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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:

tiktok · 10/05/2007 22:57

She's happy and healthy and fine, from everything you say, dragon....but it will not harm her at all to have extra breastfeeds on offer - mears is right that some babies are happy and placid and may need a little encouragement to have what's good for them, just as we encourage our children all the way through life to have what's good for them

Original poster

Dragonhart · 10/05/2007 23:02

Ok so tom will try it. Will let you know how it goes. Thanks so much for all the advice.xxx

OP posts:

Eulalia · 10/05/2007 23:23

Dragonhart - my 3rd baby is very small. He is now 21 months and only 22lbs approx about the size of a 12 month baby, 2nd centile. He was a little small at birth but just didn't grow like my other two children. Both of them are tall and around 75th centile for height. Some children are different and I know it may seem strange if your family is tall. Also have you checked her lenght as if she is tall then she would seem light for her height. My ds2 seems to be both small and light so far... but happy enough which is the important thing.

Original poster

Dragonhart · 11/05/2007 22:14

DD is 25th centile for height. Not sure if that matters?

Tried to feed her inbetween 'meals' but she wasnt interested so instead gave her 5 full feeds which she took both sides for each

She did wake early this morning and was starving so it made me feel that increasing feeds was definatly the right way to go.

She has been really wingy today though (which is not like her) and has been sick a lot. Going to stick with it and see if it was just a bad day or not.

OP posts:

Piffle · 11/05/2007 22:16

lie to your hv
I did and dd was on the 0.4 centile
But she was happy healthy slept well and was in all other respects grand
She just ate daintily
Aged 4.5 she eats like a bloody horse but is still only just on the 2nd centile

Original poster

Dragonhart · 13/05/2007 15:29

Right, I have been giving dd an extra feed a day for the last two days and it seems to be making her hungrier! Yesterday we were out for the day and left for home late. She had had 5 feeds, then when we got home I fed her at about 10 just to get into her normal bedtime routine and she took both sides! So 6 feeds in one day.

Does that make sense? Perhaps she is having a growth spurt?

Not worried about her having more at all, but makes me feel really guilty, that I was 'happily starving' her before!

OP posts:

CorrieDale · 13/05/2007 15:33

No need to feel guilty Dragonhart! I would just point out that your HV gave you crap advice and she's the professional. I just hope you don't start to hate us if she stops sleeping through (which can often happen at around 17 weeks anyway).

mears · 13/05/2007 15:49

Probably coincidental with growth spurt dragonhart. Shows she is letting you know when she wants fed - that would not happen over 2 days with the 'happy starver' I mentioned before.

Original poster

Dragonhart · 30/05/2007 19:48

Just wanted to say a thank you to everyone who helped me. I had dd weighed today and she was 12lbs7 at 20 weeks so she is still between the 9th and 2nd centile but I feel like she is doing really well.

She is having about 5 feeds a day and although she seems to be having less in them than when she was having 4, she does seem more contented.

The funny thing is, I looked at my ds1's weight chart today and he was 6 weeks when he was this weight!

Thanks again.

OP posts:

pinkpip100 · 30/05/2007 21:50

I know I'm very late joining here but Dragonhart, I am in a similar situation.

DS2 has had slow weight gain since around 3 months and has slipped from the 25th centile at birth to the 2nd centile by 17 weeks. He is now 23 weeks and seems to have settled on the 2nd centile for now. Since he was 19 weeks all 3 of the different HV's I've seen have been pushing me to wean him early. To be honest, I don't know why I keep taking him back to be weighed, as it just ends up upsetting me, its just that the HV's keep sayng they need to 'review' him on a fortnightly basis and i reluctantly go along with it.

I went along today and he's now 13lbs 9oz, having gained 10oz in the past 2 weeks, which I am really happy with. He's alert, happy, rolling, and wriggling all over the place. He has plenty of wet nappies though only poos once or twice a week. He feeds every 2-3 hrs day and night, but only around 5 mins at a time. But the HV basically told me he is desperately hungry, needs weaning now (which apparently would sort out the weight issue AND get him sleeping through the night!), and that I was putting my needs in front of his. I came away really angry, upset, and doubting my instincts, which are telling me to hold off on weaning until 6 months.

