How to Get 9-Month Old to Gain Weight

Updated on August 10, 2007
L.R. asks from Gresham, OR
12 answers

Hi, I was wondering... My baby is 9 months old, and at her checkup she weighed just over 15 pounds. That's quite low for a 9 month old baby, but she's developing fine (cruises all over the place, plays peekaboo with her dress or anything she can hold in front of her face, etc). She eats some baby food and some of our food (anything soft enough to gum--she's still toothless--like tofu, cooked zucchini, macaroni, etc). I still breastfeed her, and she wakes up in the night to nurse. I usually breastfeed her first, and then spoonfeed her. Any ideas? She's healthy and happy, developing on or ahead of schedule, but she's just really small (she can still fit into her 3 mo pants, though they are a bit high-watered).

Thanks for the advice!

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So What Happened?

Well, basically I guess I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing, more or less. The only thing I am trying is to force her to sleep through the night without eating, because I think that waking up was disturbing her sleep cycle too much and babies grow in their sleep. This means that I have a LOT of milk in the morning, more than she can drink for breakfast, and she isn't very hungry for much baby food, but as the day goes, she gets less milk at each feeding and eats proportionally more solids. I am also going to feed her 4 square meals a day (every 4 hours or so) with the last one just before bedtime to hold her through the night. I said "force," but it really hasn't been hard. She wakes up once or twice after just a week or so of us sleeping in the living room (our house only has one bedroom, and putting her crib anywhere other than a bedroom isn't practical during the day and we can't move it in and out), but she goes back to sleep in less than 30 seconds, which means WE are sleeping better. I'm hoping we can get back to our bed soon, but in any case, this has helped to stabilize her meal times, and she's actually hungry in the morning (as opposed to waking me up at 5:00 am to feed and then not being hungry when she wakes up for the day a couple of hours later). Against most of your advice, I am still breastfeeding first because I don't want to reduce my milk supply--I'm one of those moms that wants to nurse for 2 years if possible (I got a personal message from a lactation consultant and she recommended that I still breastfeed first). I'm expanding the variety of foods I give her (for lunch today, she had mashed beans and fresh strawberries--and loved them!). Since she likes beans, lentils, and split pea soup, I have a variety of high-protein foods that I know she likes. So I'm not going to worry about her weight. She's a healthy go-getter. I just wish you all could see and hear her play "stick the tongue in and out while making BLUH BLAH noises"! It's priceless! Or playing peekaboo with her skirt. Or pushing her high chair around. Thanks for your advice! :)

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L.R.

answers from Houston on

Hola L.!!

Sabes los bebes son asi unos flaquitos otros gorditos, por ejemplo mi hija tiene 12 meses y en su ultima visita solo peso 18.5 libras, come muy bien y de todo, toma leche entera, y de todo lo que nosotros comemos, pero aun asi, sigue siendo flaquita, yo estaba preocupada y lo consulte con mi pediatra, ella me comento que estaba bien que ha esta edad los bebes varian muchisimo, pero me pregunto si yo o mi esposo eramos como ella de bebes y le comente que si, ella me dijo que muchas veces eso se hereda, asi es de que puede ser eso, de cualquier forma no te preocupes mientras este sana y feliz, deja que empiece a caminar y a correr y quemara todas sus reservas!!

So don´t worry, is just a healty happy baby.

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E.G.

answers from Houston on

Hi L., I am a mom of 5! Yes, I wanted every single one since I was about 16yrs.old. But I got married at 23. No kids until then.

Any who, your daughter should be fine. I have a daughter she's 14 now, but when she was little like yours she was tiny. If your daughter is eating well, developing properaly, happy and healthy, you shouldn't be worried. Sometimes little girls are small period.

I have 4 boys also (so 1 girl, the oldest and 4boys) and those boys were big! By 9 monthe I believe all but 1 were weighing about 20 + lbs. But they are boys. I don't know why, but the boys were bigger. Two of which didn't not get any teeth until 12 to 14 months! Weird, I know. But they have teeth now. And they eat plenty of different kinds of foods. One of them was eating "table" food at 3mnth. old, no kidding.

So, don't panic about her weight. Obviously she doing well.

