How To Help A Baby Gain Weight?

In this article, We learn How To Help A Baby Gain Weight? Today we share some tips with you on how to gain baby weight.

Diet And Behavior Tips For Underweight

Concrete tips and suggestions on how you can “when your child’s appetite” if they are underweight and how you can support weight gain.

Age-appropriate and balanced meals, but also the atmosphere at the table and enough time to eat are fundamentally important for a healthy diet and the eating habits of children. In addition, if the child is underweight, some very specific nutritional and behavioral tips can help the child gain a little more weight.

nutrition tips

1. The basis of a healthy diet should be a varied diet.
2. So that your child gains more weight, you can enrich its warm dishes with vegetable oil (rapeseed, olive, soybean oil), cream, butter, or pureed avocado. Small appetizers or desserts can also be offered with the main meals. 
3. Bread can also be a little thicker with spreadable fat, cheese, or sausage. 
4. Small snacks can be, for example, a portion of trail mix, cheese cubes, fruit slices, dried fruit, olives, fruit yogurt, or rice pudding. 
5. Offer dishes topped with cheese and vegetables with creamy sauces more often. Lightly fry pasta, potatoes, and rice with vegetable oils.
6. Take advantage of the childish desire for finger food. Chicken wings, dips for vegetable sticks, cheese and fruit skewers, small sausages, and nibbles are popular, for example.
7. Suitable drinks are milk, cocoa, milk-fruit shakes, and fruit juice.

behavior tips

1. Give your child time to regularly eat several small and large meals (three main meals, two snacks) per day. For example, the first breakfast in the morning is all the more fun without time stress. 
2. Avoid distractions from eating like watching TV or playing games. 
3. Schedule mealtimes so that your child is not too tired to eat.
4. Your child should not snack or drink a lot between or just before meals.
5. Children often taste better in the company. Therefore eat together as a family as often as possible or invite other children to eat. 
6. A pleasant atmosphere at the table and while eating is very important. Try together to make eating a situation that is fun for everyone. Conversations about problems or admonitions can only constrict the children’s stomachs.
7. Offer your child their favorite meals more often and ensure that they are prepared in an age-appropriate manner. Let them join in the shopping and cooking.
8. Beautifully decorated dishes and tables also make you want to eat. Let your child be creative and participate here. 
9. If your child is less hungry, you should accept this and leave the leftovers on the plate. The pressure would only increase the stress on both sides unnecessarily. Don’t make food an ongoing topic.
10. Compliment your child when they change their eating habits, as well as their strengths in other areas.
11. A lot of movement and sport, as well as extensive playing in the fresh air, whet the appetite. (Status: April 21, 2019)

7 Complimentary Foods That Will Help Your Baby Gain Weight Healthily?

Is your baby very skinny? Feel like you’re not gaining enough weight? Then you are probably thinking about what you can feed it so that it becomes stronger and thrives better. Luckily, several high-energy foods can help your baby gain weight healthily – if that’s necessary.

Is your baby too skinny at all?

If you are concerned that your child is not gaining enough weight, then be sure to talk to your pediatrician before changing your diet. Not all babies have fat arms and legs, but they can still be of normal weight. Don’t let yourself be influenced by the advertising either, babies are usually used there that tend to be too fat. 

If you look in your baby’s yellow U-booklet, you will find the so-called percentile curves in the back. The height and weight of the offspring are entered there. You can also see a leeway there in which these values ​​​​are allowed to lie.

It is perfectly normal for 6-month-old boys to weigh between 6.2 and 9.5 kg. Girls of the same age usually weigh from 5.8 to 8.7 kg.

Factors influencing the baby’s weight

Incidentally, the weight and size of your offspring also depend on your physical constitution and that of your partner. Ethnicity affects weight, as do gender and various pregnancy factors. For example, girls, Asian children, and firstborn babies tend to be lighter.

Introduction of supplementary food with a small increase?

Just because you have the feeling that your baby is too thin, you should not force yourself to start complementary feeding. You should only introduce additional food for breastfeeding or formula or follow-on milk if the child shows a clear interest in it. Depending on the child, this can be between the 5th and 7th months.

In the first few weeks after starting complementary feeding, it is quite normal and correct that your baby still gets most of its energy from its milk – because the vegetable or fruit puree contains fewer calories than high-fat breast milk or bottled milk. Your baby can best healthily gain weight if you don’t stop breastfeeding too early.

You can find out how to get the best start with complimentary food in our article “How Much Does A Human Heart Weight?”.

