If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

hmw

New member
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

Emily is really tiny for her age; growth failure is what led to her dx. She was just over the 5% on the growth charts for her height and weight at the time of dx.

Anyway, here is the story: once she started enzymes she started gaining weight nicely and as a matter of fact, she's gained about 6 pounds in the last year- which is amazing! It's more weight than she'd gained in the previous 5 years. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> She's also grown 2"- nearly as much as she'd grown in 5 years. However... it's very little progress made on the charts, because a kid her age gains, on the average, 5 or 6 pounds a year and a couple inches, and so at this rate she isn't gaining much ground (she's gone from the 5% to about 12% in weight and 7% in height.) I know she's gained more than 6 pounds but she loses weight when she gets sick and she's had a couple really nasty illnesses. You know how that goes.

Here is my concern: her BMI has gone up a bit since her weight is now higher than her height on the growth charts. But she is still so small and thin; you should see this kid compared to everyone else in her grade. When I measured her for school clothes last fall at 7.5 her chest was 21". This didn't mean much to me until I read posts that toddlers could get a Vest when they hit 20". I know how important nutritional status is for maintaining pulmonary health and it's frustrating to see the setbacks on the scale with every illness. But if they go strictly by BMI, that is (very slowly) creeping up over time even if it's due more to slower gains in height on the chart than anything else.

She has a big appetite and eats a wide variety of good food. We are working with enzymes and have eliminated a lot of greasy poop at this point with 2 Creon12's with snacks (3 if it's something enormous) and 3-4 with a meal. We try to keep ahead of illnesses with increased treatments.

So far the possibility of a g-tube is one we've only had to dance around since she's gained weight between most appts, but her size has been of big concern all along and she went into this at a big disadvantage. I know only her dr's can give us the decision-making guidance we need, but I was looking for input from any of you with experience here...
 

hmw

New member
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

Emily is really tiny for her age; growth failure is what led to her dx. She was just over the 5% on the growth charts for her height and weight at the time of dx.

Anyway, here is the story: once she started enzymes she started gaining weight nicely and as a matter of fact, she's gained about 6 pounds in the last year- which is amazing! It's more weight than she'd gained in the previous 5 years. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> She's also grown 2"- nearly as much as she'd grown in 5 years. However... it's very little progress made on the charts, because a kid her age gains, on the average, 5 or 6 pounds a year and a couple inches, and so at this rate she isn't gaining much ground (she's gone from the 5% to about 12% in weight and 7% in height.) I know she's gained more than 6 pounds but she loses weight when she gets sick and she's had a couple really nasty illnesses. You know how that goes.

Here is my concern: her BMI has gone up a bit since her weight is now higher than her height on the growth charts. But she is still so small and thin; you should see this kid compared to everyone else in her grade. When I measured her for school clothes last fall at 7.5 her chest was 21". This didn't mean much to me until I read posts that toddlers could get a Vest when they hit 20". I know how important nutritional status is for maintaining pulmonary health and it's frustrating to see the setbacks on the scale with every illness. But if they go strictly by BMI, that is (very slowly) creeping up over time even if it's due more to slower gains in height on the chart than anything else.

She has a big appetite and eats a wide variety of good food. We are working with enzymes and have eliminated a lot of greasy poop at this point with 2 Creon12's with snacks (3 if it's something enormous) and 3-4 with a meal. We try to keep ahead of illnesses with increased treatments.

So far the possibility of a g-tube is one we've only had to dance around since she's gained weight between most appts, but her size has been of big concern all along and she went into this at a big disadvantage. I know only her dr's can give us the decision-making guidance we need, but I was looking for input from any of you with experience here...
 

hmw

New member
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

Emily is really tiny for her age; growth failure is what led to her dx. She was just over the 5% on the growth charts for her height and weight at the time of dx.

Anyway, here is the story: once she started enzymes she started gaining weight nicely and as a matter of fact, she's gained about 6 pounds in the last year- which is amazing! It's more weight than she'd gained in the previous 5 years. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> She's also grown 2"- nearly as much as she'd grown in 5 years. However... it's very little progress made on the charts, because a kid her age gains, on the average, 5 or 6 pounds a year and a couple inches, and so at this rate she isn't gaining much ground (she's gone from the 5% to about 12% in weight and 7% in height.) I know she's gained more than 6 pounds but she loses weight when she gets sick and she's had a couple really nasty illnesses. You know how that goes.

