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No weight gain in 9 mos old



 
 
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  #11  
Old March 26th 04, 10:52 AM
teapot
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Default No weight gain in 9 mos old

Laura Faussone wrote in message ...
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.

The ped's suggesting I supplement her with a sippy cup of formula/day.


I don't have any answers for you -- I'm in the same situation. We've
already had a weight check with still no weight gain. At the next weight
check, the dr will probably insist on adding high calorie formula to his
diet :-(

Moo is much the same but weighed in at 17lbs 8oz at 7 and 8 months and
17lbs 12oz at 9 mths. He is chomping down the solids but using them
up wriggling and crawling. The Health Visitor said that was fine and
nothing to worry about. I don't think they dare suggest formula to
me, it may be something to do with the fact I say 'formula is not an
option' as soon as they look like they might suggest it, and the Moo
boy's 'boobs' tshirt. He's little but he's glowing with health.

teapot and the moo boy 9mths
  #12  
Old March 26th 04, 10:10 PM
Naomi Pardue
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Default No weight gain in 9 mos old

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


My daughter gained only about half a pound between her 9 and 12 month check
ups. Between 12 and 15 months she gained 2 1/2 pounds.

Remember that babies don't gain weight steadily. They gain in spurts. (Shaina
continued to follow this pattern throughout toddlerhood, having a check-up
where she gained virtually nothing, followed by one where she more than made up
for it.

Also, remember that most bf babies slow down their growth around the middle of
the year, sometimes dramatically.
At 18 pounds at 6 months, your daughter sounds like she had been gaining very
well initially. SHe was certainly due to slow down.
And remember too that baby weighing is an inexact science. If she'd been
weighed with a full stomach and/or bladder at 6 months, and empty ones at 9
months, that could easily make the difference of several ounces.

I'm not quite clear what the benefit of supplemtning would be. If she's
drinking only 4 ounces of EBM at a time, why would it help matters to be giving
her formula instead? You'll just fill her up with formula insead of the more
valuable breastmilk. And presumably if you are able to pump for the bottles,
you still have ample milk, so his belief that your supply is failing sounds
pretty bogus to me. (And if the bottles contain formula [not real clear on
that], how would a sippy cup make any difference?)

It is certainly possible that there is some underlying problem, but if she
seems healthy otherwise, I'd wait a few months before doing anything more than
really basic tests. Even if she doesn't gain a whole lot in the next two
weeks, she will almost certainly make up the slow gain this time by 9 months.

Solids aren't really any more calorie dense, on average, than breastmilk, so if
she's getting plenty of milk, she may just not need more solids. I dunno ...
maybe encourage them to offer her more solids at daycare?

HTH.


Naomi
CAPPA Certified Lactation Educator

(either remove spamblock or change address to to e-mail
reply.)
  #13  
Old March 26th 04, 10:34 PM
Leigh McCuen
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Default No weight gain in 9 mos old

Laura Faussone wrote:

I don't have any answers for you -- I'm in the same situation. We've
already had a weight check with still no weight gain. At the next weight
check, the dr will probably insist on adding high calorie formula to his
diet :-(


I'll be thinking of you.

Leigh

  #14  
Old March 26th 04, 10:38 PM
Leigh McCuen
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Default No weight gain in 9 mos old

Dagny wrote:

"Leigh McCuen" wrote in message
...

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


How about height change? Head? If she's growing in these ways normally, I'm
not sure I understand why weight would be an issue.


6 mos
height: 27.25 inches
head: 42.75 cm

9 mos
height: 28.5 inches
head: 44 cm

She's still growing fine for head & height, dropping in her curve a
little but being perfectly reasonable. The ped. said weight can be a red
flag. If the weight stops going up, they need to make sure it's ok
because otherwise height and head can be next.

I got the impression that it was abnormal for there to be no weight
gain. A slower weight gain was normal, but no weight gain was cause for
concern. Is my ped. perhaps over reacting?

Leigh

  #15  
Old March 26th 04, 10:41 PM
Leigh McCuen
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Default No weight gain in 9 mos old

HollyLewis wrote:

But anyway, it doesn't sound to *me* as if there's anything at all wrong, nor
that there is any reason in the world to give her formula. (She certainly
isn't likely to accept the formula in *addition* to what she consumes now, and
it would be beyond stupid to *replace* any of the breastmilk she's taking with
and equivalent amount of formula.)


That's my fear, that the formula would be a replacement. Because it's
not like we're ever *not* feeding her something when she's hungry.

At least for purposes of your weight check in a couple weeks, you could focus
on feeding her more calorie-dense and/or higher-fat foods for a while. If
she's been getting a lot of, say, applesauce and Cheerios, try offering more
avocado, full-fat yogurt, and muffins.


Thank you for these suggestions! Today she got full-fat yogurt with her
squash instead of pear-sauce. Muffins? She would probably love a muffin.
I'll have to bake some. Our local grocery store hasn't had an avocado in
it yet. I need to go further afield.

Thanks again, these are good suggestions.

Leigh

  #16  
Old March 26th 04, 10:49 PM
Leigh McCuen
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Default No weight gain in 9 mos old

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*

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.

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.

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!

Leigh

  #17  
Old March 26th 04, 11:01 PM
Leigh McCuen
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Default No weight gain in 9 mos old

Naomi Pardue wrote:

My daughter gained only about half a pound between her 9 and 12 month check
ups. Between 12 and 15 months she gained 2 1/2 pounds.


It's nice to hear that other, perfectly normal children, have also had
slow weight gains. (This is not a problem I *ever* thought I'd run into.
Both myself and my husband have more than enough weight on us.)

Also, remember that most bf babies slow down their growth around the middle of
the year, sometimes dramatically.


