A Guide to Healthy Weight Gain in Infants - Month-wise

Weight gain is one of the most common worries of a first-time mom and always keeps her on the edge. There are several questions a mother is constantly battling with - is my baby gaining enough weight, is breastfeeding enough and what can I do to push my baby’s weight up, etc. 

• For 0-6 Months Baby Weight Gain Chart 
• For 6-9 Months Infant Weight Gain Chart
• For 10-12 Months Infant Weight Gain Guide 

Month-wise Weight Gain Tips

Here are a few tips on how to increase your baby’s weight in a healthy, hygienic way. Read below...

0 to 6 Months Old Baby Weight Food Advice

Ideally, an infant gains enough weight on just breast milk, till the age of 6 months, as mother’s milk is a complete meal for an infant. So, if the infant has doubled her birth weight at 5 months, there is nothing to worry about. But in case this does not happen, consult the pediatrician for advice as before 4-6 months, the infant is not given any top feed. Breast milk is an important meal for your baby to build a strong immunity to fight common illnesses beyond just a healthy weight gain. If you feel that breastfeeding is a challenge owing either due to baby latching issues or joining work, you can use a comfortable breast pump to express your milk. This also ensures that the milk supply doesn’t go down because of reduced breastfeeding.

6 to 9 Months Baby Weight Gain Guide

Once you start giving semi-solid food, then certain foods can be included in your baby’s diet to specifically push her weight up. These are generally the energy-dense and protein-rich foods.

1. 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. Rice water is the first way to introduce cereals to your young one. So ensure that the feeding bottles and other baby utensils are properly sterilized in a steam sterilizer to kill all germs (since boiling them doesn’t kill all of them). If your baby has strong immunity, she will gain sufficient weight. Remember that if you want to ensure a healthy weight gain in your baby, ensure proper hygiene in all baby utensils.
2. Increase intake of starchy fruits and vegetables- fruits such as banana and vegetables like potato, sweet potatoes should be given to increase weight. Vegetables should be steamed and mashed, and given with little butter/ghee on them. Similarly, a banana can be well mashed and given as it is or with jaggery powder/ mashed dates, or full cream milk. Steaming is much better than boiling these foods as steaming preserves more nutrition and is tastier too. An easy way to prepare steamed food is to use the Philips Avent Combined Steamer & Blender. You can easily steam and then blend the foods in the same jar. 
3. Egg Yolk and Mutton/Chicken Stew-  If your pediatrician permits introducing egg yolk, then half boil an egg and take out the yolk. Then add it to steamed and mashed potatoes/overcooked mashed rice. Add a teaspoon of butter/ghee to make a complete nourishing meal. You can even steam the meats in the Combined Steamer Blender.
4. Pulses- best tolerated green gram/mung 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.
5. Milk Products like Curd/Yogurt- Use full cream milk to set the curd. Give with mashed dates/banana or jaggery to the infant, especially during afternoon hours.

10 to 12 Months Baby Weight Gain Food 

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:

1. 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, a halwa of atta/suji can also be given.
2. Fruits – Instead of giving plain fruits you can give fruit yogurt, fruit in kheer, custards, blended fruit smoothies 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).
3. Vegetables – Use more potatoes and sweet potatoes. They can be added to parantha, dosa, khichri, soups or to other vegetables. You can also make a halwa of these vegetables.
4. Eggs – Can be given as scrambled with added milk/fresh malai, or an egg can be added to the soup.
5. Fish/Poultry/Meat – stews and well-steamed meat, mashed, can be given to infants, provided your pediatrician agrees to it.
6. 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.
7. 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.

Note: Apart from the foods that you may introduce to your baby for a healthy weight gain, it is also important to know that you are taking care to build your baby’s immunity, as a child with strong immunity will not fall sick often and will have a constant healthy weight gain throughout the growing years. So invest in a high-quality sterilizer like the Philips Avent 3-in-1 Sterilizer and rest assured that your baby will be protected from harmful germs and will have a healthy weight gain.

Weight Gain Points to Remember

The following are some of the weight gain tips, read below...  

• 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 the above foods, give only little amounts first, to check for any allergy. If there is no allergic reaction only then continue with those foods.

Happy Healthy Eating