Here is my concern: her BMI has gone up a bit since her weight is now higher than her height on the growth charts. But she is still so small and thin; you should see this kid compared to everyone else in her grade. When I measured her for school clothes last fall at 7.5 her chest was 21". This didn't mean much to me until I read posts that toddlers could get a Vest when they hit 20". I know how important nutritional status is for maintaining pulmonary health and it's frustrating to see the setbacks on the scale with every illness. But if they go strictly by BMI, that is (very slowly) creeping up over time even if it's due more to slower gains in height on the chart than anything else.

She has a big appetite and eats a wide variety of good food. We are working with enzymes and have eliminated a lot of greasy poop at this point with 2 Creon12's with snacks (3 if it's something enormous) and 3-4 with a meal. We try to keep ahead of illnesses with increased treatments.

So far the possibility of a g-tube is one we've only had to dance around since she's gained weight between most appts, but her size has been of big concern all along and she went into this at a big disadvantage. I know only her dr's can give us the decision-making guidance we need, but I was looking for input from any of you with experience here...
 

hmw

New member
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

Emily is really tiny for her age; growth failure is what led to her dx. She was just over the 5% on the growth charts for her height and weight at the time of dx.

Anyway, here is the story: once she started enzymes she started gaining weight nicely and as a matter of fact, she's gained about 6 pounds in the last year- which is amazing! It's more weight than she'd gained in the previous 5 years. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> She's also grown 2"- nearly as much as she'd grown in 5 years. However... it's very little progress made on the charts, because a kid her age gains, on the average, 5 or 6 pounds a year and a couple inches, and so at this rate she isn't gaining much ground (she's gone from the 5% to about 12% in weight and 7% in height.) I know she's gained more than 6 pounds but she loses weight when she gets sick and she's had a couple really nasty illnesses. You know how that goes.

Here is my concern: her BMI has gone up a bit since her weight is now higher than her height on the growth charts. But she is still so small and thin; you should see this kid compared to everyone else in her grade. When I measured her for school clothes last fall at 7.5 her chest was 21". This didn't mean much to me until I read posts that toddlers could get a Vest when they hit 20". I know how important nutritional status is for maintaining pulmonary health and it's frustrating to see the setbacks on the scale with every illness. But if they go strictly by BMI, that is (very slowly) creeping up over time even if it's due more to slower gains in height on the chart than anything else.

She has a big appetite and eats a wide variety of good food. We are working with enzymes and have eliminated a lot of greasy poop at this point with 2 Creon12's with snacks (3 if it's something enormous) and 3-4 with a meal. We try to keep ahead of illnesses with increased treatments.

So far the possibility of a g-tube is one we've only had to dance around since she's gained weight between most appts, but her size has been of big concern all along and she went into this at a big disadvantage. I know only her dr's can give us the decision-making guidance we need, but I was looking for input from any of you with experience here...
 

hmw

New member
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

Emily is really tiny for her age; growth failure is what led to her dx. She was just over the 5% on the growth charts for her height and weight at the time of dx.
<br />
<br />Anyway, here is the story: once she started enzymes she started gaining weight nicely and as a matter of fact, she's gained about 6 pounds in the last year- which is amazing! It's more weight than she'd gained in the previous 5 years. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> She's also grown 2"- nearly as much as she'd grown in 5 years. However... it's very little progress made on the charts, because a kid her age gains, on the average, 5 or 6 pounds a year and a couple inches, and so at this rate she isn't gaining much ground (she's gone from the 5% to about 12% in weight and 7% in height.) I know she's gained more than 6 pounds but she loses weight when she gets sick and she's had a couple really nasty illnesses. You know how that goes.
<br />
<br />Here is my concern: her BMI has gone up a bit since her weight is now higher than her height on the growth charts. But she is still so small and thin; you should see this kid compared to everyone else in her grade. When I measured her for school clothes last fall at 7.5 her chest was 21". This didn't mean much to me until I read posts that toddlers could get a Vest when they hit 20". I know how important nutritional status is for maintaining pulmonary health and it's frustrating to see the setbacks on the scale with every illness. But if they go strictly by BMI, that is (very slowly) creeping up over time even if it's due more to slower gains in height on the chart than anything else.
<br />
<br />She has a big appetite and eats a wide variety of good food. We are working with enzymes and have eliminated a lot of greasy poop at this point with 2 Creon12's with snacks (3 if it's something enormous) and 3-4 with a meal. We try to keep ahead of illnesses with increased treatments.
<br />
<br />So far the possibility of a g-tube is one we've only had to dance around since she's gained weight between most appts, but her size has been of big concern all along and she went into this at a big disadvantage. I know only her dr's can give us the decision-making guidance we need, but I was looking for input from any of you with experience here...
 

