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Nine Month Appointment Update

We had Lucy & Zach’s 9 mo pediatrician appointment this morning.

I wasn’t shocked by Lucy being 17.5 lb & 27 in long. Still right above the 25th percentile. She took her Hep shot like a champ & was deemed perfectly healthy. Ped said see ya in three months!

Now onto Zacher. He’s still little. I said in his 9 mo update that I hoped he was over 14 lbs. My secret goal was for him to be over 15 lbs. He’s 14.5 lb & 26 in long. He’s under the 1 percentile for length {for first time} & well under the 1 percentile for weight. Da dum.

I was nervous & yet kinda prepared & not shocked by this y’all. He doesn’t eat well when he’s sick. He’s more easily distracted while nursing. I think he stops when he has to work for milk while nursing. He doesn’t eat purees well.

The dreaded “failure to thrive” wasn’t said or even mentioned. He’s been gaining weight. Just not as much weight as they want to see.

So what are we going to do? Here’s the plan. We go back on March 25th for a weight check. Between then & now, we’re going to introduce more finger foods {since he likes to feed himself}. He loved yogurt at daycare the other day & our ped said that was great to add calories, so I’m going to stock up on yobaby. I’m going to try mashed potatoes with him tonight & maybe pasta later this week. We’ll keep trying purees & continue to fatten those up with rice cereal &/or oatmeal mixed in.

And as for nursing/breast milk/bottles/formula. This is where my heart’s a little sad. Since I know my supply in the afternoon & evenings has gotten low, we’re going to give him bottles for these two post-daycare feedings. This way we can fortify them with a teaspoon of enfacare {like we already do to his daycare bottles} & we can also know for sure that he’s getting the 5-6 oz a bottle that he needs. The plan is to continue to nurse him overnight & in the mornings as long as he seems satisfied. If he doesn’t seem satisfied, we’ll add a bottle after we nurse.

Thank God for my crazy pumping over the summer. We’ll be going through my stash more rapidly now & I’m going to keep pumping three times a day at work. Our plan is for me to keep nursing Lucy as she’s growing well on her curve & seems a more focused & patient nurser. I’ll either offer her both sides in the evenings or pump the other side if necessary.

Anyone have ideas for healthy yet fatty foods for 9 mo old who doesn’t love purees? Other tips to fatten up a skinny boy?

23 replies on “Nine Month Appointment Update”

That’s so frustrating for you! My oldest has always been a picky eater and we’ve played the weight check gain on and off over the years. You’re doing the right thing by just giving him what he needs and trying to figure out what will help him grow.

That said, have you tried offering him anything more solid than purees? My twins weren’t big on purees at all, so we advanced through them fairly quickly. I gave them things like banana and cooked apples. Avocado is mushy & great fats for weight gain! I was a little nervous about it at first, but quickly learned that they were capable of way more than I gave them credit for. You could try freezing some yogurt (in the tubes or in a cup) and see if he likes that texture better. A good friend of mine has a baby girl with some weight issues and she covers all of her veggies (peas, broccoli, sweet potatoes) in butter. I hope that helps a bit. Good luck mama!

Thanks for your comment! I like the baked apples suggestion. I’ve tried bananas- frozen & fresh. And tried sliced avocado tonight to pretty good success!! Love the butter idea too.

I hate that you are having problems with Zach eating. I know how what path that goes down 🙂 If you are interested we have some formulas for 24 calorie fortified breast milk and formula bottles. Charlotte still isn’t eating as much volume as she should so they are fixing that with the extra calories. It is good that he is maintaining his curve, and as long as that keeps up he should be OK, he might just be a little guy. Our problem was that Charlotte dropped from the 50% in weight to under the 1% in 4 months. We still don’t know why she wasn’t eating like she should be.
Our doctor also mentioned that breast fed babies are used to more tastes in their food. She suggested that the baby foods were possibly too bland. Take the food that you and Hubby are eating and blend it up in the food processor and give it to him. Our doc said just to avoid foods that have eggs, milk or nuts in them. We have blended up black bean soup, potatoes and carrots with beef broth, and a few other meals that Charlotte has actually eaten. She will NOT eat any baby foods.

Good luck and let me know if you need any of the other “advice” I got while at the hospital or if you are interested in the formulas. I also have a recipe using the Costco brand formula which is totally worth joining Costco for if you aren’t already a member!!

Oh K. I hate that we’re both dealing with this, you especially!
I’d love to hear more about your 24 c fortification. We’ve used 22 c/oz enfacare since in the NICU. Email me.
My parents are Costco members. We love it! & not just for their wipes.

I second the avocado suggestion… I just wanted to add in that Cole had a failure to thrive diagnosis for a while, and he’s totally fine – it will be okay! If your pedi suggests pediasure, think about Carnation instant breakfast; it’s the exact same think and 1/3 the price.

Check your yogurt, too – there are some brands that are full fat. Cole loves Brown Cow, maple flavor. Also, Kozy Shack Rice Pudding was a HUGE hit.

