Weight Gain for Babies and Children

If your child or baby needs to gain weight you need to consider how to provide them with more energy in what can be a challenging situation. If a baby is not provided with enough energy or is failing to thrive then medical help is needed as this can greatly compromise growth and development. It can be that they have digestive problems or that they food they are consuming does not provide enough overall energy intake (calories). In the case of children it can be difficult as they can become fussy eaters and avoid eating when they need to. In this case a parent should monitor their growth and look for ways to add more quality sources of energy into their diet. Children should be given full fat dairy products because they contain more fat, they should be encouraged to eat nuts and seeds (having it in the form of peanut or nut butter is an easy option), and fluids like fruit juice and flavoured milk can also add to their energy intake. Parents also need to find ways to make food more appealing and be aware that a child needs at least ten attempts at trying a food until they become familiar with it.

Please be aware that what is determined to be a normal weight for a child or baby cannot be measured using your standard BMI charts and calculators. Children and babies have a different set of measurements and these are often refered to as ‘percentiles’. Whether or not a baby’s weight is considered average/normal is determined by which percentile grouping they fall.

If your attempts are failing or if you have further concerns it is definitely worth a visit to your doctor or paediatrician.