Just had nine month old weighed - feeling like the worst parent

[Rarfy]

Nine month old dd has just been weighed. She's 19lbs. Almost on the 75th centile. Not bad I know but she was born on the 9th.

Anyway I felt like they were interrogating me about what she eats. I'll be the first to admit I don't do baby led weaning. I don't like it I'm frightened she'll choke. That isn't going to change.

I don't just give her pouches and mashed food though I give her bananas, toast, crumpets, bagels etc I just break them up for her. A typical day is cereal. Usually weetabix, porridge or shreddies. Lunch is usually a sandwich - chicken, tuna or cheese then tea is a meal pouch Ella's kitchen or aldis own. After each meal she will have a dessert which will be a fruit pot, a from age frais or a small custard pot. I very very rarely give her snacks as I don't feel like she needs them.

She is still having three 6 ounce bottles a day. First thing, mid aft and then last thing.

Is this quite bad? I feel like I'm doing something wrong it's really upset me.

Tbh I think its a pretty good thing your dc has gone up the centile. Thats not something I would be concerned about.

What you are giving her to eat and whether its balanced or not is a different issue.

i dont see the issue. Im sure ds2 was bigger than that, and he slimmed out loads once he was a toddler

Relax! It’s all ok. Your baby is a good size. Yes, in an ideal world you would tweak the diet, but honestly I don’t think you have got a big issue. Certainly nothing to cry about! Few more veggies never goes amiss, but babies don’t die from eating pouches.... gradually start diversifying the diet - but don’t stress, there is no “problem” here.

I think she'll take wholewheat fine she only has wholemeal bread.

I didn't even know they could have peanut butter at this age.

Can anyone give me a quick curry recipe? I'd like to try her with some curry. I've made home made spag bol before and she wasn't keen but will try again. I'll also try the pasta sauce posted earlier.

Thanks.

I personally think baby is fine and there is nothing to worry about - for all you know she will grow long wise soon evening things out etc.

Keep an eye on the sugars and try and cook real food rather than just pouches but other than that I am meh about it

That said my 3lb 9oz baby was back on track around 9 months (she was early) she was signed off as no concerns at 12 months despite such an early appearance (31 weeks)

I wouldn’t worry about weight gain, but your baby isn’t having a particularly healthy diet. Sandwiches and pouches are fine occasionally or for one meal a day, but what about meat, egg, steamed veg?

I guess I never thought about it much if I'm honest. In my mind she's still only a baby and getting plenty of milk but your all right and I'm going to take steps to change it.

What do you freeze your sauces in? Am I better with food bags or tubs? How long roughly to defrost and do you just microwave?

Not rtft sorry but up to 12 months old your baby's main source of calories should be milk. I would up the bottles personally and give less food, your baby is having the amount of food of a baby twice its age.

Reusable tubs are better I think
I would defrost overnight in the fridge

Gosh a lot of pouches hate here. Not all pouches are full of fruit - in particular Ella’s do some nice ones with root vegetables.

OP i wouldn’t worry too much, you’re doing fine. At the end of the day, babies eat and drink what they want to.

Mozarrella salad with tomato, avocado, olive oil, tony bit of balsamic vinegar (my DD loved it but not to every child’s taste)

Greek salad - fera, black olives, cucumber, tomatoes, leave out onion , olive oil/ balsamic

Nicoise salad with tuna, egg, potatoes plus the usual greens/ veg

Annabel Karmel does a good chicken korma recipe.

Sorry if I e missed this.

But where is her height?

Being on 75th centile just means if they took 100 babies 25 are heavier and 75 lighter (or 74 and 24!)

If she's about the same centile for height then that's correct.

The concern is a child on 9-25th for height and 75th weight or vice versa (75th for height and 9-25 for weight)

It's a mixed bag of advice. The health visitor told me to cut her milk last time I was in so we dropped a bottle. It definitely seems to be working for dd.

The logical part of me can rationalise although not ideal what we're doing I'm from a generation that was raised on rusks and baby jars and so far I'm doing just fine. I have family who would have done that just recently and their babies have grown into fantastic children. I haven't done any real damage but that being said with a bit of planning and effort there's definitely room for improvement and I definitely want to try.

Off food shopping now so will get the bits and bobs we need.

