My twin boys are 6 months old, and they just got weighed. Matthew is 18 lb 9 oz and Eli is 19lb 14.5 oz. These weights, on Baby Center, put them both in the 50-75 percentile for weight. Matthew is in 10-25 percentile on length and head, and Elijah is in 25 percentile for length and head. I just got back from WIC, and the guy there said Elijah was actually in the 90th percentile for weight. Coming from preemies (M: 5lb, E: 6.5 lb), I am just astounded that they have gained this much weight. They started in the below 5 percentile. I fear I am overfeeding them. Everyone says they look healthy, and so far it hasn't caused any developmental delays (they sit on their own, can pull themselves to a crawl stance, and can hold their weight standing with help balancing), but still I don't want to make my kids overweight. Below is a bunch of info as I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong, so bear with me!
Feed 5 times a day, 6oz formula in bottle. They at least eat 5 oz each feeding. That makes 25-30 oz a day. WIC suggests that a baby gets at minimum 24 oz a day, so I should be good on that.
Each bottle, I either put 1 tbs rice or about half a jar (*edit* about 1/3 jar) of baby food, depending on if we're out and it's convenient to feed baby food. Roughly, they get rice 3 times, baby food 2 times.
Formula: 5 oz=100 calories
Rice: 1 serving=1/4 cup. 1 serving=50 calories. 3 tbs=1/4 cup.
Peas (they also eat other vegetables, just using this b/c I had it): 1 jar=1 serving. 1 serving=60 calories.
So. During one 24 hour period, they roughly get from around 610 calories - 710 calories a day. I've read that they should get 500-750 calories a day, so overall they apparently are eating what they should.
So, am I doing something wrong? Why have they jumped through the percentiles? I've heard that it's not the percentile you should look at, but whether they are moving percentiles quickly (which it seems to me that they are) that you can look at as a potential problem.
I know another baby born on the same day as them, and she is half their size. I know other babies similar in age, and every single one is smaller than them. Is it just that they are big babies, or should I be worried?
*Side Rant*: why, oh why, if WIC knows how much formula/rice you should feed a baby, why would they not give you enough formula and way too much rice? They gave me 3 boxes of rice each. I know I won't come anywhere close to using all of that. They used to give me 10 cans of formula each, and I always had to buy an extra can or two at the end of the month. Now, they've dropped it to 7 cans each.
I can't really help you. I do know that breastfed babies usually take in an average of 25oz a day. I'm not sure if it would be the same with formula since breastmilk is digested faster. I do know that formula fed babies usually are bigger than breastfed babies after the first few months. I didn't do baby cereals with my babies and their food was made by me, so I'm not really sure if they ate a jars worth, more, or less. You also have to take genes into consideration. My babies are tiny, but I'm tiny. Are you and hubby big, small, or average? Maybe someone else will be of more help than me. lol
if it's rice, it's usually in the bottle, although I plan on changing that for the most part. I've never put pureed food in their bottles, it's always spoon fed.
Quoting SewingMamaLele:
Theyre getting rice or pureed food in their bottles??? Really, their weight is fine... Babies all grow differently. 5 oz a feeding is fine ( id personally try to stick to 4 and feed more often, but your choice)... Thats all good stuff. Rice cereal and baby food in a bottle is not, however. It teaches them to overeat, which may not be an issue now, but can becone one in the long run.
lol that makes me feel a little better, I agree that mine, although they do have the thunder thighs going on, don't really seem fat. They are just big!
I have one of those personalities where feeding on demand would drive me crazy, I'm definitely a schedule person and the boys are really good with it too. Also, with twins it is a lot easier to schedule, because they sleep at the same time, eat at the same time (lol now we've gotta get pooping at the same time and we're set! Joking :)
Quoting abra:
I'm not a nutritionist, but I always feed on demand (even when I did formula feed). Some kids are just bigger, so as long as they are healthy and not overweight, I wouldn't worry about it. One of my sons has always been in the 90th percentile (he is almost a year and a half old). He's not fat, he's just a big boy!
yeah, I figured that I'd probably get BFing ladies posting, so I made sure that when I got my Daily Intakes, I looked at formula feeding guidelines.
Until now, I've been making all my own purees, but now that WIC gives me a massive amount of baby food, I'll be using those instead. Today was actually my first day using those, and I estimated that they eat about half a jar. However, after one feeding I had to go back and edit my post, saying they eat around 1/3 of a jar instead.
I know, I really should take genes into consideration...DH was a very big baby, born at over 10 lbs. I just hate always hearing people say 'Wow, they don't miss a feeding, do they?!, and other comments that frankly I consider rude. I keep having to remind myself that they aren't doing it on purpose. I don't think the boys look fat. They do have thunder thighs, but overall they look like they are a good baby weight. But those comments really get to me, make me wonder if they really are just fat babies and I'm overfeeding them.
Quoting VarelaClan:I can't really help you. I do know that breastfed babies usually take in an average of 25oz a day. I'm not sure if it would be the same with formula since breastmilk is digested faster. I do know that formula fed babies usually are bigger than breastfed babies after the first few months. I didn't do baby cereals with my babies and their food was made by me, so I'm not really sure if they ate a jars worth, more, or less. You also have to take genes into consideration. My babies are tiny, but I'm tiny. Are you and hubby big, small, or average? Maybe someone else will be of more help than me. lol
Does your baby have great-grandparents?
Cow Milk?
- mommy2b39465
on May. 7, 2012 at 3:11 PM