She doesn't have stamina

amother

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 3:48 pm

My 3 year old doesn't have the stamina that my others did at that age, to the point that I'm starting to feel worried. If we take a five-minute walk, she's exhausted by the end and begging us to carry her. If she plays on the playground, she'll climb up a ladder a couple of times and then just want to sit on the swings because she's too tired. We went somewhere today as a family that had a paved path, and I brought a stroller, but she wanted to try to walk. She walked for a few minutes and then was so exhausted, her feet hurt, I put her in the stroller and then she kept on complaining she was so tired, so tired, the whole way home in the car she was tired tired tired...and then when we got home I read her a new book before her nap that she'd been so excited to hear, but she could barely pay attention, her eyes were glazed over and she just wanted to go to sleep. She takes long naps generally, always has.

She goes for pt because she had core strength issues as a toddler. Went from very low a year ago (I think 7th percentile?) to normal (38th or something) at her last PT assessment a few weeks ago. I'm not really nervous about her actual skills anymore, which seem on target, but with her stamina. I asked the PT and she said she was going to look into it for me. The pediatrician said as long as she's not lethargic while she's up, he doesn't see the need to send him for more testing.

Anyone else had this with a child?

tichellady

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 3:56 pm

I would ask for Blood work

amother

Lightcoral

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 4:03 pm

Mono, cmv, anemia, Lyme disease, vitamin defficiency
How's her eating?

bsy

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 4:05 pm

A relative had this due to breathing issues, enlarged adenoids, etc

amother

Sage

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 4:06 pm

bsy wrote:

A relative had this due to breathing issues, enlarged adenoids, etc

Check levels of vitamin D, iron, vitamin B6. Have her do a sleep study.
And it could just be low muscle tone.

amother

Holly

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 4:09 pm

My daughter had symptoms like that which caused me to test for celiac
But she went from being energetic to much less so

amother

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 9:23 pm

So she does have low muscle tone. Is that enough of a reason for her to have a stamina issue like this?

She's always been like this. She was the newborn who slept all day and had to be forcibly woken to feed, the baby who took really long naps and had very short wake periods.

She eats a decent amount of fruits and vegetables for a toddler. Not so great on protein, though. Her main protein sources are peanut butter, some beans, and the protein that's in the whole grains that she eats. (I serve mainly whole grains.) There are a few fleishig meals that she'll eat: those logs of salami (which I don't serve on a regular basis), hotdogs (ditto), spaghetti and meatsauce, and a ground turkey dish that I make sometimes. She won't eat most dairy, other than pizza and pasta. So she's not a great eater at dinnertime...like she might have green beans and applesauce for dinner. Or just a bunch of roasted sweet potatoes. No main, often no carb either. For lunch, she'll eat carbs (rice cake, whole wheat bread, wheat crackers) and peanut butter. Or oatmeal. Ooh, or plain yogurt with a little bit of honey and granola, I forgot about that. She'll snack on fruit, raisins, sometimes beans, things like that. Sorry for the megillah, but I feel like she's getting enough nutrients that she should be able to get through the day...even though she's pickier than all of my other kids ever were, she's not a picky eater.

You really think it's something to be worried about and look into further, even though we know she has low core strength (related to muscle tone, iirc)? If so, do you think we should start with bloodwork? A sleep study? An ENT for breathing issues?

I hate to poke her for no reason, but I know that a sleep study is probably a huge pain. And maybe it can all be chalked up to her muscle tone, which is what her pediatrician thinks...

amother

Babypink

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 9:42 pm

Is she getting enough iron? Applesauce isn’t dinner. Maybe start her on a multi vitamin with iron and see if there is improvement. I hope her stamina improves soon.

amother

Charcoal

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 10:15 pm

My son who is low tone was like this at age 3. Kids who have low tone have to exert themselves more to compensate and therefore tire much more easily. I did blood work and came out normal. He is now 4 and I def see his naps tapering off and general he seems less lethargic. I really wouldn’t worry! Remember they are still babies!

familyfirst

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 10:19 pm

Trust your gut
Take her for a full evaluation, even heart

Could be nothing but best to rule out everything and then come up with a plan to build up stamina

amother

Lightpink

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 10:25 pm

In addition to what everyone else said, it could also be a connective tissue thing, mitochondrial fatigue, pelvic floor weakness

amother

Puce

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 10:29 pm

As I read your post I thought core issues. And that’s what you say se gets PT for. So what does the PT think?

amother

Royalblue

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 10:38 pm

Children with low tone take more strength and stamina to do the things children with normal tone do. It is possible that now that she has strength she needs to work on building her endurance

amother

Valerian

Fri, Aug 25 2023, 1:11 am

If its nagging at you, test blood for celiac & check cardioology.

banana123

Fri, Aug 25 2023, 4:10 am

Can you try giving her iron drops for a few days?

cbsp

Fri, Aug 25 2023, 5:38 am

It's really hard to see that as a parent.

My kid had been able to do skills but not sustain due to fatigue.. Does she have orthotics in her shoes? My kid's stamina and energy increased tremendously after he started wearing them (sure steps as a toddler, currently UCBLs) . Maybe you can ask the PT...

amother

Thistle

Fri, Aug 25 2023, 6:11 am

banana123 wrote:

Can you try giving her iron drops for a few days?

Don't give iron if she isn't low! Can be toxic!

Fabulous

Fri, Aug 25 2023, 7:08 am

My first thought is heart. Please have her evaluated well and Refuah shelama for whatever it is (even if it’s just low tone)

amother

Yellow

Fri, Aug 25 2023, 7:18 am

amother OP wrote:

I had a doctor who told this to me about 1 year old dd's weight. As long as she's a happy child, I am not concerned that she's underweight/what percentile she's in (not even on the charts).

I took that as an assessment from the doctor that my child was happy.

I was very upset.

It turns out she was waiting for me to tell her if my dd was actually happy (she was a very distressed crying baby).

He said as long as she's not lethargic while she's up. But she IS lethargic while she's up. Go for that additional testing!

I hate these docs that don't pay attention to a mother's intuition!!

giftedmom

Fri, Aug 25 2023, 8:30 am

I had similar with a kid who it turned out had growth hormone deficiency