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A.O.

answers from Sherman on

Unless your DR is worried, I wouldn't think twice about her weight. My son was 18 lbs at one and is 24 lbs at 2 1/2. He wears 12-18 months shorts. He's at the bottom of the growth charts for weight and height, but has the verbal skills of a 3 year old. It sounds like she's right on track....Good Luck!!

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B.L.

answers from Houston on

Hey there!

Wow - it seems like I wrote this story a few months ago. Feed her food before breastfeading. By the time she eats- she's already full from breastmilk. This helped me a LOT! Now it's time to switch to regular milk for me out of regular cups only and I know that helped with the transition! (she's 12 months now) She will still definitely have your milk - but now she'll be interested in the food as well and learn to enjoy and have fun with that. Good Luck!

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M.S.

answers from Houston on

Hi L.,
I had a problem with my breast milk not having enough calories in it when I was nursing. Will she eat cereal? Maybe you could mix it with formula or some of that pediasure? Also my children loved mashed potatoes and soft scrambled eggs at that age.
Good Luck!

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J.V.

answers from Houston on

I would suggest talk to your pediatrician my son had problems gaining weight when he was younger and i had to supplement with formula and add extra calories to his formula so he would gain weight properly. It's obvious your daughter is having some weight/feeding issues by 9 months she should be sleeping through the night not waking up to eat.

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V.C.

answers from Houston on

My son is the same way. He is almost 2 years old but still wears 12 month pants. As of now, he weighs 24 lbs. Our doctor was never concerned about his weight because he is very active and healthy. Babies/Toddlers eat when they are hungry. So they will sooner or later gain weight. We tend to get concerned because they don't eat, but it is normal for them because their tummy's are so small. I would suggest try weaning your baby from the breast. Maybe pump it into a bottle and feed her that way. As long as she is healthy and happy, try not to worry. Just offer her different foods/snacks throughout the day. If she is hungry, she will eat.

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C.A.

answers from Houston on

Take a deep breath mom. Every baby develops at their own rate. I agree with Bambi, feed her first then breastfeed her. REmember that her tummy is the size of her fist. That should give you a good reference as to how much food to expect her to eat. If you are willing, you could express plenty of breastmilk to freeze for a while and you can put it in a sippy cup for her to see how she accepts this. They have special bags that you can store it in and then you simply defrost in warm water and then you can store excess in the fridge until she consumes it. To warm up you simply pour up what you think she will drink and set it in warm water while she eats. If your pedi is concerned they will give you some additional things to do. Remember that if she has a small frame and seems to be developing normally you probably have nothing to worry about. If you are still concerned, talk to her Dr.
Keep us posted on how your little treasure is doing.
C.

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L.S.

answers from Houston on

Hi! I am not a Dr. by any means, but I was told by my pediatrician when I was transitioning from baby food to solids etc, to always feed the solids or babyfood first, then follow up with formula or breast milk. The reason for this being that the milk would fill my son up, and not leave much of an appetite for food. Just something else you can try and see if it helps her appetite increase.. good luck...

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V.B.

answers from Houston on

Hi L.,

My daugther was the same way at that age. She was always in the 5th percentile for weight and about the 10th for height, so she was just tiny! I would recommend giving her the cereal or babyfood first and then breastfeeding her. But, as far as the weight is concerned, I wouldn't worry unless her doctor is concerned. My daughter is now 19 months old and is catching up. She is just now in 18 month clothes, but her weight is near the 25th percentile now. I am only 5'1" and am petite, so I think she is just going to be built more like me. Each kid is different and unless there are developmental issues, I doubt that her doctor will worry too much about it. Once she starts eating more solid foods, she will probably start gaining weight a little more quickly. The bottom line is, if you are concerned about it, ask her doctor, but it sounds like she's doing great!

V.

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S.O.

answers from Houston on

Don't worry unless your pedi is concerned. My daughter was the same way would still fit 6 month clothes at 18 months. I thought she was going to stay tiny but she finally caught up and then even got a little pudgy in first grade, her dad was home for a while with a hurt back and fed her like a man!!! So don't fret. I did notice though, that you fed her breast before food. Try doing it the other way around they tend to gain more wait that way. I noticed with my daughter when I started weining her.

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