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Our DD is nine and a half months old and just had her nine month checkup a week ago. She's off the charts for height and 50th percentile for weight. My concern is that she's actually lost over a pound in the last three weeks. Part of it is because she was pretty sick but since she's not a chubbo to begin with, I worry when she drops. I went out and got some Yo baby yogurt to give her as a snack but now I'm a little worried. Is it too soon to give her yogurt? I've heard two different opinions so I'm coming to the experts. I want her to gain some weight but I don't want to do any harm. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
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You can give her the yogurt. The confusing thing is that you aren't supposed to give milk (and sometimes you hear "dairy") until they're a year old. Milk doesn't have the iron babies need, so you aren't supposed to sub milk for formula or breast milk. Also, it's hard for babies to digest, because their systems are still immature. Yogurt and cheeses, though, have cultures that help aid digestion, especially the breakdown of the proteins found in milk, so babies can handle those. There's even some research suggesting that the "good" bacteria in yogurt helps babies stay healthier, prevents ear infections, etc.
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HBV has the good med advice and reasons!One of my favorite sources for info on feeding my baby is "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. She says: yogurt is a great first food from about 6 months! The benificial bacteria promotes good instestinal health and helps boost immunity. Just keep is simple - whole milk and active bacteria - no extras like sweeteners and add your own fruit later on.That being said - DS has also always been tall and skinny! 5-10 percentile for weight and 75+ for height. I started feeding him really high fat yogurt just before 6 months. He loved it, it didn't interfere with his formula intake (which I think is the biggest concern when adding dairy) and my little man is very healthy! I attribute the fact that he has NEVER (16 months now) had a bum rash to the daily yogurt intake.Just my 2 cents.
Oh, good! H loved the stuff too. (Messy, though, isn't it?) It's also a good vehicle for sneaking in extra fruit or cereal. Sounds disgusting, but H liked prunes, so I would stew them, then puree them and mix them into the yogurt w/ a little baby oatmeal. Totally repulsive looking, but nutritious!
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It was EXTREMELY messy. She loved that part too. I'm going to try some banana with it today. She's on a really strict diet because of acid reflux with alternating feedings of bottle and baby food. But I want to start getting her away from formula so I'm thinking if I add yogurt to the bottle feedings in between her "real" food and lessen the amount in the bottle, maybe I can gradually get away from the bottle feedings alltogether.
It is good to begin that tapering off process, but if I remember right, they are still getting most of their nutrients from the formula until they're around a year old, even when they're "eating" (a/k/a smearing it in their hair) baby food. So it might be a little early to give up the formula altogether, but you are dead on that it helps with the transition. I started ditching the bottle and letting H try to use a cup about this time, too.