- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Breastfeeding
LeslieAnn6
member
Not eating enough...low weight... lazy?
LeslieAnn6
member
Background knowledge:
My DD is 5 1/2 months old. She only weighs 12lbs 9oz. At her 4 month checkup she weight 12lbs 1oz. Until about 3.5 months old the boob was her favorite place. From 3.5-5.5 months I let her "tell" me when she was full by coming off. If she came off I always gave her 2-3 chances to go back on before I moved her to the other side (usually this also included burping her). She will usually eat for about 8-10 minutes on the first side and 6-8 minutes on the second side. She eats every 2 1/2 - 3 hours.
Problem:
I had to do a weight check on her several days ago because she was not gaining weight (she only gained 8oz in a month and a half). The pediatrician wants me to start rice cereal twice a day after nursing her (I am fine with that because she is almost 6 months old anyway). My problem is, I noticed she is not completely emptying my second side when she eats. Twice today I have pumped just the second side out of curiosity and gotten over an ounce and a half. When I offer it to her in a bottle she gulps it down and then whines for more and reaches for the bottle. So I offer to nurse her, but she turns her head away even after several attempts when my nipple touches her lips. Any suggestions? I am a SAHM and I would rather not spend my time pumping when I am with her all day. Before today she would only get one bottle on Sundays while we were at church.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Not eating enough...low weight... lazy?
She's not lazy, she's distracted! It's hard - my guy dropped a lot on the percentiles (from around 50 to around 25) between 4 and 6 months, but he's meeting all his milestones and I can't make him eat if he doesn't want to. The doctor gave me a "look", but didn't lecture too much so I'm not too worried.
This has some ideas: https://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/distractible-baby.html
Natural Birth Board FAQs
Cloth Diaper Review Sheet
Thanks... I thought about that, but the doctor gave me a "lecture" about how we need to increase her weight gain. She went from the 55%, to the 10%, now she is in the 5%. I contacted my local LC to set up a time to meet with her just to make sure that was the only problem. I alway turn the TV off and sometime if I can tell she is really not wanting to nurse I take her back to her room to feed her. She sleeps from 8:00pm - 7:00am without waking up. I don't mind doing a night feeding if she wakes up, but I don't know if I should wake her up or let her sleep.
Adding rice cereal is not going to help with weight gain. It has so little calories and from what I understand, solids usually replace high calories breast milk, not add to it. So I don't really think your pedi has done or suggested anything to address the weight gain problem. Could you meet with a LC?
Kellymom has some suggestions, like taking a nursing vacation, feeding at night, feeding at least every 2 hours.
Natural Birth Board FAQs
Cloth Diaper Review Sheet
I did a dreamfeed last night around 9:30 and she did great. I think I am going to continue this for a while. Also, I have started nursing her when she wakes from her nap without taking her out of her sleep sack or changing her diaper first. This seems to help a little because she is still a little sleep and just wants to snuggle.I left a message for my local LC so hopefully they will call me back today.
Oh... what is a nursing vacation?
A nursing vacation basically means cancelling all your obligations and just snuggling the heck out of your baby - nursing as often as possible and spending loads of time skin to skin.
Nursing while sleepy is definitely helpful. And if the dreamfeed worked, keep it up for a while.
Natural Birth Board FAQs
Cloth Diaper Review Sheet