Why do bf babies gain weight at different rates?

[WalkingBoob]

I've been ebf my DD for 18 weeks now (). She is a slow gainer (2-3 oz pw) who clings to the 2nd centile at around 11lb 6oz. Despite this I am proud of what I have achieved and she seems a healthy and happy little girl.

...however I can't help feeling inadequate when I read/hear about other bf babies who are fed just 5-6 times a day (10+ for me lately ), who are above 25th centile and gaining in excess of 8 oz per week!!

I need to try and understand why this is. What am I doing differently to these mothers, if anything? Are there inate physiological differences between babies that mean weight gain occurs at different rates regardless?

Your thoughts would be very welcome

I would also love to know the answer to this

both if my dc were 2nd centile babies

I always kind if felt I might be failing them, it's not true, both were healthy but I felt like they should be bigger especially when everyone and their cousin seems to be able to have 75th centile babies

Exactly! Hopefully someone in the know will be along to put our minds at rest about this mystery

I had a 75th+ centile baby and a mostly 25th and dropping baby, but only 2oz difference between them at birth.

I ebf each and didn't think I was doing anything differently. With hindsight, I wonder whether I overfed dd1 sometimes (I think I offered a boob on every cry). AND I wonder whether dd2 had a less rested version of me and therefore maybe less nutritious milk?

Essentially though, they're just differently built individuals. They're both tall slim girls but dd1 is muscular and powerful looking (gymnastics, swimming type build like dh), dd2 is skinny as a rake (like I used to be until I attended too many cake and coffee mornings as a sahm, must learnt to say "no thankyou, I'm full"!).

However, it is incredibly important that nursing mums get rest (that's so easy to say!) and eat well (and plenty) to ensure best milk supply, so as long as you're doing that then as you say, they're happy, healthy children so I'm sure all's fine.

Both of mine were offered the breast as soon as they squeaked, never fed more than 2 hourly, sometimes less

I ate well and rested

a woman I know would be up for hours in the night because her dd wouldn't go back to sleep, this baby was well over 20lb at 6 months

I really want this to not be my fault

fwiw neither went flying up the centiles after weaning despite copious additions of double cream, butter and cream cheese to every meal

Hmmm, like Chibi I feed 2 hourly or less, and if I'm not feeding I'm-a-pumpin'

Food intake on my part is definitely not an issue

Just don't get it...

dd2 was born on the 75% and slowly descended to the 9th by about 7 months. The only reason I never noticed was because I didn't get her weighed. She was happy and fed as much as she wanted. Judging by her nappies, she fed more than dd1 too who was born on the 50% and dropped to about the 30% and has stayed there from 6 weeks to 5 yrs.

Babies are individuals and the charts are often misinterpreted by mums and health care providers. It is just a guideline. All being on the 2% means is that that 48 out of 50 babies weigh more than yours does.

Look at the baby. A happy baby who is putting on weight is hardly a reason to stress about.

Just to mention a myth that madrush added, lots of rest and food and minimizing stress has nothing to do with the quality (or quantity) of breast milk.

Cheers foxy..deep down I know this, but I do feel very jealous of mums whose babies are gaining 1/2lb per week and I guess I'm looking for a scientific explaination.

As much as I loved bf (and still love, still bf ds) the weight gain thing made me neurotic, especially with ds, who despite consistently gaining 6 oz a week was in danger of failing to thrive according to my hv and needed topping up (I didn't)

with him I was always second guessing myself, counting the no of wet nappies, trying to estimate whether they were heavy 'enough'

his early babyhood was really stressy, this was despite him feeding often, well and being satisfied after feeds

despite him being my second, and knowing better it is hard to put it behind you when your hv is insisting he should be gaining more - one gave me a target if a pound a week

in the end I stopped getting him weighed because it was just too demoralising

hilariously my dd never gained weight as rapidly as ds dud, but no one ever expressed concerns about her (different hv team though)

I still have issues about this I think

First of all stop weighing them! It will do your head in, it did for me with DS1. Thoose charts/lines are not exact rules, just a rogh guideline of where the babies who were used to make them were up to.

Both my boys have been milk monsters from the start, feeding 12+ times per day. DS1 was/is a skinny boy, DS2 has extra elbows he is so fat.

Same parents, same feeding, different babies (and therefore people).

Tom was 9lb 2oz at birth and put on 2lb in first 6 weeks. Erin was 7lb 3oz and put on 2lb in the first 6 weeks. Haven't had her weighed recently, but I think at 3 months, Tom was 4lb heavier. I'm kinda worried going in case they say shes not gaining enough, but she seems happy enough and isn't constantly feeding like her big brother did (who hardly eats now).

I would be more worried if there was no gain and remember, everyone is different.

My DS (11 weeks) is also a slow gainer - dropped from 75th at birth to between 9th & 25th at 6 weeka and has stayed there. I spoke to a paediatrician about it last week (we had the appointment for a different reason but when he asked if I had any other concerns I pounced with my weight concerns ).

