Does an exclusively fed 38 week old need vitamins? Sorry long rant

[soremummy]

Can anyone advise on this? I have a very small baby weighs 12lb 3 oz now and length is 58cm she had her 8 mth check and hv is pushing for me to go to gp and then get referred to hosp because she is little. She kept suggesting that I give her vitamin drops because she still struggles with being weaned and she probably isnt getting enough from my milk? She then said I might be better to wean her onto bottle to see what volume she was taking but use formula not ebm. She also suggested we have blood tests done just to rule out any under lying cause for slow weight gain.

Its like de javue 13 yrs ago had same with my other dd and referred me to hospital just found her red book and its spooky that the 2 are so similar in weight height etc! Only difference is she was ff and did eat food!

Does she need vitamins or should I try to wean her off the breast and try ff her to get them off my back?

I strongly suggest you ring a breast feeding charity who can give you the correct information about vitamins and extended breast feeding(La Leche League or Breast Feeding Network etc).

Their information will be non-biased and will help you decide the best option for feeding your LO and will also help if decide to wean to bottle/FF etc.

It's very narrow minded of the HV/GP to suggest FF in the bottle straight away and not EBM (they could still see amount of milk taken with EBM.

sorry you're being pressured to stop bfing.

No doubt someone more knowledgeable will be along soon.

Are you and your dp smaller than average? Did your DD1 catch up at all? There are so many factors involved.

My sis had similar pressure about her DS eight years ago as he was barely on the charts, but she is only 4'11" and her DH 5'4" so their dcs were never going to be giants.

kellymom might have some useful information

thanks lardy. my other dd is still small just had a growth spurt and is in age 9 trousers at 13yrs old! Im size 6 and 5ft hubby not big either

Does your DD (although she's small) seem to be thriving though - lots of energy etc or is she lethargic?

She's never still!! She crawls, goes in baby walker/rocker I sooooooo wish at times she was a little lethargic she stands by that saying sleep is for the weak and she isn't weak. She is always on the go and very seldom sleeps through the day maybe 2 x 10 minute naps doesnt go down till about 11pm. cluster feeds through out the evening and wakes about every 2 hrs at night to be fed.

That's really good then - what are they worried about? Does she keep dropping percentiles on the growth charts?

My HV told me that if they stay on or go back to the precentile they were born on, that's fine. My DS even went below the one on which he was born but becuase he had loads of energy etc, I didn't worry too much. He's just very petite.

I certainly wouldn't be pushed into FF unless you really want to.

soremummy, that is extraordinarily inept advice from your HV, it really is....to give her a bottle of formula simply to see what volume of milk she takes??? As if that will show you anything about the volume of breastmilk she takes...or what the total volume would be over a week...and even if it did show you, what benefit would that info be???

Vit drops are given to bf babies, because of lifestyle issues - that is, some babies do not go outside often enough to make sufficient Vit D - lots in the mumsnet archives on this if you want to know more. The Vit D is already added to the formula, so ff babies don't need it.

Vit drops will make no difference to your baby;s weight, of course,

What would she be looking for with a blood test? Don't agree to this unless you understand what it is they are looking for.

To give formula just to shut the HV up would be the very worst reason, IMO!!

I agree about phoning and speaking to someone.

i will find a number to ring tiktok, i have had them pushing me re ff and top ups for a while now. She goes out lots so don't think vit d would be necessary. She didn't say what blood tests but I have looked at letter from hospital from other dd and her tests Were for thyroid, anti-gliadin antibodies full blood count etc.

Luciemule.. she was always below the 0.4th percentile but has now dropped further down iykwim

Babies are routinely checked for congenital thyroid issues with the Guthrie test. I don't know about probs develolping after this, but I would seriously doubt that a health-looking and active baby would show up as having a thyroid prob. I don't know about the other stuff.

She is clearly small, but of course the vast majority of babies who are small are just that way because this is the way they are - nothing to do with being under-nourished.

