The first months after birth are the "peak" period for the baby to develop in weight. However, not all babies gain weight quickly, even more, they only gain a little weight. What has happened and are there effective ways to help babies gain weight?
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How to help babies gain weight quickly, evenly from month to month
The reason why babies slow to gain weight
What do mothers eat to gain weight quickly?
When should child nutrition examination?
Where is good nutrition for children?
How to help babies gain weight
The rate at which a newborn's weight gain depends on many factors, as each baby will have a different rate of development. During the first week after birth, your baby may lose physiological weight and lose about 5-10% of its original weight. But by the 2nd week, the baby will gain weight again and break through weight marks impressively.
Usually in the first 3 months of life, babies increase from 1 to 1.2 kg / month; from 3 to 6 months increase about 600g. Later, the baby's weight will increase more slowly with each month only increase from 300-400g.
It is normal for most babies that babies are not gaining weight or gaining weight slowly after the first 6 months, so you don't need to worry too much. There are many easy and effective ways to help babies gain weight that any mother can apply.
Here are some effective ways to help babies gain weight:
Infant sleep time
Babies who sleep a lot can gain weight? Babies from birth will sleep continuously from 16-18 hours a day, babies only eat when eating and when going to the toilet. The reason, the infant's development in the first few months takes place very quickly thanks to sleep, or in other words, the baby grows up while sleeping.
Many mothers often have the concept that giving babies a little sleep during the day will help babies sleep well and sleep straight at night. This is completely not true mom! Because when lack of sleep, not getting enough sleep will make the baby uncomfortable, fussy, especially affecting the development of the infant.
As they get older, your baby's sleep time will also decrease, but you still need to make sure your baby gets enough sleep and on time. Especially in the evening, do not let the baby stay up too late because sleeping late will cause the pituitary gland to not secrete growth hormone, making the baby slow to grow and gain weight slowly.
How can babies gain weight fast? In order for the baby to gain weight well, the mother not only needs to pay attention to nutrition but also needs to ensure sleep, daily exercise for the baby.
The only source of food for babies is breast milk or formula, so mothers need to feed their babies regularly throughout the day. Each feed is about 2-3 hours apart, even at night, the mother should wake up the baby to breastfeed.
For those who breastfeed, you need to know how to breastfeed properly so that your baby can receive all the nutrients. The flow of breast milk is not the same, the first milk has a lot of water to help the baby thirst, the last milk has more fat. Want your baby to gain weight, the baby must be able to breastfeed both first and last milk, so mothers need to try to maintain breastfeeding time.
At the same time, suck out one breast, then switch to the other, avoid breastfeeding a little bit, change sides.
How do babies gain weight? Feeding the baby properly
When you are 6 months old, you should let your baby practice solids to meet the nutritional needs of the baby. Whether using Japanese or French or Vietnamese weaning methods , starting to eat weaning, you can feed your baby with milk powder or prepare your own weaning powder with the following foods:
Sweet potatoes contain sugar and beta carotene to help children digest, replenish energy for the body.
Cereals used as snacks or porridge are rich in vitamin E, fat, and protein.
Potatoes are a food source of carbohydrates, energy helps children gain weight fast.
When you are stronger, mothers add fresh foods such as meat, fish, eggs, vegetables ... to your baby's daily diet.
Encourage your child to get active
Mom do not worry when your baby loves to crawl, crawl or shake everything in hand. Exercise a lot will help your baby feel hungry quickly and help the digestive system work effectively. You can exercise together with your child every day to meet the target "beautiful mother, you are healthy".
Massage for babies
In addition to the effect of making babies relax, falling asleep, the infant massage is also encouraged by researchers because of its effect of promoting the digestive system to work more effectively. Once your baby has no digestive problems, he or she will gain weight quickly!
Table of height and weight of babies according to WHO standards Although only for reference, but the table of height and weight of babies is the parameter to help mothers know if their baby is developing normally or not.
In addition to the usual ways to help babies gain weight, mothers should also be wary of some diseases that make babies slow to gain weight. Once you have identified the cause of your baby's slow weight gain, you will know how to increase your baby's weight.
For example, if the baby's health is not good enough, suffering from certain diseases that affect the development, the baby should be examined and treated. And when the baby's condition has stabilized with the care of the mother, the baby will catch up with growth quickly.
Premature babies gain weight slowly
In cases where babies are born prematurely , premature or full-term but underweight (less than 2.5 kg) will have a much slower rate of weight gain than other normal babies. At the same time, these babies are inherently in weak health and easily get sick, so weight gain will be a bit difficult.
Infants gain weight slowly due to birth defects
Malfunction of cleft palate and cleft palate is a huge obstacle for babies during breastfeeding, especially breastfeeding. Therefore, children will not receive enough nutrients to ensure development. In this case, you can use certain bottles designed specifically for babies with these defects.
The child's ability to absorb nutrition
Infants gain weight slowly, possibly due to their ability to absorb nutrients
If the baby cannot absorb nutrition from breast milk or formula, from weaning food every day, then the possibility that babies slowly gain weight is obvious. A little weight gain for the first month is also a notable sign.
Your baby has a digestive disorder
Infants often experience a number of diseases related to digestive problems such as diarrhea , reflux, milk intolerance, especially celiac disease. This is an autoimmune disease of the gastrointestinal tract when it is too sensitive or does not absorb gluten, a protein found in cereals, pasta, oats. When this disease is infected, babies will be underdeveloped, slow or lose weight, and lead to a long delay in growth.
Babies drink less breast milk or are lazy to drink bottle milk
A big challenge when breastfeeding is how to recognize the amount of milk to give to a baby. This may be because the infant is lazy to suckle, suckle a little or the mother's body has some problems, so it doesn't "produce" enough milk for the baby.
If this situation lasts, the baby's weight will "stand" in place, then gradually decrease and eventually the baby will be malnourished . This will have a direct effect on the health and development of the baby.
Underweight due to common diseases in children
Slow weight gain in infants is due to health reasons such as heart disease, anemia, metabolic disorders, growth hormone deficiency ...
How can babies gain weight fast? How to help your baby gain weight depends on the mother's nutrition
Nutrition during lactation is very important. You will absorb whatever you eat. How can babies gain weight fast? Here are 9 foods moms should eat:
Milk
Ripe bananas
Kinds of bean
Ginger (used in cooking or hot tea)
Chicken
Nuts and dried fruits
Avocado
Boiled eggs
Fresh peaches
To evaluate a child with rickets and malnutrition, it will usually be based on the child's height and weight. If the child's weight stands up within a few months and the mother suspects that her baby is malnourished, she should also take her to a nutritional check to be assured and have the best way to care for the baby.
Periodic health examination for children Based on the results of periodic health checks of their children, mothers will know how their child's physical, mental and mental development is, if anything needs to be adjusted or changed. .
Mothers should take their babies to reputable specialized establishments and nutrition institutes. There are doctors who are leading experts in nutrition who will advise and visit to create the best conditions for your baby to develop. For example: National Institute of Nutrition, Children's Hospital 1, 2 ...
The first months of life are the time to help babies gain weight and height fastest. Knowing how to effectively help babies gain weight helps your motherhood journey be happy and filled with joy.
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