Small 10 month old

[Lirpa11]

Hi, Just wondering if anyone has any experience.

DS is 10 months and just shy of 17lbs. He was 7 lbs 2 oz when born.

The first 2-3 months he put on weight really well. Since then it has slowed down. The doctors had me coming in every 2-4 weeks for weight checks and to make sure he was doing fine. At 10 months the doctor requested failure to thrive (FTT) tests on him since he has been around 3-6% for the past 2-3 months. I was so worried as the tests were done on a Friday afternoon before a fourth of July weekend, and we didn't get the results until the Tuesday afternoon. The doctor did a urine test, and various blood tests.

Well, the results all came back normal, except his iron is borderline. So they said to make sure I keep giving him vitamins.

Anyhow, DS is breastfed, and eats baby food. Here is his daily schedule:

5-5:30am - quick dream feed (breastfed) while still in bed
6:30am - up and get ready for Daycare
7:30am - Breastfeed before daycare drop off
9:30am - 5oz breastmilk
10:30am - Baby food (usually half a jar - he wont eat more) fruit
Nap sometime
1pm - 5oz breastmilk
2pm - Baby food (again half a jar) - usually a veg or veg/meat
4pm - 5oz breast milk
5:30pm - breastfeed when I pick him up - snacks like puffs etc
7pm - Breastfeed at home
7:30pm - Baby food (meat/veg)
9pm -breastfeed and bed time

He sometimes feeds during the night as well. We also offer whatever we are eating for dinner and he often has some of that too. I have made him a plate of our food, and we are lucky to get several bites etc before he wants to play.

As for milestones, he has been crawling since 6 months. He has been standing since 8 months, and walking while holding onto things since 8.5 months. He is vocal, VERY ACTIVE (never sits still), responds to his name etc.

Has anyone has a small baby that was difficult to get them to eat and gain weight? The doctors always stress me out with their worry over weight. I feel like I am doing something wrong. When I have him I am constantly trying to feed him as I fear he isnt eating enough since he is too small. The real scare was seeing 'Failure to Thrive' on testing paperwork.

Anyone else have a similar issue? Did your baby catch up with the weight of other babies?

 

[noon_child]

I can only tell you that on the growth charts I have in front of me he's on the 9th centile and when he was born on 25th centile. These are only 1 centile apart and being bigger isn't better or normal - ALL the centile lines are within normal range. Now obviously if he had gone up in the meantime slowly to around 50th centile and then suddenly plummeted over the course of 6 weeks or so to the 9th then I can see they would want to investigate, but now they have done their tests and found nothing is wrong with him. I know "Failure to Thrive" has negative connotations but it used to be used for very different reasons to how it is used now. Now it just means "We don't know why he's not gaining weight". Well the fact that he is very mobile on top of not eating much is probably all there is to it.

(Btw your baby seems exactly the weight my LO was at that age and I was so happy with that as she was below the bottom of the graph for the first 3months of her life! Every baby is different - you can't catch up with the weight of other babies because there weight might not be normal for yours).

Having said that though, it does look like he doesn't eat terribly much. Now that just might come with time, or you might have to adjust some things in his schedule. 10months is the AVERAGE age that babies start needing more calories from food and less from milk but again every baby is different.

It looks like he is eating either food or breastmilk every 2hrs, which is great. As I say it doesn't look like a terrible weight to me BUT if you did want to change a few things round and see what happens I noticed a few things that could be contributing, or could have nothing at all to do with it.

I notice that he is only in bed for 8hrs or so between bedtime and morning feed. Obviously if he sleeps through then he's probably getting more sleep than my LO was(!) but the longer he is awake the more energy he is using up and the more tired he is during the day the less tolerance he will have for learning a new skill such as eating (he'll even have less tolerance for sitting still). I know that work schedules sometimes demand things from us that we can't change - so maybe this is just something you have to live with, however I did wonder whether the 7pm breastfeed at home could be replaced by solids followed by an earlier bedtime feed? I’m not usually one for replacing a breastfeed with solid food but as he already had a breastfeed at pick up time and you said he doesn’t eat much of his evening solids, it may be worth a try.

Does the day care offer three meals a day or do you have to pack your own food for them? I ask because I think he is more likely to have the patience to learn how to manipulate finger food, lumpy food etc during the day rather than last thing at night. If he’s quite an independent child who likes to be on the move, I imagine that learning to feed himself with food that is different textures and tastes, will be much more interesting to him than waiting to be fed mushy food. It may not make any immediate impact on his weight, but once he has those skills he’ll be able to actually get more in to his tummy and maybe will be more interested in food.