7 Healthy Foods That Will Make Your Baby Gain Weight Healthily

1. Avocado: exotic with healthy fat

The avocado is a real superfood. The unsaturated fatty acids, which are present in large numbers in the fruit, provide your baby with sufficient energy. Plus, the berry (yes, avocados are berries!) is bursting with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Many babies like the mild taste of avocado. 

You can puree them excellently, but you can also serve them as finger food as part of baby-led weaning.

2. Bananas: Pure energy

It is also practical that the little ones can hold the fruit themselves and chew on it. Bananas are therefore good for weight gain in infants. A large banana contains between 150 hundred and 2 Hundred calories, which is comparatively high for the fruit.

A four to twelve-month-old infant has a calorie requirement of 92 kcal per kilo body weight. A baby weighing seven kilograms, therefore, needs around 644 hundred kcal per day. As you can see, by feeding a banana you can already cover a good part of the necessary amount of calories.

3. Nut Butter: Upgrades the porridge

Nuts are high in healthy fats. If you decide to give your baby nuts, then only in the form of nut butter or puree, otherwise there is a risk of choking. Well-tolerated varieties are almond and cashew. First, mix only a small amount of almond or cashew butter into the porridge.

Peanut Butter for Babies – Yes or No?

Peanuts are suspected of triggering allergies. Test your baby’s reaction to it, especially if there are nut intolerances in your family.

However, a study from Great Britain allows the conclusion that babies at risk of allergies who were fed peanuts from 11 months to 5 years showed fewer intolerances than children who were denied the nuts. 

So you should try peanut butter. When buying, make sure that there are no other ingredients apart from the nuts. Stay away from industrial butter: Here, the valuable oil is usually removed and replaced with cheaper fats, and they also contain added sugar and salt.

You can find out from what age you can feed nuts, honey, and co in our article by Simone.

4. Salmon: Omega 3 for babies

The popular fish not only provides valuable omega-3 fatty acids, but also proteins, iodine, vitamins, and minerals. That is why it is considered one of the healthiest edible fish in the world. Babies can already eat fatty fish with food introduction from the 5th to 7th month. The Research Institute for Child Nutrition recommends feeding fish or salmon once a week.

5. Lentils: High in calories and high in protein

Lentils are very healthy due to the high amount of protein. At the same time, they contain a lot of fiber and complex carbohydrates. They blend well into a flavorful puree that provides 309 calories per 100 grams.

You can start feeding the legumes from the 8th to the 10th month. Let the lentils soak overnight before cooking, this will make them easier to digest. A popular recipe, for example, is the oriental carrot and lentil stew for babies. 

At first, you should only give legumes in small amounts and see if your baby can digest them well. Some babies get gas from protein-rich vegetables.

5. Beans: The red ones are best

Just like lentils, beans are legumes and should be tested for digestibility. Many parents report having fed their babies beans from as young as 10 months with no problem.

If you want to give your offspring an extra portion of calories, you should pay attention to the type of bean. While green beans only have about 31 kcal per 100 grams, kidney beans have a whopping 277 kcal per 100 grams. In any case, the beans must be well cooked so that you counteract the risk of flatulence.

6. Sweet Potatoes: Great for BLW

Although the sweet potato is lower in fat than the regular potato, it has more calories and fiber. At the same time, the glycemic index is lower than that of the typical house potato, resulting in lower spikes in insulin levels. Another benefit is that sweet potatoes taste great for most babies.

Gaining Healthy Weight Without Being Force – The Best Way For Your Child 

Don’t worry unnecessarily about your baby’s weight, but if in doubt, always talk to your pediatrician or midwife first.

Don’t force your baby to eat certain foods if they don’t want them. You mustn’t feed any sugar or honey (not even in the form of sweetened porridge), but choose healthy and baby-friendly foods for your baby.

How To Make Baby Gain Weight Fast While Breastfeeding?

If your breastfed baby is not gaining enough weight, you should take appropriate action immediately. In most cases, however, the feeding of artificial baby food is not necessary as the first measure.

In most cases, it is sufficient if you make significant changes to a few points in your previous breastfeeding behavior.

Here are 10 tips for better gain in breastfed babies

1. Optimize your breastfeeding technique

 Only when your baby has a lot of breasts in his mouth can he effectively get the milk out of the breasts.

A comfortable, pain-free application is the be-all and end-all of breastfeeding.

If you have pain while breastfeeding, it is often only minor things that you only have to change a little. 

2. Breastfeed more often

Don’t wait until your baby is super hungry to latch on. You also don’t have to maintain a specific interval between breastfeeding sessions so that the breasts have “filled” again or the fresh milk has “digested” in the baby’s stomach.

Instead, you should take every opportunity to put your baby on your breasts for short periods. 

If it only takes a few sips of breast milk, these small snacks give it more calories and important nutrients that are good for it.

