Effective Strategies for Gaining Weight

The baby's weight is always a measure that is considered by mothers. Mothers often feel uncomfortable if the baby looks thin or small. Similar feelings can also occur if the baby is overweight or obese.

Some actions can be taken if the baby is underweight or looks too small. First, consult your pediatrician for a complete assessment of the baby's weight status. If your weight is really insufficient, your doctor will help you identify the cause while providing appropriate treatment steps.

Every baby's growth rate is different. Some look faster, others are slower. Weight is not always constant. For example, a sick baby may gain weight more slowly. Or babies who experience faster growth will look faster. During baby's weight gain according to the growth curve, it means that the weight is still relatively good.

In general, term and healthy infants will reach double birth weight at 4 months and triple at 1 year. Baby weight is usually faster than a baby girl. For babies born with low birth weight, weight gain is different. Talk to your pediatrician about how many goals you want to achieve and how to achieve them.

Babies start to have more food at the age of 6 months. You can gain weight by increasing the number of calories from food or drinks. Sources of calories grown are chosen from healthy food sources. It is often difficult to feed the baby in larger portions. Adding the number of calories to food is easier to do.

How to gain weight

There are two ways to get more calories for babies, by offering high-calorie foods before low-calorie foods or adding calories to baby food.
 
1. Eat high calorie foods first

Because the baby's stomach capacity is limited, it is difficult to increase the portion of baby food. You can start by trying to provide high calorie foods. Only then, if the baby is still hungry, then we can give him food that contains fewer calories.

High-calorie baby food, namely breast milk or formula milk, cereals and meat extracts. Although low-calorie foods are recommended is puree or fruit juice. Mashed vegetables can also be an alternative because they contain fewer calories.

If you use instant baby food, it's good to pay attention to the number of calories in food packaging. Choose foods that are high in calories. For example, instant foods that contain meat and vegetables generally contain fewer calories than foods that only contain meat.

2. Add calories to baby food

Here are some ways to add calories to baby food

• Add milk or formula to baby food instead of water
• Add margarine or oil to baby food. For example ½ teaspoon of oil in 60 ml of mashed meat or vegetables.
• Avoid giving too much water, tea, coffee or fruit juice. Fruit juice contains fewer calories but is abundant. If you want to give fruit juice, give after the baby is eating.

You can also add the following high-calorie foods to your baby's food:

• Milk powder
• margarine
• Cheese
• Honey (not recommended for children under 1 year)
• lawyer
• Peanut butter

Although it is important to pay attention to the baby's weight gain, it is not the only indicator of its growth. Other aspects of growth and development must also be stimulated and taken into account. Also make sure the baby is still receiving a balanced nutritional intake to support growth.

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