My 10 month old breastfed son hasn't gained more than a pound in almost 4 months (17lb 11 oz)! He seems to eat like a champ though! He has always nursed well, I have good supply (able to pump even right after nursing). He was never a chunky baby and my husband and I are not large people but my other 2 children were quite chunky & "rolly poly" until they started walking. He started cereal at 6 mos and baby food (homemade organic) at about 7 mos. and eats pretty well. I have been slow to introduce everything as we have alot of food sensitivities in our family. (He is sensitive to dairy.) He now eats 3 meals of baby food a day and 1-2 small snacks. Not a big water drinker, just a few sips with meals and maybe one other time in the day. He is nursing every 4-6 hours (even at night) and can nurse anywhere from 5-15 minutes (depending on the chaos around us).
My pediatrician asked me to mix his cereal with formula 2-3 times a day so I have been doing that for 6 weeks...still not helping. Today they asked me to give him an additional bottle after nursing to see what happens. So I did and he took an additional 3 oz at each feeding! I even tried formula at one of the feedings to see if it was any different and he took an additional 3.5 oz! What is happening? Has anyone experienced this? Is it time to throw in the towel on nursing? I really wanted to make it to 12 mos not only for his health, but financially too! Any suggestions? I really love nursing but my baby is shrinking! HELP!
Edit: I forgot to mention that my son was born 8 lb 1 oz and was in the 50th percentile for height/weight until 6 mos, then his growth curve stopped and now he's in the 20th for height and even less for weight!
My son grew to 19 lbs by 5 months then gained weight VERY slowly.
I would get a second opinion, perhaps take him to Dr. Robert Minkus in Skokie or Lincolnwood.
Just another thought to consider....my son (who is 7 now), was nice plump baby, but slowly got thinner and thinner....I kept asking Ped. about it, because he was in approx 5th percentile for weight, and he said it could be genetic.(My boy always ate well, breastmilk and regular food, even now, he's got hollow leg) My husband and his brothers were same way, very thin as they went along and didn't fill out until high school...now his brothers are huge! some over 6ft and lean machines! You might want to look at family history and see if there is a trend there. My son's metabolism is through the roof. Good luck.
My 8.5 month old is 16.5 lbs (born at 6 lbs. 10 oz.)and is very skinny and long. She was exclusively breastfed until 6 months, now she's on homemade baby food and breastmilk. Eats very well too, also 3-4 times at night. Every time I go to check up I'm worried that she's too skinny but my pediatrician says that some super active and busy babies just don't gain weight that much. Her height is in 75-90% but her weigth is in 15-25%.
I do believe that breastmilk is the best thing for them. Maybe try a different pediatrician's opinion,too.
C., if all else other than weight gain is well, I would question whether your little boy has a medical problem. As I'm sure you're aware, babies go through periods when their weight gain is minimal. There is tons of evidence that breastmilk is best, but I'm not sure there is the same amount of evidence that low weight gain for a few months without any other symptoms is a problem worthy of giving up breastfeeding. My personal experience is that my daughter was 8 lb 6 oz at birth, dropped to below the 10% after ~six months and has been there ever since. I offered solid food at 6 months every day but she didn't eat more than 1 T daily until she was 13 months. The doctor never seriously questioned the breastfeeding and we didn't supplement, but he wanted her tested for rickets (vita D def.), and it came out fine. She's very healthy with a strong immune system. More avocado!
Have you solely pumped your milk? Then you would know exactly how much your babe is getting? There is a natural tea that helps up your milk supply; I think it is on the La leche league website. Being stressed out about the issue doesn't help your milk supply either! When I pump my milk I think about my baby, it may be in my head but I think it did help me produce more.
My kids both were having breastmilk supplemented by formula before they weaned. It doesn't mean you need to throw in the towel. The breastmilk he is getting is still providing all those great nutrients and antibodies - he just needs a little more. If he was 10 weeks, I'd talk about how to increase supply, but at 10 months he's probably just feeling too busy to work as hard at feeding as he used to and personally I think that's fine! Keep up the breastfeeding for closeness and nutrients as long as you both want to but don't feel concerned about supplementing.
One suggestion, though - if you want to keep your current supply, do not supplement after each feeding. Instead, give a bottle at feedings that are not nursing feedings. Otherwise he may get lazy and slack off on the breast to get to the easier bottle milk faster.
My 16 month old was the same way. Currently he only ways 20 lbs. We did all sorts of test to make sure there was not any other underlying issues.
Because we were so concerned when he was 6 months I stopped breast feeding and pumped exclusively. He too was eating a lot. It was difficult but I made it to one year.
I would continue to breast-feed and supplement formula.
Good luck!
IS your son otherwise hitting all other milestones? Genetics do take over around this point he may turn out to be just a smaller person.
Keep nursing him and if formula is something you do not want to do then don't you can also try goat's milk instead of formula it has our closest protein chain. There are all kinds of people and we all do not have to look the same. Offer drinks more often through out the day not just at meal times. trust your gut if you think he is just little then so be it. Good luck
J.