3. Lay Longer

The fat content of breast milk increases as the breast is emptied.

Therefore, it does not make sense to leave the baby on one breast for a certain period if it is not feeding or to put it on the other breast after a certain time even though it has not yet emptied the first.

So as long as your baby is actively sucking on the breast and you can hear it swallowing, it should stay on that breast. 

Encourage it to continue sucking by talking to it, gently squeezing its palms or soles, or gently massaging its jaw joint.

But do not pull on the breast, as you will also pull the nipple out of the mouth and the baby will then no longer be properly latched.

4. Support your milk flow

Trigger your milk ejection reflex before you put it on.

To do this, get into a comfortable position, relax, warm your breasts, for example with a red light or warm, damp compresses, and gently massage the breasts and nipples so that your milk flows quickly and well when you latch the baby.

If your baby is no longer actively sucking and audibly swallowing, you can use breast compression to simulate a new milk ejection reflex. The taste of milk in his mouth motivates him to suckle more actively.

5. Switch sides more often

Young babies often fall asleep while breastfeeding when milk has stopped flowing before they have finished drinking.

If this is the case with your child, you should take her off the breast, when she is no longer actively sucking and swallowing, wake her up a little, and place her on the other breast. There, the flow of milk is restarted more quickly and the baby begins to drink again.

You may have to switch breasts after just a few minutes at first and put on each breast about 3-4 times during breastfeeding.

6. Also, latch your baby in the side position several times a day

In the side position (also known as the back grip), the outer areas of the breasts are better emptied by the baby’s lower jaw and tongue.

This is particularly recommended for increasing weight gain, as this is where most of the glandular tissue is found and, consequently, most of the milk can be obtained.

7. Do not use a nipple shield

When the baby is put on with a nipple shield, it cannot empty the breasts as well as when it is put on optimally without a nipple shield.

Usually, there is not enough breast in the mouth to milk the breast with the tongue, and the milk ejection reflex sets in later because the sucking stimulus on the nipple is dampened by the cap.

8. Don’t give him a pacifier

Sucking on a pacifier reduces nipple sucking.

However, babies’ need to suckle is closely linked to their hunger and their need for physical closeness.

9. Express after breastfeeding and top up with the expressed milk 

As already mentioned, the emptier the breasts, the higher the fat content of your milk. However, babies often do not empty their breasts.

If your baby needs more breast milk and more calories, you should empty your breasts about 60 minutes after breastfeeding with an electric breast pump and then also by hand and feed your baby this pumped breast milk when the opportunity arises. 

It is ideal if you supplement the expressed milk with a breastfeeding set when breastfeeding. 

Get advice from your midwife or a qualified lactation consultant.

Increase your milk production

The most important measure to increase your milk supply is frequent, thorough emptying of the breasts !!

You can also use other methods to support you, such as homeopathy, acupuncture, still tea, malt beer, medication, etc., but these will not be enough on their own.

Get advice from your midwife or a qualified lactation consultant.

If your baby still doesn’t gain enough weight, give as much artificial baby food as necessary after the pumped milk, if possible with a breastfeeding set.

This gives you the time you need to calmly increase your milk supply without your baby getting too little food.

Weight Development In Breastfed Infants

Weight history and growth are important indicators of whether a baby is developing well. In the past, people used to weigh a lot, sometimes even before and after meals. Today we know that a breastfed baby develops well without such exaggerated controls!

First of all, newborns lose weight

In the first days after birth, the newborns always lose weight up to the 5th day of life. After all, the baby brought along some energy reserves. Weight loss can be up to 10% of birth weight in mature newborns and up to 5% in premature or defective. After the 5th day of life, there should be an increase in weight, and by the 14th day, your baby should be back to its birth weight.

Guide values ​​for weekly weight gain

However, infants do not gain weight continuously, but in stages. This is how much it is on average per week:

1. Mo­nat: 130 – 200 g / Wo­che

2. Mo­nat: 171 – 210 g / Wo­che

3. Mo­nat: 151 – 180 g / Wo­che

4. Mo­nat: 131 – 160 g / Wo­che

5. Mo­nat: 111 – 140 g / Wo­che

6. Mo­nat: 101 – 130 g / Wo­che

7th and 8th month: 90 – 120 g / week

9th and 10th month: 70 – 110 g / week

11th and 12th month: 60 – 90 g / week

Difference to Schoppenkinder

In the first few months, babies who are breastfed gain weight faster than bottle-fed babies. At the age of six months, however, the bottle-fed children catch up, and at the age of one year, the breastfed babies are usually slimmer than their peers who were bottle-fed from the start.

How To Help A Baby Gain Weight?