weight gain in bf babies

[justamum]

i have taken my dd (17wks) to be weighed this morning and she ahs only put on 2oz in 3 weeks. the hv told me to start giving her babyrice but i am reluctant to start so early. Am i right in thinking bf babies often plateau in weight gain then have a bit of a growth spurt?
Also, at a birthweight of 7lb 2oz she started at just below the 50th centile then at 7wks rocketd to the 75th line, she is now back on the 50th. i am tempted to wait and see what happens next time she is weighed, if she stays on the 50th line that would indicate that her rapid weight gain was just a growth spurt and her more normal weight gain is along the 50th line, iyswim. should i go with my instinct or listen to the hv?

Go with your instinct. If she's happy on the milk then go for it. Does she have regular wet and pooey nappies? Why not wait a week and see what she weighs then.

You could try asking your HV how giving something with fewer calories in it will help with weight gain. But I suspect you'd be wasting your breath.

Babies do often plateau at this age - v normal in a bfed baby.

What you can do is make sure you feed her regularly (I'm sure you do - lol!) - because often a placid baby won't let you know they're hungry (DS1 didn't, DS2 goes for hours without a decent feed during the day if he's out and about because he's damn nosy - he makes up for it at night though ).

Don't give her baby rice - you'll likely not improve her weight gain, but you will have a lot of fannying around with stuff she's not physically ready for just yet. Easier to wait IMO and IME.

I'm no expert but I'm surprised that the HV thinks giving solids at 17wks is a good idea. Mine keeps sending me leaflets about waiting until 6mths.

Hi justamum

My ds did the same around the same age. Weight gain was something like 7oz in 6 weeks. There were mutterings of baby rice from the HV which I ignored. One look at ds showed he was thriving and the HV was talking pants.

Try not to stress (easier said than done) and feed as often as your dd wants.

ds is 17 weeks old and bf, he was born just below 75th went up to 91st at 8 weeks and is now just above 50th.
If she has lots of wet and dirty nappies then its the wright weight for her.
hv

Justamum - ignore your HV - you seem to be blessed with a crap one!

Agree with Hunker - solid food will give less calories to your lo so they may well take less milk. Bf babies do plateau out - my dd2 put on 3 ozs in a fortnight.

Ignore the charts. Ask yourself is your lo putting on weight albeit slowly? Enough poohs and wees - it is quite normal for lo's once no longer newborn to pooh once a week - my dd2 lasted 10 days once!

How often is your lo feeding? Some babies never seem to be interested so you have to take the initiative. My dd2 is like this.

If you think your lo is fine, then don't worry, ignore the charts and crap hvs. HTH

Also the centiles in the red books are based on formula fed babies the breast fed ones are not in the books yet so they are not even really relevant.
Kellymom do have printable ones for bf babies.
Ask yourself this, did you have any concerns about your DD before she was weighed?
As far as you are concerned is she happy, healthy, weeing pooing etc?
If you felt fine about it before hand then ignore her.

Think Tiktok's on holiday so I'll do it

The charts in the red books aren't based on formula fed babies, they're based on babies - some ffed, some bfed, some mix fed, some weaned early, some weaned late.

Bfed babies often gain quickly in the first few months then plateau - some do this (mine both have) then plateau - DS1 did this, DS2 hasn't yet but he feeds way more than DS1 did at this age.

Weaning before six months is daft for all sorts of reasons and can be harmful.

Also don't worry about late weaning. My dd2 was 6 months last week and she isn't bothered in the slightest about solids - and this is fine too!

Putting on 2oz in 3 weeks isn't bad at all! As others have said, they all plateau from time to time. Too much attention is paid to the growth charts imho. If your dd is feeding well, weeing and pooing and is bright and alert, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

DD grew in fits and starts like this. She would meander between the 75th and 91st centile.

Sounds like you have superb instincts - go with them

I would just keep an eye on her weight gain over the next few weeks. If you don't want to give her solids then, at seventeen weeks milk should be enough. However at some point milk is not sufficient and babies will lose weight if not receiving complementary nutrition (I think its because of the volume they would need and what they can actually hold, but don't know so am going to have alook before anyome shouts at me), which is why the WHO says babies should receive complementary feeding at 6 months. All babies are different and need to be monitored individually. Again, she should be fine at this age, but I'm sure this all the hv is thinking about. If she continues to drop centiles and it concerns you enough that you do what to give her solids then you shouldn;t feel guilty about doing this before 6 months.

By the way it is possible to get a growth chart that is based on breast fed babies - I have one -I can send you a photocopy if you want, but also can get them online (thanks to my bf counsellor for these)- or ask your hv, i got mine from friends mum who is hv, but my hv didn;t know about them, apparently they only cost 5p or something but a lot of trusts don't want the cost of stocking both charts!

growth chart girls 0-2yrs

more info

Because journalists can be...not that accurate, shall we say?

Look how they misquoted MP...!

i asked my hv for the new breast fed charts cos my red book only had the general ones. this was just before dd (12 wks) was born. she had no clue what i was on about but came back to me a week or so later chuffed to bits that she got me one!