I'm very happy to know that there are others out there. They say she will catch up to her sister by age 3, but seriously, I don't see how. Who cares, happy and healthy are all that matter. Thanks for all the great tips!

[mommy2boftwins]

I had preemie twins b/g at 29 weeks. My girl was 2.4 lbs and my boy was 2 lbs. I started taking them to a ped gastrointologist after they came home from the hospital and he had me mix their formula so that it would be a higher calorie mixture. Most formulas are 20-22 calories but he had me mix it so it was 24 calories. My twins are 8 months old now and I am still mixing my formula at 24 cal. My boy weighs 15.4 and my girl is 14.9. They have just hit the bottom of the 5% range on the growth chart. You might ask your ped if they know about mixing the formula to make it higher in calories. It really does work.

[Tropical Escape]

Isabelle and Aislynn were preemies, and are five years old and were also extremely small when they were born (but they weren't as early or small as Caroline and Noelle who were born recently and who are still in the hospital.) Isabelle was 4 lbs, and Aislynn was 3.5. They never were the weight that they were supposed to be, in fact it took me a very long time to be able to dress them in actual clothes that would fit them. (they still are EXTREMELY small.)

Now that they are 5, I have more of a range to feed them with but they are still underweight, and I've been told to give them more calories. The thing is my daughters are obsessed with watermelon and apples, they aren't big sweet eaters (I raised them to stay away from swets, and I am glad that none of my children go nuts over junk food.)

My daughters are extremely small still for their age and people mistake Gwendolyn for their triplet too, because Gwendolyn is almost as heavy as my twin girls.