5 Month Old Only Weighs 10Lbs, 13 Oz Updated

My daughter is 31 months... I don't remember how much she weighed at 5 months... but I know at her first bday she was only 17 lbs. (I think she was 10 lbs around her 2-month check-up) She's perfectly healthy though. She's always just been small and petite. Even now... she only weighs 24.8 lbs. I wouldn't worry too much, as long as she's healthy! I too, exclusivly breastfed, but I never supplemented b/c she always maintained or gained (even if only a few ounces).

Babies need a diet high in nutrients and calories also to gain the weight and strength they need to obtain. You should see her weight increasing with the formula and extra cereal. Our son had to supplement also and did great!

First, congrats on your beautiful family. I also have two children, a boy and a girl, and I breastfed both of them also. My daughter was a lot lighter than my son and it could be just the difference between boys and girls. I would suggest that you continue to supplement with formula as the doctor suggested and also check your own diet. Are you eating the best that you can? I found that I ate a lot better with my first child, my son, than I did with my second child, my daughter.

Don't worry about it, though. It will all catch up with her. Just continue to follow doctor's orders and enjoy your baby girl. Good luck!

L.
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I think your doctor has got you on the right track-some children experience this kind of weight loss and are considered "failure to thrive." Don't let that term scare you-sometimes we dont' make an appropriate amount of breastmilk for our children. I have three,and my oldest and middle children were fine with exclusive breast milk, but my third child needed supplementation. It happens, and it sounds like increasing the feedings will help. If not, they have prescription high calorie formulas available. Be blessed.

I think the main concern is that she lost weight instead of gaining. They probably just want to make sure your milk is nutricious enough (sometimes people just can't product fatty enough milk) and that she is taking in enough. If she still has touble putting on weight with the extra supplements, they may want to run some tests to make sure she doesn't have any medical problems which are keeping her from gaining weight. Chances are, she just needs to eat more, but I wanted you to be prepared just in case. It sounds like they are on top of the situation and doing great monitoring it! Good luck!

You don't say whether your older son had any weight gain issues, but if you are surprised by this, then probably not. I have two comments: 1) It's okay, sometimes these things happen, it is not your fault. 2) Take this seriously, follow your drs advise, and see if you can get a little more weight on that precious baby. I assume your dr asked for regular weight checks now (prob every 2 weeks). Take her in so they can keep an eye on her, get those weight checks and hopefully you'll be watching her weight climb!

Oh, hon... Please go visit a lactation consultant! One of our local hospitals offers that service for free - I talked to her the other night and she said it doesn't matter where you are from (as in, I didn't give birth in their hospital) - to come in and talk to her or call her. She even leaves her cell number on her voice mail. I also agree with what someone else said about her being petite! Definitely check into second opinions etc before feeling like you need to do something you don't want!

Hi C.,

My son was always underweight, but I contintued to breastfeed and to put him at the breast every 2 hours which built my supply back up. I never supplemented with formula b/c it is all about supply and demand and your milk supply will decrease if you use formula.

Also, it could be that your child is not latching well and needs some assistance from a lactation consultant. They are free at most hospitals... just call the hospital and make an appointment or you could also visit your local La Leache League meetings. Just do a search for La Leache League on the internet to find a meeting close to you.

Best of luck and God Bless You!
K.

If your doctor told you that your breastmilk wasn't good enough and that cow's milk and cereal were better for your child, I would suggest that you get another pediatrician, and a second opinion.

Find a nurse at the local hospital that will help you with breastfeeding first. Always follow doctor advice, but seek a second doctor's advice.

There are several questions...1)Did they weigh your daughter on the same scale as the last visit? 2)Is she otherwise happy, healthy, meeting her age appropriate milestones? 3) Have you talked to a lactation consultant? 4) Are you or your husband petite? I would definitely question the scale, and see a lactation consultant right away as well.

My best friend's child weighed 12 lbs at one year of age. She was just very petite. Today, she is an 85 pound mother of two robust little boys! She delivered 2 7 lb.
boys naturally. She is a bright college graduate.

