Please help me help my baby gain weight

amother

Yellow

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 11:31 am

My baby was born premature and is 7 months old. She is in the 25th percentile for weight but doctor who specializes with preemies says she wants my baby to gain weight and be in the 50th percentile. She also says my baby should be eating 3 meals a day consisting of foods such as baby oatmeal, fruits, veggies, and chicken (pureed baby food). When she eats solids she gets very full and does not take as much formula. I am nervous she will lose weight this way because fruits and veggies are not fattening- even baby oatmeal does not have that many calories. Anyone have a preemie that needed to gain weight at 7 months old that has ideas/advice for me of what to feed to my baby? Should I be adding olive oil to her cereal???

Dolly Welsh

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 11:42 am

That's an interesting idea. Any oil is a very concentrated food. Ask the doctor. You are saying you want calories without bulk. Start with the chicken, and only then the fruit and vegs.

Maybe there is a more high-calorie type of formula. The doc would know.

Maybe cream. Butter is a very concentrated food. Cream is just butter well mixed in water. Ask the doc. I am no expert.

Last edited by Dolly Welsh on Wed, Apr 01 2015, 11:52 am; edited 1 time in total

luppamom

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 1:21 pm

Dolly Welsh wrote:

OPs baby might not be able to have dairy yet. Here (in Israel) I think they say 9 mos. for dairy products and then a yr. for cow's milk. No idea what they say in America and I would imagine OPs following the rules especially since her baby is a preemie.

sweetpotato

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 1:43 pm

A 7-month old should definitely still be getting most (or basically all) of their calories from formula or breastmilk-- is this any different for a preemie? Have you told your doctor that when you feed her 3 meals a day, she takes less formula? The doctor's advice seems confusing and counterintuitive, if that's the case.

amother

Pink

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 2:52 pm

I've had the same thing when my son was a baby. The goal is to try to find ways to increase calories without increasing volume. Oils and avocado are good for this, I think coconut oil is supposed to be best for babies. Be careful not to overdo it though, because their stomachs are still sensitive. Butter and cream are good when they get a little older.

I also used to add duocal to my baby's formula. It's a product that's sold just for this purpose but it's not chalav Yisroel, if that's an issue for you.

I do think it's strange that your doctor is pushing you to start solids now and also that he's concerned on the weight. When my son was on the high calorie diet, he was in the bottom 5th percentile and moving downwards. 25th percentile sounds perfectly fine, unless you're calculating it according to adjusted growth charts.

asp40

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 2:56 pm

That is very strange. My twins were never ever on the chart for weight until they were several years old, and one not until age 4. They were on their own low curve. And while they were diagnosed with failure to thrive at age 1, that was mainly to see if insurance would cover pediasure (they did not) My pediatrician never made a huge deal, we just kept a very close eye on them to make sure they did not fall off of their own curve. They are now tweens and are not yet at the 50%. This is just who they are. IMHO there is no reason your baby needs to be at the 50% for a full term baby. I would seek a new doctor.

morah

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 3:01 pm

I really don't mean any disrespect to your doctor, but does he understand what the word "percentile" means? Not everybody can or ever will be 50th percentile. BY DEFINITION 50th percentile means that 50% of babies that age weigh more and 50% weigh less. It DOES NOT mean that this is the ideal that everyone has to reach. If everybody was the 50th percentile, there would be no percentiles. I have never been even close to the 50th percentile in weight, and was also off-the-charts short. My kids are about 50th percentile in height (yay for not being short), but usually somewhere between 10-25 in weight. It's mostly hereditary. I would ask your doctor why he thinks your baby needs to gain more. Is she where she should be developmentally (I understand she's a preemie, so that might anyway be a bit behind the average baby)? Is she growing at a nice pace? THere could be a good reason why she needs to gain more, in which case, I don't have much to add to the excellent suggestions above. But you should be able to ask your doctor for further information. Too many parents are driven crazy for no reason over weight because some doctors are obsessed with the Almighty chart.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 6:05 pm

Unless your baby's height/weigh ratio is really off, and is not gaining (slowly) but steadily, I wouldn't worry at all.