Nurse him, then give him the bottle! See if that helps him gain weight. I wouldn't stop nursing. It is possible to do both. There is no harm in supplementing. Financially speaking, 3.5 oz for a 10 month old is about half of what he would normally be eating at a time so you'll be ahead of the game there. Let him get as much from you as he can and then give him a couple of bottles during the day. If it doesn't make a big change after a few weeks, reevaluate. He may be just on the small side.
Don't fret, its not you. If he is small at this age, he is. I think it would be irresponsible of the doctors to not experiment to find out. If these things don't help, well then you know you have a small-ish healthy baby!
did the weight gain stop when your child became more active? chances are your child is just evening out! Food isnt going to fatten your baby the fat in your milk is. Make sure you are nursing before feeding solid food, wait a half hour to an hour and then feed the solids. Try avocados and other higher fat foods too. Also try nursing every 4 instead of 6 hours. Remember every time you give him solid food you are giving substituting a superior food for an inferior food. Solids are practice all they really need is breastmilk. The most important thing to remember is how do YOU feel about all this? Do you think there is a real issue here or just a doc wanting your child to fit in a graph a certain way to match their chart? Another thought since you mentioned the food allergies. What about wheat/gluten allergy? that destroys the villi in the intestines so nutrients cant be absorbed. A lot of failure to thrive children end up being diagnosed with Celiacs. Just a thought, but really formula? your kid isnt going to drink that nasty stuff....I would pump an extra bottle for him to drink before I would do that. Scales are off, kids go to the bathroom, kids get mobile, all these things can affect their weight chart. I would not worry as long as your kids is developing normally!!!
Your milk is fattier than formula first of all. Secondly, someone has to be at the lower end of the growth charts. My first kid was off the charts and still is on the higher end of the scale and my second is maybe 22lbs at almost 2! They are genetically predisposed to grow a certain way. I breastfeed both of them so that was no different. My little one doesn't really eat a lot but oh well. Keep on breastfeeding! You can always increase the amount of time at the breast if you are really concerned. No one is concerned when formula fed babies are tiny so I wouldn't worry about it. He sounds perfect. I don't know where you live but my local LLL meeting is awesome and has always been a great source of information and support. You can email me for info if you'd like. I always hate to see women prematurely stop nursing their kids because some stupid doctor makes them think that their milk isn't sufficient. It's more than enough and far superior to any manmade milk out there.
It's very common for babies to slim down once they become mobile. That chunky baby is now using so many extra calories because he's on the go all the time! As long as he's hitting all his milestones, the slow weight gain isn't a problem. It's normal. This is most common in breastfed babies, as they tend not to overeat since they're not being force-fed a bottle with a specific ounce requirement.
You sound like you're doing great, and that your baby is quite healthy. Don't throw in the towel yet, Mama!
babies will often drink more from a bottle even though they're full because it's so easy. I'd say keep nursing him and don't worry so much about the formula - but add more solids if you can. My daughter was sort of like that - she was huge (17#10) at 4 months, 19#2 at 9 months, and only 19#1 at 12 months. The doctor was a bit concerned that she'd *lost* weight! She was very picky at the time and was hardly eating anything except for fruit. Anyway, she went in for a weigh-in a few weeks later and had gained a couple ounces, so we figured whatever was happening, she had stabilized and just jumped to another growth curve.
I guess what I'm saying is: (1) don't panic (2) is he gaining any weight at all? if he is, don't worry about him he's fine. Even if you do decide to keep supplementing him (and I would get a second opinion on whether this is necessary) I would NOT stop nursing him. Your supply will continue to kick along and last as long as he needs it. My daughter is 18 months old and we still nurse 1-2x/day. My point being, nursing is not an all or nothing thing - you will not "lose" your milk all of a sudden.
This happened to me. The doctor suggested adding a bottle after nursing and about a week later, my baby went on a nursing strike. It broke my heart but it's what was best for him. He's now back up to a healthy weight and doing great. Things don't always go the way we want but we have to do what's best for our babies.
Hi C. Ask your son's peditrican if you can give him Pediasure. It's very nutritious and may help him gain weight.
It may be an issue of your breast milk - quantity or that something you are eating is not agreeing with your son. Especially with food sensitivities in your family, this might be a response to something you are eating or drinking. You should talk to a lactation consultant (through your hospital or La Leche League) to make sure that you are eating and drinking all the right things you need to breastfeed.
My son had similar problems at the same age and I thought I was producing enough milk since he nursed regularly. Turns out I was not drinking enough water nor eating a balanced enough diet and my milk production had dropped. Unfortunately, I only figured this out too late and he weaned much earlier than I wanted. We had months of many visits to the pediatrician (every 1-2 weeks for weight checks) and lots of tests to find out why my son wasn't gaining weight - not once did they suggest it might be my milk production. Even most of the parenting books (Dr. Spock, What to Expect the First Year, etc.) say that it is normal for a mother's milk production to drop at this time. I just hadn't gotten to those chapters yet. With my second child, the same thing started again around the same age. I was ready that time though and with the help of a lactation consultant made it through and nursed her until I was ready to wean (over a year longer than my son).
Good luck.
