Fat

[caggimedicine]

OK, so I took Harry to be weighed today. He's put on 1oz in 2 weeks

The HV asked what I was feeding him. Now - Harry HATES formula, and hasn't ever had much of it - he still doesn't finish a 5oz bottle and he'll be 6 months old next week. We started weaning Harry early because of this. I give Harry blended fruit and vegetables. I've given him porridge and weetabix a few times too... but mainly it's just fruit and veg. The HV said that this is why he's not putting weight on and that i need to start giving Harry fatty foods like cheese! I would NEVER have considered giving Harry cheese.

What does everyone else do to include fat in their baby's diet?

 

[freckleonear]

All dairy foods such as cheese, butter and yogurt provide a nice lot of fat and other vitamins and minerals such as calcium too. Maybe try making a cheese sauce for mashed potato, or make some custard? Also use plenty of olive oil when you cook. If he's still eating purees mainly, then avocado is excellent for babies as it is very high in fat and also happens to have more nutrients than any other fruit.

 

[caggimedicine]

Yeah I read that about avacado today - going to get one this weekend and mash it up with some banana and greek yoghurt.

I don't know - there I was thinking I was doing what's best giving Harry fresh fruit/veg/fibre, and it turns out he should be having more fat and less fibre!

 

[Mummy&bump]

ooo i didnt kno this ither! iv started weaning keir as milk is jus no lnger enough and hes quite a big boy for his age and after consultin hv i started! iv only bn giving fruit and veg 2.:s

as any1s lo cut out a bottle yet, the last 5 nights keir wnt even entertain his last bottle jus goes 2 sleep lol

xx

 

[Hevz]

Babies and children need diets that are high in fat and low in fibre....the complete opposite to us. That doesn't mean fat as in junk though as junk often contains lots of salt and nasties

They need full fat milk/formula on cereals, full fat butter or spread on toast, bread, crumpets, use olive oil or another healthy oil to cook with, a bit of cream stirred into scrambled eggs makes them creamy and much more pallatable


You don't have to deliberately add fat to food but don't use lower fat products as they don't contain the fat soluble vitamins and extra calories that growing children need



This article is interesting
https://www.recipestoday.com/articles/infants-and-toddlers/no-low-fat-diet-for-baby-797/


This has some info too for older children
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/index/p...ting-for-children-aged-one-year-and-above.htm

 

[Fossey]

Grate some cheese mix it in with his vegis. I do this with liss a lot. She also likes beans and eggs with cheese. Also I make my own yogurt which has a fair amount of fat in it.

 

[PeanutBean]

We add a splash of milk to all his veggies and sometimes some cheese too so he gets extra that way.

 

[beancounter]

Finn's put a lot of weight on with weaning and I havent let him have dairy yet (it makes him sick when i eat it) but I mix milk into his veg or cereal and he still drinks a lot of it. If he didnt like milk, I would make sure he had lots of yoghurt and cheese and such, I think, just because it is like hard milk

 

[louise1302]

no wonder archies weight gain has slowed right down he doh hes only having 2 maybe 3 bottles a day now and still only on fruit and veg purees....however hes milk protein and lactose intolerant so i cant really give him yoghurts and cheese/cream...wht fat should i give him???

 

[caggimedicine]

Babies and children need diets that are high in fat and low in fibre....the complete opposite to us.

This is exactly where i've been going wrong. I've been giving Harry home grown pureed veg thinking that he can't get better than that - only to discovered that I should be giving him more fat!! Been food shopping today and have bought the following:

Full fat cheddar cheese
Full fat Greek yogurt
Avacado
Full fat yoghurts
Cottage cheese

I also got some cod as i'm going to make him cod with a cheese sauce and some chicken too - I have some recipes!

Tried Harry with avacado today for the first time. Mashed half an avacado with half a banana and a tablespoon of greek yogurt. He had about 8-10 spoonfulls which to me was a hit - although I don't think he was particularly keen. He also had a full yogurt too which I was pleased about!

Have also bought HIPS Bedtime Milk - thought i'd give it a go and he had 5oz tonight before bed so will see how he is tonight.

 

[Hevz]

Babe...you're not doing anything wrong. Everything sounds fab, you just need to make a few additions now. Sounds like you're doin a fab job sweetie



Louise, maybe making things like casseroles/stews with the veggies fried off in a little olive oil 1st and adding a bit of chicken and meat into his diet

 

[Vickie]

Hannah gets a lot of cheeses and yogurts (she's not and has never been a big milk drinker either). It sounds like you are doing great as Hevz said

And I've found that Hannah won't eat cottage cheese alone but loves it on her fruits

 

[Plumfairy]

Babies and children need diets that are high in fat and low in fibre....the complete opposite to us.

This is exactly where i've been going wrong. I've been giving Harry home grown pureed veg thinking that he can't get better than that - only to discovered that I should be giving him more fat!! Been food shopping today and have bought the following:

Full fat cheddar cheese
Full fat Greek yogurt
Avacado
Full fat yoghurts
Cottage cheese

I also got some cod as i'm going to make him cod with a cheese sauce and some chicken too - I have some recipes!

Tried Harry with avacado today for the first time. Mashed half an avacado with half a banana and a tablespoon of greek yogurt. He had about 8-10 spoonfulls which to me was a hit - although I don't think he was particularly keen. He also had a full yogurt too which I was pleased about!

Have also bought HIPS Bedtime Milk - thought i'd give it a go and he had 5oz tonight before bed so will see how he is tonight.

