Mighty oaks from little acorns grow - slow weight gain support thread

[FireworksScareMossyPets]

Thread for those of us whose los are:

• Healthy
• Meeting developmental milestones
• Producing plenty of soaking wet nappies
• Producing several pooey nappies (quantity varies after first six weeks or so)
• Gaining weight...

but just much more slowly than the centile charts tell us they should.

This is a thread for help, support and understanding from other Mums who have "been there, done that".

It's where we can share links, share our stories and what if anything we have done to help our lo's weight gain - or whether we've just ditched the scales and looked at the baby.

However, we also don't want to lull other Mums into a false sense of security; if your lo is not meeting the criteria at the top then it is best to get help from a breastfeeding counsellor (or general infant feeding specialist - not all slow gaining babies are breastfed) or supportive health care professional.

Mossy xx

Hello all,

Just a quickie as I'm back in work ft now but wanted to stop by & see how everyone was getting on before I go off to bed with the little dude for an all-night suckathon! Lots of room in the bed tonight though as dh off at his bezzie's so all ds' tossing & turning won't matter so much!!

Silverfrog, breast milk, ounce for ounce, is more calorific than the majority of solid foods. If you are worried about weight gain, could you introduce another feed or two? That might be easier than upping her solids, does she bf well?

ILD, have you heard of switch nursing & double nursing? Have a read here where both are discussed. Also, just a thought.... has she been checked for a tongue tie? Can you ask your hv to do this? Even a mild tongue tie can cause difficulties with milk transfer.

And remember, believe it or not, it does get better. If you don't believe me, have a look here, here and here. And I came through all of that, and slow weight gain to boot, and now I've a (reasonably) happy ds who is following a centile (seriously! it's the 2nd, but he's finally following one) and eats solids well and bfs when I'm not in work...

Susiemj, my dh wasn't very on side with me either at the beginning (have a look at my earlier threads too if you want to see what I mean) and it's horrible. You have my sympathies. It takes a lot to stand up to a partner especially when he has support from an HV. But just to say, I stood up to mine, and although it took months he finally admitted he was wrong and I am glad I stood up to him now. Took a lot of strength though, and for a while we nearly split. So huge {{{{{hugs}}}}} to you.

Hi all - better today at least emotionally!

went to bf group this morning and they gave me some pointers. still couldn't get her to suck properly though! she does little fluttery sucks but no long gulps. and she falls asleep - just a lazy bugger! but she's also v.tired through being woken up all the time and i actually think she has bf worse today.

have made headway with both DH [who snapped out of it!] and HV. have now 'permission' to express after bf [which is what I was planning anyway] and am using that [or formula if necessary - my concession] to top her up with one oz 6 times a day, instead of 2oz four times a day [which she just vomited].

we've asked that she be weighed tomorrow to reassure us, so fingers crossed!

Reversethepolarity - thanks for kind words. a couple of mega-strops on each side has shocked us into being our normal selves again - should last, knowing us

Susiemj, glad things are better between you and your dh. My dh & I are still slowly getting back to normal, sometimes I wonder if things will ever be back to where they were but I live in hope.

If you do feel you need to top up, apart from the obvious health benefits of bm, it's much better to top up with ebm as expressing helps remove the milk from you boobs, which then tells your boobs to make more. It's a pita though, expressing (or I always find it such anyhow), so good luck to you!!

Just thought I'd update you all on progress. DD had continued to gain weight steadily (about 2oz a week) - and at her 6 week check (at 8 weeks!!) the GP thought that she might have reflux, so prescribed some Infant Gaviscon to see if that helped matters.

Well, after a week of the Gaviscon we now have a much happier baby who racked on 4oz last week (a record for her) - and who doesn't need 3 changes of clothes a day!

Hurrah! 7 10.5oz now and actually tracking the 0.4th centile!!!

Of course, it might not continue, but for now, we are savouring it!

That's wonderful news ILD! Keep up the good work.... and soon you might even have her up a clothes size!!

Any chance a newcomer can join in? I usually kill threads though so be warned.

My DS is a little older than most of yours though, he's 10 months, is developmentally right up there, yammering away, pulling up onto feet with support/using furniture, feeding himslf finger foods, (still breast fed morning and night, formula during the day as I work full time - this is only since I went back to work 2 months ago )but weighs only 18 pounds and 6 ounces. He looks a little lean with his clothes off, but totally normal, is quite tall and even has podgy arms!

He was 7lb 15 1/2 oz at birth, stayed between 25th and 50th centile from about 10 weeks but has started to level out. I am convinced it is just that he is so on the go (this baby is NEVER still) but it is still a little hard to see so many people whose babies of similar age weighs 22 + pounds and worry, "am I starving him?" (I am not, he is a ganet and could eat for England).

His 17 month old cousin was very similar and is now starting to fill out so it must be in genes, although don't know where as DBs and I were all podgy babies.

Anyway that was a long way of saying Hi.

Hey ILD that's great news! Long may the weight gain continue.

Hi Georgiemama, welcome! your lo sounds great, definitely within the normal range, and full of beans. I hope you find some support and reassurance on this thread. And you haven't killed it!

Hi Georgiemama, my ds is nearly ten months and weighs just over 16 lbs. He has bf early morning, late afternoon, evening & all through the night, plus about 2oz during the day as that is the paltry amount I can express! (He makes up for it with solids, I hope.) So we both have little ones. He did used to bf all day too so I am a bit concerned as to how his weight will go now I am not there during the day; we'll have to see.

