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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

DD below the 9th centile- HV sugesting early weaning but I really dont want to

42 replies

Dragonhart · 10/05/2007 20:11

My dd2 is only 11lbs9 at 17 weeks and when I spoke to the HV, she said that as she has droped two months in a row from where she was born on the 9th centile, that if she is the same in afew weeks perhaps I should wean her early.

I really dont want to do this as there is excema, asthma, and stomach problems in our family so want to leave it as long as posible and wean at 6 months as I did with ds1.

I am so worried about it as ds1 was/is such a big boy, it is all new to me. He was heavier than her at afew weeks and while I know you shouldnt compare it just feels alien.

The thing is, she is only having 4 feeds a day, every 4 hours in the day. She just isnt hungry. She sleeps well at night so I am sure she is getting enough for her. Really dont know what to do. There is no 'problem' really. But HV and charts makes me feel worried.

OP posts:

oops · 10/05/2007 20:16

Message withdrawn

Original poster

Dragonhart · 10/05/2007 20:21

Yes she is breast fed. Forgot to say that.

OP posts:

lisad123 · 10/05/2007 20:23

My Hv also said no concerns unless the baby drops 2 centiles sections.
My DD was always on 9th

Lio · 10/05/2007 20:23

You don't need to see this hv again if you don't want to. I had 2 babies who started on the 90-something centile and ended up drifting along under the 9th. Waited till 6 months for both (to wean, I mean). ds is now 3.6 and fine (not chunky but absolutely normal body shape) and dd is 8months and fine, eats plenty, poos loads, lovely shape, just technically light (i.e. doesn't weigh much according to the chart, but looks fine and is above average length).

kiki81 · 10/05/2007 20:25

Ignore Ignore Ignore.

Ds (bottlefed, and early weaned) jumped 50th to 99th centile and has been there ever since.

Dd (breastfed and blweaned at 6 months) has been hovering around the 9th, and jumped to just under 25th after weaning. She's a very happy baby who eats everything in sight, but at 8 months is only having two bottles a day and sleeping really well.

CorrieDale · 10/05/2007 20:25

Silly cow. The HV I mean. DS dropped from 50th to the 0.4th by the time he was 6 months - the slide started at 4. He was pooing, peeing, and developing properly. He was just skinny (and still is). I stopped tking him to be weighed in the end.

Rantum · 10/05/2007 20:27

Charts, as oops said, were compiled using formula fed babies who tend to weigh more. On average bf babies are thinner and longer. If you know that your baby is definitely feeding (has not gone off her food or anything) then she is most probably just fine.

I was convinced to wean my ds at 4mths by hv who thought his change in sleeping pattern indicated hunger. I started on solids and then he cut his tooth at 4.5 months. He wasn't hungry, he was teething!

lulumama · 10/05/2007 20:27

there is no problem, you are right...and all a 17 week old baby needs is milk!

a spoon of puree is not magically going to pile the weight on her

some babies are small,and they stay small, and that is fine...not all babies can be big and chubbly

not every baby can follow the 50th , average centile

as long as your baby is happy, alert, weeing , pooing and doing what she should, then fine

also, i had a DS first, who was a big boy, 75th centile, ate everything , guzzled milk, and then had DD who hovers around the 25th - 50th centile, is petite, will not eat for days at a time...when i stopped comparing them , i felt better ! she is her own little person

if your DD is not that hungry for milk, she will not suddenly be hungry for food

ScaryHairy · 10/05/2007 20:30

When my daughter dropped from 25th to 9th, my HV wasn't bothered as she was so obviously eating, and was wriggly and alert.

Months on she is still on 9th centile even though she is now weaned and eats like a horse.

You know, those weigh-ins aren't compulsory...

berolina · 10/05/2007 20:42

Weaning is not a weight gain panacea - in fact, it can have the opposite effect, as there are more calories in milk than in typocal first weaning foods. (apologies if this point has already been made).

She does sound like she's on fairly few feeds - is she bf or ff? Haven't done ff at this age but if bf, try offering more often, e.g. when upset about (seemingly) something else.

I am not saying this because I think there is a problem with her weight, though - my ds took a (relatively small, he was only 6lb at birth) dip to the bottom of the charts fairly soon and has stayed there, happy and healthy, ever since.

You are right, right, right to feel about weaning early.

Original poster

Dragonhart · 10/05/2007 20:43

Thanks for all the reasurance.

The thing is, I am tall, my DH is pretty tall and my whole family is tall. Everyone above 6ft, my brother is 6ft8. I know it sounds silly but shouldnt she be heavier? It was quite a shock when she was born at 6lbs3 and before I had her had to have growth scans.

I know it sounds silly but when I was feeding ds, everyone was saying how well we were doing as he gained weight well. This time I feel a bit of a failure.

OP posts:

DontlookatmeImanervouswreck · 10/05/2007 20:44

My ds hoverered between the 2nd and 9th centile on the charts until he was about 18 weeks when he dropped below the 2nd centile and the hv started to panic "Maybe you should think about weaning him early" etc etc despite the fact that he was still gaining weight. I also got the "maybe you should top hm up with formula" line. . I just ignored her and held off weaning him. He was nearly 7 months before he was even vagualey interested at which point he had already jumped backup to the 9th centile and hv said "Oo look he's going back up again now you've started weaning"
Err no I don't think so, not on 2 cubes of apple puree!

Original poster

Dragonhart · 10/05/2007 20:45

berolina, I have tried giving her more feeds, but she just snacks so ends up having less iyswim. At least now she is having 4 full feeds on both sides. When I try to get her to have 5, she only has one side each time and just clamps her lips! She is already quite stuborn!