I also note that he goes 5hrs in the morning without being offered any solids. Is this because daycare don’t do breakfast, or is he just not interested?

I don’t know much about the type of food that comes in a jar so this bit might be irrelevant, but I wonder if he is getting high calorie food. Cheese, and fatty fish like salmon are great for (usually) being favourites amongst babies. Salmon or other oily fish can also be much easier to eat than meat for a baby who is learning to chew.

As you already said, you can’t make a baby eat, it is just about giving him some more opportunities to learn to eat different types of food so that he developed an interest and the skills needed to feed himself.

 

[justplay91]

My daughter is 7.5 months and only 15 lbs. She also is breastfed, but I do have to constantly remind her to nurse, except for dream feeds. When she gets solids, she picks at everything, but she is just not a big eater. I don't really know how to make her gain more weight. She's been hovering around 15 lbs for at least two months now. A few foods she does love are yogurt and avocado which are high in fat, but even then she doesn't really pack on much weight. She also is SUPER active. She isn't the best crawler, but she gets around and she is always moving. I'm thinking our babies just move around too much to really gain much weight.

 

[Lirpa11]

Thank you noontime. I have been reading on the internet and I have been giving him just our food for dinner each night, our food for breakfast and he seems to be doing better. For dinner time, I try to feed him some with a spoon and then I let him feed himself (with his hands). He makes a terrible mess, but I think we are getting more in his belly than we were a week and half ago.

By our food, I mean last night we had chicken with broccoli and cheese rice and sweet potato mash. He enjoyed it and ate quite a bit. He's had eggs, sausage and biscuits over the weekend. I think allowing him to feed himself, even with the mess is making it better. I will keep trying. I also keep crackers/cookies on hand so he can snack as he wants if we are out and about. What other snacks have you used?

When I pick out his baby food, I pick out the highest calorie food I can find. Some jars have 50 calories, but I aim to get the ones with around 100 calories.

I would try to feed him earlier, but most nights I don't get home until 7-8 o'clock, especially if I have to go anywhere after work or do any shopping. I can get home at 6-6:30pm at the earliest...Then, by the time I cook dinner, we eat late. I try to put him in a chair so he can eat while I am cooking, but that does not always make him happy as he wants to play and explore, and isn't always interested in baby foods.

I do try to feed him more solids at night. Maybe we will try to not worry about the BF when we get home and just try for solids anyhow.

The daycare does offer food for the babies, but it is puree food which he is not interested in. He never liked it much anyway so I buy the chunkier baby foods for him to have. They also offer normal table food, but that is in the room he will be in within a couple of months (the walking babies). He will get breakfast, lunch and a snack when in there.

In the mornings, he is usually not interested in food. I have tried to feed him at home (but it is very early as we leave around 7am...), and they have tried moving his feed time up and he doesn't like it as much. They have tried moving his bottles and solid feed up an hour, and he either leaves most of his bottle or doesn't want to eat his solids.

What I have done lately, is offer small bite sized foods on the way to daycare. Like a moist tiny muffin, or a biscuit with some jam on it. He seems to enjoy that and eat it on the way. At least while sitting in his seat, he will focus on eating. When he gets to daycare he just wants to play and see the babies. If I get him up earlier to try and fit in a breakfast, he is cranky and cries.... so I am giving him food on the go. It is getting his car seat to be messy but I can pull it all off and throw in the washer. I tried putting oatmeal and milk in a bottle before - that didn't work. I tried just milk but he doesn't always drink the bottle... he seems to be interested in the solid foods though.

Any tips on finger foods you give your babies?

Thank you for the tips, FTM here and it all seems so overwhelming at times. I wish I was able to stay home the first year like we had originally planned. I could sit and offer foods every few hours if needed, but at the daycare it is harder as they have 10 small babies in the room (2 teachers). Then it seems the little time I get with him on a work day is spent feeding him, cleaning him, cleaning his chair and floor area, picking up toys, and trying to get him in the bed... plus fitting in BF times and pumping time and washing bottles (that doesn't even include making me any food, or food shopping...) --- I work 4 days a week and they are full on... *sigh*

 

[Lirpa11]

I am going grocery shopping tonight, so any snacks you know of would be appreciated!