My ds is in 3-6 month clothes mostly... Ikwym about comparing him to other babies and thinking you are starving him!!

Blimey that was quick, thanks ladies!

I am lucky as he is within normal range but even so, he has dropped his centile...

What got me onto this thread was the fact that the nursery weighed him yesterday and I was really shocked and a bit upset to find that he has only put on 5 ounces since the end of October. He must be ok though as he is continuing to develop so well.

When I came home from work today he made two distinct noises which to me, at least, sounded exactly like "hello mum." (More like "ee oh ummmm" but it was good enough for me).

George is just about into 9-12 month clothes but only because of his height, they hang off him, made worse by the laziness which has led me to abandon real nappies and switch to disposables (my felanies mount) which are much more streamlined!

Anyway thanks for the welcome, will keep posting as and when I have anything constructive to offer.

Georgiemama, first of all, did the nursery weigh him on the same scales he was weighed on last time? And without clothes? If not, then the 5 ounces is probably very inaccurate, so I wouldn't worry too much.

Secondly, I bet he is saying something like hello Mum. My ds can say something akin to "cat" and "dog" (not Mum though which I think says something about the state of affairs in our house) it's not unusual at this age to start to make simple sounds.

Thirdly I promise I won't send Greenpeace over !

No, in October he was weighed by the HV and this was the first time the nursery have weighed him. He was in a nappy and no clothes though.

Saying cat and dog is cool!

DH had a chat with nursery about the weigh in today and they were lovely - they said they consider centile charts grossly inccurate and that they find the charts lead people to think their baby "should" be a certain weight and this leads to over weight babies who are less active and storing up health problems for later life . They think his weight is fine, and said he eats more than any baby in baby room one or two (this means he eats more than some two years olds. I feel quite proud).

Today he had his favourite - fish fingers (I'm sure they were organic and line caught though )

Hi folks

thought I'd check in again. I started a seperate thread about a fairly depressing letter I'd had from a paediatrician labelling my dd failure to thrive. I wasn't avoiding this thread, just didn't want to bum you all out with my misery, and needed some specific advice.

Anyhoo, we've been introducing solids and so far things seem to be a success. I'm chucking huge amounts of butter and cream into everything in the hope some of it will stick to her ribs. It would to mine, that's for certain.

I'm actually quite surprised at how much is starting to go down; she seems to be picking up the art of swallowing after a slow start. She's had most of a banana with a good dollop of cream, half a pear, a lot of buttery carroty smush, some tiny bits of porridge with dates, and a good suck on some steak today.

And she's still breastfeeding every couple of hours, day and night, so milk intake hasn't been affected yet. All good fun!

Hope everyone is doing well.

"separate"

Hello VLC, sorry about the letter. I haven't seen the other thread, off to have a look.
Glad the weaning is going well. xx

Have just read your other thread.
I'm so sorry you've had to deal with that letter. How horrible for you
You are doing a great job and are a great mum. I wouldn't blame you if you stopped seeing the 'HCPs' Are you still weiging her at home? At least you have answers from the tests they did. I'm sure she is just going to be small.

Have just looked at your pics, she is gorgeous and very bright eyed

Sorry the was at HCP not you weighing her at home.

thanks Ange
I knew what you meant.

Bump for Dakiara

Hiya all,

Got a wee one that has weight gain levelling out (has been putting on an ounce a week since starting weaning at five and a half months, now nearly 9 months), so soremummy pointed me in the direction of this thread! Health visitor making worried sounds (don't think she likes that I have had to cut out dairy or that I am still BF), dietician supportive so far. It's bad enough that I had to annotate the HV's comments yesterday in the red book, as what she wrote implied that I was ignoring dietician advice. From reading this thread I reckon we can add her to the (long) list of HVs that don't seem to know their £rs£ from their elbows. Sounds like I haven't got it as bad as some of you though on the hassling health professional front £hugs£.

My son has been eating a tonne this last two or three weeks (bm 8-12 times per day/night and three meals, around 2-3tbs of food at each) is constantly moving and kicking (though no sign of crawling) and as I understand it is in line with "targets" as per his age. He weighs 18lb 5oz at the moment. But he stubbornly refuses to put on more than that ounce per week.

So I worry, and the HV hasn't been helping matters. So that's me. And him. Hi! :D

Also look out for very little carrots threads! OMG can't beleive how heavy he is. What weight was he when born? And when in may? My dd was 11/5/07 weighed 4lb 3 and is now 12lb 3

He was a fair size when born, 6lb15oz, and got huge for the first five and a half months through silly weekly gains such as 11oz as a maximum. And then kerthunk. Weight gain dropped down to this 1oz.

He was born on the 9th May, induced and yanked out with that suction cup thingy in the end. I always figure the first few months was him comfort eating to try and put the eviction behind him! ;)

lol at eviction.......

my waters went at home I had a total of 3 contractons and she was born on bedroom floor! im still getting over the shock. last month she put on a huge 3.5 oz.

I will catch up later 2 of my other dd going sking with school tomorrow so it's mayhem atm god forbid they take the wrong top/belt/shoes etc oh and the ghd's are a must im gonna hide mine on them!

Oof, now that is a birth and a half! Hope the packing goes well! (ghd's?)

ghd's = the must have for straightening your hair rofl still having hassle at this time of night not from baby but 2 teenage dd? at this stage they are not so dear only in monetery terms! they are totally doing my head in i will miss them BUT cant wait till they go tomorrow bless them