OP posts:

barbamama · 10/05/2007 20:47

haven't read the whole thread but I had all this with ds1 - he was 9th percentile all the way up to his first birthday. He is 2 1/2 now and a right little chunkie who eats like a horse. He is short though like me. Those charts are just a guide and apparently pretty inaccurate for bf babies anyway - as long as he they are not skin and bones and healthy and happy and developing well - ignore! HV's are obsessed with this and it is not necessary in my opinion. All adults aren't an avergae size or weight - I think babies are the same, it is just a guideline (as long as healthy and developing well of course)

Original poster

Dragonhart · 10/05/2007 20:47

Oh and she rarely cries. She is jsut a happy soul.

OP posts:

berolina · 10/05/2007 20:50

Snacking is OK - it won't end up with her having less, especially if the gap between feeds is otherwise 4 hrs. Does your supply seem OK? Mine would have dwindled on so few feeds at that stage, but everyone is different and yours is probably fine.

But honestly, I really don't think there's a problem - if she's doing yellowy poos and saturated wet nappies, is alert, etc. etc. A centile drop alone is not an indication of a problem. And if she was only 6lb 3 at birth, then that makes it less concerning still IMO.

Original poster

Dragonhart · 10/05/2007 20:56

DS was on the same no of feeds now, but he was obviously heavier so presume that my supply is ok. I can hear her chugging it down.

I thought that if she was having 4 feeds of both sides (therefor 8 full breasts) it would be more than 5 half feeds (5 full breasts). Am I wrong?

She only poos everyfew days but I thought that was ok with bf babies? She has lots of wet nappies though.

OP posts:

tiktok · 10/05/2007 22:28

Regular readers will sigh when they read what I am saying, but the charts are not based on formula fed babies, as I often point out The UK ones are from data sets of babies whose feeding was not differentiated (they are not the same as the US charts) - breastfed babies are, on the whole, v. slightly bigger than formula fed babies for the first few months, and then they tend to be lighter as the months go by. But individual babies have their own individual growth.

The problem is not the charts, but the way they are used, by HVs who are poorly trained.

Healthy babies can be very light compared to their peers. They can 'fall down centiles' and there may be nothing wrong at all.

An HV who suggests early weaning to deal with what she thinks is an underweight baby is, probably, poorly trained. If all we are worried about is the baby's calorie intake, how on earth would early solids, which are likely to replace breastmilk not add to it, help?

A baby who is only feeding four times a day, like yours, dragon, can easily be offered more feeds - if she really doesn't want any more, then that's ok. But what is easier - spooning in mush (because that's the only way she's gonna get anything in) or offering more breastfeeds?

Perhaps your HV could answer that very easy question

JodieG1 · 10/05/2007 22:36

Wholly agree with other posts. Offer more breastfeeds, no need to start solids, as has been said it won't help with weight gain as there are less calories in the food than in milk.

I just don't speak with hv at all, a lot of them haven't got a clue at all.

Original poster

Dragonhart · 10/05/2007 22:37

Right, so this is my day;

DD wakes at 6-7am and has a feed.

She goes back to sleep after til 10-10.30 and after getting her dressed she has another feed at about 11am

Another feed at 3pm

Ready for bed and another feed at 6.30.

Then off to bed.
(obviously we do more than that in a day

So do you think I should add another feed then?

OP posts:

berolina · 10/05/2007 22:42

If I were you I would offer her a (not necess both) breast in between each of those feeds. Not at strict times, just as and when, e.g. (as I said) to comfort her if she cries. You're quite the other extreme to my experience - ds was a very frequent feeder for months and months - and I did encourage it, by bf him more often than not when he was out of sorts rather than spending time wondering whether he was really hungry. He would always come off once he'd had enough, and if he really didn't fancy feeding he would make that clear. But as I said, I really don't think, from what you've said, that she's getting too little, as such.

I think at your dd's age they can go a few days without pooing (it's after a certain point that the pooing often becomes less fequent, can't remember whether it's 6 weeks or 3 months), and the wet nappies (esp if really heavy and wet) are a fab sign.

JodieG1 · 10/05/2007 22:44

I would offer more, if she doesn't want it then she won't take it. Ethan is the same age as your dd and he still wakes 3-4 times a night for milk. He also cluster feeds before bed and had 5 feeds between 7 and 9pm tonight and then went off to sleep for the night. He also feeds around 10/12 times a day at a guess. Day being from about 7am-7pm. Then there's the cluster feeds and night feeds on top of that. He is a big boy though (as you know from post natal) and weighed 17lb 4 at 15 weeks.

mears · 10/05/2007 22:51

Dragonhart - I would offer more feeds to be honest. 12 hours is a very long time for a baby to go without milk if weight gain is a concern. You could easily get more feeds in as Tiktok says. Some babies are 'happy starvers' and will not ask for feeds. Could you try a dream feed at 10pm?

You could also offer breastfeeds in between meal times - it doesn't matter if she only takes one breast.

At the end of the day she may not want it, and that is fair enough. I would offer though.

Original poster

Dragonhart · 10/05/2007 22:53

It is not so much that I use strict times. Just how the day goes. First two feeds are when she wakes up. Afternoon one is led by me as she rarely cris for a feed, then last one is beofre her bed time.

i guess I should really trust my instincts which tell me that she is perfectly happy. Before getting her weighed this week, I thought she was doing really well. Happy, alert, sleeping well. She is almost out of her 3-6 months sleep suits so guess she is long and skinny. She has squeesy thighs and lots of 'folds' so she is not skin and bone.

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Original poster

Dragonhart · 10/05/2007 22:57

Ok mears and Jodie you posted after I had started mine.

Maybe I will try to offer her feeds in the day. Tried a dreamfeed afew times but again with the clamped lips!

OP posts:

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