Schedule for Solids 3x a Day?

[@llli*juliasmomma]

Hi Mamas,

We saw the pedi today for DD's 9mo appt and she was a little concerned that DD is not gaining weight like she should be. She only gained 1.5lb in the last 3 months, despite nursing just as much & offering solids 2X a day. So she said to start offering solids 3X a day and do more finger foods (we were mostly spoon feeding her purees & baby cereal). So I'm wondering about a schedule and how I can fit this in, I really don't want to drop any nursing sessions...

Here is what I'm thinking, based on what she normally does right now (times vary quite a bit from day to day, but this is the gist) -

6:30am - nurse (both sides)
7:30 -8ish - oatmeal with EBM & mashed banana or applesauce
9:30am - nurse (one side, usually) & down for nap
12:00pm - nurse (sometimes one side, sometimes both)
1:00pm - offer solids ("lunch")
2:30pm - nurse (one side, usually) & down for nap
5:00pm - nurse (sometimes one side, sometimes both)
6:00 pm - offer solids ("dinner")
8:30pm - nurse (both sides) & down for the night

If I feel like she hasn't taken in enough, I will try to squeeze an extra session in there somewhere, depending on when she wakes up from her naps. Also, 3 days a week she goes to daycare & takes 4-4.5oz bottles at 9:30, 12:15 & 3:00, then I nurse when I get home around 6. So those days would be a little different...not sure how we'll fit "dinner" in on those days...

I'm curious what other mamas & babies do...does this look like it would work? I want to offer BM before each solid meal, then wait 45min to an hour before the solids so she's not too full. Also, what do you offer at each meal? The charts I've seen for what a baby her age is supposed to be eating (servings, etc.) look like so much food for her little tummy! Should I try to offer a fruit, veggie & protein/carb at lunch and dinner? That just seems like so much, and a lot wasted since she mainly just plays with it right now

Finally, what are some good things to try? Up until now we've mainly done fruits & veggies, cereal, puffs and today she had some graham cracker (which she seemed to really like). I'm thinking we'll try pasta, chicken, hummus with pita or crackers, along with some more fruits & veggies. She has a dairy intolerance (currently testing to see if she's over it or not), so that limits us a little bit.

Thanks for reading, and sorry this is so long, just trying to do the best I can for my baby girl! Thanks in advance for the advice!

[@llli*mommal]

Before we get into how and when to offer solids, would you mind posting a weight history for your LO? When I hear that a doc is concerned abou slow gain in an older baby, I immediately wonder if the doc is mistaking the normal leveling-off in the rate of weight gain for a problem. Most breastfed babies drop percentiles and "lean out" starting somewhere around the middle of their first year. Formula-fed babies often exhibit the opposite pattern of weight gain, staying relatively lean as newborns and bulking up as older babies.

1.5 lbs in 3 months is normal weight gain for an older baby. Kellymom says that in the 6-12 month range breastfed babies normally gain 1.75-2.75 oz per week (WHO figures) or 2-4 oz per week (2 other references, see: http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/weight-gain/). So 2 oz per week for 12 weeks would be 24 oz, or exactly 1 and a half lbs.

[@llli*juliasmomma]

I posted her weight history here yesterday, along with a bit more detail about why her pedi is concerned. The diarrhea being the main thing I think. DH and I are both thin so it doesn't surprise me that she's not a super chunker

Thank you for the info about weight gain, that does make me feel better! She was weighed one week ago at an office visit with her clothes & diaper on & she weighed 17lb 9oz. Then yesterday her true weight was 17lb 6oz. Not sure if the clothes/diaper (I think it was dry, freshly changed at least) would weigh more than 3oz but it's possible that she didn't gain at all or even lost some weight in that week...

Sorry for the double posting...I was pretty caught off guard and kinda freaking out! Just kept thinking of more stuff that I wasn't sure about...

[@llli*auderey]

looks like most of the solids you've tried are low-fat, low-calorie (fruits & veggies, cereal). i'd substitute high-fat foods like avocados, some kind of yogurt if she can tolerate it, meats.

[@llli*mommal]

Can you describe the diarrhea a bit more? Young, mostly-breastfed babies often continue to have very loose stools. For your LO's poop to be diarrhea, you'd want to see multiple watery poops per day, perhaps foul-smelling, bubbly, or explosive. Just loose... Not a big deal.

