8 Month Old Needing Help Gaining Weight

km0022

Here's a little background. I was hospitalized at 33 weeks for IUGR (baby not growing) and mild preeclampsia.  Since I was IUGR it was upgraded to Severe Pre-e....atleast that is what the docs said.

I delivered at 35 weeks because she was still failing to grow and she was born 3 lb 15 oz.  She then spent 2 weeks in the NICU to help gain weight and need a little help with oxygen in the beginning.  She came home at 2 weeks old weighing 4 lbs 4 ounces.

 At 6 months she weighed 12 lbs 6 ounces and a trip to the doctor at 8 months she weighed in at 12 lbs 12 ounces, only gaining 6 oz in 2 months.   She has always been below the 1st percentile.  She has also started crawling like crazy and pulling herself up on to anything possible, which I think since she is so active she is burning more calories.  

 The pediatrician stated that at the 9 mo check up if she doesn't gain a certain amount of weight then we will have to supplement my breastmilk with formula for added calories. (We had to do this when she first came home from the NICU for about 1 1/2 months.  

 When we go out and about everyone just gawks at her because she can sit in the shopping cart by herself, and she can stand up when she has something to hold on to and sometimes I just want to be like -  Yes! I know she is small.  I just get tired of repeating the same old story every time. 

So I guess here are my questions:  

1.  If the pediatrician recommends supplementing with formula, do you think I should?  I know she is the dr, but I truly believe bm is the best for a baby and that she is just a slower grower.  Thoughts?

2.  Any recommendations on higher calorie foods? The pedi also stated to start giving her whipping cream and olive oil with her foods.  I am pushing avacados yogurt and bananas for calories and calcium but any recommendations would be great.  

zoeyandsummersmom

Definitely supplement. My DD is also 8 months old and is just hitting the 11lbs mark after getting a feeding tube to help her get more nutrition. We use duocal powder. You could easily add that into breastmilk to increase the calories. Another product we use is benecalorie. It is a small tub that is high in protein and fat and is 330 calories. We mix that into all of her purees.

Other things I have heard are olive oil, coconut oil, avocados. We have to revisit those this week.

ashk7

Ww were supplementing DD's BM with neosure, she just came off it but we have a weight check tomorrow to see how she does. I agree with BM being the best but it's still mainly your BM with very little added cals. We were only doing half a tsp to 3 oz.  As we were weening her off we even did it every other bottle so maybe talk to your pedi about that. But I agree with pp if pedi says to I would, it may even be short term. Don't have any suggestions on solids because we are just getting to the point of starting dd in the next few months! Good luck!

aquariogirl

Formula will help her put on more weight. I hope all goes well!

SamJustice

We've started adding butter to his meals. We also spoke to his pedi about giving him Pediasure. He loves the strawberry and has been drinking it since he was about 9 months. It's pretty high calorie and has really helped him put on weight. He'll usually drink about 5-6 oz at a time with some high calorie food. 

We also give him a kids meal from McDonalds twice a month with apple juice. He'll munch on it through the day and it's really high calorie. The apples are his favorite part, though!

snoangel79

I have no recommendations just wanted to say that I understand the "small" thing. Allison weighed in at 10lb9oz last week, probably be a little over 11 at her 6mo. Same thing with the IUGR and she's a mover and a shaker <: burning off calories. I had a "great aunt" on my DH's side ask if there was "something wrong with her" >:

ktrkate

Juliet is in the same boat - only gaining 1lb from 6 months to 9 months (11lb, 4oz to 12lb, 4oz). She was born at 32 weeks and weighed 3lbs, 4oz due to severe pre-e/HELLP.  She is now almost 1 year old and weighs about 14.5lbs.  Our doc determined that she was anemic at her 9 month appointment and had us give her iron supplements, which helped a little with the weight gain. Also, she had us start whole milk at 11 months in addition to breastmilk (that process was coming to an end anyway). She suggested olive oil, butter, avocado, etc but I've only taken the avocado and olive oil advice as I didn't think anyone NEEDS butter. Ever. I'm hesitant to do anything drastic with her diet like that because she continues to grow, thrive, and develop appropriately...she's just small. Hopefully I'm not ignorant to any potential issues with her size, but I'm confident she will catch up in her own time.