Q: Hello Doctor, how are you doing? Thanks for really enlightening so many of us on this page. May God bless you ma’am. My baby is 7months old and loves to eat (pap) which keeps him happy, playful and relaxed. He gets hungry within 4 hrs and thereby eating 5 times a day (7am,11am,3pm,7pm and 10/11pm). Sometimes, he skips the first meal and eat by 9am when he wakes late. Now Doc, I am bothered about the last meal by 10/11pm. Sometimes he takes it at midnight when he oversleeps and wakes late. Will this food digest? Is it really okay for him? Should I quit this late feeding even though he gets hungry or is this okay for him? Your advice will be well appreciated, ma’am. God bless you, ma’am
A: Thanks for writing in. The weaning period is always a very interesting time in the lives of both parents and the children involved. I guess most parents think of it as more like torture 😀 as their children go through different phases of ‘I think I like this food’ and ‘I’m sure I absolutely detest this one’.
Your baby at this age should be getting a bit more than pap (corn meal made out of wet corn starch to which hot water is added). Our challenge in Africa is the fact that most of our foods are starchy and our weaning foods are exactly same. And so, it’s a good thing that your baby likes pap, but he should be getting some other foods. I have included a couple of resources for weaning below to guide you on this weaning journey. It describes different foods that can be given to children at different ages. Be sure to add milk to this pap, by the way.
Then, remember that at this stage your baby should still be getting his milk feeds (at least 24 ounces per day). A typical day’s schedule should generally look like this:
• Breakfast of cereal baby food oatmeal or pap with milk) is good about 7am. Try mashing some fruits like banana into the cereals as the baby tolerates the milky cereal.
• A drink of milk as a snack around 9.30am.
• Lunch could be taken about noon.
• A drink of milk as a snack around 2.30pm
• Dinner could be taken around 5 to 6pm
• A last drink of milk around 10/11pm before you turn into bed is great.
By the time your baby is 1 year old, he will probably have settled into the typical family schedule and your midnight feeds will end…Halleluyah!
Remember that the schedule above is really a guide as your baby may very well guide your weaning schedule.
In the meantime, continue to love and bond with your baby. There is nothing wrong with the late feeds your baby is getting. I know that part of your worry comes from the conventional wisdom that late night feeding is wrong…food won’t digest, it’s immediately converted to fats etc. But really, the jury is still out on this one. Some studies suggest that late night feeding may lead to weight gain but a lot more studies show no link between eating late and weight gain. Weight gain is really an equation governed by how much you take in and how much you burn. If you take in excessive amounts of calories and do not exercise to burn these off, you will most certainly add weight whether you eat this early hours of the morning or late at night! 😀 In the same way, if you eat moderately do not exceed 2000 calories per day, you exercise (get in your 150 minutes of exercise every week) and eat right (fruits, veggies, complex carbs etc), all things being equal, you will be trim even if you eat this food late at night.
Weaning resources:
Daily Health Tips: I Gave A Soft Drink (Soda) To My 4-Month Old Baby!
Daily Health Tips: I Think My Daughter Is Small For Her Age!
Have a great week people 😀
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