Mom’s Question:
My son will soon be 8 months old and is underweight. I want to introduce some good weaning food to my baby so that he can put on weight. Now I am giving him rice cereal, wheat and dates cereal and fruit cereal. I also gave him mashed banana, apple, carrots, and potatoes. That’s about it when it comes to solid foods. He likes the foods I give him, but he doesn’t put on any weight.
So can you please suggest me, what should I add to the cereal so that he can put on more weight? His weight now is only is 5.6kg…
Please help me?
Shaheen
(Riyadh,Saudi Arabia)
Baby Helpline:
What Foods To Start Weaning Baby With When Breastfeeding
What a gorgeous wee boy! He sure is a cutie!
I wouldn’t worry too much about his food, you are doing all the right things.
Babies still need milk as their primary food source for a good many months yet. Introducing solids is just getting them used to different foods, tastes, and textures.
I’m assuming you are breastfeeding?
If you can manage to keep going a little while longer then all the better. If you have to wean him off breast milk, then he will need a substitute formula for a few months before just using dairy milk and “real food”.
If he is not gaining weight regularly then you can add breast milk or formula into his solids to increase the calories.
A lot of breastfed babies actually do stop increasing in weight when introducing solid foods. The latter is far more filling than breastmilk and often less calorie-dense. No one gets fat from eating carrots…This is why it is often recommended to add a healthy type of fat to homemade baby food.
Also remember that if you and your husband are a smaller build, your son is unlikely to be a large-sized baby anyway.
If he truly is underweight and especially if he is not following his weight curve, you, first of all, should discuss the matter with his health care provider, to rule out any illness and get it confirmed that you really should try to increase his weight.
5 Tips for Weaning Your Baby and Increasing His Weight
Here are some foods to start weaning your baby and some things that can be done to help increase his weight if needed:
1. – Simply feed him more often or larger portions if he wants it.
You should not try to feed him if he doesn’t want anything though, then the meals can easily turn into power struggles, and your problems will be much worse.
2. – You can also start adding protein and/or fat to his food as that builds a little body faster than vegetables and cereals, but it is important to have a balance of everything. Try some pureed beans or meat. Some babies love fish pie.
Also, yogurt and custards or cottage cheese usually go down well. You can find many recipes for 8-month-old babies and up here.
3. – Focus on making the eating enjoyable. You are doing a great job, he looks happy and contented. Just offer lots of variety, let him try whatever you are eating, make it fun and don’t worry too much about weaning him just yet.
4.- A feeding schedule. He is old enough to start getting on a feeding schedule to include several solid food meals every day in addition to breastfeeding on demand. Check out the feeding schedule here.
5. – Eating healthy food frequently is a great way to build a healthy little baby body. Also do not be afraid to add butter or oil to the baby food you make.
So, these are some tips on foods to start weaning your baby. But again, you are already starting out fine!
Enjoy your lovely little boy,
All the best,
Paula
Paula Dennholt founded Easy Baby Life in 2006 and has been a passionate parenting and pregnancy writer since then. Her parenting approach and writing are based on studies in cognitive-behavioral models and therapy for children and her experience as a mother and stepmother. Life as a parent has convinced her of how crucial it is to put relationships before rules. She strongly believes in positive parenting and a science-based approach.
Paula cooperates with a team of pediatricians who assist in reviewing and writing articles.
