Many Questions...Weight Gain? - Cerebral Palsy Message Board

eegazda · 04-01-2004, 10:39 AM

My daughter is 13 months old and is due to have an MRI next week for Spastic Diplegia. She has been receiving PT for 2 months for W sitting. Her hamstrings are pretty tight and she has low muscle tone in her other leg muscles and stomach. She is very active and cruises the furniture pretty well. Our main concern so far has been weight gain. She has maintained a height growth but continually falls on the weight percentiles. She eats fairly well but seems to prefer low texture foods. I'm nervous about her weight as she has dropped below the 2nd percentile. Has anyone experiences the low weight gain? Are there diets that help? Does this sound like CP? The Drs. don't seem to want to say too much until the test results come back but I really couold use some insight. Please help me...I keep reading but have not found much about weight gain.

OrbOfConfusion · 04-03-2004, 03:28 AM

Some kids are just naturally small. I come from a "big" family. My sister's children weigh little yet have average height whereas my kids are heavy and tall.

My daughter has spastic hemi cp on right side and she is 43 lbs at 2 years old! Needless to say, we have to watch everything she eats so hopefully she will grow into her weight within the next two years.

So long as your child eats enough, I wouldn't be too concerned just yet. Every child is different in their growth patterns. Her pediatrician may refer her to a nutritionist/dietician in the future if he/she feels it may be a problem.

My daughter's fast weight gain began when she was 2 months old and the pedia finally sent her to a dietician this past January. So I would imagine that the docs may want to see a longer pattern of low weight gain before they jump to any conclusions.

take care,
Melissa

eegazda · 04-04-2004, 02:46 PM

We are going through a battery of tests currently. Endocrinoloigist, Gastro and Nuero. I was just wondering if perhaps there may be a connection to CP...sounds like its hard to tell.

Thanks for responding. You must know how hard it is to wait through all of the testing.

musicmaker650 · 04-05-2004, 06:19 PM

With Spastic CP, it might be harder for some young children to get enough exercise to control their weight at first. It's important to stimulate these children with some sort of physical activity daily, and get them used to exercise as soon as possible. This can bring better muscle control as an added benefit...

OrbOfConfusion · 04-06-2004, 10:52 PM

When weather permits, I let my daughter play and run around outside. And believe me... she likes to run. I want her to get exercise. Next year, we are going to sign her up in Wee-Tee baseball for the 3 y.o.'s... I can't wait, that will be sooo cute.

The dietician suggested that her weight gain has been from all the juice and milk she has been drinking. So now we give her kool-aid sweetened with splenda. She has maintained her weight for two months now. (Don't worry... I make sure she still gets her essential nutrients from other sources).

But I still haven't been able to figure out why she gained so much so early in life. She began packing on weight at two months old. Since then, her growth chart weight never curved... just a straight line going up. I breastfeed her for a little over a year and gave her baby foods while weaning her. I sometimes wonder if the cp had an affect on her weight and activity during her first year.

Melissa