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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Mum said I should give my slow growing BF 7 month old a bottle of formula a day to help her grow. Thoughts on this anyone?

56 replies

HumphreysCorner · 02/02/2007 11:37

Took my 7 month old DD2 for her 7 month development review and her head circumference has dropped off the scale and her length has dropped too. Her weight is still following between the 2nd and 9th centile lines. Told my mum about it today so she immediately said that she knew I wouldn't agree with her but she thought I should be giving her a bottle of follow-on milk a day to help her grow. She is weaned and eats 3 good meals and desserts a day. I still BF and admittedly she doesn't have much milk but the Dr wasn't too worried about this (he is worried about her head size though). DD2 doesn't cry very much so I tend to think that she can't need any milk. DD1 was bottle fed from birth and moved on to hungrier baby SMA as she was always screaming for food and was far more active at this stage by rolling everywhere. DD2 sits and plays with her toys for hours-hasn't rolled yet. She is 100% more content than DD1 ever was. DD1 is still hyper now she is 3 yrs 7 months-never sits still!

My mum said that my Grandma nearly starved my dad as she was BF but obviously didn't have enough goodness in her milk. So, she thinks the same could be happening with me. I said that feeding formula might make DD2 chubbier but it wasn't going to make her head or legs grow but mum disagreed. Really don't know what to think-perhaps I should take some vitamins?

Any thoughts much appreciated. Dr said her head would be measured again at her MMR jab but am going to go to the clinic before then.

OP posts:
Original poster
HumphreysCorner · 02/02/2007 15:52

It is when I compare her to babies at the mother and baby swim class-the 4 month old ones are bigger and weigh more than her. When she was about 4 months a girl in Tescos asked if she was premature. When I said no she leaned over and said 'is she all there?'

OP posts:
tiktok · 02/02/2007 16:00

at such stupid, stupid remarks....they can really rankle, even when you know they are said by idiots

I can remember the hurt I felt when a greengrocer looked in the pram and said of my lovely daughter (daughter, note), 'Cor, he's a bit of a fat boy, isn't he?'

I can laugh about it now, but I wasn't laughing then!

Heavenis · 02/02/2007 16:10

Regarding the head circumference, it may sound silly but measure your head and dh's head and see what this comes out at. My only reason for saying this is ths Ds1 had a large head and such a thing was made of it,until the pediatrician measure mine and dh's head and said we both had large heads off the scale) so it was only right that he would have too.
HTH

IamBlossom · 02/02/2007 20:32

A seriously unhelpful arrogant comment Twiglett. Nice one.

VoodooWizbit · 02/02/2007 20:45

babymomma-
my mum is obsessed with giving 7mth old dd tea too!!!! what is it with grannies! I call her 'Naughty Nanny' when she starts...it soon shuts her up!
I would have been at the coffee thing, too.

HC...my dd is 7mths too, and did you see the thread on the biggest baby ever born in Mexico? It was 56cms long...like my dd! she has been slowly dropping off on the weight gain chart, but HV is now worried...but now I am wondering as they have never measured her head since she was born???? maybe I should ask to get it checked...
Your mum is not being difficult, she is just trying to help, I have to keep gently reminding 'Naughty Nanny' she actually had kids 25+ years ago, and things have changed, just a bit........

If the doc don't care, neither should you. There is no such thing as average, to quote Morgan Freeman from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves 'Allah loves wondrous variety'

VoodooWizbit · 02/02/2007 20:46

god I just re-read my post...how random am I???
but I do love that film

wrinklytum · 02/02/2007 20:49

HC my little girl was exclusively bf and at 7 months was decicedly "skinny",she also has always had a tiny head despite up to a year being very long for her age.At 6 months she was in the 91st centile for length and the 25th for head circumference,and 25th for weight!!We called her "pinhead" and "skinny minnie" (affectionate nicknames!!) for a bit,she was a very peculiarly proportioned baby!!!Now at 14 months she has piled on the pounds for the last couple of months and appears more in proportion!!I am sure you are doing just fine,feeding her with all that lovely breastmilk.HTH

Original poster
HumphreysCorner · 02/02/2007 20:59

Lol DD2 was 51 cm and now 64.5cm. Does make you wonder if they get it right at the birth. They got DD1's weight wrong-told me 6 lb 11 ozs but she was really about 7 lb 1 oz. Cross stitch says 6 lb 11 ozs as had already sewn it before the mistake was made.