The previous advice of a lactation consultant is good. I would also
find a child development specialist to look at her development just to be sure all is well there. She is likely just destined to be small, but you want to be sure her developing brain is getting the nutrients it needs. This includes fat, which baby's brains need to develop properly.

Good morning - it is quite normal for the weight to fluctuate from time to time. My daughter was a preeemie who weighed in at just under 5 pounds. On her first birthday she weighed 13 pounds. Although she seemed destined to be a failure to thrive child she is now 29 and perfectly healthy, etc. As long as your little one is eating and keeping it in, I imagine she is fine. Your pediatrician should be able to answer your questions more succintly than I can though. I wouldn't worry too much - if your dr hasn't expressed any real concern, and she is healthy over-all, she should be fine. Good luck and God bless.

How are you eating? We burn more calories when we are breast feeding - so you may need to eat more. With my daughter I ate higher fat content and drank a lot of water.
I am talking about good fats and even ate while I was feeding her (during the day) She nor I was over weight so the good fats helped my milk be richer.

I went through this same thing with my daughter except she never lost weight just would not gain and i was also breast feeding. The doctor tested my breastmilk to make sure she was getting what she needed. It turned out to be fine but they still made me supplement just like they are having you do. Our Doctor sent us to a Growth Hormone specialist. (sorry i forgot to mention that my daughter was 4 weeks premature and only weighed 5Lds when she was born) My daughter was about 8 months old when we saw the specialist and told us she was developmently on track just very tiny for her age, asked alot about family members height and bone structer. My grandmother was almost 5 foot very tiny women.
he told us that if she was not at 21 lbs on her 2nd birthday or started to lose weight over the next 3 months to come back. She weighed 22 lbs at 2 years and she will be 6 on nov 28th she weighs 34lbs. I'm sure as long as you follow the doctors orders she will begin to gain weight again and she will be fine.
A.

While it's possible there may be some health condition affecting her weight gain, it's also just possible that she's going to be petite. My son was born three weeks early and weight 5lb 5oz. He's always been on the small side, 5th percentile or less! He had not quite reached 20 lbs at 13 months, when he had his well-baby checkup (we'd moved, so the checkup was delayed). We didn't worry about it too much because he's always been very active, and he always eats a TON, and he's on target developmentally. So, keep that in mind to balance what the doctor says. I think there was one checkup in his first six months of life where he didn't gain any weight at all. His body grew, but his weight didn't, so perhaps it's just part of the ebb and flow of development. If you're really concerned, get a second opinion, or check with a lactation consultant, but perhaps keep feeding formula to supplement, to make sure she's getting the fat she needs.

I exclusively breastfed for the first six months, and didn't start cereals until 6 months, at which time I also replaced one feeding with formula because I was in school. I read in "Baby 411" that infants don't need cereals before 6 months, and that they take up room in the stomach that could be available for breast milk or formula, which provide tons more calories per ounce than cereals or baby foods can hope to provide. Something to look into?

Have you had her heart checked?

don't take her the breast all together cause breast milk is good for them feed her more solids like fruit, deserts and does she seem to be hungry more often? what did your doctor say? good luck

C.,

What I immediately thought of as I read your plea for help was, "Has she grown in other areas, like being able to roll over, sit, reach for things, etc?" Yes, her physical growth is nonexistant but if you really are breastfeeding and giving her cereal as you say then she seems to be getting enough nutrition.

There may be a hormonal problem that will not be addressed by stuffing her full of food. Is there a chance that she is a dwarf? I know I'm going out on a limb here but diet, in my opinion, does not seem like the answer to your question.

K.

the baby may need some baby vitamins. and to have some test done by the doctor to see if maybe she maybe low on iron and vitamins in her system. however she needs to be checked by a good child doctor.

I didn't know birth control can dry up your milk. I thought for a long time after I started formula and cereal that something was wrong with me.

