High-Calorie Foods for Toddlers
One of the most lasting effects of prematurity and growth restriction has been slow weight gain. While Jack is growing steadily along his own curve, we are constantly doing what we can to ensure he has all the calories he needs for development.
I want to share that this is not medical advice. If you believe your child needs to gain weight, please consult with his/her doctor and ask for a referral to a nutritionist, who can help guide you to meet your child’s nutritional needs.
My toddler needs to gain weight, now what?
To hear that your child isn’t growing adequately can be one of the most devastating conversations you can have. It can feel like failure, but I want to assure you, neither you nor your child are failing. Jack technically has a “failure to thrive” diagnosis, (OUCH) and I have had many of those difficult conversations. I know that Jack is not failing to thrive, but we still want to ensure he is growing well and developing well, and it’s something I think about at every meal time.
Before I get into the fun stuff, let’s talk about Pediasure for a second. Doctors and dietitians are very quick to recommend Pediasure or other meal-replacement shakes for kids who need more calories. For some kids, this is a great recommendation. We do use Pediasure and Orgain for Jack, but we use it with caution. Meal replacement shakes are just that– meal replacements. There’s a good chance your child’s appetite will decrease if they’re drinking meal replacement shakes. If your child is generally a good eater and a doctor recommends one of these shakes to you, you might want to ask if it would be safe and appropriate to try to incorporate more calories into what your child is eating instead.
What do I feed my toddler who needs to gain weight?
My approach here has been to start with what our family already eats and add calories, not to cook separate meals! For example, we swap regular pasta for lentil pasta, add flax and hemp to oatmeal, and no bread goes unbuttered! We toss veggies or pasta in oil or butter; swap milk for heavy whipping cream; sprinkle some extra cheese on… well, anything! You can add calories to almost everything, sometimes it just takes a little creativity. You don’t have to cook them a separate meal!
Here are some of my favorite ways to add nutritious calories:
Olive oil
Avocado oil
Coconut oil
Butter (we love Kerrygold)
Heavy whipping cream or half and half
Ground flax (great in breads, smoothies, oatmeal)
Hemp seed (perfect in oatmeal, another twin mama shared this one with me!)
Nut butters
Mayonnaise
Avocado
Honey
Maple Syrup
Egg yolk (soft or hard-boiled)
Cheese
Become a label-reading pro
Grocery shopping is like a vacation to me. An hour alone to browse the aisles and read labels? Yes, please! As long as I have my hand sanitizer with me. I’ve become a pro label-reader, and it’s paying off. One of the biggest switches we made early on was our bread. The bread we were regularly giving the boys only had 40 calories per slice. There are many brands of wheat bread that offer 120-130 calories per slice. This makes such a huge difference! Add some avocado, butter, or nut butter and you’ve got a great breakfast or snack.
If your kiddo loves pouches, (mine do) read those labels! Many pouches are 45-60 calories, but I never buy any that have fewer than 80 calories. My favorite are the Sprout toddler Power Pak pouches. They’re organic and offer 110-140 calories per pouch!
One of our favorite easy breakfasts for the boys is instant oatmeal. I love Nature’s Path Flax Plus oatmeal instead of the regular Quaker. It has almost double the calories and I add hemp seeds and some honey for sweetness!
Reading labels has been really important. Even when you grab something you assume is high-calorie, compare it to another brand or even another flavor! Sometimes the calorie difference can be pretty drastic and every calorie counts!
These are some of my favorite off-the-shelf items:
Tolerant Red Lentil Pasta is loaded with calories and protein! (Aldi and Trader Joe’s also have lentil pasta, but I like the taste of Tolerant best so far)
What about fruits and veggies?
@kids.eat.in.color is one of my newest favorite Instagram accounts! I would highly recommend following Jennifer, who is a registered dietician. She regularly shares helpful tips on a well-balanced and colorful diet, and I love to see the creative ways she offers fruits and vegetables. I appreciated this list of high(er) calories fruits and veggies she shared the other day:
Blueberries (the boys’ absolute favorite)
Grapes
Avocado
Banana
Dried fruit
Coconut
Dates
Potatoes/Sweet Potatoes (super easy to butter up, Jack and Ben love them right now!)
Broccoli/cooked greens
Peas
Beans
Hummus
Olives
This list is certainly not comprehensive, but I hope it helps get your wheels turning! I would love to hear some of your favorite ways to get extra calories into your toddler’s diet.