It would make sense to check out her health if the HV is really worried, but formula is a daft suggestion - if she needs more milk she can have more breastmilk, and she can also have calorie-dense solids, too. Are you able to breastfeed her more, soremummy?

Ditto what TT said about it's good that they're checking her health but codswallop about FF instead of BM!

I guess you too would want to know if your DD had an underlying health problem but for them to suggest FF when they have not a lot to base it on is bonkers.

I am constantly b/f her! She doesnt take to solids very well. At the moment we are just letting her share our food with us as she screams when we try to spoon feed her but she can manage a piece of apple, toast/bread I wish I could get her to spoon feed because I know that I could bump up her food with high calorie stuff.

Soremummy, there are lots of calorie dense finger foods that are easy to share with your baby - ask on the weaning threads, and Aitch will pop up

Banana, avocado, are really liked by babies. You can put some yummy blobs of butter on the toast she already eats and sneak in a few extra cals that way, too.

have been chattin to aitch before about this.. her problem is picking up/holding softer foods but she doesnt gag on apple, toast etc and she licks the butter and cheese off the toast. wonder how many cals in yorkshire puddings cos she would live on them and toast if she could. thanks tiktok

Yorkshire puds are fine - can you stick a bit more egg and fat in the mixture, and maybe dip them in gravy? Put a bit of meat in the middle of them??!

Tried it with chicken but she just throws it back down. They most she eats at a time is half a small yorkshire or a quarter slice of toast with butter and philladelphia gonna have a look for some high cal (unhealthy for us adults) finger foods will bang her weight up somehow!

You're not going to get much higher calorie than egg/flour/butter. Indulge her love of toast and Yorkshire pud!

ds1 was always small (a bit longer than yours at that age, but not a whole lot heavier) and is fine. He also had a lot more bm than solids until, oh, about 11 months. Fortubnately I have benefitted from knowledgeable, with-it paeds - I also always made sure they met 5'2" dh as well as 5'1" me, at which point therewas usually an ah-that-explains-it look on their faces

lol berolina at the look on their faces! Just trying her with an omlette fried in butter and loaded with cheese she likes the taste but can't seem to find her mouth keeps dropping it. If only she would let me help her.

If not eating food then i would say yes as there iron stores are used up by 6mths and this is why it is advised to start weening at this age. If food was being eaten i would say no doesn't need it, if eating well. A multivit would to the job i think you can get these at local clinics or most chemists!! And i wouldn't give formula, breastmilk fine and weight ok, it's just to make sure that they are getting nutrients they need which they won't be getting from breastmilk alone!!

Iron stores not used by by 6 mths....it's at this stage, iron stores start to deplete but they don't all run out at once! This takes many, many months, by which time most babies are eating other foods....and of course there is iron in all milks, including breastmilk

by by = up by

Your health visitor sounds like shes talking out of her arse..excuse me!!! Maybe she was never ment to be huge, my dd2 was only 7lb born and still isn't very big now, doesn't mean anything wrong. Are you or any members of your family particulary small, some children ment to be small and it sounds like your baby thriving, a lot of scare mongering if you ask me by your hv. I would take advise on vits but ignore everything else and carry on trying to ween, in any case you can't force feed they will eat when ready. Try lots of finger foods, this could encourage eating even if its just small amounts!! Don't worry!!!

That is what i meant, didn't word that too well did i, yes there is iron in breastmilk but not enough!! Sorry tiktok!! I don't like the sounds of this hv at all!!

Update ... she stinks of butter lol. Made her an omlette with loads and i mean loads of cheese in it fried it in butter and she has eaten just over a quarter of it but her face etc is so shiny from all the grease! Lets hope some went in her tummy. Best bit was this time she actually showed interest in eating it I am wondering if she just likes stuff thats made with egg/oil/butter! Shame I can't see her eating tonights dinner of roasted butternut squash,sweet potatoes, peppers and chicken but maybe one day.

Don't anyone slate me but have you tried her with jars of baby food?

She might like to hold a little jar and do the spoon thing/or bread stick dipped in herself?

Especially the fruity yoghurt based ones etc.