4 month old not gaining weight - told to introduce baby rice

[soapy2]

My BF DS is 17 weeks old and has just been weighed and hasn't put on any weight in 3 weeks. He is very long and has gone up the 75th centile line perfectly up until now and is otherwise bright, healthy (wet nappies, etc) and quite wriggly! I have always had to express in the mornings to give him extra in the evenings as he is so hungry at this time. He will take 7-9oz EBM plus extra from me at around 7pm but will then usually sleep all night. This week, though, he has started to wake at least once a night. The HV told me to introduce baby rice as he hasn't gained any weight. I'm not keen and would rather continue to breast feed alone for as long as possible. He usually feeds every 2.5 to 3 hours in the day. Should I go with the baby rice or is there something I can do to up my supply, also so that I can keep up with his demands in the evenings. It is getting difficult this week to be able to express enough because of the night feeds and therefore there isn't enough for him in the evening and so I have to feed him every half hour or so before he'll go to sleep. Formula??? I'm new to this message thing so sorry if this is too long and waffly and has all been said before!

There are some threads, I'll go and find them and link them for you.

But I would get a second opinion. Do you have a GP who is pro-breastfeeding? It made a huge difference to me. It might be that he could be wanting more, but IME HVs are too ready to suggest formula/solids, without giving any other solutions.

Both me and a friend were in this situation, we saw the same visitor, and same GP. Her lo went onto baby rice (she had reflux so that made a difference) and we stuck to bf.

i would try and fit in an extra feed or two during the day.

just keep feeding, and feeding and feeding, how your HV thinks a spoon or two of baby rice is going to pile the weight on , i don't know! at this age , breast milk is the most nutritious and filling thing you can give a baby. also, babies do not gain weight as quickly after the first few weeks, and weigh gain is not the only indicator of health.. a content, happy , alert baby, pooing and peeing well is not really one that needs anything other than breast milk. cluster feeding does not mean he is not getting enough milk, lots of babies do this.. also, the best way to make sure supply meets his demands is him going to the breast as much as he wants

i would introduce the baby rice. my dd who is now nearly 16 months would feed every two hours and by 13 weeks i was shattered so i gave her some baby rice daily and she started to settle. i believe that some babies cannot wait until six months and my ds who was born in 2003 was weaned at 16wks because thats what they said to do. you can only try and see if it makes a difference...

lots of good advice and support here

Baby rice does not have enough calories in it to increase weight gain, he needs more milk

I do agree with Jenjins, though. My DC1 was 4 months as that was the advice then, but with hindsight I feel that was a wee bit young. But being a first-timer it was quite exciting, so I was really keen to do it. DC4 is 6 months and not particularly interested in solids. DCs 2 and 3 were both around 5 months.

My GP advised me to express after each feed to give a top-up evening feed of hind milk. I also had to stop running around and being busy all the time. Its amazing the difference resting, eating well and baby-mooning makes to your supply.

If you really want to carry on with the bf, then do, but you might have to work hard at it. I confess I don't trust the advice of my HV since she told me to give formula, because it wasn't good advice for ME and MY BABY. She got the hump as I didn't take her advice, but my GP (who is a mum herself) supported me.

BTW , my DD was bottle fed, and was a slow weight gainer, and lost weight and went down a centile, on formula, and did not come back up when she started on food at 25 weeks. Some babies are more petite than others.

neither formula nor food will add weight to a baby who is destined to be petite.

SOunds like he is going through a wee growth spurt - which is common at c17 weeks. That would explain the extra waking. Give him some more feeds and thenyour supply will adjust to his increased needs - and he should go back to sleeping thourgh. Cluster feeding in the evening is comon - and helps with the sleeping through.

No need to give him baby rice yet.

soapy, your HV seems very rigid and lacking in knowledge. Now your baby has started to wake in the night, it is a good thing and indicates he is doing his job in making sure he gets the calories to grow....a sensible HV, if she was concerned, would see this and reckon this might have an impact on the weight (and why wouldn't it?).