I know my mum is only trying to help but she has seen how big my hairdressers baby is now she has stopped BF and put him on formula. She bottle fed me and my bro and I suppose I was anti BF until I had DD2 and tried it-am addicted to it.

I don't think you need to get her head measured-as tiktok says my clinic is behind the times with their obsession with head sizes!

What is it about Granparents and tea. MIL has been giving DD1 it for ages against my wishes FIL tries to give her wine too

xxx

OP posts:
Original poster
HumphreysCorner · 02/02/2007 21:00

Thanks wrinkly

xxx

OP posts:
maewest · 02/02/2007 21:04

Hi HC, just sticking my head in after skimming the postnatal thread. Think the only time they measured DS's head and length was at his 8 week check, I just measure by babygros .

Know what you mean about your mum trying to be helpful, I mean mine bf three babies, but didn't stop her wittering about cooled boiled water... sounds like you and DD are doing fine, from your photo she looks like a bright little babe.

beansprout · 02/02/2007 21:07

Your baby won't get anything better than breastmilk. People do talk sh*te. I was told this week that a baby can't manage past 4 months on breastmilk alone. Ds was a big baby and managed just fine for 7 months. Do what is best for you, don't listen to people who don't know what they are talking about

Jennster · 02/02/2007 22:07

Same thing happened to me HC. Midwives said dd was 3020g and converted it to 7lb 5oz. When she was next weighed, we realised that she was actually 6lb 10oz at birth. They also said she was 58cm at birth!

My mil was meithering for ages as to which weight she was. She had to get the tapestry back from the framers to change it.

Original poster
HumphreysCorner · 02/02/2007 22:39

Lol at your MIL Jenn-I couldn't be bothered to change it and we don't know the right weight as I realise she was 7 lb 1 oz at 6 days and they lose weight by then. They put her weight at 3020g (same as you) but it should have been 320?. I did ask the midwives to double check as the Bounty women argued with me but they insisted it was right.

OP posts:
sweetkitty · 02/02/2007 22:52

Why is it whenever ANYTHING is wrong with a BF baby you are told to give a bottle!? What to they tell ff babies mothers?

At M&T today I watched a tiny 10 week old being stuffed full of a jar of apple and banana puree as her Mum was told by a HV that she was starving and needed food as she was tkaing too much milk.

Both my DDs were fed and weaned the exact same way and both are completely different body shapes/weight and height. You are doing great keep up the BFing.

tigertum · 02/02/2007 23:56

Haven't read all of this thread but I would like to echo Twiglett in that it is a rediculous suggestion. Why replace your super-calorie, super-nutricious anti-body, hormonal-growth-factor filled breast milk with follow on milk, which is basically just rehydrated processed cows milk with artifical vitmains and fillers in it like Maltrodexrin. If it's a question of calories, try mixing cream, cheese and other calorie filled ingredients into her food. You are right in saying that formula milk will not make her head or legs grow!

Also, taking away the protection against lurgies that your breastmilk provides will give her higher chance of catching them, in which case, like most ill kids, she will eat less.

If you were finding breastfeeding really hard and wanted to stop for your own reasons, that would be different, but you're not. Your mum, as well meaning as her comments were, is not a dietician, or a nutricionalist or knows very much about what either breastmilk or formula is made out of. All she knows is that in her day, bottlefed babies were chubbier and that is probally her only reasoning. My mum says that they used to have a phrase about putting and extra scoop of formula in the bottle to 'make your baby bonny'!

Sorry, my post has got a bit long and it' all been said already much better than I have put it - but - bloody ignorant breastfeedig comments that upset women and even for a moment make them think that they are somehow doing their babies a dis-service make me so

Laurenypops · 03/02/2007 09:30

I know are mothers might not always have the right advice, but it is usually given with the best intention, and whatever she had said, I would not want my mother described as an idiot - very constructive!

belgo · 03/02/2007 09:46

HC - I have a small baby. At 16 months she weighs the same as many 3-4 month olds. I still bf on demand, and my HV actually told me to carry on bf because of the antibodies!