I am going to research re high calorie foods and buy them. I am thinking some full fat yogurt (if he will eat it). I've read that Banana is good...

I wish the doctors offered more help. I have also read that adding olive oil and butter to some foods will help with weight gain. Why don't they tell us that! :-/ Why don't they ask more detailed questions and give us guidance.

 

[crownest]

Avocado is a good one to try high in good fats. You can mash it or slice into chunks. Cheese is a good snack as well.

 

[Lirpa11]

Hi Ladies, looking over it all again and figuring out what I can do. I think the best thing is to try and get DS into bed earlier so I can get him up earlier. This will mean getting him eating solids earlier as well. Hopefully he can sleep 10 hours between 8pm and 6am... Would that be sufficient?

Then I can get him up around 6am so he can eat a breakfast before we leave. I'll try and find some filling breakfast foods for him.

That seems to be the best best for me, it just means I will need to be up by 5:15 or so in order to get ready before he has to get up.

 

[noon_child]

The food you are eating at home sounds delicious. I'm glad that feeding himself seems to be working to pique his interest.

I also keep crackers/cookies on hand so he can snack as he wants if we are out and about. What other snacks have you used?

Cheese, cheese, cheese all the way with my DD. Although it can get a bit sweaty if you have it out for hours and hours, my daughter wouldn't let it go that long! We also used to buy the date and apple toddler bars, apple crisps, dried apricots/raisins. Bananas are great because they are already in their own packaging, don't go off and aren't as sugary as the bars (small one is about 70 calories, large one about 95). If at home I would spread peanut butter on a banana for extra fat and protein. My DD still loves it to this day!

I would try to feed him earlier, but most nights I don't get home until 7-8 o'clock, especially if I have to go anywhere after work or do any shopping. I can get home at 6-6:30pm at the earliest...Then, by the time I cook dinner, we eat late. I try to put him in a chair so he can eat while I am cooking, but that does not always make him happy as he wants to play and explore, and isn't always interested in baby foods.

That sounds so hard. Do you have to option of buying groceries online and having them delivered when its convenient? Do you have an OH who could help out - even if its not every night but batch freezing some stuff over the weekend that could be heated up quickly?

Thank you for the tips, FTM here and it all seems so overwhelming at times. I wish I was able to stay home the first year like we had originally planned. I could sit and offer foods every few hours if needed, but at the daycare it is harder as they have 10 small babies in the room (2 teachers).

Thats quite a lot of babies! In the UK, non-mobile babies must be at a two to one ratio with staff in daycare (I think so that they can be picked up in each hand were there an evacuation in an emergency or something) - although I think that is an EU ruling, so it may be going out of the window now!

Honestly I don't think you are doing too badly at all considering your busy schedule. It does seem at this age that it is going back to newborn territory with everything revolving around food times, but it doesn't last forever, so if you have to make temporary changes to give him more opportunities with food please remember it isn't going to be your life forever!

I know someone will probably mention it so I may as well: I assume your LO is in a forward facing, fully upright car set when he has food? As choking is silent I would be worried giving my LO a snack where I couldn't see her (especially if I was driving anywhere that I couldn't pullover at a moments notice), but we don't have one of those mirrors where you can check on them easily. I don't think his weight is so low that you need to panic yourself in to doing something that you might think is risky otherwise. Just something to consider; you may not be worried by it.

 

[Lirpa11]

The food you are eating at home sounds delicious. I'm glad that feeding himself seems to be working to pique his interest.

I also keep crackers/cookies on hand so he can snack as he wants if we are out and about. What other snacks have you used?

Cheese, cheese, cheese all the way with my DD. Although it can get a bit sweaty if you have it out for hours and hours, my daughter wouldn't let it go that long! We also used to buy the date and apple toddler bars, apple crisps, dried apricots/raisins. Bananas are great because they are already in their own packaging, don't go off and aren't as sugary as the bars (small one is about 70 calories, large one about 95). If at home I would spread peanut butter on a banana for extra fat and protein. My DD still loves it to this day!

I would try to feed him earlier, but most nights I don't get home until 7-8 o'clock, especially if I have to go anywhere after work or do any shopping. I can get home at 6-6:30pm at the earliest...Then, by the time I cook dinner, we eat late. I try to put him in a chair so he can eat while I am cooking, but that does not always make him happy as he wants to play and explore, and isn't always interested in baby foods.