The doctor confirmed what I had suspected - just like adults, babies have different metabolic rates. You can feed two babies the exact same amount of milk (eg as with FF babies) and you'll get different weights/lengths. The same is true of EBF babies. He told me to just pay attention to my baby - a happy, alert baby who is meeting developmental milestones and is producing good wet and dirty nappies is fine. He said he's concerned about sustained weight loss and babies dropping off the bottom of the charts. He also said some babies (like mine) get longer before they get wider.

I found this link when googling after the appointment.

So I've decided to not get him weighed anymore (the doctor said this was fine) and try my hardest to stop comparing him to two of my friends' EBF babies who are both 98th centile (and look huuuuge next to my boy!).

I am also wondering whether environment affects this. DS1 was being fed throughout an Australian summer, when I pumped my milk was very light and blue-ish. When I pump here it is much creamier looking.

If they are being fed for as often/long as they want then they are exactly what they are supposed to be IMO.

The thing is though the babies grow up to be adults and the last time I looked all women are not 5' 6", 9st and a size 12 and all men are not 5' 11", 12st and a 34" waist. Everyone is a different shape/size/build as adults so why should that not show up in babies?

HV/Drs reliance on charts makes me as no-one would dare tell my 5' nothing female friend she is 4" short of the national average and needs to grow or else, or tell my 6' female friend that she is far too tall and needs to shrink 8" or expect them to both weigh the same! So why do they tell mums that their babies are not growing as they should when one puts on 2oz a week and one puts 10oz a week.

As FlipFantasia very rightly points out metabolic rates vary in all humans of all ages not just in adults.

My ds has been all over the charts.. born on the 50th, dropped off the bottom, scrapped along at 0.4% for a year. He's now on the 75th for weight and height. Go figure! Moral of the story, they're all different!

Very reassuring. Thanks Flip/Morloth. So...it would seem then that maybe my DD is predisposed to slow weight gain as opposed to my milk being insufficient! (Can't be supply as I was soaked through this morning - damn those washable breast pads!!)

A friend of mine had twin boys a month before I had Erin and they are formula fed and look twice the size of her, bless her.

Thanks for all your replies. Heartening stuff

I'm off out now for DDs 3rd set of immunisations (3 injections - eek!), but I'd be v iterested in any further perspectives on this.

I'm with you on this one... my LO was 6lb 5oz when she was born and last time I had her weighed at 16 weeks she was only 10lb 4oz. Compare this with my niece born 9 days earlier - yes she was 8lb 13oz when born but now weighs over 19lbs!! I constantly feel really inadequate compared to my SIL. Erin (perhaps its the name?) seems perfectly healthy but simply does not seem to put on weight and to make matters worse, has been really fussy over feeding in the last few days. Want to go to see HV for advice but I know they will want to weigh her. Grrrrrrrr...anyhow must go and wake her up she cannot afford to be late for a feed lol!

morloth perhaps your milk was more "watery" during a hot summer? I know so little about it, but breast milk does seem like magic stuff that does adapt to the environment, ie a hot day may mean more watery milk to quench thirst...

I think that is exactly right Flip, when I am hot the milk is more watery when I am cold (v. often here! ) it is creamier. Also I guess the baby needs more fat if the weather is colder as opposed to needing to be a bit lighter in a hotter climate.

But then you get natural chubbers in hot places and natural skinny minnies in cold, so who knows.

It is indeed magic stuff!

The composition of milk no matter where or when it is produced or by whom is fairly constant. The colour doesn't mean much either. Some women say their milk has a greenish colour to it. I have expressed bluish and creamish coloured milk. It depends on other factors as well what colour the milk is. Don't weigh (oops) too much on the foremilk/hindmilk thing as that idea has been very misinterpreted by HCPs.

I found this link prepared for HCPs and it gives a good insight into how the dreaded scales are a concern to people who support breastfeeding. Slide 19 onwards talk about how often babies ought to be weighed. It tells me that a lot of HVs are wasting everybody's time at weighing clinics and causing undue stress to mothers.

I think it does vary a bit foxy, mine certainly looks and tastes (I finish off any expressed milk that DS doesn't want - so not pouring that liquid gold away) different depending on different factors.

I am sure it is all just as good at any given time but I do think it changes. But this is just based on anecdotal evidence with a study of one.

I believe there have been studies done comparing human milk and the general consensus was that women produce the same milk all over the world, over a 24 hr period. When it actually comes out it may be slightly different from what is produced.

Eg. Milk expressed after six hrs break will have a different composition that milk expressed after a 30 min break. There may even be reason to believe that the composition of milk a baby extracts in an entire feed is different in composition from milk extracted by a pump. I don't know enough about it to speak with any authority though.

Another way taht milk varies is that the milk a mum produces for a pre-term baby is different in composition from that of a term newborn which is again different from milk from a 6 mo old and different again from toddler milk. Comparing milk is not a simple thing. I remember tasting newborn milk and it tastes nearly like water. Milk from an older baby and toddler is a lot sweeter to taste (and fattier I understand) and also, higher in antibodies.

Both mine have stayed on the centile they were born on ds 75centile dd91st centile But I do have terrible problems with my babies chocking on my milk though dd actually went blue . But I have always fed at least 10 times a day in the early week, at 9months she still feed 8 times a day. I think some babies are meant to be small some are meant to be big.