All the babies in both my family and my dh's family are small babies, but so far, we've all grown up healthy and average height /weights.

My dad was very tiny. At the age of six months, he weighed just 6 pounds. I have no idea if he was bf or ff, and am unlikely ever to find out. My point is that while there was obviously a problem as a baby (6 pounds at 6 months is not normal), he is now 67 years old, always been fairly tall, and has barely had a day's ill health in his life.

BTW, at the age of seven months, I think it's best to offer your dd milk before her breakfast.

adath · 03/02/2007 12:01

Not read the whole thred but I just wnsted to say DP has a big head DD has a rather ladge head ([bluch] Sory darling) but she does. I have quite a small head so does DS.
If the Dr isn't too concerned then i wouldn't be either.
This not enough goodness in your milk is a very old fashined thing and years ago women did nearly starve their babies due to reall crap advice. My mum had to give feeding me because she was told she never had enough milk and after asking a few questions she probably never but not because she reall never produced enough but because of really bad advice that was the norm 30 years ago so her supply diminished slowly. My DP's granny told me that bf was only good if your milk was good quality which these days we know is rubbish as we now know our milk is made for our baby on a supply and demand basis.

DS is just 9 months and has only started roling over and never sat up until nearly 8 months which was much later than DD did but that is just him I think he is going to be more laid back than DD who is a little hellraiser now and was as a baby too she was desperate to get moving and onto the next thing but ds is happy for the entertainment to come to him.
T

Original poster
HumphreysCorner · 03/02/2007 21:30

adath-DD1 was rolling and not sitting at this age and she has not stopped moving since [exhausted emoticon]

OP posts:
margo1974 · 03/02/2007 21:52

HC - there was talk that they were going to change the growth charts as they did not represent the fact that b/f babies do not gain weight as quickly as f/f babies.

I wish they had this growth chart to hand when I was b/f dd1 as she fell into the lowest quartile from being an average baby. Luckily they weren't pushing f/f on me. They said that as she was still alert and having regular wet and dirty nappies, then I shouldn't worry.

She is a perfectly healthy 2 and (almost) a half yo

Don't worry

adath · 03/02/2007 22:39

Oh thanks Humphrey should I start resting now for the mobile baby when he sarts then????? I am still enjoying the fact I can go for a wee and he is not going anywhere not relishing the non plonkable baby.

Original poster
HumphreysCorner · 04/02/2007 12:18

Lol adath. I have to silently titter to myself when I visit my friend every week as she has 2 DD's and her first one is like my DD2, really laid back and content and her 2nd is like my DD1 and she has had a . 'Can't get anything done' she says as she is constantly chasing after her DD2. 'Having to buy a stairgate and cupboard locks'. Tee hee as I know all about fingers everywhere. ]smile] I'm sure your DS won't be as 'wild' as your DD.

margo-having FF DD1 and BF DD2 I can see now how the charts cannot possibly cover both feeding methods.

xxx

OP posts:
3andnomore · 04/02/2007 12:31

maybe reducing solids a bit to get your lil one to take more breastmilk would be a good plan?
Giving Formula...no, wtf would you want to do that?

3andnomore · 04/02/2007 12:36

imnot...usually in those cases breastfeeding isn't established right, there mihgt be latching problems or the mother was ill adviced, like feeding to a routine etc...if bf is established properly and the Baby is fed on demand and there are no healthproblems, then it should never come to the scenario of a undernourished Bf Baby.

3andnomore · 04/02/2007 12:45

Beansprout, rofl...hm.....my ys was as chubby(still is) as his eldest brother, who had been weaned onto FF by 4 month and also was weaned onto solids at that time (es is 10 years old now), and he was exclusively bf'ed till 6+ month and until a year old he really wasn't that fussed with solids, but bf'ed still plentyful, and like I said, he is a chubby lil man, so, must have gotten enough, I assume.
My ms had always been on the slim build site, and is probably only a ibs heaveir then his younger brother, lol.

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