10month old - not put on any weight for 5 weeks - help

[waitinggirl]

hi - we've been doing quite trad purees and madam has been eating well (pasta and cheese sauce, mushed up beef casserole, some toast fingers with cream cheese etc), but hasn't put weight on for the last 5 weeks. she is just over 8kg and will be 10 months on the 25th oct. she is jolly happy, healthy and fun, but i cannot help thinking she should weigh more (dh and i are both very keen on food and presumed she would be on the chunkier side of skinny like us). she started on the 50th centile and has fallen way off that. i went to the hv today and she was less than useless. i don't know if i am giving her too little milk, too little food, or what.

i am bf morning and evening, and have just started giving her a formula bottle at 3pm. is this too little?

daily routine:
6.30ish bf
7.30ish breakfast (porridge + yoghurt if she'll take it)
12ish lunch (sometimes whole stage 2 hipp jar 190g, plus few spoons of fruit puree, plus cheese triangle)
3pm bottle - she takes anything from 2-8oz
5.30 dinner (like lunch)
6.40 bf

she is now sleeping through the night with no feeds.

any suggestions on getting more calories/meals into her, most welcome. i feel really at a loss as a first time mum with few people to ask. thank you!

[DebiTheScot]

If she's sleeping and has lots of energy during the day I wouldn't worry.
Sounds like she's eating loads.

Weight gain does slow down at this age and if they are active I'm sure it's normal for them to even lose weight.

Don't worry and don't get her weighed as often.

[jumpjockey]

hello wg! As a complete amateur who has read obsessively about all this feeding stuff, what I'd think is maybe try giving her some snacks or extra feeds if you can - how is she with fruit in the form of whole nanas or bits of peeled peach? Or small bits of toast and hummous, or mashed up avocado? Food that's quite calorific but not too much hassle to put together. Is there any way you could fit in extra milk feeds or will she not take it? Maybe just a snuggle up and offer her some boob (this might be harder when you're at work but she could have an extra bottle?)

Re size, I doubt very much that her build will be the same as you and DH until she's a lot older, they're just proportioned so differently. And if she's still bouncy and happy, that's the most important sign. The baby led weaning book says that if they go through phases of being more hungry for a while and less hungry later, it will all balance out in the end. Maybe she's about to hit a hungry time and will chunk up nicely!

[RibenaAddict]

Hi, i wouldn't get too obsessed by the scales, as long as she is healthy and not losing weight rapidly. Sometimes they go though little plateaus with their weight. Has she become more active recently - has she started crawling for instance? This could also explain it. You could try offering little snacks mid morning or mid afternoon such as breadsticks, biscotti biscuits (heinz do these for babies) or rusk - all stuff that will soften when drooled and sucked on! As long as she has a healthy appetite and is not losing weight i woudln't panic, i am sure she will start gaining again. Juat keep an eye on it.

[waitinggirl]

hi jj and ribena and debi - thank you. yes, i think i will try to add some snacks in there or maybe more milk. i was under the impression i was "supposed" to reduce the milk feeds during the day - on reflection i don't know where i got that from. alas madam doesn't eat banana but will try avocado. i know it sounds stupid, but i have to feed her in our sitting room and i am paranoid about getting messy. i must get over it or put a bin liner on the floor.

i also can't believe how rubbish (although well intentioned) this particular hv was. her only advice was to reduce the bottle feed. honestly!

[SquIDGEyeyeballs]

Does she have anything between breakfast and lunch? That's a long time for no food or drink. I would offer a breastfeed (or formula) mid morning, maybe with a snack half an hour to an hour later.

Also it's largely irrelevant what the scales say, as long as she is alert, happy, growing, weeing, pooing and developing normally. You really don't need to get her weighed at all!

[waitinggirl]

no, she doesn't have anything between b'fast and lunch, but you're right that is a long time, isn't it. honestly, i feel like such a rubbish mother sometimes for not spotting things like that.

and yes, this has coincided with her beginning to crawl properly and now stand.

and she is healthy, happy, growing and alert. will try to shovel more snacks in her, or maybe more milk. should i be trying to wean her off breastfeeding during the day by now? bf would be very convenient.

[SquIDGEyeyeballs]

Gosh no if you're happy breastfeeding I would keep that up as long as you like. (not sure when you write 'bf would be very convenient' whether you mean bottle feeding or breast feeding!)

Milk should still be the main source of calories and nutrition for now; food is more for taste, exploration and development than for pure nutrition, as the volume of food they can physically eat is fairly small. You can certainly offer snacks but maybe offer milk first.

There is a train of thought that birth weights can be quite inaccurate, and if a baby drops centiles then remains along that centile then that is probably their true genetic 'weight'. I think it's important to look at the whole child and not just the scales and try not to worry if all else is well

[winnybella]

I think maybe you could bf between breakfast and lunch? I rarely do it with my almost 9 mo DD, but then she bfs during the night, bf round 7 or 8 am and then has cereal at 9-9.30, so there's less time with no food before lunch. Also,maybe try giving her slices of avocado, as someone here said, toast with cheese as part of lunch and dinner.
It's true that if she has recently started to crawl, then that could explain lack of weight gain to some extent, but I think she should have gained some.At this age babies are supposed to gain between 0.2 and 0.5 kg a month.
If bf suits you, that will be quite calorific and maybe less struggle than snacks.

[waitinggirl]

thanks, winnybella - i have felt slightly frowned upon by my otherwise very lovely stepmother for still bfing (breastfeeding), and so thought maybe i should be cutting down. bugger it - i'll go back to it. much easier and i loved it anyway. thanks for the support.