Comments on: Fattening Baby, Naturally

By: Christine

Christine — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:09:50 +0000

I just found your blog on my own search to fatten my one yr old!
My dr told me the EXACT same thing and I too am not happy about pediasure:(( your tips are great and I will be using them thank you!!!

By: Nicola

Nicola — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:19:41 +0000

I would watch out for the soy-based formulas especially if you are feeding it to your baby boy, there is too much estrogen in it and it is not good for him. Do the research, you will find out it is not good to give your son.

By: rebecca

rebecca — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:15:09 +0000

Mary, someone on one of our other food posts recommended giving kids very tiny bites of things to get them to branch out. I still have trouble getting my daughter to eat much, so I don’t have any other ideas. Maybe soft finger foods instead of purees? Some kids don’t like being spoon fed.

Nicole, the flax seed meal I mentioned in the original article might be something for you to incorporate into your daughter’s diet. And perhaps the sunflower seed butter?

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:06:31 +0000

VERY helpful blog!! My daughter is 9.5 months. She is only 15lb 9oz and has very low muscle tone. I am beginning to add beans, egg and salmon to her diet. I was wondering what other foods you would suggest to help her with weight gain and food that would help build muscle. Thanks!!

By: Mary HIlligoss

Mary HIlligoss — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 01:48:35 +0000

My son just turned a year old in may. When he was 8 months old he’d eat adult food or well try. Point is when I told my doctor she said to stop and wait till hes older. well now i’m having trouble getting him to eat anything other than his bottle. He barely takes the rice. Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can get him to eat?

By: Lauren

Lauren — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:45:26 +0000

Just a quick response to one of the comments – be careful with homemade baby formulas. If your baby is under 12 months and you’re not breastfeeding, it’s really difficult to mimic the specific nutritional requirements of babies that only formula or breastmilk can give them. A really good soy-based formula that’s all natural is Baby’s Only. They call it a toddler formula to promote breastfeeding up to 12 months but hey, that’s not always possible. My pediatrician confirmed the nutritional values are the same as other formulas for kids under 12 months. Babies have very specific nutrient needs and no nondairy (or dairy) milk can compare. After 12 months though is a different story. If they’re not eating dairy or meat you want to make sure they are getting enough B12, iron, zinc, vitamin D and calcium.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:37:52 +0000

It sounds like you are feeding your daughter a vegetarian diet. My 15 month old is vegan (except when grammy sneaks her some pancakes with eggs and milk now and then ). Vegan and vegetarian diets are high in fiber, and because toddlers have a higher need percentage wise for fat (I believe 30% of caloric intake should be from fat), it’s important to emphasize not just the protein but the healthy fats for weight gain. My daughter recently went through several illnesses in a row including a nasty GI bug that left her too thin for my happiness. To fatten her up and keep her healthy, I add avocados, almond/cashew/peanut/seed butters (via banana shakes and on top of toast and in iron-fortified cereal), and healthy canola, olive and other natural oils to her breads, pastas and cooked veggies. I also like hempseeds which I’ve added to shakes – if you can find them, they’re high in zinc, iron and good fats. Fruits and veggies are very important, but that combined with whole grains can be a lot of filling bulk not so dense in calories, so I like to switch the whole wheat bread with some refined grains as well. Also, don’t forget the quinoa with some earth balance (healthy butter substitute)! Baby loves it and it’s a good source of various amino acids (protein). Finally, because she is vegan she gets about 3 bottles of formula sometimes switched with fortified soymilk for her iron, B12 and vitamin D supplementation. My daughter also loves mashed potatoes (good calorie source) with earth balance and almond milk, enriched alphabet pasta with tomato sauce (surprisingly good source of protein), bananas (yummy calories) baked beans and lentils with rice. I hope these tips may inspire other mommies/daddies out there to not give up on raising healthy children on a natural diet.

By: heather

heather — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:43:28 +0000

I just spent a few minutes searching for this after reading it a while ago. My tiny 1 year old needs some fattening up, the doc said whole milk would probably do the trick, and I’m also follow this. Thanks!

By: rebecca

rebecca — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:10:55 +0000

Spam and ramen?! I am amazed that we both got the advice to feed our babies junk food to fatten them up. Here so many parents are worried about toxins, sugar, and trans-fats, and our doctors are recommending them. Coconut oil/milk/cream has a lot of good, natural fats–I hope that ends up doing the trick for your daughter!

By: Bridg

Bridg — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:10:33 +0000

My doctor suggested I give my daughter Spam and Ramen to fatten her up. I just discovered coconut oil a week ago and I think it is doing the trick.

Unfortunately, my daughter does not process dairy very well. We have been making a homeade rice milk formula and have been using the brown rice protein powder. I think I am going to increase the amount I put in the formula. Thank you for your suggestions and I am glad that there are other parents with the same concerns I had.