Solid Foods

Try these links for more info on infants and solids and weight:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_introducing-solid-foods_113.b...

http://www.babycenter.com/400_my-8-month-old-is-overweigh...

Since you are trying to move her to solids...you could try making her baby food on your own. That way you can control the consistency...making it chunkier and you go on. You can start adding different things to the foods she's already used to. For example, chunkier broccoli with shredded cheese...or chuckier peas in noodles and sauce. Good luck!

Don't worry about her weight! My oldest was 20lbs at 4 months, and about 28lbs at 9 months!! She turned out just fine! My youngest is a little smaller, at 6 months, she was 21lbs! As for the not eating food, I am not sure what to say, both my girls were fully on table food at 6 months! We never had a problem with the eating! Good luck!

Hi B.--

My son was allergic to everything as a baby so I've done lots of research about this. Okay, to start, a child will get all necessary nutrients, calories, etc. from breast milk or formula for the first year. There is no reason they need solid food until around a year. Anything you give them is practice. Your daughter is obviously sensitive so her system probably just needs some more time to adjust to solids. There's no reason to push it. My son was on breastmilk every two hours until he was 11 months old, and was only having two solid meals a day at 1. Now he's 3 1/2, eats just about anything, and is incredibly healthy. I have another friend who's son was a preemie and was quite similar--basically didn't eat solids until a year old. He's now 13 and totally healthy. Sometimes it just takes their little digestive systems longer to mature.

As far as breast milk supply goes, there's lots of things you can do to increase it if you so desire. I'd be happy to share if you want more information.

Average weight of a nine month old is around 18 pounds. Average height is around 27 to 28 inches. It sounds like you don't need to worry about how much food she's getting. She's growing well, so she probably is getting everything she needs.

Hope this helps.

I had four preemie babies, so I feel for you. I nursed all but the first one. I've discovered over time the best thing to start them off with is homemade mashed bananas with avocados. Sounds gross, but they get great nutrition, easy to digest, and seem to like it. You could add a little lime juice to keep from turning brown for your own sake. I held off ALL cereals until they were older and experimented with other fruits and veggies first. After tons of research, I discovered cereal is not good to start off, and will likely be re-evaluated as first food in the future. I bought a great food mill and did a lot of my own, plus organic baby food from the store. As they get older, I chunked up the bananas and avocados for first finger foods.

As far as breastfeeding, please try until she wants to wean off at about a year. I started to loose my supply with my little girl and found going off the birth control pills, lots of water and some herbal supplements helped tremendously.

Good luck to you! All mine are totally healthy and where we want them with weight and milestones.

Hi B.,

I agree with Sandy F. Especially since Brayden was premature, I would wait on any grains or rice cereal until after the age of one. Avocado and banana mashed or pureed are excellent first foods. Grain is hard to digest.

I would also hold off on weaning her from breastmilk - she doesn't really NEED any solids if you are breastfeeding her exclusively until after the age of one, according to my pediatrician and several other sources. Mama's milk is the perfect food for baby and solid food at this age is more for experimentation than nutrition. They don't digest it well yet, and breastmilk has the perfect mix of nutrients and fluid for them.

This site has great breastfeeding info: www.kellymom.com

If you would like to increase your breastmilk supply, make sure you drink LOTS of water and eat enough calories yourself, and talk to a lactation consultant at La Leche League.

My son is 10.5 months old and has just now started enjoying solid food. He breastfeeds a lot and is 24 lbs. He was about 22 lbs at 6 months. Unless your daughter has a medical problem, she is NOT overweight! All the baby fat is there for a reason - stored up so she can burn it off as she becomes more active or if she gets sick and doesn't eat much for a little while.

Hi B., my baby was also born in March on the 21st. He will not eat any baby food at all now. I have to cook chicken and turkey and beef and keep it in the fridge just for his meals. He loves chicken the best. I steam frozen carrots and peas and he loves cheese, All types. He loves muffins for breakfast and nutragrain bars and fig newtons. Any kind of potato he also has eaten fine. He will also eat a whole bannan or pear for his lunch and snack. I have also given him potato soup. Good luck, i hope these suggestions have helped. Good luck. My baby is also 22 or 23 lbs. His doc appt is tommorrow.

Hi B.

From what I can see on my growth chart..At 9 months about 18 pounds in the 50th percentile and 22 pounds is in the 90th. But I'm wondering if her height is similar in range. ??

As far as the food. I put a variety of veggies and fruits (sometimes steamed depending on what it was) in a food processor with water or juice or breast milk as a thinner and baby cereal as a thickener to help blend to the consistency I wanted. At 9 months my daughter loved blueberries! Then you can fill ice trays with your homemade foods and once frozen put the cubes in baggies and store frozen. Microwave when needed. Most keep for a month or more. It took work to create but I would do a large variety at a time and then have a bunch of food on hand.

I also do a ton with tofu. It's low in calories but great protein. I blend it with anything. Like yesterday I took cherries and tofu and tossed it in the food processor to make a kind of fruit pudding. My daughter has yet to refse anything I have created with it and I always feel like she's getting a nice dose of protein plus the benefits of what ever fruit or veggie I blend it with.

I would do two things, 1) get an appointment with a pediatric allergist and 2) don't push it.

I have a daughter who was born at 31 weeks. She turned 2 yesterday. Solid feeding was a struggle, with various bad reactions and refusals. If she reacted badly to a food, but it was something mild like an upset tummy, we tried it again in a month or so. If it occurred again we just dropped that food all together. With other things like milk protein, we had to avoid them altogether.

