Are other preemies having trouble gaining weight and eating solids?

Sarah - posted on 08/25/2010

OH YES ur not alone! my daughter is know 25 months and only weighs 21 lbs they call it FTT (failure to thrive) and she wouldn't eat baby food either i was able to make regular food Steak, pork chops ect. put it in a blender with a little water. that worked 4 a little bit. but she still is very very picky!

Monica - posted on 08/25/2010

My daughter is 28 months old and we are excited she had hit the 20 pound mark! She also hated baby foods when she was little. We found that she liked cheese grits, and yogurt but if we gave them to her for more than just a few days she would stop eating them. Now she eats much better but won't eat veggies or fruit and we try all the time.

Sarah - posted on 08/24/2010

My little chunker has always been on homemade food and I think it made a big difference for her. She is 11 months now and weighs over 21lbs (started out 31 weeks 3lbs 3oz). I simple steamed and pureed everything for her. She seemed to especially like avocado adn sweet potatos to start. One thing preemies can get hun up on is texture, so start out making everything very smooth and go from there!
There is also a CoM board for those of su who make our own food :)

Emily - posted on 08/23/2010

At 8 months, even for a full term baby, there is really no need to worry about their solid intake. Food is just for learning and play at this point. Just go at your baby's pace. All they really need for the first year is breastmilk/formula.

Kellie - posted on 08/22/2010

Amy, We are having some luck with just grinding table food for her to eat now. She still will not eat any of the baby foods from a jar. The Dr said it could be she is sensitive to the preservatives. She is starting to eat more bites of other food. We have tried pancakes and they are a big mess but she really tries to put them in her mouth and she gets a little down her throat. The neosure is working for her she gained 6 ounces last week putting her at 12 pounds 12.5ounces. Thank you for all the ideas we are trying most of them. It is a slow process but we are gaining and we are going to get through this. If there are any more ideas please share and we will share anything we find.

Jessica - posted on 08/21/2010

My 30 weeker is 5 months now and weighs 11 1/2 lbs. We have been struggling with how much formula she eats. At one point we though it was the formula itself so we swithched from neosure to Enfamil Premium lipil reg cal count. She is now starting to dring 18-20 oz a day but weve also started adding solids once a day. Right now weve started to give her chicken. Since he knows I make my own baby food he told me to make like a chicken soup with the skin and before pureeing to remove the skin. When serving add a teaspoon of oilive oil or butter to the compote. Im hoping this will help her bulk up a little and then I would probably take the fat thing out of the equation. I read some where that chicken is a growth food. Since your baby likes guacamole why not try blending it with chicken? How about avocado with bananas? That sounds good and I also have a recipe book for a recipe that has sweet potato with chicken and apples, sounds interesting also. Hope this helps.

Amy - posted on 08/20/2010

I have a five month old and we are really struggling with the baby food as well. I thought it would start getting better by now but I'm still holding out:) Anyway, as far as the weight goes, Bella (my babe) was really gaining slowly but I started winging her onto formula and now she is a few ounces shy of 12 pounds. She's gained about two pounds in just one month. I've been using the "Neosure" and the NICU gave that to me. Apparently, it is for babies who are premature to gain weight easier. I hope this helps. If you find anything about the baby food, let me know. I'm really wasting a lot of baby food trying to get her to eat any at all.

Cheryl - posted on 08/20/2010

My son was a large premie, he was 7 pounds 2 ounces at birth..but he spent 12 days in the NICU. He was the biggest premie in the NICU..so unfortunitly he has never really had any issues of being under weight.

Cora-Lee - posted on 08/20/2010

Wow I think your baby is comming along well My daughter was born 5 weeks early 4 pounds and she is now 8 months old and is just 13 pounds

Jennifer - posted on 08/17/2010

My preemie has been having problems gaining weight since he was like 9 months old or something along those lines. He's 16 months old now. He eats like a pig but he just doesn't like to gain weight. The good thing though is he never loses. He has been 20 lbs 6oz for the past 2-3 months. Every few months he will gain a pound. All is fine though, his doctor isn't worried.

Tiffany - posted on 08/13/2010

My 33 wk twins are 6 months 1 weights 10 lbs 1 weights 11 lbs now I give them a bunch of formula and they have a formula high in calories neo sure and nutrigmen

Melissa - posted on 08/13/2010

I'm giving my 9 month old scrambled eggs, cottage cheese & yogurt. Seems to helping the weight again.