Why, if HVs are supposed to follow the WHO guidelines about not weaning until 26 weeks, do so many of them push for weaning earlier than that? I tried to argue the case with my HV today but she said my baby was "an exceptional case". Surely I know my own baby better than she does? Do any HVs actually support Mums who want to wait until 6 months to wean? Or does that only happen for textbook babies that follow the 50th centile the whole time?

Gosh sorry, I can't believe how much I've ranted. Sorry for hijacking your thread Dragonhart. This whole thing has just really knocked my confidence. Good luck to you and your dd, it sounds like she's doing really well.

mush4brains · 31/05/2007 14:47

PP100, been there too. I dont see the HV anymore, not since they where putting me under pressure & really upsetting me by saying I had to wean my DS early. I ignored them & have a perfectly happy little boy. Introducing solids wont make them sleep through the night either, some babies will some wont they are all different. Mine did & they told me I should be waking him at least twice to feed him so their advice is very contradictory at times.
You are the mum, you know your LO so do what you feel is right. Good luck

pinkpip100 · 31/05/2007 21:39

Thanks Mush4brains, and sorry again Dragonhart for posting such a long rant on your thread!

Original poster

Dragonhart · 01/06/2007 20:52

Dont be silly pink, it is all very worrying when the HV start making you feel like you are doing something to harm your baby because you want them to wait til 6 months to wean them. Even with my second I find it hard to just trust my instincts.

The thing I dont understand is that they are all 'breast is best' when your lo is doing well with their weight but as soon as there is a problem they start to suggest either formula or early weaning. Rather than council women on bf or at least give you the no of a bfc.

OP posts:

pinkpip100 · 02/06/2007 09:43

Exactly Dragonhart, I had the 'at least one formula feed a day' advice given to me aswell, as if that again is a magic solution. Not once (since we've had the weight issue)have the hvs suggested anything to encourage breastfeeding - the best advice I have had was from Mumsnet, basically just to breastfeed more often, which I've been doing.

Anyway, it sounds like your dd is doing really well now, which is great. Well done for sticking to your guns about weaning!

EmilyBronte · 04/06/2007 09:30

Haven't read all this thread, but my dd dropped from the 25th to the 9th to the 2nd 0.4th centile during her first year, and is now just below the 9th again at a year old. There was never any 'problem' with her eating - she fed every two hours on demand -and I weaned her at 5.5 months (because she was ready for it, not because of the centile she was on). Those charts are just designed to stress us out more and I think health visitors should treat them with more scepticism, especially if the baby is bf. If your dd is healthy, not hungry, hydrated and happy, then as you said - there's no problem. Trust yourself and don't worry about the charts unless you actually see that your dd is ill would be my advice. I wasted a lot of time and energy stressing over them!

EmilyBronte · 04/06/2007 09:34

By the way, re. the advice a lot of you seem to be getting on weaning, my hv was the opposite. When I told her I was going to wean dd at 5.5 months she was very negative, told me I HAD to wait until 6 months, and then when I went ahead muttered about how I 'shouldn't have weaned her before six months anyway' every time I asked for advice on which food to move her on to. So you really can't win.

Amberjee · 04/06/2007 09:47

hi dragonhart
seems like this issue comes up a lot. in some cultures, they don't bother to weigh babies, as long as they seem happy and healthy they are fine ...
here are a few things that cross my mind

the growth charts in the red books are outdated, try WHO chart
milk has more calories than solids, so probably doesn't make sense to wean early, as the solids may just replace more milk
i'm sure you've tried, but can you encourage her to eat more often. and i know this sounds positively horrid if you've got a good sleeper, but could you wake her for an extra feed during the night if she is going quite long stretches without eating?

anyway, i'm sure your LO knows what she is doing, they're clever little creatures aren't they. i think you're probably right - its the HV's who create the problems.

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