April 2016 Moms

Slow weight gain

I guess this is mostly for those who are EBF. Anyone have a LO who is gaining weight very slowly? 

Mine is. She's 11th percentile, down from just over 50th at birth. Our pedi is starting to get a little concerned. She has instructed us to really start pushing solids of all kinds to try to help get her weight up. 

I'm EPing, so I know she's getting enough milk. Would you be concerned at this point? Just trying to get some perspective. I left the Dr office worried and upset on Friday. DH keeps telling me not to worry that she's just a small girl (similar to our oldest DD). Thoughts please?

Re: Slow weight gain

  • I hate when pediatricians do that. All 4 of my ebf babies gained like crazy the first 3 months and then didn't gain much until 9-10mos. That's a normal ebf baby growth curve. My third was less than 10% for weight for much of her first year and a half. She's just small. My second is still thin, he just comes from a line of great metabolisms. My 3 kids eat well and they're happy and active. I'm not worried at all about their weight. 
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  • @kielpinskim Thank you. That makes me feel a lot better.
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  • I asked my paediatrician the same question.DS was 9th percentile at birth and has been hovering around the 20's and 30's up until six months when he dropped down to the 17th percentile. He said weight gain will slow down from the 6th month onwards. 
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  • @kielpinskim Thank you. That makes me feel a lot better.
    DH is a pedi and I asked him why other pedis worry so much about weight if baby/child is happy and otherwise healthy.  His response, "They need SOMETHING to worry about."
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  • @kielpinskim Thank you. That makes me feel a lot better.
    DH is a pedi and I asked him why other pedis worry so much about weight if baby/child is happy and otherwise healthy.  His response, "They need SOMETHING to worry about."
    I think I need your DH to be our pedi
  • Mine was 86th percentile and dropped steadily to 47 th at 6 mo.  Height percentile has stayed steady (in the 90s) She is developing great on her milestones and is very alert and active.   I figure she is dropping percentiles as she gets older because she is always moving, rolling, squirming, scooting etc.  Babies with more laid back personalities might stay high in the percentiles more easily-- fewer calories burned! Also this is normal for EBF.  My pediatrician has never raised concerns about her weight and is more of the "look at the baby, not at the scale" type which I like.  Adding solids probably won't help your baby gain weight.  Better to fill up on more nutritious bm mostly. 
  • mb0112 said:
    Mine was 86th percentile and dropped steadily to 47 th at 6 mo.  Height percentile has stayed steady (in the 90s) She is developing great on her milestones and is very alert and active.   I figure she is dropping percentiles as she gets older because she is always moving, rolling, squirming, scooting etc.  Babies with more laid back personalities might stay high in the percentiles more easily-- fewer calories burned! Also this is normal for EBF.  My pediatrician has never raised concerns about her weight and is more of the "look at the baby, not at the scale" type which I like.  Adding solids probably won't help your baby gain weight.  Better to fill up on more nutritious bm mostly. 
    This was my comment to DH, too.
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  • We had LO's 6 month check up last week and she was only at 14lbs 4oz (>10%).

    I too am Eping so I know she's getting plenty of milk. Our ped isn't concerned since she is still on her curve but did say that soon she will need to be getting solids daily (I've only been feeding her solids about 2 times/week). Now that she is more mobile she will need more calories.
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  • yodiggity said:
    We had LO's 6 month check up last week and she was only at 14lbs 4oz (>10%).

    I too am Eping so I know she's getting plenty of milk. Our ped isn't concerned since she is still on her curve but did say that soon she will need to be getting solids daily (I've only been feeding her solids about 2 times/week). Now that she is more mobile she will need more calories.
    My DD was also 14lbs 4oz at her 6 month check up. 
  • Thomas was in the 80th percentile until 3 months, then dropped down to the 20th until 5.5 months when we introduced solids. Now he's back in the 30th! He put on a pound and a half in a month once solids started. Some kids are just super ready for food, our pediatrician said!
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  • curious as to what people are thinking 'plenty of breastmilk' is? from things I read on good ol' doctor google, it seemed to me like 24-32oz was plenty. my son was happily downing 40oz of breastmilk and still only in the 4th percentile in weight. my pediatrician didn't seem concerned at all as long as he was still growing and is happy. He did say that solid foods might plump him up a bit. we've been feeding him solids for a month now (he's almost 7 months) and he's loving it and eating a ton. we'll see at his next apt if he's gaining much more weight...I can't see a difference at this point. I think he just has a really high metabolism (lucky him).
  • 40oz a day is on the high side but probably still normal range. It's hard to measure since she mostly nurses as opposed to bottles but I think my daughter averages more like 25-30 oz and she's average weight.  If your baby has always been low on the percentiles and drinks a lot, as long as he is growing I wouldn't expect the percentiles to shoot up.  
  • stephpl said:
    curious as to what people are thinking 'plenty of breastmilk' is? from things I read on good ol' doctor google, it seemed to me like 24-32oz was plenty. my son was happily downing 40oz of breastmilk and still only in the 4th percentile in weight. my pediatrician didn't seem concerned at all as long as he was still growing and is happy. He did say that solid foods might plump him up a bit. we've been feeding him solids for a month now (he's almost 7 months) and he's loving it and eating a ton. we'll see at his next apt if he's gaining much more weight...I can't see a difference at this point. I think he just has a really high metabolism (lucky him).
    DD averages around 30oz per day. 40 does seem like a lot. But I agree with pp, as long as he's growing and seems content, I would consider that normal. He must have a high metabolism! I feel like my DD does too. 
  • My 10 month old son weighs 14.5 lbs.  He was born small (full term; 37 weeks; 5.4 lbs, 19  inches)  The pediatrician did bloodwork (all good, thank God).  Since he's so small, the pediatrician is sending him to a pediatric endocrinologist.  
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