Buckeye

New member
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

I feel for you!!!! The whole weight gain issue sucks.My son's GI Doctor's focus is growth charts. And everytime he gains a pound I get really, really excited until I realize that he has aged another year or grew another inch and it sort of negates the weight gain.A new wrinkle that was introduced to us yesterday was the doctor said that we need to start really really pushing the calories (like I don't already) because there is a window when a kid is going through puberty where they will normally have a growth spurt and if we don't take advantage of this growth spurt window then he may be this small for the rest of his life.Right now he is a short 49 pound 10 year old that looks like a 5 years old, so I really don't want him to be 20 years old and look like he's 6 or 7.Problem is that he has had a g-tube for years and is PS, so there is something else going on that is causing him to not grow properly.I guess I have no real advice, just wanted to know that you are not alone<img src="i/expressions/hugging.gif" border="0">.
 

Buckeye

New member
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

I feel for you!!!! The whole weight gain issue sucks.My son's GI Doctor's focus is growth charts. And everytime he gains a pound I get really, really excited until I realize that he has aged another year or grew another inch and it sort of negates the weight gain.A new wrinkle that was introduced to us yesterday was the doctor said that we need to start really really pushing the calories (like I don't already) because there is a window when a kid is going through puberty where they will normally have a growth spurt and if we don't take advantage of this growth spurt window then he may be this small for the rest of his life.Right now he is a short 49 pound 10 year old that looks like a 5 years old, so I really don't want him to be 20 years old and look like he's 6 or 7.Problem is that he has had a g-tube for years and is PS, so there is something else going on that is causing him to not grow properly.I guess I have no real advice, just wanted to know that you are not alone<img src="i/expressions/hugging.gif" border="0">.
 

Buckeye

New member
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

I feel for you!!!! The whole weight gain issue sucks.My son's GI Doctor's focus is growth charts. And everytime he gains a pound I get really, really excited until I realize that he has aged another year or grew another inch and it sort of negates the weight gain.A new wrinkle that was introduced to us yesterday was the doctor said that we need to start really really pushing the calories (like I don't already) because there is a window when a kid is going through puberty where they will normally have a growth spurt and if we don't take advantage of this growth spurt window then he may be this small for the rest of his life.Right now he is a short 49 pound 10 year old that looks like a 5 years old, so I really don't want him to be 20 years old and look like he's 6 or 7.Problem is that he has had a g-tube for years and is PS, so there is something else going on that is causing him to not grow properly.I guess I have no real advice, just wanted to know that you are not alone<img src="i/expressions/hugging.gif" border="0">.
 

Buckeye

New member
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

I feel for you!!!! The whole weight gain issue sucks.My son's GI Doctor's focus is growth charts. And everytime he gains a pound I get really, really excited until I realize that he has aged another year or grew another inch and it sort of negates the weight gain.A new wrinkle that was introduced to us yesterday was the doctor said that we need to start really really pushing the calories (like I don't already) because there is a window when a kid is going through puberty where they will normally have a growth spurt and if we don't take advantage of this growth spurt window then he may be this small for the rest of his life.Right now he is a short 49 pound 10 year old that looks like a 5 years old, so I really don't want him to be 20 years old and look like he's 6 or 7.Problem is that he has had a g-tube for years and is PS, so there is something else going on that is causing him to not grow properly.I guess I have no real advice, just wanted to know that you are not alone<img src="i/expressions/hugging.gif" border="0">.
 

Buckeye

New member
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

I feel for you!!!! The whole weight gain issue sucks.<p>My son's GI Doctor's focus is growth charts. And everytime he gains a pound I get really, really excited until I realize that he has aged another year or grew another inch and it sort of negates the weight gain.<p>A new wrinkle that was introduced to us yesterday was the doctor said that we need to start really really pushing the calories (like I don't already) because there is a window when a kid is going through puberty where they will normally have a growth spurt and if we don't take advantage of this growth spurt window then he may be this small for the rest of his life.<p>Right now he is a short 49 pound 10 year old that looks like a 5 years old, so I really don't want him to be 20 years old and look like he's 6 or 7.<p>Problem is that he has had a g-tube for years and is PS, so there is something else going on that is causing him to not grow properly.<p>I guess I have no real advice, just wanted to know that you are not alone<img src="i/expressions/hugging.gif" border="0">.
 
M

Mommafirst

Guest
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

Our doctors were more concerned with BMI than the growth chart -- however, both are important. You need to see the BMI and balance it with where they are on THEIR growth curve and how that curve relates to others their age. In the year since Alyssa got her g-tube, she has gone from 2% BMI to 70% BMI and back down to 30% BMI after being sick. It fluctuates THAT much. She has also gained on her growth chart remarkably and she is now on par in height and weight with her peers.
 
