YOUR BABY’S TEMPERAMENT INFLUENCES WEIGHT GAIN

• Mellow, laid-back babies tend to burn fewer calories and therefore gain weight quicker.

• Active babies with persistent, motor-driven personalities who always seem to be revved up usually burn more calories and tend to be leaner.

• The frequency of breastfeeding influences growth.

• Babies who are breastfed on cue and offered unrestricted feedings tend to grow faster.

• Infants who co-sleep enjoy the luxury of unrestricted night nursing and tend to grow faster.

• Infants who are the product of strict “baby training” (parenting programmes in which babies are fed on a schedule and forced to sleep through the night using variations of the “cry-it-out” method) can show delayed growth. Babies who are breastfed according to a parent-imposed and restrictive feeding schedule are not only likely to get less milk, the breast milk they get tends to have a lower level of fat and calories because of the longer intervals between feedings.