That sounds so hard. Do you have to option of buying groceries online and having them delivered when its convenient? Do you have an OH who could help out - even if its not every night but batch freezing some stuff over the weekend that could be heated up quickly?

Thank you for the tips, FTM here and it all seems so overwhelming at times. I wish I was able to stay home the first year like we had originally planned. I could sit and offer foods every few hours if needed, but at the daycare it is harder as they have 10 small babies in the room (2 teachers).

Thats quite a lot of babies! In the UK, non-mobile babies must be at a two to one ratio with staff in daycare (I think so that they can be picked up in each hand were there an evacuation in an emergency or something) - although I think that is an EU ruling, so it may be going out of the window now!

Honestly I don't think you are doing too badly at all considering your busy schedule. It does seem at this age that it is going back to newborn territory with everything revolving around food times, but it doesn't last forever, so if you have to make temporary changes to give him more opportunities with food please remember it isn't going to be your life forever!

I know someone will probably mention it so I may as well: I assume your LO is in a forward facing, fully upright car set when he has food? As choking is silent I would be worried giving my LO a snack where I couldn't see her (especially if I was driving anywhere that I couldn't pullover at a moments notice), but we don't have one of those mirrors where you can check on them easily. I don't think his weight is so low that you need to panic yourself in to doing something that you might think is risky otherwise. Just something to consider; you may not be worried by it.

Thanks, I have a mirror facing him that I see in my rear view and I keep an eye on him if he has anything to eat. I will try to be diligent in putting him on a better evening schedule so we can have a better morning schedule - then he shouldn't need that in the mornings in his car seat and I won't have to stress about when the daycare feeds him if I have already fed him a good breakfast at home. It is not idea, what I am doing so I will try and change things up!

I'll try banana and peanut butter He may like that! And I will try him on some cheese too.

 

[RaquelDee]

I'll back up everyone else's recommendation of cheese! My girl Ioves it and has been fairly fussy with everything else. She is also pretty small and very active, but has started to climb back up from 10th percentile since I began to focus more on the calorie value of her food.

I'd also recommend full fat yogurt, avocado (sometimes in sandwiches), strips of omlette (with more cheese) and pasta. As well as adding oil and butter, you can also add cream.

Bub is 11.5 months now, has dropped some day milk feeds and is pretty keen on food - her attitude to eating totally changed in the last month or two.

 

[Lirpa11]

Thanks everyone! I tried cheese last night and he just spat it out. He did eat a fair bit of his baby dinner (noodles, vegetables, chicken) plus he had some cantaloupe which he loved.

I also tried a new routine to go straight home, start dinner and feed him, play time, bath time and bed time! He was in bed 30 minutes (or more!) earlier than usual which gave DH and me some time to ourselves. We then woke up DS at 6:00am and he had a breakfast of - banana (ate some and played with it), and a sausage egg cheese biscuit (ate some and played with it) before we left the house. We will keep trying this so he gets a better sleep schedule and eats before we leave in the mornings.

Hopefully he will get more used to eating, and just start eating more.

I also didn't worry about the BF when we got home as I started on feeding him dinner and making our dinner by 6:30pm. I think rearranging our schedule will be better for everyone in the house.

 

[jessmke]

My LO is on the smaller side but has seemed to bulk up since I focused on offering her higher fat foods. For breakfast she usually has full fat plain yogurt and toast with natural almond butter. Lunches and dinners usually include cheese (she likes cottage cheese) and avocado, as well as a carb (rice, pasta, or toast) and protein (usually chicken breast or steak, sometimes salmon). I also often give her eggs scrambled with expressed breast milk. She has been teething for months and really likes cold cut up veggies because they feel good on her gums, but they don't pack a lot of calories or healthy fats so I see those more as snack foods and then give her fattier foods for meal times.

Sounds like you are doing great considering your very busy schedule. I don't know how you mamas do it who have to go back to work so early!

 

[Spudtastic]

I have a suggestion for a quick and healthy snack.

Can you get some refillable sucky pouches. Eh Google kai carrier. (It's a nz brand but I'm sure your country will have something similar). Then whizz up say avocado, full fat yoghurt, banana, a bit of coconut oil, berries and spinach. Fill the ducky pouch and freeze. Then take one out at the start of each day for an after school snack.