A slow weight gain puzzle... Any insight??

GibsonGirl620

I'm exhausted from researching and worrying about DS2. I'm hoping to get a fresh perspective or hear from anyone with a similar experience. My DS1 struggled with slow weight gain beginning at about 6 wks (noticed at his 2 month check-up.) Before then his wt gain was great. His poops were green, suggesting a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. My pedi was super supportive of BFing so she referred me to a BF support group to find some answers. The LC had me pump before feedings to express some foremilk before he ate. That was a very temporary answer, and now I realize it may have worsened the situation. We ruled out any sort of milk or soy intolerances. I did weighted feedings and he was transferring fine. My supply was fine. He was eating on a regular basis. Looking back, I realize he had a shallow latch, but it seems like it was not enough to impede him from transferring enough. He was falling off the charts in wt gain and no one could figure out why. When it got to the point that he actually *lost* wt, the pedi and LC suggested formula supplementation. We had run out of ideas. The LC actually concluded that I must have "skim milk," in other words, chronically low-fat milk for some unknown reason. (Yeah... I know. But I had no other ideas of what it could be either.) I supplemented 6-8 oz/day from 5-9 months. His wt gain picked up even more as we introduced more solids into his diet around 9 months. Now he's 27 months and a little chunkster. Unfortunately, my DS2 seems to be following the same path. Great wt gain until his 2 month appt, green poops, and an apparent foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. This time I realized I had an oversupply and OALD. I block fed for a few weeks and got that under control. His poops started to look yellow and seedy again, but not consistently. He still has some yellow/green ones that don't look as good. Aside from the poop, the only other alarming symptom is his poor wt gain. He's meeting his milestones, he's alert, has plenty of wet diapers, etc. We have a weight check this week and I'm nervous. At our last bf group meeting, his wt put him at the 2nd percentile after gaining only 2.5 oz in a week. Does anyone have advice? A similar experience? I'm going crazy trying to figure this out!

Carnation77

My only thought is - is this normal for your family history?  Kids grow at different rates.  If this is exactly what happened with your older child and that child didn't have any medical problems responsible for the slow weight gain then it's either your milk or it's just how your kids grow.  I'm now normal height/weight but when I was a kid I was always in the single digits on the growth charts and even stopped growing for a couple years in elementary school.  However, that was normal for some people in my family.  I caught up eventually.  My uncle has a little girl and the same thing happened with her.  We got those genes from my grandmother.  It might help to ask your parents and IL's how they and their children/siblings were as babies.

GibsonGirl620

Carnation77 said:

My only thought is - is this normal for your family history?  Kids grow at different rates.  If this is exactly what happened with your older child and that child didn't have any medical problems responsible for the slow weight gain then it's either your milk or it's just how your kids grow.  I'm now normal height/weight but when I was a kid I was always in the single digits on the growth charts and even stopped growing for a couple years in elementary school.  However, that was normal for some people in my family.  I caught up eventually.  My uncle has a little girl and the same thing happened with her.  We got those genes from my grandmother.  It might help to ask your parents and IL's how they and their children/siblings were as babies.

I was wondering that as well. That's a great thought. I'll have to talk to my MIL... All of her kids were EBF (my siblings and I were for a short time, but then were FF) and they are all super slender and on the shorter side. My SIL is an XS, FFS. Thanks for the insight!