Instead of pushing solids, which tend to be less caloric than breastmilk, you might want to try to offer the breast more often and offer both sides at a feeding, even if baby doesn't seem interested. Based on the weight gain history you posted in the other thread, I'm not sure I see any reason for concern. Your LO basically followed a normal breastfed baby pattern of weight gain, shooting up in the newborn/young infant stage and then leveling out as she rounded the 6 month corner. She's not huge, and never has been, but when mom and dad are thin that's not surprising. And thin is not bad! A slender baby is likely to grow into a slender child, and in time your pediatrician is going to be congratulating you on saving your LO from the epidemic of childhood obesity.

I also am with the PP about skipping the low-cal solids and focusing in the more calorie-dense ones.

[@llli*juliasmomma]

Can you describe the diarrhea a bit more?

Basically for the whole month of March she has been pooping 4-6X a day. The first one or 2 will look more normal, mashed potato consistency, the color of whatever she ate the day before, etc. After that they tend to be mucousy, runny (I wouldn't say watery necessarily but definitely looser than the first couple) and vary in color from light yellowish brown/green to dark green. Sometimes looks like there are little flakes too. There have been days when she's had multiple "blow-outs" and quite a few of her onesies are stained on the back and/or legs I think this is the main reason the doc is concerned about her weight gain, that it might be hindered by whatever is causing her to poop so much. I had been thinking it was teething but IDK if that would go on for this long. In February, when we first started offering the fruits/veggies more regularly, she was pooping 1-2X a day and they were either mashed potato consistency or even solid, more like little "milk duds" as FIL called them. Doc said to try offering solids 3X a day for a week and see if that helps, if not she will do stool samples.

She has changed her schedule some in the past few weeks, she used to take both breasts every 3 hrs but lately has been doing more like one breast every 2-2.5hrs. She now nurses to sleep for naps, usually after just one side (which she eats well from, multiple let-downs usually) and she's too sleepy to latch & suck from the other. But I always offer both if she's awake. Sometimes she takes it, sometimes she doesn't. But if I don't think she got enough I will offer again in 30min to an hour. She seems satisfied and is wetting/pooping well.

We have tried avocado, she doesn't take it mashed and eats some when we give her chunks but spits a lot back out. We'll keep trying though I would love to try yogurt! Just a little hesitant b/c of the dairy intolerance. I want to know she can handle dairy when I eat it before I give her any. For the meats, how do you prepare them for LO? Do you do chunks, mashed? Also I'm assuming no spices or anything, just bake it & give it to them plain?

[@llli*mommal]

This is where I don't understand your doc's advice to push solids. Something is causing your baby to poop frequently. Making baby eat more solids might slow down the pooping, but it seems like that would be treating the symptoms, not the root cause of the issue.

The poops you're seeing- mostly the mucousy, runny, green-brown ones with the flakes, makes me think that there may be an allergy component to what you're seeing.

[@llli*auderey]

the easiest way i've found to give meats is to use cook the bones, then hand the whole bone chunk with a little meat on it to LO. he can hold the bone and gnaw the meat/flavor off. we are on the extremely liberal end of BLS, so we give him the same flavored/spiced things we eat - he loves them. but if you haven't done that yet i'd start slow, especially if there might be an allergy or sensitivity you'd want to do 1-ingredient foods.

[@llli*juliasmomma]

The poops you're seeing- mostly the mucousy, runny, green-brown ones with the flakes, makes me think that there may be an allergy component to what you're seeing.

I wondered about that too, but she has no other signs or symptoms of an allergy. She does have a dairy intolerance and I was very careful about it for a long time. I've had some hidden dairy in March but the poops started before that & she was never fussy or bothered by anything I ate (not like how she was when I was eating dairy). So I really don't know what to think...is it possible that the poops could be from swallowing so much saliva? She is veeery druly right now.

auderey - thank you for the tips about the meat! We'll be trying that soon!

[@llli*juliasmomma]

Update: She had a solid poop tonight! It was so weird...she had several of the poops I described above throughout the day (went through ALL of her spare clothes at daycare) but then tonight she had a very solid looking one, not runny & no mucous. Very odd for this time of day (per the pattern she's been in). But encouraging I guess Never thought I'd be so happy about poop! Lol. Not sure if just one day of extra solids would cause such a change - I don't even know that she ate much more than she was before. But hopefully it keeps up. I've been so hesitant to dress her in cute outfits b/c she's always having poopy blowouts

Also, I thought of this after I posted earlier, but if she had an allergy wouldn't all of her poos be like that? They aren't...usually the ones earlier in the day are more normal looking and as the day goes on they get more runny/mucousy. Almost like her body has nothing left to really poop out, if that makes sense. Which is kind of why I thought it was related to teething. Guess we'll see what she does tomorrow...