Diapers Q&A
how does my baby gain weight?
my baby is 4 months old and dint gain much weight,his ped told to feed him as often as i can and iam doing that but still he is not gaining.iam giving him solids,baby cereal everything and nothing is helping.He has 6 wet diaper and poops daily.Any suggestions plz.
Public Comments
- I"d stop the cereal and solids and stick to breastmilk or formula... it is much more calorie and fat balanced for him. The solids actually waste his stomach space with stuff that doesn't have as many calories and fat. Fill him up on milk. Babies, until their first birthday, should have their primary diet be breastmilk or formula... solids should be used as treats and snacks, just to experiment with tastes, textures, and learning how to eat them. I'd either increase the number of feeds per day (breast or bottle) or if bottle feeding at least put one more ounce per bottle.
- There may not be anything you can do. He could just be a small baby. Alternately, he could have a thyroid/metabolism problem, which your doctor should be testing him for. I'd keep a log of everything he eats and also the amount (5 ounces of formula and 1/3 cup of rice cereal). Also record what time he eats these things and what time you changed wet and poopy diapers. Also keep a log of when he sleeps. If he's sleeping too much, that could be indicative of a metabolic issue. All of these things will help your doctor help your baby.
- Lay off the solids and cereal. He really can't digest them efficiently yet and they don't have enough of what he needs. Stick with plenty of formula or breastmilk and if he is pooping and has 6 wet diapers as you say, he'll gain weight.
- The first suggestion when baby is not gaining well is to STOP all non-milk feeds. Almost no food has as much fat, calories, and nutrients as breastmilk or formula. Also: 1) Breastmilk or formula? 2) Birth weight? 3) Other weights (2 weeks, 8 weeks, etc)? 4) If formula fed # of oz per 24 hours? 5) If breastfed # of feeds per 24 hours? http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/weight-gain_increase.html What can I do to increase my baby's weight gain? There are several simple things that have been proven to help with weight gain: * Stop or decrease solid foods, particularly if baby is younger than 6 months. Most solids foods have fewer calories and nutrients than breastmilk, plus they tend to replace (rather than add to) the higher-calorie, more nutritious breastmilk. * Sleep with your baby (this increases prolactin and frequency of nursing). * Learn baby massage -- this has been proven to improve digestion and weight gain. * Carry baby throughout the day in a carrier/sling; get as much skin to skin contact as you can. Both of these things have been shown to improve weight gain. * Nurse often - at least every 2 hours during the day and at least once at night. Frequent nursing increases baby's milk intake. * Make sure you're allowing your baby to completely finish one side before you offer the other by waiting upon her cues that she is finished; i.e. pulling off herself and looking satisfied, going to sleep, changing from an active suck/swallow to more of a pacifier suck, etc. Always OFFER the second side, but don't worry if she doesn't seem to need it. It's much more important that she be allowed to completely finish one side than that she nurse both sides. By doing so she will be assured of reaching enough of the richer, more caloric hindmilk that helps her to go longer between feedings. * Use breast massage and breast compression during nursing. * Pump or hand express for a couple of minutes before nursing. This will remove some of the foremilk so that your baby receives more of the richer, higher calorie hindmilk. * If supplements are medically indicated, breastmilk is preferred over formula as a supplement (exceptions to this are rare), and the average fat/calorie content of mom's milk is higher than that of formula. Mom can pump for 5-10 minutes after nursing (don't interrupt or shorten the nursing session to do this), and offer this higher-fat hindmilk to baby as needed. This is also an option for moms who normally offer expressed milk when they are separated from baby.