I wonder if this is a case where using charts that include all babies
works against breastfed babies. Because they can pack on the weight so
quickly when they're new, their growth curves might be artifically high
initially, so that any change downward appears more exagerated than it
really is?

At 18 pounds at 6 months, your daughter sounds like she had been gaining very
well initially. SHe was certainly due to slow down.


She gained tremendously well. She was off the charts for weight at her 3
month apptmnt, if I recall correctly. So maybe she did just gain lots
early, and now she's spending more time doing other things. As a first
time mom, it's awfully easy to get riled up and stressed out. *sigh*

And remember too that baby weighing is an inexact science. If she'd been
weighed with a full stomach and/or bladder at 6 months, and empty ones at 9
months, that could easily make the difference of several ounces.


Ah hah! So before the next baby weighing, I need to nurse her like a mad
woman and tell her not to pee! *grin*

I'm not quite clear what the benefit of supplemtning would be. If she's
drinking only 4 ounces of EBM at a time, why would it help matters to be giving
her formula instead? You'll just fill her up with formula insead of the more
valuable breastmilk. And presumably if you are able to pump for the bottles,
you still have ample milk, so his belief that your supply is failing sounds
pretty bogus to me. (And if the bottles contain formula [not real clear on
that], how would a sippy cup make any difference?)


The ped. seemed to think my milk might be less calorically dense than
formula at this time. But I understood that breast milk was always
"about" the same calorically, though it did change slightly in makeup
with the age of the baby. So I really don't know. I'm not quite able to
keep up with the amount my daughter's drinking now, so I've been using
up my freezer stash. I fortunately had a reasonably good freezer stash
and was somewhat hopeful about making it to a year without formula. I'm
going to try increasing her bottles to 5 oz and see how much she leaves
behind.

It is certainly possible that there is some underlying problem, but if she
seems healthy otherwise, I'd wait a few months before doing anything more than
really basic tests. Even if she doesn't gain a whole lot in the next two
weeks, she will almost certainly make up the slow gain this time by 9 months.


She seems very healthy otherwise. I'll hope she gains weight for the
weight check. But if she doesn't, I won't let myself be talked into
anything *right then* but rather listen to my options and take some time
to think about everything.

Solids aren't really any more calorie dense, on average, than breastmilk, so if
she's getting plenty of milk, she may just not need more solids. I dunno ...
maybe encourage them to offer her more solids at daycare?


I told daycare today to give her food any time they think she might be
hungry. They were already doing that, of course. I'd also been planning
on trying to get her to sleep through the night by having my husband do
more of the night-waking duty. But until this weight thing passes over,
I'll keep nursing her as often as she wants it, even if it's every hour
and a half at night. *snoooooze*

Leigh

  #18  
Old March 26th 04, 11:24 PM
Naomi Pardue
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Default No weight gain in 9 mos old

I got the impression that it was abnormal for there to be no weight
gain. A slower weight gain was normal, but no weight gain was cause for
concern. Is my ped. perhaps over reacting?


Over a long period of time, absolutely. Over a single check-up, it's not cause
for panic. She could be due for a growth spurt tomorrow. Or, as I said, she
could have been weighed with a full bladder last time, and so actually have
appeared heavier than she really was -- so she DID actually maybe gain half a
pound or so this time out.
I just can't see what he hopes to gain by supplementing. If you are offering
her all the food she wants, presumably she is eating all she wants as well. If
you give her formula, she will just eat less of other foods (breastmilk, and
the solids she is beginning to be needing to provide her with a more balanced
diet and a more varied eating experience). Babies generally know how much they
need, and will take it if available.

And it's not like she's wasting away. 18 pounds is a perfectly fine weight for
a 9 month old! (Shaina, FWIW, was only 16 pounds, 3 ounces at 9 months, didn't
hit 18 pound until well past her first birthday.)

The ped. said weight can be a red
flag. If the weight stops going up, they need to make sure it's ok
because otherwise height and head can be next.


"Can be." Yeah, no weight gain can be a sign of all sorts of problems. Or it
can also be a sign of a baby who is getting older and more active and growing
into her genetically determined size and hasn't had the growth spurt she is due
for quite yet.

Sure... you can do a zillion tests now. And you might find something wrong.
But, given that she otherwise appears healthy, and she's been gaining well up
until now, IMO, unless he can give you some more solid reasons for his concern
other than the weigh issue, I think keeping an eye on her and offering her
plenty of healthy, calorie dense solids and lots of breastmilk for a while
longer seems like a more sensible plan.

(BTW, my daughter was always small as a baby and toddler. She is small to this
day. She's running around in the other room even as I'm typing this. 12 years
old, thin as a stick, but, aside from some asthma, very healthy. I was thin as
a stick when I was 12 too.)


Naomi
CAPPA Certified Lactation Educator

(either remove spamblock or change address to to e-mail
reply.)
  #19  
Old March 26th 04, 11:31 PM
Laura Faussone
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Default No weight gain in 9 mos old



Naomi Pardue wrote:



I'm not quite clear what the benefit of supplemtning would be. If she's
drinking only 4 ounces of EBM at a time, why would it help matters to be giving
her formula instead? You'll just fill her up with formula insead of the more
valuable breastmilk. And presumably if you are able to pump for the bottles,
you still have ample milk, so his belief that your supply is failing sounds
pretty bogus to me. (And if the bottles contain formula [not real clear on
that], how would a sippy cup make any difference?)


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.

Laura

  #20  
Old March 27th 04, 01:37 AM
She's A Goddess
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Default No weight gain in 9 mos old


"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.

--
Rhiannon
Mom to M. Girl (2 1/2 years) and O. Boy (9 months)



 




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