Help please - my 11 month old losing weight

[Horseyradish]

Hi, lovely ladies of mumsnet.

I need some reassurance and advice please; I've just returned from weigh clinic with my 11 month old and he has lost weight since he was last weighed 8 weeks ago :0(.

Now, as I explained to the rather unhelpful HV (not my usual very helpful one btw!), my son has for the last 4 weeks had illness after illness (v&d twice, 2 colds, cough, tonsilitis and now another cough and cold), he has also started nursery one day a week in the last month and started crawling in the last 2 weeks. He was weighed end of September at 22lbs12.5ozs, and today he is 22lbs4ozs. He has gone from the 91st centile to just below 75th.

Should I be worried? He looks a healthy weight, and is eating, although his appetite has obviously decreased due to illness. The other prob is the coughing is making him sick at mealtimes, and throw up what he's just eaten! He's generally a very happy little boy that seems to be developing normally in every other way too.

Any one has any words of support or advice to help him keep food down whilst he has this cough please? Thus HV has made me feel like a crap mother!

Sorry for the long post too!

Thanks

my daughter lost weight but children are very active at that age and it doesnt help if your son has been poorly for a while half off these hv havnt even got children themselves.

The only reason to worry would be if you thought there was some serious underlying problem causing him to lose weight which was yet to be discovered.

You know exactly why he has lost weight and he is otherwise fine apart from the cough.

We have stores of fat in our bodies to get us through times like this. He's using those to supplement the calories he's getting from his food just like he's supposed to.

Would you still be worried about him if he hadn't just been weighed? While he's happy and active and developing normally you have no reason to worry.

If you want to help him keep more food down you could feed little and often instead of big meals to he doesn't lose so much each time he's sick.

Sorry I've just realised how direct that posts sounds. I should have put some smiley faces in to soften it a but shouldn't I.
It wasn't meant to sound so dismissive

No I wouldn't worry if your kids have been ill. My kids are constantly going under centimes then going back to where they were.winter is a bad time. Just keep an eye and make sure drinking when I'll. Would suggest you weigh at a year and only worry if your baby doesn't start gaining weight. Weight gain is slower when they get older, but they expend lots of energy when crawling/ coasting. Ps my 2.5 year old is only 23 lbs so your 11 month old is doing well!!

His weight has gone down slightly for reasons that are entirely explicable. He is still a good weight for his age. Weight gain also tends to tail off at around a year, so you can't expect the dramatic increases that your DS has experienced until recently.

Ds was ill a lot at 11 months and I could see was losing weight. I deliberately didn't get him weighed Aat that time because I knew they'd say he'd list weight. A couple of months later and he has podged up nicely again, so you shouldn't worry, give it a month or so. And ds is only 25th percentile so much smaller than yours.

DD is nearly 1 and has also lost weight for similar reasons. She went from 17lbs to 15.5lbs, so just below 24th to below 2nd. We were really worried but HV wasnt. Just to fed her an additional milk feed and have her re weighed in a few weeks.

Do you feel your son is fine?

25th.

Thank uou all for your help and words of support. I'm feeling much better about it all today. I know my boy, not the silly HV we've not even seen before, and I know that this is just a little blip for him.

He's been poorly today, but managed some purée food tonight without throwing up, so that has me happy

Goldmandra, i didn't think your post direct or dismissive at all, just saying how it is, which is what I needed. Thank you.

Thanks again ladies, appreciate it.