OMG I really didnt know this!!! Is it OK to have cheese and yogurts and all sorts already? I too have just been giving Layla fruit, veggies and rice etc...!! Oh god bad mummy!!! What kind of yogurts are they allowed? Sorry to hijack!!

 

[caggimedicine]

OMG I really didnt know this!!! Is it OK to have cheese and yogurts and all sorts already? I too have just been giving Layla fruit, veggies and rice etc...!! Oh god bad mummy!!! What kind of yogurts are they allowed? Sorry to hijack!!

Well, obviously i'm no expert!! But apparently full fat stuff?! HV has told me to give Harry cheese, full fat cows milk (stuff like that) from now... and he's not much older than your LO. You're not a bad mummy... you probably thought like me, that what's good for us is good for baby - but apparently not!! I wouldn't mind, but I've even got a book on baby weaning and hadn't even looked at it. I came home from seeing the HV really annoyed, looked in the book and read exactly what she had said to me in there and was like "oh... right."

 

[ani]

no wonder archies weight gain has slowed right down he doh hes only having 2 maybe 3 bottles a day now and still only on fruit and veg purees....however hes milk protein and lactose intolerant so i cant really give him yoghurts and cheese/cream...wht fat should i give him???

You can add olive, flax and canola oil to his food, avocado is great as already mentioned by others, tofu is a fab source of fat (start at 8 months, mash into food or give as finger food), other soy products, nut & seed butters a little later.

 

[Plumfairy]

OMG I really didnt know this!!! Is it OK to have cheese and yogurts and all sorts already? I too have just been giving Layla fruit, veggies and rice etc...!! Oh god bad mummy!!! What kind of yogurts are they allowed? Sorry to hijack!!

Well, obviously i'm no expert!! But apparently full fat stuff?! HV has told me to give Harry cheese, full fat cows milk (stuff like that) from now... and he's not much older than your LO. You're not a bad mummy... you probably thought like me, that what's good for us is good for baby - but apparently not!! I wouldn't mind, but I've even got a book on baby weaning and hadn't even looked at it. I came home from seeing the HV really annoyed, looked in the book and read exactly what she had said to me in there and was like "oh... right."

I feel so silly! Poor baby is probably sick of rice and vegetables!! Right, Im off to buy lots of cheese and yoggies today and try them out! Im so new to this and so worried of giving her something that she's not ready for and making her ill. I know thats not really likely, but to me she still feels like a tiny weeny little baby! Got some books on order so hopefully can get some ideas from them.

 

[Tegans Mama]

I had/still have the same problem. Tegan is on the 5th centile for weight, very small, puts on about an oz a week. She eats a lot of EVERYTHING now seeing as she is almost one, and nothing works I feel like I started on a bad foot by giving her just fruit and veg IYKWIM?

I know your LO is too young for cows milk but Tigs started putting a bit more weight on once we swapped her (9 months, recommend by doc). I give her cheesy mashed potato when she was little (she won't eat it now, its boring ) which was basically just mashed potato, cheddar cheese OR a cheese triangle, LOADS of butter (lol) and she really loved that. Meat etc have a lot of fat in.. try adding bits and bobs to things you already give her - cheese to cauliflower/broccoli purée (T always hated broccoli and cauliflower tho ).

As soon as we started solids T started drinking less and less formula, she got to the point where she wouldn't even drink an oz in one go. HV told us to put nesquik powder in (yeah yeah bad mummy ) and the chocolate one actually worked. It has no additives, no e numbers etc so it does them no harm except give them a sweet tooth, which in a baby who has issues putting weight on, isn't such a bad thing after all!

Tegan had yogurts (I only ever give her muller little stars), and at about 6 months we started giving her Organix snacks. I don't know what else to say because this has turned into an essay! But good luck hun, once T stopped putting weight on quickly she never got back into the flow.. She was 8lb 5oz at birth and is still only 18lb now at 11.5 months

 

[Jemima]

You shouldn't feel bad about it. Us new mummies don't automatically know what the right/wrong things are for our LOs. That's what HVs, Doctors, experienced friends, relatives and BnB are for

Sounds like your LO has been getting a lovely variety of fruit and veg, which will stand him in good stead for the future.

 

[Hevz]

You shouldn't feel bad about it. Us new mummies don't automatically know what the right/wrong things are for our LOs. That's what HVs, Doctors, experienced friends, relatives and BnB are for

Sounds like your LO has been getting a lovely variety of fruit and veg, which will stand him in good stead for the future.

Here here, you won't know unless someone tells you or you read about it babe, stop beating yourself up.



As for what kind of yogurts, it's up to you really. I've given Muller Little Stars (yogurts and fromage frais) and Petit Filous but I am aware that they contain a fair amount of sugar so limit these to just once or twice a week.

I found some Plum Organic ones last week when shopping on Ocado and they don't have added sugar so they say, but do contain fruit juice concentrate which is still sugar



Also pulses like beans (you can get tinned cannelini beans etc with no added sugar or salt from the supermarket) and lentils have lots of protein in them, they are great additions to baby food. Red lentils especially as you don't have to soak them. Just add a small handful to soups, stews etc and they with thicken it up and give a lovely richness to the dish

 

[Plumfairy]

Also pulses like beans (you can get tinned cannelini beans etc with no added sugar or salt from the supermarket) and lentils have lots of protein in them, they are great additions to baby food. Red lentils especially as you don't have to soak them. Just add a small handful to soups, stews etc and they with thicken it up and give a lovely richness to the dish

Im glad you mentioned this, as I wanted to ask about lentils etc. I LOVE lentils and was wondering if they were ok for her. They make a lovely stewie type thing with apples!!