Giving rice means giving a tiny amount of calories - a good breastfeed might give as much as 100 cal, and you'd need a heck of a lot of baby rice to equal that. However, rice might stop him breastfeeding as much, so the net calorie intake could be smaller....not good.

Feeding more often is the most efficient way of getting more milk into your baby. And more calories.

My son did exactly the same at 15 weeks and I was advised the same. Stupidly I did so. It did not help with his weight gain or sleeping through and he got excema. With my second I did exclusive bf for 6 months and his weight gain was much much better.

Don't do it, its a faff, doesn't work and may cause the baby problems that don't even show for years (ibs)

DS put on no weight from 13-17 weeks, falling from about 40th to 7th centile. Following HV advice, I duly started baby rice... he never recovered to his previous centile! He's now 8yo & still on 25th 'tile for height and 7th 'tile for weight.
If the weight plateau is the only indicator (baby otherwise bright happy and growing into his clothes) I would weigh him again in a couple weeks before turning to baby rice.

soapy, you know your HV is talking shite
ignore her and keeping breastfeeding
you are doing well, your baby sounds fine, well done!

those centiles are pish
ignore them too

OFGS, that old chestnut!

Some HV are mired in the 1980s. Has she even heard of the WHO guidelines on weaning??? (ie 6 months, not 4) If he is happy, having wet nappies, etc..., then not gaining weight for one week is NOT a problem. Just ignore the silly woman unless you are worried about him. Please.

Two good Scottish words there Nailpolish - pish and shite!

But they are totally appropraie! The sad thing is how often they apply to advice from HVs.

Continuing to breastfeed without anything else has measurable health benefits, too.

This is a link to a study which compared health outcomes of babies fed excl to 4 mths to 6 mths, with those fed excl to 6 mths. Good study, lots of controlling variables, lots of babies.

The babies who were 'fully breastfed' to six months or more had significantly fewer episodes of pneumonia and significantlyless risk of recurrent ear infection.

"CONCLUSIONS: This nationally representative study documents increased risk of respiratory tract infection including pneumonia and recurrent OM in children who were fully breastfed for 4 vs 6 months. These findings support current recommendations that infants receive only breast milk for the first 6 months of life."

OM = otitis media ie ear infection

Note: pneumonia was rare in both groups, but babies who were solely breastfed for 4 months to 6 mths were more than four times likely to get it. It's a miserable illness, worth avoiding. Ear infections, too - grim and painful. Babies are not gonna die from these, hopefully, where there is decent medical care, but even so.....why risk them?

Just feed on demand, if you are trying to space out feeds stop, dummy use can also stop a baby demanding a feed IMO. Eat lots of flapjacks (oats great for supply IME). Sleeping through at this stage is very unusual and waking once to five times a night very normal. At this stage I had a crisis where my DD fed every 2 hours 24 hours a day for 6 weeks I caved in on giving food at 5 months as I didn't want to give formula. My DD could sit up on her own and feed herself a few morsels this early - I see this as a better indicator can your baby yet? But I wish I had the moral and more help at home (to cope with sleepless nights) to have continued EBF to 6 months. However my baby was the opposite very large 91st percentile weight and 98th in height at 17 weeks. Milk not food has more calories.

Just feed on demand, if you are trying to space out feeds stop, dummy use can also stop a baby demanding a feed IMO. Eat lots of flapjacks (oats great for supply IME). Sleeping through at this stage is very unusual and waking once to five times a night very normal. At this stage I had a crisis where my DD fed every 2 hours 24 hours a day for 6 weeks I caved in on giving food at 5 months as I didn't want to give formula. My DD could sit up on her own and feed herself a few morsels this early - I see this as a better indicator can your baby yet? But I wish I had the moral and more help at home (to cope with sleepless nights) to have continued EBF to 6 months. However my baby was the opposite very large 91st percentile weight and 98th in height at 17 weeks. Milk not food has more calories.

the centiles are rubbish are nail polish said -- they based on formula feeding
but weight gain ought to be going on
I am old fashioned (but not old!) and think solids at 4 months is ok
i mean i would go with actual food
i think baby rice is rubbish too

plus giving baby rice can mean using formula to mix it when you don't want to