Coconut oil or mayo?

amother

Ruby

Mon, Feb 05 2018, 10:54 pm

were trying to get our baby (6 mo) to gain weight. as she recently started solids we're feeding her avocado.
I spoke to her GI and mentioned that she's eating this now so he said to add mayo. I said were putting in some coconut oil. it wasn't the greatest phone connection, so he may not have heard... but confused here on what is better here calorie/nutrition wise?

(will not be using organic mayo, just reg. processed & I would do homemade, but I'd be concerned re raw eggs. coconut oil is organic though)

amother

Cyan

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 12:25 am

My first thought would be the oil over mayo. More natural for an infant

reality mom

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 12:26 am

Coconut oil. Olive oil.

amazingmommy

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 12:27 am

Definitely coconut oil. But also a lot of raw fruits puréed might help. And making sure she’s eliminating well.

ra_mom

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 12:28 am

We were told to drizzle olive oil over the food. Cold pressed is delicious and nutritious (drizzle over ready food, this oil shouldn't be heated).

amother

Ruby

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 12:46 am

what other high calorie food can this age baby eat?

ra_mom

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 12:50 am

Honestly at that age they mostly concerate on breast milk and formula.

When our baby was 2 we were busy with avocado, olive oil, salmon, calcium rich sardines, nutrient rich muffins, special drinks since she was too old for formula and couldn't have dairy.

amother

Ruby

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 12:55 am

ra_mom wrote:

she's just not gaining much... we increased her 2 formula feedings to 28 cal per oz. (she breastfeeds during the day)
her GI is not at all concerned though, as he feels she is gaining on her own slow curve (and I guess he likes skinny babies!) I had to squeeze out consent to fortify her feeds more...

yogabird

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 12:56 am

Sweet potato is pretty high calorie. You can mix coconut oil into that too.

amother

Ruby

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 12:59 am

amazingmommy wrote:

Definitely coconut oil. But also a lot of raw fruits puréed might help. And making sure she’s eliminating well.

How would I prepare the fruits? would that give her fats or just alot of calories?
she's eliminating very well! and burning so much calories all day that she barely gains... she is 6 months old and 12 lbs...

amother

Ruby

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 1:00 am

yogabird wrote:

Sweet potato is pretty high calorie. You can mix coconut oil into that too.

Thank you! forgot about sweet potato Smile

yogabird

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 1:02 am

Is 6 months too young for chummus?

Teomima

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 4:46 am

amother wrote:

what other high calorie food can this age baby eat?

One of my daughters was very small and her nutritionist was big on techina golmit (just raw techina/tahini paste). Very fatty and nutritionally dense. Easy to mix in with other foods to up the fat content.

cbg

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 7:00 am

Teomima wrote:

I was going to say this.

I'd be worried to give her hummus though, legumes at such an early age.

Is avocado the only solid you tried.
What about
Pumpkin/squash
Carrots
Sweet potato
I would fortify it with healthy oils and breast milk
Just remember 1 new food at a time, so you know which food is the culprit if she reacts to it.

amother

Gray

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 3:43 pm

Here is what the professionals told us. My own dd was very small and underweight - not even on the charts, and on top of that at around 6 months she actually stopped gaining weight for no apparent reason. We saw lots of specialists including a gastroenterologist and a baby nutritionist. Essentially, we were told that just giving fats doesn't help them gain weight effectively, because of a lot of weight gain at this age is actually gaining muscle mass (a natural process for babies and toddlers as they move more and more), and to build muscle mass you need lots of protein. So they told us to make sure every meal had fat and protein in addition to the veggie/fruit and carb. Also, all calories s are not equal, so just upping calorie intake with high calorie carbs or other foods doesn't work either. The best meal plan for a baby involves all the food groups, and most importantly, fruits, veggies, or carbs should never be given alone. But just adding oil or fat won't do the trick, so make sure to add some protein in as well.

This is why mayo is somewhat better than coconut oil - coconut oil has no protein, though the protein content of mayo is quite low, but it probably varies by brand, and homemade would probably be better, though I have no clue about whether the part of the egg with all the protein goes into it (and yes, raw eggs aren't good for baby, maybe find pasteurized eggs?). Here are some other good ideas we were given that can be mixed with carbs, fruits, or veggies, that have good protein and fat content (homemade versions always better):
- Techina (and Hummus, though not as good as techina in terms of protein and fat, but depends how it's made)
- High fat Cottage cheese or high fat greek yogurt (check the label for protein content. Most regular yogurt doesn't have that much protein, greek yogurt sometimes has more)
- Peanut butter / Almond butter / Other nut butter (check the labels for protein content)
- Creamy egg salad or creamy tuna salad (don't give tuna more than once or twice a week at this age because of mercury, though it also depends what kind of tuna it is).
- Also, pureed chicken soup (with veggies) works well as a standalone

Anyway, help her keep her weight gain steady, but don't push up her weight gain rate more than a bit. There's no merit in fattening up a baby who's gaining on their own curve (even if it's a low curve), and in fact it can sometimes do damage. I was very underweight and small as a baby and child, and my parents spent my whole babyhood and childhood trying to fatten me up even though my doctors said it was fine - but it didn't help, I didn't gain wait or stop being short, and it just gave me really high cholesterol - so high that they wanted to put me on cholesterol medication when I was a teenager because of the dozen or more years of having oils and fats added to all my food. This is another reason why helping her gain weight with a more balanced diet than a high fat diet is so important. Basically, if your baby is consistently gaining and staying on her own curve and is developmentally on target, that means she's fine, and trying to fatten her up is not always a good idea - skinny isn't bad as long as they stay on their curve and aren't far under the charts for their age.

Good luck!

amother

Ruby

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 3:49 pm

Thank you amother gray!
true all you said, and this is what our GI basically said. but, all her other drs are concerned and need her to gain weight so she can be cleared for a certain medication, and the earlier the better...

amother

Beige

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 5:56 pm

I used to add olive oil to all my ds food. also, there are some sour creams that are just cream-like the daisy brand. if you add a tiny bit of honey to sweeten, it tastes like yogurt.

amother

Orange

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 8:06 pm

amother wrote:

dd was 14.6 lb at 1. GI wasn't worried, so neither was I. She was strong and active and eating normally. Some kids are just small.

HealthCoach

Tue, Feb 06 2018, 9:39 pm

I like coconut oil better than mayo, but if your going to give mayo there’s a primal kitchen mayo that’s really healthy. It’s made from avocado oil.