EBF 'Slow' Weight Gain

[ladybird30]

Advice from EBF Mum's would be great

My 14 week old is EBF. He's a petite baby 6lb5 at birth but very long, hitting 50th percentile for length.

We recently had him weight checked and he'd gained 1lb 3oz in 4 weeks which has been roughly what he's steadily gained give or take a few ounces since he was born. The HV mentioned he shouldn't drop any further on his chart (anyone else despise those charts...) But I feel he's perfectly fine. He's noticeably petite, tall and slim, but still has his lovely chubby cheeks and thighs and is hitting as well as exceeding with milestones and shows no signs of being unwell.

Do I trust my instinct and stop going for weight checks unless I feel concerned? I feel it's causing me unnecessary stress and anxiety when I know he's fine? Surely every child is different and can't be expected to follow a graph based on old research of a small group of babies...

Trust your instincts so long as plenty of wet and dirty nappies and he's bright and alert don't worry!

I had big babies but one was and still is very slim. Started 90th centile by her birthday was 75th for height 25th for weight still is as an adult.

The growth charts are for formula fed babies. Bf babies tend not to gain weight as much as ff ones, as long as the gain is continuous and doesn't drop then I'd reduce the frequency of visits to the hv. They're supposed to be supporting bf, no wonder so many mum's give up.

Also op, are you and dad tall? A friend of mine was referred to a paediatric nutritionist for her tiny dc (who was gaining but slowly). Nutritionist took one look at her and her dh, both under 5'6 and petite and asked them why on earth they'd been referred - dinky parents produce dinky babies.

@RandomMess That's my feeling. I always leave the HV second guessing my instinct which really messes with your head!

@Loverofoxbowlakes I've definitely had moments of thinking I should give up, HV can make you feel utterly worthless at times.
No, we're both fairly short and slim although OH's Dad was 6ft3 as was his Grandad but we were both small babies as well so we weren't at all surprised he was small when he arrived

My EBF DC1 was born on the 75th percentile and dropped to the 25th percentile by 3 months. Meanwhile he was 98th percentile for height. I was worried, but he seemed completely healthy in all other ways so I carried on breastfeeding.

He's now 17yo and still very tall and skinny - 6'4" and 11 stone! I think he was just 'finding his line'.