Some people are blessed to have their babies come out with rolls and chub and no troubles gaining weight on their own. Unfortunately, that has not been our experience. If you are looking for ways to help your baby gain weight, then I have some suggestions for you. This is coming from someone who is not a medical professional, but they are things we have noticed work well, are suggested by her doctor, or others in similar situations have suggested as well.

A DISCLAIMER, and a REALLY IMPORTANT thing to remember is that YOU DO NOT DETERMINE THE SIZE YOUR CHILD ULTIMATELY BECOMES! Genetic makeup, following their own curve, etc. are all things pre-determined. You’re only responsible for what giving them good, nutritious food. It’s their job to eat it!

You can just give them well-rounded nutrition, as well as nutrient and good fat dense foods, to help make sure they are getting the calories that can help them to maintain their growth or have a possible boost. If you’re interested in learning more about the act of FEEDING your children, I highly recommend the FEEDING LITTLES courses. (At the very least, check out their Instagram account. It’s so helpful!!)

You can read all about Clara’s birth story and experience in the NICU, but in a shortened version, my girl was born tiny. She was not early, she was under 3 lbs, and yet, she was perfect. She quickly began to gain weight, was released from the NICU at 4.5 lbs after 18 days, and had pretty extraordinary weight gain for the first 6 months of her life.

Since then, her doctor has wanted us to work harder to get her to gain some weight. He’s not CONCERNED yet, as he says her length to weight ratio is good and her head is growing well. He suggested we add in more fats wherever we can. I’ll share some things that we are currently feeding our 10 month old to help her gain weight!

6 THINGS TO HELP WITH BABY WEIGHT GAIN

SMOOTHIES

Some babies will drink smoothies from a cup, but Clara isn’t quite there yet. I make her little smoothies, keep them thick, and then spoon feed them to her. She LOVES them, and they are CHOCK FULL of healthy fats and yummy fruit flavor. The novelty of it being kind of frozen seems to be a treat my girl loves.

You can add in pretty much any of the items form the list below to add fat to a smoothie! (Full fat yogurt, soaked seeds or nuts, and more!) I have a post coming soon of all my favorite smoothie combinations, so be on the look out for that!

ADDING FORMULA TO FOODS

I thought to do this on my own! Call it mama’s intuition, but I thought that if she won’t take a bottle (or takes very little of a bottle,) she still needs the vitamins and nutrition from her formula. I mix in formula to a lot of her foods. It doesn’t seem to bother her, but it’s easy enough that daycare or family understands what to do when we leave her with them without foods labeled for each meal.

You can add it into the smoothies above, pureed fruits or veggies, applesauce, or prepackaged baby foods as well.

AVOCADO EVERYTHING

Clara’s first food was avocado. She quickly started not preferring the taste of avocado alone. Now, we add it to SO MANY foods she is eating. She doesn’t notice it’s in there, and it gets her some good fats and nutrients. She wouldn’t otherwise have those without adding it in!

BUTTER, PAULA DEAN STYLE

Yeah, you read that correctly. Our pediatrician advised us to add butter to all her savory foods. Be sure to use REAL, UNSALTED butter, since it has no trans fat! We add it into sweet potatoes and add cinnamon. You’d think she was eating an ice cream sundae- it’s gone in minutes.

Remember not to over-do it! Too much butter can be too much too soon, but butter makes everything taste better! We cook eggs in it, sautee different fruits in it, and more. Add it to anything you wish. We also add it into the Cafe Baby To Go foods we get from a local company at the Farmer’s Market!

NUT BUTTERS

If you don’t have a history of nut allergies, doctors are recommending trying peanuts and other nuts early. (Between 6-9 months, usually.) With your doctor’s approval, you can add nut butters- that are unsalted and without added sugars- to many foods. Banana & peanut butter puree, adding it to toast, including it in smoothies, or wherever else you think to add it.

I truly hope that if you are in a place where you are struggling or at a loss to get your baby to gain weight, you step back and look at the overall picture. Are they healthy otherwise?

I have to ask myself this often! Take it easy, just add in a little more fats to help. These 6 things we do can be so helpful! Do you try anything else that you believe has assisted your baby in growing? Let me know below!