22 weeks, slow weight gain, advised to wean - anyone with experience or info?

[theansweris42]

Hi
my DS is ebf. he weighed 7.2lb or 3.24kg at birth and at 22 weeks is 13lb 6 oz or 6.18 kg. This averages at about 3-4 oz per week. He has dropped from 25th to just above the 2nd percentile. I know these charts are for formula fed babes but I can't help but worry. In the last three weeks he gained only six ounces which seems little. He feeds OK, but is very distracted by the world. He recently had a cold and lost appetite for a few days. He is also a very active baby, moving kicking and arm waving ALL of the time.
HV today says start weaning as he needs more carbohydrates. I said is the breast milk not more calorific and is it not all about that? She replied "look at him wriggling he needs some carbs in him". Is this right?
Also if I don't ebf til the full 6 months doesn't he lose some of the health benefits? Or would starting him on a few bits of banana and baby rice not matter to this?
They didn't seem very worried about him and he is alert and happy etc
Have others known slow weight gain like this?
Does anyone know about the weaning thing?
thanks in advance

I would stick with EBF to be honest it is what he needs.

Have to mention that since when did a baby waving its arms and legs about mean it needed carbs that is a new explanation on me.

it won't make him pile weight on, some babies will be smaller than others

the fact is , he is on the smaller side, but is he healthy? is he meeting milestones? is he weeing/pooing, happy, relaxed etc?

you coudl try offerng some finger foods if he can sit well, has good head control, lost the tongue thrust reflex, but i fail to see how a bit of banana or baby rice will help him gain weight when milk is more calorific simply in terms of volume

hmm well I did wonder about the carb thing. I asked TWICE about breast milk being better for weight gain and she still said try some solids...
have spent the last two weeks offering feeds almost two hourly and he gained less than the previous two weeks... bah

Most babies should double their birthweight by around 6 months. He is 5 months and is almost double so I'd think that is more or less on track with where it should be. You can download an excellent piece of software from the WHO website which gives the charts for breastfed babies. I'll see if I can find a link for you. Those charts are quite different to the standard ones.

thanks for replies
Lulumama yes he is a v happy active curious boy and meeting milestones OK so far. Just a bit titchy.

for WHO charts software www.who.int/childgrowth/software/en/

arrgh that went wrong. I'll try again. www.who.int/childgrowth/software/en/

how can they get away with being so wrong? I knew she was talking rubbish...how do they get away with it? Have read on here a few times about the things people are told...

Unseen thank you very much, I will have a good look at that this evening

bumping

hey. my little boy sounds similar to yours and i've had a similar experience to yours, although my little one was 18 weeks when weight gain slowed and a couple of weeks in a row he actually lost weight. He hovered at around 13lb 7 for six weeks or so.
At 22 weeks I tried a few things

1. tried to Increase my milk supply by taking a more milk supplement from breastfeeding heaven, a iron supplement, taking domperidone, feeding every two hours and drinking loads of water.

2. Cut out dairy from my diet. (This was also due to him exhibiting other symptoms, such as green smelly nappies, rashes and throwing up)

3. He decided himself at 23 weeks that he wanted some food by nicking my banana and porridge spoon. He now gets porridge in the morning and is trying BLW the rest of the time.

He's now 26 weeks. He didn't start to put weight on again until he was 23 weeks. He's now 14lbs when I weighed him last week and he looks much better.

Not sure if any of this will help you as all babies are different. I have noticed lots of threads though about babies slowing down in weight gain around 4-5 months so I wonder whether my little one might have started to grow again natrually without my doing anything. I guess it was the actuall weight loss coupled with the green nappies that made me feel I should act.

good luck x

Just thought I'd let you know what worked for me

thanks Frekkles
am trying the every two hours and the water, maybe I'll try a supplement too. Glad your LO's weight picked up.

fwiw I weaned my son, according to then best advice at 16 weeks and he responded well - no allergies or anything since and thriving 12 yo now .

apparently the 6 month guideline (I learned at BF club last week) is designed to encourage babies to eat firmer finger food. Puree-ing is unnecessary as babies in traditional societies usually wait until they can hold / chew their food.

but thats not the same as saying you must withhold food until the magic 6 month deadline. many of the 5 month old babies in my MW-led BF club are munching away on finger foods.

just an opinion - I really don't think it would do any harm at this stage and it's worth a try. see how your LO responds to some fruits or smells and whether he seems interested in holding or trying them in his mouth. the key AFAIK is to be baby-led about it. why not see if he fancies a different taste? if not, wait a little while and try again.

hth

thanks Blinder, I might just keep him on the same feeds and as you say offer some banana or something and see how he does. Am definitely interested in BLW.