0 to 12 Months Baby Weight Gain Diet Plan, Diet Chart

Are your worried your infant is not gaining as much weight as he should? Then read our complete guide - categorized age-wise - to know what foods you can give to your baby to push up their weight gain. With an infant, a first-time mom is always on the edge - especially regarding their weight. Is she/he gaining enough weight, is breastfeed enough for them, what can I do to push their weight up? — are some questions a mom is always battling with. Here, we bring to you a short and crisp blog on how to increase your infant's weight in a healthy way. 

Source of Data: WHO

Source of Data: WHO

What Should be 0-12 Month Weight Gain Diet? 

First Six Months (0 to 6 months) Baby Diet

Ideally, an infant gains enough weight on just breastfeeding, till the age of 6 months. So, if the infant has doubled her birth weight at 5 months, it means she is gaining sufficient weight. But in case, this does not happen, consult the pediatrician for advise as, before 4-6 months, the infant is generally not given any additional foods.

6 to 9 Months Baby Diet - The Next 3 months Diet Plan

Once the infant starts on some solids, certain foods can be included in their diet to specifically push their weight up. These are generally the energy dense protein-richrich foods.

• Focus on cereals: This means you need to give more of cereals like rice, rice flakes, suji, sago, sprouted ragi powder etc. Give it to the baby in the form of porridge, kheer or phirni. You can also opt for fortified infant cereals.
• Increase Intake of Starchy Fruits & Vegetables: Fruits such as banana and vegetables like potato, sweet potatoes should be given to increase weight. Vegetables can be boiled and mashed given with little butter / ghee on them. Alike, a banana can be well mashed and given as it is or with jaggery powder / mashed dates, or full cream milk
• Egg yolk & Mutton / Chicken Stew: If your pediatrician permits introducing egg yolk, then half boil an egg yolk and add it to boiled, mashed potatoes / overcooked mashed rice. Add a teaspoon of butter / ghee to make a complete nourishing meal
• Pulses: Green gram / moong dal can be given boiled and well mashed with a spoon of oil / butter / ghee added to it. Around 7-8 months you can start with khichdi of both dalia / rice with dals and veggies like potato, carrot etc. add to the khichdi
• Milk Products: Curd / yogurt are great for babies. Use full cream milk to set the curd. Give with mashed banana / dates or jaggery to the infant, especially during afternoon hours. Check - Child-friendly Healthy Banana Bread Recipe

10 to 12 Months Infant Weight Gain Diet

At around this time, the baby should triple her birth weight once. If the weight gain is slower, you can focus on the following foods:

• Cereals - besides porridge, kheer, and khichdi you can start with chapatti mashed with dal / chicken soup / scrambled egg. You can also give idli / rice with a spoon of butter / ghee. Sometimes, halwa of atta / suji can also be given
• Fruits - instead of giving plain fruits you can give fruit yogurt, fruit in kheer, custards, fruit smoothie especially made of banana, honey and malai, milk / curd. (Provided your baby can tolerate dense foods like malai. In case of a stomach upset, please discontinue)
• Vegetables - use more potatoes and sweet potatoes. They can be added to parantha, dosa, khichri, soups or to other vegetables. You can also make halwa of these vegetables
• Eggs  - can be given as scrambled with added milk / fresh malai, or an egg nog can be added to the soup
• Fish / Poultry / Meat - stews and well-cooked meat, mashed, can be given to infants, provided your pediatrician agrees to it
• Home-made paneer - Closer to the 1st birthday, the baby can be introduced to fresh home-made paneer and mild processed cheese. You can mash paneer finely with jaggery or powdered sugar, roll it into laddoos and offer as finger foods or a quick snack to the baby. If giving cheese, do so in limited quantities as cheese is very high in salt
• Full-fat milk-based puddings - Like rice kheer / dates and raisins (cooked and mashed) custard / vermicelli kheer / gajar kheer can be given to the baby to push up his weight. For more -  Month-wise Healthy Weight Gain chart for Infants
• Infant Cereal - Age appropriate infant cereals with the right nutrition and texture can be a suitable partner to encourage chewing.

Things To Remember for Consistent Weight-gain in 0-12 Months Infant

• Only till the age of 2 years, additional ghee / butter / oil can be used for children. In case the child's weight is on the higher side, please use these in moderation
• Whole cream milk to be used until 1-2 years only. After 2 years or if the child is on normal weight, use toned milk only
• While giving above foods, give only little amounts first, to check for any allergy. If there is no allergic reaction only then continue with those foods

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Disclaimer: Exclusive Breastfeeding is best for babies for the first 6 months. Breast milk provides the ideal balanced nutrition and protection. However there maybe individual instances where introducing first foods maybe required depending on the child's needs and issues related to mother's milk supply. Please consult a pediatrician to make a more informed choice.