Drop in weight %

mrsjones06

DS had his 9 mo appt yesterday & hadn't gained any weight since his 6 mo appt. He went from 75% to 25th. It doesn't seem far fetched to me given that he's so much more active now than he was then. (He's not crawling yet, but still manages to be all over the place by rolling, squirming, etc.) The pedi seemed concerned about it, wanted me to track how much food/milk he's taking in daily & bring him back in two weeks for a weight check. He's otherwise acting perfectly normal so her instructions seem a little overboard to me, but what do you think?

Yesterday I had decided I wasn't doing the 2 week weight check thing b/c I think it's unnecessary, but then I laid awake last night driving myself crazy with the thought that he has a tumor or something causing him not to gain weight. I guess I don't understand why she'd expect him to gain weight in the next two weeks if he hasn't in 3 months? (I bfeed/pump & we do baby food/finger foods 2-3 X's a day)

Of course weight is going to fluctuate, but is it weird for him to drop from the 75th to 25th percentile between appts?

memali26

On the one hand, it's not at all unusual for weight gain to slow quite a bit once they become mobile, so I wouldn't be surprised by a drop in percentiles (DD1 went from 40% to 25% when she started crawling, pulling up and cruising). 

On the other hand, 75% to 25% is a BIG drop. If it were me, I would follow the instructions to track food and go back in for the weight check, and at that appt I would ask the doctor what specifically she's concerned about. If he's developing normally, meeting milestones, etc., then there's a very good chance he's just settling into a new growth pattern, just doing it very dramatically :P But with a change that big and no weight gain, I would want to be checking things out just to be sure everything was okay.

mrsjones06

Good advice, thanks. I just needed to hear someone else's thoughts on it. You're right that it's a big drop. I'll do the tracking/weight check & see how it goes.

M&M227

It's very normal for weight percentiles to drop between 6 and 9 months especially for a breastfeed baby.  The only reason I know is because we had so many weight issues eventhough DD is FF.  Our Pedi is using both the US chart and the WHO chart (which is mostly BF babies).

I wouldn't be too concerned, however, I would go for the weight check.  You LO might just need some extra calories - avocado is one of our favorites, lots of healthy fats for LO. 

clineak

DD also had a dip in % between 6 months and 9 months, although not as dramatic as your LO's--she went from 10% to 3%. However, our pedi said she wasn't concerned as long as there was some weight gain. Like PP suggested, I'd ask your pedi exactly what s/he is concerned about and go from there.

erica33b

What does he weigh if you don't mind me asking?  From my understanding, sometimes a big difference in % might just be a few ounces difference. 

baclyn02

It's normal for there to be a decrease in weight (along with percentile) around 9 months because babies become more active and apparently they tend to eat a bit less (as my daughters pedi told me). Arianna has always been in the 20th percentile but at 9months she dropped to just below the 5th percentile in weight. Her pedi isn't concerned because she is still growing in height. If height stops increasing as well then she said there is a problem because that means your LO isn't taking in enough calories.

So with all that said, as long as your LO has still growing length wise, you should be good ) 

law&order

I would absolutely do a weight check in 2 weeks. 

 We are in a similar situation. DS only gained a little over a pound since his 6 month appointment and went from somewhere in the 70%s to 13%. Our dr said they become concerned about drops in percentile when a baby crosses over 2 lines on the chart. It's not weird for weight gain to slow down, but at a certain point the dropping in percentiles does become concerning.  

Not trying to make you stress more, but we have a consult with a pediatric nutritionist this week and a GI appointment in July.  My LO is also anemic and eats very very little solid food (like almost nothing). 

 That's a long way of saying, yes, I think you should do the weight check.  How does your LO do with solids?  You may consider asking the dr to check for anemia as that can impact appetite and weight gain.   

futuremrsmcnichols

A drop in percentiles between 6-9 months can be normal, but no weight gain would be concerning for me.