DD started out as failure to thrive, but at around 8 months she suddenly developed this huge appetite and jumped to 105th percentile for weight while only 55th percentile for height!

She's 11 now, and 25th percentile for height and weight, very petite for her age. People always assume she's two years younger than she is. Just goes to show how much can change over time.

forever21

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 8:55 pm

Your baby should be eating three meals a day at seven months?? Of course your baby isn't going to be interested. between nursing and napping how is ur baby going to get in three meals a day? You're going to stress yourself out , thanks to your pediatrician, and be anxious about getting in enough solids and your baby will
Sense that and be tense when you try to feed him. Why does the pediatrician want him to be in the 50% percentile? According to my pediatrician, As long as the baby is consistent with his growth (as opposed to being in the 50th % and then going down to the 25th%) then here doing fine.

Dolly Welsh

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 10:40 pm

"As long as the baby is consistent with his growth "

This seems to be a good thing to consider.

The mother sees the baby more intimately and more time than anybody else and knows what's up with her color, brightness of eye, energy level, developmental milestones, sleep patterns, general overall mood.

I am no expert but I think I remember that a baby may plateau briefly, only briefly, but should not go back. She should not lose weight.

OP may just be raising a small person as some here seem to be saying. It isn't a bad thing to want to get concentrated nutritious food into a small baby. In only a few months the baby may be old enough for cow's milk cream. It's right around the corner.

OP might ask if there is a higher calorie version of her current formula.

amother

Linen

Thu, Apr 02 2015, 2:44 am

My daughter used to be in the 98th percentile for her weight. Now, I think she's in the 75th percentile. Although, she still manages to weigh approx. 22.5 lbs. at 9 mos. (seems rather large to me, although she's tall) and she's BFed and the chart is likely for formula fed babies.

Anyway, no-one is concerned b/c she's growing b"H. One time, we had an appointment at 7 mos. and she hardly gained any weight. But, again they weren't concerned b/c she had grown in height. She just started to get more active at that age.

About solids, I don't think it's good to try to fatten her up unless absolutely necessary. There have been studies that link feeding habits for babies and obesity. As others have said, as long as she's growing and meeting milestones (maybe for her adjusted age), she's probably doing well.

working hard

Thu, Apr 02 2015, 8:02 am

My daughter is not even on the charts and no one is concerned as she is growing at a steady pace. If the only problem is that her weight is below the 50th percentile! leave her alone. Unless she is not growing or developing. Why is your Doctor so concerned?

amother

Yellow

Thu, Apr 02 2015, 8:35 am

Op here- thanks everyone for you help and advice. Not sure if it helps with the confusion, but my baby was born extremely premature, not just a few weeks early. Her age of 7 months is her adjusted age (she is really older than that). She is 25th percentile in weight and height for her adjusted age. Her pediatrician is not concerned with her weight at all and is actually very happy with it. We also see a pulmonologist who has been following my daughter since she came home from the nicu and this is the doctor who wants our baby to gain weight as she says that this is much better developmentally for micro preemies. She says that for full terms babies, the goal is to try and keep them under the 50th percentile as babies are gaining weight too fast these days. We are happy we have the opinion of the pulmonolgist as well as the pediatrician so we are not going crazy with this. THe push for solids at an early age was important (advice from both the pulmonologist and pediatrician) since many micro preemies have feeding issues and because our doctors pushed us to start practicing early, at 3-4 months adjusted age, our baby had time to develop the skills necessary for feeding slowly and by 7 months adjusted she has gotten much better at eating solids. However, due to the above, we would like to try and make sure our baby is continuously gaining weight at an appropriate pace and not slowing down. Really appreciate everyones advice.

chani8

Thu, Apr 02 2015, 10:58 am

If she can eat solids nicely, great. You can give her high calorie foods, namely starches. Organic rice, corn flakes, cheerios, crackers, potatoes. Everything that those of us on a diet avoid. lol.

And yes, definitely add olive oil wherever possible, as it is not only calories, it's good for the brain. Organic butter is good, too, if she eats dairy.