Weight Chart

[gigi556]

Health Visitor came to house today to talk to me about weaning. She weighed DS and his weight has dropped a bit on the growth chart (i.e. it's not going along the line really). He only gained 2oz in the last 2 weeks. She said this could be a sign that he's getting ready for solids and although he's only 20 weeks that we could introduce some puréed vegetables and fruit 1x per day prior to the 26 week mark when we can introduce other foods too. My question is - is this a normal time for weight/growth to taper or once he's on solids (and presumably getting enough) should the growth follow the chart line??? He's EBF but not sure if that's relevant.

Is there a reason why he’s getting weighed so frequently? (Weight gain issues at birth?)

No weight issues previously. I had him weighed at clinic 2 weeks ago which is when we booked in for the weaning visit at home. When HV came to house she said we didn't have to weigh him as was weighed two weeks ago but she was here with the scales so I thought may as well.

Few babies follow a curve perfectly and there's no need for them to. And it's not advised to weigh so frequently, because it leads to situations like this - completely normal variations being flagged as some kind of "issue". Baby is gaining weight and undoubtedly absolutely fine. Babies of this age need milk not solids for sustenance anyway.

Carry on as you are and don't worry.

I'm sorry but yet again this seems bad advice from a HV. A veg puree has far less calories and nutrients than breast milk so she is essentially saying to fill him up on a less nutritionally rich food to help him gain weight

Both my DC were ebf. My first child went down three centiles and stayed there (still there at 2yrs). My 4 month old has gone down one centile recently. He gained 5oz over 8 weeks. I took him back 3 weeks later and he'd gained a pound! So they can fluctuate.

Better advice would be, make sure you are feeding on demand, maybe have some skin to skin, offer second breast etc. I bet if you took him back to clinic in 2 or 3 weeks he'd have a decent gain. Also scales are different, when dealing with such small amounts the difference in accuracy can make a difference. I really wouldn't worry and I wouldn't necessarily start weaning. See how they are in 2 or 3 weeks first.

I agree with the PP. If there’s been no issue with weight gain, then ‘only’ gaining 2oz in a fortnight shouldn’t be such a concern. It’s not a loss! BF babies can gain quickly over the

Personally I wouldn’t wean at 20 weeks, especially if you were thinking of BLW. Just try to offer BF as much as you can.

Ignore your health visitor. My dd has been up and down, starting in 85th, dropping to around 30 (although that was too low too quick) and now 91st after being around 50 for quite a while. Some babies just go up and down a lot. If you’re not worried then stick with whatever plan you had for weaning.

I wasn't overly worried and she didn't say you definitely should do this. She just said it could be a sign and you can if you want... I was sort of surprised. I guess I just wondered what was normal

Just realised I half typed a sentence - BF babies can gain quickly in the early weeks and then start to plateau so although it might look like dropping centiles, it might actually just be him finding his natural place.

If it wasn’t on your radar, I’d stick to the 6mo (ish!) guidelines