Cam had a very limited diet of rice cereal, and a couple of veggies. She did ok with finger foods that were grains (bread, cheerios, etc). With everything, we waiting to introduce foods until her adjusted age was appropriate.

We were pretty conservative, because she had NEC in the NICU, and her gut didnt always seem to work quite right. When we saw the allergist he complemented us on our approach of keeping her on a limited diet she could tolerate and not pushing or stressing to get other things into her diet.

Tak your time and relax!!

-K.

Usually, you start off with rice cereal. You can mix it with breast milk, or formula or water (bleck). Stick with that for about a week. Then you can start to add a little baby food with the cereal. Or fruit juice instead of the milk. Whatever you add, you add you should do for at least a week. Then you can add something else. One at a time for a week each. Then you can see if there are reactions to each.

But the cereal will fill her up for longer than just straight baby food.

If you've done all that, and you are now at the point of trying just baby food, the one week rule still applies.

As for the reaction - well, you don't say if she broke out or what. Sometimes, if the food dries on the baby's face, it will leave a little rash. But if you're concerned, you can talk with your doc!

Good luck!

Hi B.... An overweight BABY? Where does she fall on the growth charts--percentile for height and weight at her adjusted and/or actual age? Because unless there is a huge disparity between the two, I don't see how Brayen can be overweight. As for the solids... I wonder if she seems to enjoy feedings... how well does she sit? That's often an indicator of readiness to work w/'solids'. I would say baby food only at this stage... rice cereal or another grain might fill her up more.

I read your other posting also... You are right, your husband does need a wake up call. If your Dr. thinks Brayden needs (physical?) therapy then she does. These first years (0-3) are key to getting Brayden off to a solid start in life so she can be the best person she can be. And it will be far easier to address any specific needs she has while she is still so young. Perhaps you can talk to your Dr. privately and ask him to explain Brayden's needs in more detail to your husband, who seems to want what's best for Brayden but doesn't seem to understand the big picture.

Best wishes to all three of you.

My son is six months and 18 lbs 12 oz. the doctor has never said anything about his weight. I am not sure what to tell you about the food but to try diffrent things. Did the doctors say what she may be allergic to? I would talk to the doctor about your concerns.

I hate it when doctors tell us that our kids are "too chubby". My little one is only 6 months old and 22 pounds and healthy as can be. She won't eat solids either. My 3 year old took a while to eat solids. Just keep at it, be patient and eventually she'll come around. Try using organic baby foods so that she doesn't react to pecticides or chemicals in the veggies. Chew crackers are a favorite and there are some great organic ones at Whole Foods that are yummy.

Try a little cereal. This may be a little easier for her tummy to take. It will also help a little with her now wanting something more so soon. As far as wheening her from the breast, start introducing her to formula now. It's easier than you think. Trust me, she'll know she's due for a change.

I did the rice cereal, of course mixed with a little water, milk or even apple juice, And my kids both liked the bananas,applesauce, etc just real mild blandish foods to begin with, plenty of time for the other stuff later on... Good luck and enjoy, it only gets better

My daughter is also 9 months old and she does not really eat that good with baby food. But what I found to do is add some rice cerial with her fruit and veggies. I also found to offer the bottle and food during the same sitting. Sometimes i will act like i am giving the bottle so my baby will open her mouth and then i will put food in her mouth, I will just do this a couple of times and then give her the bottle for just a few minutes and then take the bottle so i can get a couple of spoons of food in her mouth. If the doctor is not concerned about her wait I would not worry. My daughter is in the bottom 10% for weight and she does not even weight 17lbs yet. And i do moitor my daughters weight because she was in the 25% and then slipped into the 10%.

A little about me:
I am M. had my first child in March. I am 31 I work at a engineering firm and have been married for a little over 2 years but have been with my husband for about 10yrs

my grandson also a preemie and i am the main caregiver. his pediatrician wanted us to start him on rice cereal at 4 months then advance to foods. i started him on apple juice and cereal separtaely and then using the juice to mix the cereal after a week of just each separtely. he is now 6 months and this is our feeding schedule.

7:30 i pick him up sometimes he has a bottle at home soemtimes he doesnt. he is on 22 calorie formula
8:00 we get home and he has 2 oz cereal mixed with applesauce or bananas. 4 oz of juice and 1 4 oz bottle of formula.
it takes about 45 minutes for all of this because he is in that playing stage. 9:00 down for a nap usually 1 hr
10:00 have a container veggies and 4 oz fromula
10:30 we take a walk to the park or library
12:00once container and the other half of veggies (we alternate green and orange every day) and 1/2 fruit. 2 oz water with every feeding. 8 oz bottle of formula. 1:00 nap time usually 1 hr, 2:00 other half of furit and 4 oz bottle of juice then play or read books or play in bouncer or floor time. 4:30 8 oz bottle formula and nap, 5:30 4 oz formula then mom picks him up at 7. he is usually in bed by 7:30 and she gives him 1 oz ceral and 8 oz bottle of fromula before bed. he only wieghs 16 lbs but is very active, has been since he was born. our pediatirician wants him to weigh 20 lbs at his 6 month check up next week and he is only weighing 16 lbs today. we also also offer him teething coookies and apples slices, forzen banana wedges, jerky (his dad does that) in between meals and througought the day.