What centile is she on for height? (Length?) Surely it would only be a problem if there was a discrepancy between the two. Also, my Ds1 I didn’t have a lot of money or ideal cooking facilities when he was small, so I used a lot of packets and jars because it was cheap and easy. He’s now a healthy 17 year old, albeit with a sweet tooth (but that’s hardly unusual!) and an average height and weight, baby food was the norm before blw became the fashion.

It's eons since I had a baby, but don't forget raw food if you're worried about cooking. Tiny cubes of cheese (you can get lower fat cheese), already cooked chicken, cucumber, tomatoes.

In terms of cooked healthier food, maybe bits of canned tuna, chopped up boiled egg, baked beans, soft bits of grilled pepper. I was a rubbish cook when my children were that age but I've learnt as they've grown.

Some bad advice here. Babies should be chubby...it's good for them to increase their centiles etc. A jump or drop of two centiles can indicate a preventable growth issue. Making sure children's weight is stable and doesn't change rapidly can prevent obesity in later life

Her diet doesn’t sound that varied to me. I would try something like avocado or eggs for breakfast a few times a week. Can be easily mashed up. Natural yoghurt instead of fromage frais. Cut out the fruit pots and pouches completely. When the fruit is blended it basically becomes sugar. As a pp suggested either grate or chop up fruit into small pieces.
Sandwiches are ok but not every day. The fillings sound good though. Could she have the fillings with half a slice of bread or some potato and some vegetables grated. Maybe try some salmon or cod as well as they easily flake so not really a choking hazard. Maybe try beans and dips like hummus as well.
I would be focusing on trying to mix her diet up a little while she is still accepting new tastes.
I wouldn’t worry about her weight until she’s a few years older as long as her diet doesn’t have too much sugar and refined carbohydrates in it (think fruit pots and white bread).

What weight was she at birth?
My dd was just over 6lbs at birth. She was full term. She was a tiny bag of bones at first.
Once I got breast feeding well established she quickly climbed the centiles til she was around the 50th.
I never thought for a minute it was anything other than a good thing.
Your dd sounds fine, maybe a bit more home cooked food but lots of babies have fruit pots and yoghurt. I mixed some fruit pot with natural yoghurt. Cheaper and better than sweetened ones.

This curry my son lovrd. Several teaspoons Mild curry powder... Be careful as lots has salt in, again if it does just work out how much peer serving, four chopped up medium Tom's, tin of coconut milk, chicken (can mash it up) onion, I red pepper and a packet of soft noodles (either the chilled or thsquidgy ones you buy in packets). Yummy. Mash it up a bit if your little one likes it that way

And regarding sandwiches and bread. Just remember to add the salt content up

She was 6lb 13oz at birth. I'll measure her length out of interest to see if it correlates.

I don't give her much meat at all and didn't think it mattered so definitely need to work on that and fresh fruit and veg. She has had eggs and omelette and things like that I've just got in a right rut. Suppose its convenience

Oh god don't worry !! Some babies have got to be at the top of the growth chart just like some are at the bottom. Just because your child was born lower down, it doesn't mean they should or will stay there.
Measure her length, everything is relative. A 5ft woman weighing 12stone is different to a 5ft10 woman weighing the same.
Look at how much milk is being consumed, as well as types of food, but don't drive yourself mad with it (as I regrettably did).
My baby was born 25th and rocketed beyond the 90th. I was given no end of grief from HVs... cut milk, put her on water, puréed veg etc. Might as well have asked if I was giving wotsit & Haribo diet. She was definitely chubby too. She's now 2.5, looks slim & has never budged from 91st for weight since 12 weeks. She's 92nd for height so the top end is obviously her natural sticking point.
I've a friend with vegan, strictly no processed diet doing baby led. Her LB has gone from under 20th to over 75th & she never gives him anything "processed " it's all fresh fruit veg and fish, so it can't all be about diet ?! You can try your best but genetics does play a part. Good luck ! :-)

Some fromage frais has loads of added sugar.

I think if you stop all the fruit pouches and ready meals it'll be fine. They're full of free sugar. Just give whole fruit and make dinner from scratch. Pouches and ready meals should be for occasional use. There's some recent research into how bad ready made baby food is but I can't find it at the moment. Will keep looking.