My son has been weird in the weight area too. I was breastfeeding until he was 3 months old and even though I had a LOT to offer, it still wasn't enough to satisfy his appetite. Then I just couldn't keep up and even though I hated to went to formula.

However, unless your doctor has said that the baby's weight is a problem, don't worry too much. Even if he says it's a problem there are always ways to correct it.

How "tall" is she? My son is short and I believe he weighed around the same when he was 4 or 5 months old. We had taken him for his checkup and he was almost 13lbs. Then a few weeks later, we had to take him to the ER and he was 11lbs.

If she seems satisfied with what you are feeding her now, maybe you could just feed her a little bit in between feedings, you know "snack" bottles of 2 ounces or something. Is she an active baby? Does she have a lot of wet and normal dirty diapers? Then I'll bet she's fine, unless her weight continues to decline.

I hope this will reassure you. My doctor told me that everyone is so used to seeing chubby babies, and not all babies are gonna be chunky monkeys. My son only weighs 18 pounds, he only gains about a pound a month, and one of his cousins who is 6 weeks older than he is weighs 23 pounds. But, he's short and active, and happy, so I don't worry.

Good luck to you!

If you have low milk supply Please take fenugreek. I get mine from GNC. I take four a day. My little boy is 9 1/2 months old and is 22 pounds eats three times a day and still nursing six times a day. Two of his meals are cereal. He was under weight at his two month checkup but, when I started the Fenugreek he was good in no time. I almost starved my little girl to death. After that I found out about the fenugreek so I knew I would take it this time. The ladies at the hospital told me to wait and I did and he was not gaining well. Next time I will start it when my baby is one week old!! If she spit's up alot please tell your Dr. she might have acid reflux my little one did.Good Luck!

I have 7 bio children, including twins, and breastfed all of them. My youngest is 21 months and had a very hard time gaining weight. Our pediatrician was so concerned that if it weren't for her steady development in other areas, he would have sent her to a specialist.
She weighed less than 20lbs at 1 year, and is still small for her age, but she is talking better than most her age and even shows signs of wanting to be potty trained.
Just follow your doctors advice, and keep a close watch, but DON'T WORRY! Every child is different and as a mom, you'll notice every little change in your baby. Do your best and monitor closely, as long as there is no other health issue, this problem should resolve itself.

is she acting like a normal 5 month old? the reason i ask this is because my youngest daughter (my 4th child) was 6 months old and weighed just slightly over 11 pounds when i would hold her up on my lap and try to get her to use her legs to hold up some of her body weight she couldnt do it very well. my other 3 kids were also strong chubby babies and in the beginning i thought my youngest was just gonna be small and petite untill i started noticeing that she wasnt as srtong as she should be and wasnt even registering on the weight chart. come to find out she had malabsorbant conditions, her body wasnt taking in the nutriants it needed for her to grow. we spent 2 and 1/2 weeks in the childrens hospital and come to find out that she needed a special formula called Elacare its for kids with severe food allergies, malabsorbant conditions, ect. after we figured that out she took off with a bang and now is a chubby little 25 pound 14 month old. look into it expecially if she is not up to par with what she should be doing as a 5 month old. hang in there
ok i didnt read on to your what happened....definantly check out the malabsorbant conditions and the elacare if she is spitting up everything she eats, if you get WIC you will need a dr's perscription if not you can purchase it thru the ABC Formula Co.

I would follow dr's orders regarding supplementation, but I would also really pay attention to Kay's #2 suggestion: Is she otherwise happy, healthy, meeting her age appropriate milestones? A friend's baby was diagnosed with failure to thrive since she was very tiny, and it took two years to diagnose the real issue. I would watch to see how she does with tummy time, rolling over, and progressing to sitting up, and crawling really carefully. If she's looking typical in that dept, she's probably just petite. If she's struggling, you may need to find a doctor who's willing to look for more than just failure to gain weight as that may just be a symptom of something else.
Here's an ex chart for 1 to 6 mo olds:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_milestone-chart-1-to-6-months...