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Infant feeding

HVs say my FF baby is gaining weight too quickly - not sure how much formula to give?

3 replies

MrsHulk · 17/04/2015 21:14

Apparently my 15 week old is gaining weight too quickly. He was born on the 25th percentile and he's now 7.6 kg so just below the 91st percentile.

I've been offering him milk whenever he seems to want it, but have been told to cut back. We've never really kept track of how much he's taking or how often, just fed on demand, and I'm not sure how much formula we should be aiming for?

The guides on the bottle don't seem to help as they assume a baby weighing 7.6kg is a lot older so having fewer feeds per day and eating some solids.

Any advice/experience? HVs also say we should be offering hungry milk instead of normal milk so he goes longer between feeds but I've heard that can cause constipation (which he's had trouble with anyway) so am not that keen!

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WhyOWhyWouldYou · 18/04/2015 11:25

How does the baby look? Does he look like a normal proportioned baby or does he look exceptionally podgy? Have you measured his length - what length centile does he come on?

DS was born on the 25th centile for weight, 75th for length - he was long and very skinny. He climbed from the 25th to between 75th and 91st for weight. I had a HV say the same to me but he still looked long and skinny. I demanded she measure his length, which she argued made no difference - I said "oh so my 6ft6 brother should weigh the same as my 5ft3 friend, making one severely under weight and one severely overweight". When she caved in and measured DS's length he was off the top of the charts - any lower on the weight centiles he'd have been underweight! She looked suitably embarrassed and never commented on his weight again. He stayed between the same weight centiles until 2yrs, when his growth slowed slightly and his length came down to 91st centile and weight to 75th, where they have both stayed since (now 3yrs).

squizita · 18/04/2015 12:50

Agree with Why. I have a sensible hv and mine is a slow gainer, but grows in length "in proportion" with her length, therefore both HV and GP deemed it to be as nature intended so ro speak. Both whipped put the measuring mat immediately as they said most big/small babies who are otherwise healthy are just tall/short people in the making.

MrsHulk · 19/04/2015 20:28

Ah thanks both that's very helpful. His height hasn't been checked recently, I will look into it.

He does look a bit podgy though!

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