Have you noticed a decrease in your milk supply, especially after starting solids? Have you tried doing a weighted feeding to track exactly how much he is taking in each feeding? I know that pumping output is not a great indicator of supply, but if you have noticed a decrease in output, that would be a red flag.

Also, I would not sweat making sure that solids are a huge part of his diet. Isn't the rule of thumb 'Food for fun before age one?' BM should be the primary source of nutrition, so I would probably lay off the soilds and maybe only offer 1 or 2 times/day and see if 2 weeks of cutting back on solids makes a difference.

You could also try a late night dream feed so he gets some extra nutrition if you are concerned.

fcp1234

Hm..My LO hadnt gained any weight at his 9 mo appointment, he was 25lbs, same as 6 mo. But he dropped from 99% to 92% in weight. So he dropped only 7% even though he hadnt gained anything..

I wonder why your LO's drop was so big...Have you googled his weight to see what % it gives you?

 

fcp1234

futuremrsmcnichols:

A drop in percentiles between 6-9 months can be normal, but no weight gain would be concerning for me.

Have you noticed a decrease in your milk supply, especially after starting solids? Have you tried doing a weighted feeding to track exactly how much he is taking in each feeding? I know that pumping output is not a great indicator of supply, but if you have noticed a decrease in output, that would be a red flag.

Also, I would not sweat making sure that solids are a huge part of his diet. Isn't the rule of thumb 'Food for fun before age one?' BM should be the primary source of nutrition, so I would probably lay off the soilds and maybe only offer 1 or 2 times/day and see if 2 weeks of cutting back on solids makes a difference.

You could also try a late night dream feed so he gets some extra nutrition if you are concerned.

My pedi said no weight gain is okay, as long as there is increase in length and head size. My LO hadnt gained any weight in 3 months, so he decreased 7% in weight, but increased 8% in length.

futuremrsmcnichols

fcp1234:

futuremrsmcnichols:

A drop in percentiles between 6-9 months can be normal, but no weight gain would be concerning for me.

Have you noticed a decrease in your milk supply, especially after starting solids? Have you tried doing a weighted feeding to track exactly how much he is taking in each feeding? I know that pumping output is not a great indicator of supply, but if you have noticed a decrease in output, that would be a red flag.

Also, I would not sweat making sure that solids are a huge part of his diet. Isn't the rule of thumb 'Food for fun before age one?' BM should be the primary source of nutrition, so I would probably lay off the soilds and maybe only offer 1 or 2 times/day and see if 2 weeks of cutting back on solids makes a difference.

You could also try a late night dream feed so he gets some extra nutrition if you are concerned.

My pedi said no weight gain is okay, as long as there is increase in length and head size. My LO hadnt gained any weight in 3 months, so he decreased 7% in weight, but increased 8% in length.

Yes, maybe true if your kiddo is already on the bigger side of the percentiles, but as for me, If my DD hadn't gained any weight between 6-9months, pedi would be worried because she was not quite 15lbs at 6 months. I think every kiddo is a different situation, but no weight gain would be concerning to me.

CagleBaby

What did your lo weight? We have had major struggles with weight and have to do weekly weight checks at times. Listen to the dr. Go in just to be safe. 

Pew found that there was really a proble with my lo. 

mrsjones06

DS weighs 19 lbs. He did still grow in length & head circumference. My pumping volume has definitely been decreasing, but DS still seems satisfied after nursing. During the week he nurses before work, after work, then before bed (and 2-3 bottles during the day). He was getting solids twice/day, but pedi wanted us to make sure he was getting them 3 X's & start incorporating meat (which we hadn't started). His hemoglobin was a 10 & she said they like to see an 11 or higher. He's tested low before...maybe around 4 months & we did follow up blood work that showed it was ok after all. She told me to started giving him polyvisol drops with iron. He was diagnosed with a dairy/soy intolerance at one month & I've just recently started adding a little dairy/soy back into my diet since he's seemed to be ok with it. I'm sure she's wondering (as am I) whether that could be causing an issue even though we're not seeing symptoms. I'll just have to see what happens at the weight check & go from there. Thanks for the advice & food tips!