How often to feed? Losing weight, not growing 10mo old.

[NoodleBugs]

My 10 month old DS was weighed yesterday and has lost 1lb. He is slowly dropping off the 98th centile. He also seems to be growing very slowly. His length has dropped from the 50th centile to below the 9th. Health visitor said to just keep an eye on it but not to worry if he's eating well. He's moving a lot more now, too.

He does eat well, and will eat almost anything I we put in front of him, but he point blank refuses to drink milk in any other form but from the breast. We've been trying for months now (expressed/formula/warm/cool/bottle/beaker/cup/from DH/when hungry/when happy/etc etc). He simply will not drink it!

We spoke to the health visitor a while back, as I'm going back to work next week and wanted a plan. She said he'd be fine with 1-2 breastfeeds a day (before and after work), so this is what we've been doing since he was just under 9 months old. I asked several times as it didn't seem like a lot, but they were certain it'd be enough.

Is it enough? Vague Google-ing seems to suggest he should be having much more than this. Could this be why he isn't growing? Or is it really nothing to worry about?

I was down to 1/2 BFs by 10 MO as well, she just would only BF when she was sleepy. drinking water from a cup the rest of the time. I did get her to drink cows milk after she was 1YO though.

Did the HV advise as to what you might feed him differently? IIRC they need a pint of milk? I think he'd get that from 2 feeds?

sorry for the rubbish post

consider this a bump :)

Hi there this all sounds v familiar! I went back to work at 10 months dd refused all other efforts to give her milk so was breastfed at 7am, 5pm and 7pm Four days a week. After a few days she was drinking beakers if water at nursery. We carried on like this until one day at 13months she drank a cup of cows milk out of the blue and we phased out the breast feeding over the following few weeks. It proved the point that as so many people said at the time she will do it when she's ready. Know that doesn't help much when you are stressing about going back to work though!

Thank you both. He drinks plenty of water through the day, so I'm not worried about him not drinking while I'm away, but was worried that he wasn't having enough feeds. I'm so glad 2 feeds a day isn't that unusual.

I try and make sure he has plenty of yoghurts and cheese, too. And I give him a vitamin as well (just in case!). I was worried that he needed much more milk, and just didn't know how to do it when I'm back at work. He's a very happy baby and is meeting all milestones, he's just not getting taller/longer!

Not a rubbish post at all, Nagoo, and thank you both for the reassurance

Noodle, just checking I've understood - your baby has lost a pound in weight, you say? And this is over what time? And what was his weight before?

When was he on the 98th centile?

No one here can assume all is well on the info you have shared so far....having said that the most likely reason for the loss of an entire pound in weight over a short time in a well baby is faulty scales/weighing.

Just to add: if he is genuinely losing weight, this is a real concern.

He's lost 1lb in the last 6 weeks, but he's more mobile now. He also isn't growing (very fast) so his height centile has dropped. Could his weight loss be more than just being more mobile?

If you are sure the weighing and the scales were not faulty, noodle (ie your baby was weighed naked each time, by a competent person, who recorded the weight accurately and did not mess up the metric/imperial conversion; scales were digital), then I think you would be justified in seeking more advice, on his health and his diet.

It is reassuring the HV is not concerned, but I am v. surprised she is not worried.

And actually, 1-2 milk feeds is not usually considered sufficient for a baby of this age, and again I am surprised she did not strongly suggest he has more than this.

Sorry - can't really speculate more as I think this needs more investigation.

Thanks for your thoughts, Tiktok. Any ideas who I should see? And how many feeds should he be having?

Am sre the weight was accurate. It was the same person that always weighs him, on the same scales, naked etc.

Say to the HV that you are still concerned, and could she suggest someone (dietitian, other HV) who might help you?

Thanks again, Tiktok. I don't think the health visitor will be interested, but will try again.

How many feeds should he be having?

noodle no one can give a precise number of how many feeds he should be having - but if he's having no other milk at all, 1-2 breastfeeds cannot mean a large proportion of his nutrition should be milk. You'd be thinking of doubling that, I think, at least.