M

Mommafirst

Guest
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

Our doctors were more concerned with BMI than the growth chart -- however, both are important. You need to see the BMI and balance it with where they are on THEIR growth curve and how that curve relates to others their age. In the year since Alyssa got her g-tube, she has gone from 2% BMI to 70% BMI and back down to 30% BMI after being sick. It fluctuates THAT much. She has also gained on her growth chart remarkably and she is now on par in height and weight with her peers.
 
M

Mommafirst

Guest
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

Our doctors were more concerned with BMI than the growth chart -- however, both are important. You need to see the BMI and balance it with where they are on THEIR growth curve and how that curve relates to others their age. In the year since Alyssa got her g-tube, she has gone from 2% BMI to 70% BMI and back down to 30% BMI after being sick. It fluctuates THAT much. She has also gained on her growth chart remarkably and she is now on par in height and weight with her peers.
 
M

Mommafirst

Guest
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

Our doctors were more concerned with BMI than the growth chart -- however, both are important. You need to see the BMI and balance it with where they are on THEIR growth curve and how that curve relates to others their age. In the year since Alyssa got her g-tube, she has gone from 2% BMI to 70% BMI and back down to 30% BMI after being sick. It fluctuates THAT much. She has also gained on her growth chart remarkably and she is now on par in height and weight with her peers.
 
M

Mommafirst

Guest
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

Our doctors were more concerned with BMI than the growth chart -- however, both are important. You need to see the BMI and balance it with where they are on THEIR growth curve and how that curve relates to others their age. In the year since Alyssa got her g-tube, she has gone from 2% BMI to 70% BMI and back down to 30% BMI after being sick. It fluctuates THAT much. She has also gained on her growth chart remarkably and she is now on par in height and weight with her peers.
<br />
<br />
 

kitomd21

New member
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

My daughter's nutritionist has given us a daily caloric intake goal of 1400 calories. We keep track of her intake with a journal...do you track your daughter's caloric intake? Not that doing so necessarily makes the weight gain any easier - however, it has helped us tremendously when tracking where she falls for each day. Her weight gain has improved since adding olive oil and cream cheese or heavy whipping cream to much of what she eats. She still eats mostly pureed consistency-foods, but I imagine we'll be able to turn the olive oil/heavy cream combo into some sort of high calorie daily shake at some point....
 

kitomd21

New member
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

My daughter's nutritionist has given us a daily caloric intake goal of 1400 calories. We keep track of her intake with a journal...do you track your daughter's caloric intake? Not that doing so necessarily makes the weight gain any easier - however, it has helped us tremendously when tracking where she falls for each day. Her weight gain has improved since adding olive oil and cream cheese or heavy whipping cream to much of what she eats. She still eats mostly pureed consistency-foods, but I imagine we'll be able to turn the olive oil/heavy cream combo into some sort of high calorie daily shake at some point....
 

kitomd21

New member
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

My daughter's nutritionist has given us a daily caloric intake goal of 1400 calories. We keep track of her intake with a journal...do you track your daughter's caloric intake? Not that doing so necessarily makes the weight gain any easier - however, it has helped us tremendously when tracking where she falls for each day. Her weight gain has improved since adding olive oil and cream cheese or heavy whipping cream to much of what she eats. She still eats mostly pureed consistency-foods, but I imagine we'll be able to turn the olive oil/heavy cream combo into some sort of high calorie daily shake at some point....
 

kitomd21

New member
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

My daughter's nutritionist has given us a daily caloric intake goal of 1400 calories. We keep track of her intake with a journal...do you track your daughter's caloric intake? Not that doing so necessarily makes the weight gain any easier - however, it has helped us tremendously when tracking where she falls for each day. Her weight gain has improved since adding olive oil and cream cheese or heavy whipping cream to much of what she eats. She still eats mostly pureed consistency-foods, but I imagine we'll be able to turn the olive oil/heavy cream combo into some sort of high calorie daily shake at some point....
 

kitomd21

New member
If you or your child needed a G-tube, what was a bigger factor: BMI or the growth chart?

My daughter's nutritionist has given us a daily caloric intake goal of 1400 calories. We keep track of her intake with a journal...do you track your daughter's caloric intake? Not that doing so necessarily makes the weight gain any easier - however, it has helped us tremendously when tracking where she falls for each day. Her weight gain has improved since adding olive oil and cream cheese or heavy whipping cream to much of what she eats. She still eats mostly pureed consistency-foods, but I imagine we'll be able to turn the olive oil/heavy cream combo into some sort of high calorie daily shake at some point....
 
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