How to get baby to gain weight

mertense

My dd has always been on the small side (as is the whole family) but the doctor suggested we start to use one scoop of formula in her water once a day to try to get weight on her. For her height she isn't skinny but her height is also an issue. What time of formula would be the best to use for the next two months until her next check up? She is breastfed but I've been allowing her to self ween and she is down to 2-3 feedings a day the rest being solid food. She eats a ton of food but I'm wondering if there is a better formula to use or if there is another way to get her to gain weight without the use of formula? TIA!

Seattle_JiLLn

I don't know why formula would make her gain weight any better than just feeding her more calorie rich foods.   Or giving her a cup of milk instead of water once a day?  

If she is small and has always been small but has followed a consistent growth curve, there's really no way you can make her move to another curve.  She might just be small.  If she's falling down growth curves, that could be that she's not getting enough OR that she's been moving more recently - learning to crawl/walk and the exercise is causing a temporary drop.  

I would just try to give her more calorie dense foods.   Full fat yogurt, avacados, butter or cheese on everything, etc...

If you want to do the formula thing - and I have nothing against formula... its just expensive and I dont' think it wil help any more than giving her a cup of milk - any brand should be fine.  They are really all the same and at this age, you don't need to worry about the gentle gas free kinds or anything.  Cooper did fine with the store brands, Enfamil, Similac, whatever.

You could also get that carnation instant breakfast and throw that in.  I bet that would taste better.   

mertense

Thanks for the ideas! Her growth curve has been more of steps she either gains in height or weight but not both. She has fallen off with her slow growth but she was really sick in January that took her down and she is unstoppable now that she is crawling. I will try the carnation instant breakfast as we have that in the house and I will also add in more avacados and full fat foods! 

zazzu

I have a skinny mini kiddo too. We do what Jill said and try for high fat foods, or add a few drops of olive oil to his food. We supplemented with formula because he wasn't eating solids yet and they thought I wasn't producing enough. It didn't add weight, but stopped him from loosing. Will she snack throughout he day too, or are you just feeding at meal times?

mertense

She snacks on and off throughout the day. Are there high fat foods you would suggest for snacks?

Seattle_JiLLn

Babies' brains need lots of fats for development - that's why they put them on full fat milk and yogurt and all...  full fat dairy is easy enough to find (just ask my butt!)

Adding olive oil to mac n cheese or pasta is a good idea.  Avacados and nuts have a lot of concentrated fats.   My kids both like frozen waffles with almond butter and honey on them.  (you can't do honey til they're 1 though).  Or cream cheese with cinnamon sugar on top on a waffle.   Does she like to dip things?  Dipping everything in ranch or whipped cream? 

StellaZ

I'm taking notes here ...at 33" and 25# we need to gain too...

MrsAmyB

Similac Neosure is a formula with extra calories.  My babies used it for the first 6 months to gain weight. 

kar5162

2-3 nursings a day at 10 months is most likely just not enough, it's pretty much the bare minimum number of sessions.  I would add a bottle of formula a day until she's one and you really want to encourage her to self wean of offer breastfeeding, otherwise encourage her to nurse another time or two.  Likely any formula will do since the issue is most likely just insufficient milk intake - you probably don't need Neosure or the extra calorie formulas.

You can also add olive oil to pasta sauce, greek yogurt if she likes yogurt, etc which will help get her fat intake up, but won't help with the vitamins she might be missing.  This blog has a lot of good ideas on how to get toddlers to gain weight. https://chunkymonkeymenus.blogspot.com/