Weight gain, milk and solids intake for a weaning prem (slight panic) | ExpatWoman.com
 

Weight gain, milk and solids intake for a weaning prem (slight panic)

50
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 07 July 2011 - 22:30

Just reading previous threads over intake for babies at around 6 months. My daughter is a prem 7.5 months corrected age and 10.5 months actual. Normally quite calm about this but worrying a bit (ok a lot). Most recent weight gain is 350 grams this month.

I have genuinely believed her (a 27 weeker) to be a good feeder and also very much better (if better is the right word) at weaning than my first DD who went to term. I would really like to know if this sounds as if she is getting enough milk and food. She weighs 6.1kg (tiny but 900 gms at birth). Problems are that she is small so stomach is correspondingly small and I think her metabolism is also high. She is both active and lean in equal measure. She loves fruit, yoghurts, cereals, root veg (much like DD1). On advice of neonatal consultant have tried her on foods more equiv to a 10 month old (i.e. meat) this has not gone down so well so I've backed off - tbh my first daughter didn't want much to do with meat until 10months, maybe more. She will eat lumpier foods and I've given her cooked carrots etc and rice cakes to chew which she does really well with (she has one tooth!) - I wld have love to do BLW but I think that wld have been one step too far for the consultant and to be honest she needed the calories easily accessible from puree. He already views my BFing ways with some suspicion (she was EBF until 7 months actual).

I guess a 'usual' day looks like this:
Breast feed 6/7am
Porridge/fruit (biggest meal) takes a good 3 tablespoons
Formula milk (circa 100ml)
Mid morning breast feed
Lunchtime Veg w pasta/ potato (or usually mix of veg) and fruit (sometimes) w water
Formula milk (circa 100ml)
Mid afternoon Breast feed (longer BF)
Tea Veg followed by Yoghurt or banana w water
Bedtime Formula (140-160ml)
Night - was 1 BF, currently 2 BF (these are long good feeds)

Recently has been teething so not taking much at 'meal times' - more milk I think if my chest size anything to go by!

I am offering BM every so often in between the above times too although she tends to be on for 5 mins only - I guess a quick drink! It has been quite difficult to find info on weaning prems as I think it's such an unknown quantity. If anyone can guide me I'd be grateful - is she getting enough milk (firstly) and solids (secondly)? I feel I have more milk now than a month ago (I think?) owing to her now twice nightly feeding. TIA

2782
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 10 July 2011 - 08:30
I bake salmon in tin foil with fresh basil and lemon zest (am a big fan of using herbs etc to make baby food taste good and you can eat it too, with a little salt added to yours) reserving the juice is a good idea although I don't give much dairy as my LO seems to get constipated/gassy from it but if yours is happy with formula then all dairy should be fine. Also mashed avocado is a favourite, either on its own our in little sandwiches as finger food, full of good fats and other good stuff. Our morning "porridge" is a rice pudding (made with milk and egg(if you're givng egg)) or quinoa or millet soaked/rinsed then cooked the same way (my slow cooker gets good use), quinoa in particular is very good from a nutritional standpoint but do make sure you soak and rinse it first or it can be a bit bitter. I serve with peeled peaches/apricots/plums stewed with fig/prunes and purees with very ripe banana which helps keeps things moving. My LO def goes off his food when teeth are coming through, not surprising really, hope she is back on track soon.
50
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 10 July 2011 - 07:27
Thank you ladies - I feel reassured and it seems another tooth is v nearly through which is why she has been seemingly off her food. The suggestions re lamb and salmon I will try and that should be easy as we eat both those fairly frequently. Will also up the cheese and butter content where poss as there is def room to use these more! KC thanks as it's helpful to know about how another prem has weaned. Her weight gain has levelled out and yet there is some pressure to keep her gaining more, so great to have some strategies to help with that. <em>edited by Muzza1 on 10/07/2011</em>
180
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 10 July 2011 - 00:39
Your schedule and amounts look fine. The only adjustments I would make would be to add more calorie dense foods such as cheese, butter, greek yogurt etc. Like make her porridge with full fat milk and add a little bit of butter. Add some butter to her vegetables etc and some grated cheese to her pasta. My DD loved a salmon dish I used to make - the salmon was always very soft and it was very tasty - poach salmon in milk till cooked. Remove skin and flake it. Keep milk that salmon was poached in (full of good omega oil) and make a cheese sauce with it then add salmon. Steam your veg - usually carrots, peas etc. Mix it all together and blend to desired consistency. Freezes well too. If you have plenty of breast milk and she is just having short feeds, consider pumping some of the foremilk off before a feed so she get the richer hindmilk which has more calories. Good luck!
2782
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 08 July 2011 - 14:32
It is pretty normal for weight gain to slow right down by that age (in a non prem anyway), sounds like she is eating plenty, I would persevere with the meat, it is now considered fine to give meat as a first food (from 6 months and the longer you wait the more likely she will reject it. Try slow cooking lamb (I cook lamb shanks in the slow cooker 12 hours so the meat is really tender and falling of the bone) and then pureeing it with peas and fresh mint so it is less gritty.
231
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 08 July 2011 - 12:06
Hi Muzza1. My daughter is a 31 weeker (now 16 months corrected 14 months) she weighs almost 10 kgs. She is also quite lean but tall enough. She also slowed her weight gain quite a bit after 10 months and has barely gained anything in the last three months (owing to increased acitivity) If I remember correctly at 10 (almost 8 months corrected)months, she was eating about the same as what you are feeding your daughter. She was a three hour feeder and our schedule was BM in the morning, bfast of purees at 9 ish witha formula top up, BM again and then lunch,BM again and then dinner and then a formula bottle at night (150mL) and a breast feed at night. We did not introduce meat till she was 12 months old and she is not very fond of it anyway. She likes only fish. She seems to be doing fine. I think your schedule sounds fine too. We accelerated introducing veg and rice and lentils at about 11 months and she eats almost everything we offer her now (we still have to mash a bit as she only has 3 teeth!).
 
 

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