DS referred to dietitian - help!

[herdofimpala]

My DS was 8wks prem, born at 5 lbs 3ozs. He was initially slow to gain weight, and was 2 ozs under birth weight when he left hospital at 4wo. After much faffing with unsuccessful bf, I eventually started ff him at 10wk, and since then his weight's rocketed! He's 9.5mo now, and weighed in yesterday at 26lbs 7ozs. That puts him on the 99.9th centile for his actual age, and off the chart for corrected.

The HV is concerned, and is referring him to a dietitian. I honestly, honestly have never over fed him, despite being accused of this by a different HV when DS was 16wo. I started weaning at 23w, following the weaning advice for prems, and although it took us a while to move on from purées he is now more or less on family foods, feeding himself where possible. His diet is excellent - lots of fruit and veg, lean meat, etc. the HV gave me a portion size guide yesterday and it was all exactly what I already give him! He's a very greedy baby, to the point he will shout at and get upset if he sees someone else with food that he wants. You can't eat in his sight unless he's eating too. He's been like this ever since he started getting bottles (which were ebm at first, so can't blame formula), he would get upset when the bottle was finished.

Does anyone have any related experience they can share? I wasn't worried about his weight until the HV came out, his development is spot on for his actual age so no worries there, and I just feel all anxious again now (recovered from birth trauma and bf-failure-induced PND not so long ago).

My DD has always been off the charts. She was 10lb 2oz , born 2 weeks past her due date and was formula fed from 4 days old after I gave up bf. She is now 14 months a still tracking off the charts (height & weight, but all in proportion).

She has a massive appetite compared to most other kids her age that I know, but we go with what she wants in terms of quantity (within reason). The only thing we have done is to ban sugar completely, which rules out things like most flavoured yogurts and some breakfast cereals, but that's more about getting her into good eating habits rather than being about her weight and I know it won't be forever.

I get a lot of comments from people about her size as she is very tall but I'm getting used to it now. Our health visitor has always been fantastically reassuring and supportive about her weight gain and growth, and has is just happy that she is growing steadily and eating healthily. I can't understand why your HV is worried.

If your DS, since having switched and gained on FF, has followed the same-ish percentile and has gained in a consistent manner... then sorry but I think your HV is wrong to accuse you of overfeeding and refer you to a dietician.

What would the dietician suggest, send him to weightwatchers? I think your HV sounds like a jobsworth. Go and see the dietician, smile and nod, let it go in one ear and out the other.

My DD was also prem, she consumed gallons of milk, ate loads but always stayed on the 10th percentile. She's 4 now, still a good eater but still on the 10th percentile. My DS is BF, was overdue, was on the 50th percentile when born and at 14months is still 50th despite being a poor eater but a boob monster!

Are you or your DH on the tall side? Myself and my DP are both very average so its unlikely we're gonna produce any 6footers! Just carry on as you are.

I think that 5lbs 3ozs at 8weeks prem sounds like a really good weight and suggests a high full term weight that would have put him at the top of the charts so maybe he has just made it back to where he would have been had he been born at term????????

My DS was off the charts for a while too. I'm not in the UK and noone seemed worried about it, I think partly because I am still breastfeeding. They used to laugh when they brought the chart up on the computer and he was a dot way above it. He's come back onto the charts as he's got more active and having less milk, but he's still up at the 98th centile. He's also very long though, did your HV measure your DS's length before referring you?

Thanks for the replies! No, DS's length has never been measured, and my husband's 6'2" so it's likely he'll be tall. Just going to smile and nod at the dietitian, then carry on what I'm doing. His diet really is excellent, I've discussed it with some of my child-trained colleagues (I'm an adult nurse) an they agree, not going to fret any more!