No weight gain in 9 mos old

She's A Goddess wrote:

"Laura Faussone" wrote in message
...

I'm not sure what Leigh's dr was recommending, but our pediatrician was
recommending a high-calorie prescription formula as a supplement which is
30
calories/oz, as opposed to breastmilk or regular formula which is 20
calories/oz.

So, do you give them six ounces once a day for a total of 60 extra calories?
Or are you supposed to switch this in place of all breastmilk? I can't see
the former making any more difference than giving an extra snack or nursing
session. A complete switch OTOH might make a difference, but its certainly
got its costs which will be financial, emotional and physical.

I believe he was recommending a complete switchover, which I'm not willing to
do, and I said as much at the last visit. Plus, my baby is *not* interested in
a bottle or cup, so I know it would be traumatic for everyone involved to make
such a drastic change. My baby is meeting his developmental milestones, and I
breastfeed him everytime he "asks" (every 2 hrs), so hopefully we'll be able to
ride this one out without the formula.

Laura

Leigh McCuen wrote:

At her 6 mos apptmnt, my daughter weighed in at 18lbs, 2oz. At her 9 mos
apptmnt, she weighed in at 18lbs, 3 oz.


It seems like there are a lot of doctors that are overly concerned about
weight. My daughter was born at 7lb, which was about the 50th
percentile. She went up to the 75th % in height over the first few
months, and down to the 5-10th percentile in weight. I really expected
to be told to supplement, but it was *never* mentioned. The doctor
noted that she was never in the office for illnesses, only for well baby
visits. She was meeting her milestones and nursing and eatine solids
well. He specifically told me not to be concerned with the weight as
long as she continued to do well developmentally and ate well. At 2
years old she is 23lb and still never needed an antibiotic or had any
illness other than a cold.

Maybe your doctor's concern is due to a rapid drop in percentiles
(obviously she was in the upper % if she was over 18lb at 6 months!)
combined with the fact she *has* been sick over the last 3 months.

The 4 oz bottles don't seem wrong to me. My daughter used 4 oz bottles
until she weaned at 14 months. If she were hungry for more the daycare
provider could always give her another bottle, or she could get another
bottle at a sooner time interval (she was fed when hungry, no schedule).
I found it difficult to pump, so never wanted to waste milk.

Lisa

PS - Hopefully she will have an acceptable weight gain in 2 weeks and
relieve some of your stress about the whole situation.

Leigh McCuen wrote in message ...
Tina wrote:

I'd increase the nursing as much as you can. At one point, I was
given the recommendation to double the times I offered to nurse my
daughter, and it did make her gain weight, even though it was only a
few ounces.

I feel like I already nurse a lot (my daughter's a slow eater, and she
eats about every 2 hours, still) but hey. The weather's getting warmer
so going topless is no big deal! *grin*


I know it seems like a ton! She could refuse when you offer, though,
so maybe it won't be double, in reality ; )

My daughter was about 7-8 months old when I got this reccomendation,
and I moved her from 8 nursings a day to 16 'offerings'. I was
already using an alarm overnight, but I don't suggest that!

Is your child still on the growth charts? Check head circumference
and height growth, too. You mentioned s/he'd (sorry, I can't remember
right now) been sick? What kind of sick? If it was gastrointestinal,
I'd worry even less. If it was respiratory, I'd really try to
increasae the weight before that next checkup, even by a couple of
ounces. If you can do that, it will rule out a lot of stuff, and
hopefully prevent some semi-invasive testing.

My daughter's still on the growth charts, yes. Her head and height are
remaining on a relatively constant curve (dropping slightly) but her
weight plummeted. She had a stomach bug that had her throwing up
everything for about a day. She's also had several colds and some
respiratory issues, but those tend to resolve in a couple days. I know
she doesn't have CF because I was tested (my cousin's daughter has CF),
so that's a huge worry I'm fortunately spared.


What a relief! That is exactly what I was worried about, and exactly
what they thought my daughter had! There are very few issues related
to slow/no weight gain that are as urgent as CF, from what I know, so
right there you've lowered the issues by about 95%, in my opinion.
And the throwing up -- my older daughter (the one *without* health
problems) lost 2 pounds in about 24 hours with a rotavirus. She was
21 pounds when she got sick, and 19 when she was hospitalized for
rehydration. It took a long time (months) to gain that weight back,
but she was almost 2, and nearly weaned. [On the other hand, our
little one was hospitalized with rotavirus related dehydration last
month, and she *gained* 2 ounces on the IVs!]

This is one of those times when I really wish my mom or my husband's mom
had kept baby books of some sort. If I could look and see if either one
of us had a similar growth pattern it would be such a relief.


I was lucky in this area, because my daughters did grow to within an
ounce of my own growth most months. I'm sure you're keeping close
track to pass down to her! My daughters are going to be so annoyed
with the amount of stuff I tracked (nursings, diapers, etc..., for
months).

My daughter with the health issues ended up gaining (while on the
high-cal Rx supplement) something like 4 ounces in several months, and
the Dr.s thought that was *great*!

Good for your daughter!

I was so astonished to hear that anyone thought that was good, but the
issue was she went 6 months with no weight gain (12m-18m), then gained
4 ounces between then and the time I was on the phone with the Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation screaming because she'd been tested 4 times and we
still didn't know if she had it, and they were like "Four ounces!
That's remarkable!" With a relative with CF, you can probably imagine
the glee in this persons voice -- it was like a sign that she'd be OK.

Anyway, keep up the good work! It sounds like you're doing really
well.


Tina.