I know he’ll be fine & I’m so thankful he’s doing great developmentally & other wise healthy. Just wanting him to get over this hump.
Ill look into yogurt. So far weve only done yobaby.
Thanks for your suggestions!

I just want to throw this out to you before you get concerned about where he lies on a percentage curve. Compare him to what W.H.O. recommends, for weight especially. I know many woman who get discouraged and give up Bf’ing because an American doctor is concerned about American #s. Truly Americas growth charts recommend our babies be much bigger than the rest of the world but yet we battle the most with childhood obesity. Who knows if it correlates but it’s definitely food for thought!

Avocado!! And – as mum to three verrrry tiny kids? Totally do not stress… He’s perfect! If I could burn the growth charts I would. 🙂

Looks like it has already been said, but Inara loves avocado. She has it at least once a week. Also, I don’t know what purees you have tried, but Inara has preferred to do it herself for months so we have had to find things she can eat herself for awhile. She is hooked on those purees in a squeeze bag that she can ‘drink’ herself. They have more variety of those now, they weren’t even aroudn when Jax was little. We also gave Jaxon tofu when he was that age. I haven’t bothered with it with Inara bc it was kinda pain to keep in the fridge. But it was nice that we could just cut it up & give it to him. Since it’s soft, it wasn’t a big choking concern. It’s not as high on fat, but it does have high protein. We got the firm or extra firm as it was easier to pick up but also crumbled easily in his mouth.

Avocado, adding small amounts of olive oil to foods, butter or olive oil in mashed potatoes, cheddar cheese cubes, whole milk yogurt always worked well for us. Whole milk pudding too. I made a lot of that for my oldest. She was my tiny one. Once he’s a year old, scramble eggs made in butter or olive oil with cheese are top were my oldest’s go to food. I think she had them for breakfast everyday for a year.

We’ve done avocado, toast topped with pureed & mashed potatoes in the last 2 days. So far so good!

Thinking I’ll try cheese soon.

Thanks for commenting & the suggestions!

Have you asked about probiotics? My oldest dropped off the charts at 10 months and I stressed and worried. She ate, but it seemed like the food went right through her. Turned out it wasn’t “sticking” because, for whatever reason, she didn’t have very active bacteria in her gut. A lot of what she ate literally did go in one end and, about two hours later, put the other. We started mixing baby probiotics into her oatmeal-yogurt every morning and within two weeks it made the biggest difference. By 13-14 months she was back in the 30th percentile for weight. We weaned her off probiotics around 18 mos (it’s kinda expensive) and she’s been just fine ever since. As far as I know, there isn’t a downside to it – might be worth a try.

I bought probiotics when L had yeast diaper rash with her ear infections. I’ve been adding them into their yogurt.
Not seen a change, but like you, I figured it couldn’t hurt.
Thanks for the info & suggestion!

Just me but I tried finger foods with my boys right after purees. You would be amazed at what they can actually eat at that age. I also used olive oil when roasting veggies to make purees. That helped fatten them up. I also cut up cheese, used lots of avocado, and whole milk yogurt. We like YoBaby. You might try freezing the yogurt a little. Adding spice to foods might help too. I think I told you that before. My boys were really used to spice since I add garlic, onions, and spices to all the food I cook anyway. We didn’t use butter on everything but I have heard from lots of others that it works…just an idea.
Maybe Zach will just be a kiddo that likes the finger foods better?

Thanks for the suggestions.

I think he will/is a lil guy who likes finger foods better. But daycare has said they get him to eat some purees, so I’ve been sending those in there along with yobaby yogurt which they get him to eat too. I will try freezing it as I know he loves the yogurt melts at home.

I haven’t tried cheese yet but thought I’d get some at the store this weekend.

At 15 months my daughter was barely 18lbs they get more active and still don’t eat much just offer the full fat yogurt avocado etc and see what he does white middle class kids in the us don’t starve themselves to death

Since nobody mentioned it, try sneaking meat into your purees. My kid was slow to gain weight for a long time but then I started sneaking chicken into her purees and also sometimes lamb since it’s so high in iron. She moved a bit closer to normal weight gain then and there was no rejecting the meat’s new texture. Red beans and rice with sneaky chicken was a hit, made less spicy than normal and then spiced for adults and pureed a bit for the kid. You could just try meat he could pick up too, like fall-apart brisket or something that’s hard to choke on.

Hi Suz!
My little guy is pretty little too compared to his sister. We have our 9 month in a few weeks and I’m praying they are over 15lbs. At the 6 month they were only 12lbs and I was told to use yogurt and I think that has helped a ton! I mix plain whole fat greek (extra protein) in with all of their purees. I do about an ounce of puree with an ounce of yogurt. They eat veggies and fruit mixed in their yogurt. I’ve been experimenting with making my own purees and their favorite is steamed oranges and apples mixed with yogurt. Hope this helps!

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