More calories?

[thefemaleJoshLyman]

My DS is 5 months old (22wks) both my LO have been on the small side and since 6 weeks he has followed a line just below the 9 centile and has been putting on just over 1lb every four weeks. He feeds at least every 2-3 hours during the day (often more frequently), we give him 5 oz of expressed milk at 7:30ish (to be formula from next week) and he then sleeps through, waking at any time between 4 and 6:30am. I went to have him weighed today and he has fallen below his normal growth line. The HV suggested that she would like to see him getting more calories and remaining on the 9th centile line, she talked about starting to give solids (even mentioned baby rice!!!)

However, how can I increase his calorie intake? He feeds so regularly anyway and I personally think he is fine (he has a lovely round face and chubby little thighs). I wanted to leave off weaning until 6 months and go straight to finger food but am now really doubting my own decision making.

Any advice would be lovely, this has really knocked me for six, I thought he was growing beautifully :(

If you think he is growing beautifully, then he most probably is! Babies don't know about growth charts. They just do what they want to do! DD2 is drinking less milk than all the guidelines and has just rolled over at 3 months, the little monkey! So not much wrong with her! Personally I would ignore the HV and stick to your plan of weaning at 6 months. We went straight to finger foods with DD1 and it was great. V easy and she is now a great eater.
As far as I know, baby rice has less calories than milk and is in any case absolutely disgusting, so unlikely to be the answer! I am sure some more knowledgeable posters will come along with some more advice.

A drop of 2 centiles is what usually triggers a referral or intervention of some kind not a tiny variation from baby's norm.

If you wanted him to have access to more calories then offering more frequent feeds and offering more sides at each feed is the easiest way to go (e.g. if he has 2 sides at a feed, offer the first side again, he may take it, he may not). If he doesn't want more milk then you know he is not hungry and is growing as he needs to be.

But you do say he has chubby thighs and a round face so why is the HV asking you to give him more cals to make him effectively overweight? Giving him more food/milk than he needs will make him overweight if he is following just below the 9th because that's HIS growth curve.

9th centile just means he is bigger than 8 out of 100 babies and smaller than 91 out of 100 babies - someone has to be that size! (Someone has to be at the top or the bottom of the charts - that's the point of them!). It's like taking all the healthy size 8 mums in the UK and making them be a 14 by giving them extra food because a size 14 mum makes the HV happy.......

And I can't see how offering baby rice will help increase calories - it may mean less overall if he is stuffed with rice (it can take longer to digest so less milk drunk).

Yes, the baby rice thing was genius, I did nearly 'answer back' to that one! He has put on less weight this last month, less than 1lb and was on 25th when born but has been below 9th for a while now. My DD was below 2nd the whole time. He feeds so frequently that if I offered more I would never stop, he does sleep through so perhaps I need to offer at night although that would mean setting an alarm for both of us

Its just so frustrating. I know that my DD did speed up weight gain when on solids and formula and is now on 50th centile for weight and now noone cares!

I am a rational woman but when it comes to BF and my LOs I find it all so emotional and stressful

Oooh HVs make me so cross sometimes

It's almost as if they need to "invent" a referral for something.

If you are happy your ds is growing well and is neither starved of stuffed; then I'd tell HV to keep her bloody opinions to herself!

Grrrrrrrrr!