DS3......Don't know whether I should be worried or not?

[emmatmg]

The young man is 6.5 months and is quite a difficult and clingy baby, which the HV (yes those bloody people!) asked about.

Anyway this is the problem.

He eats one whole jar at lunch, dinner and quite a big breakfast too. Milk intake is about 20-25oz per day. IMO I think that quite alot for a 6 month old. But he is putting on weight very, VERY slowly and over the last 2 or 3 months has dropped 2 centiles (yes those bloody things!), he weighs 15lb 10oz and was 8lb 3oz at birth. HV suggested taking him to the GP which I did today but he said he'll talk to the HV ( a differnet one) and see whether she thinks they should monitor him for a bit longer or refer him to someone else, who I don't know.

I'm not sure who he would be refered too as when he was last weighed another different HV ( I go to a drop in clinic so see differnt ones all the time) said she would not refer as a paed would only suggest all the things I'm already doing with his food and as he's happy, most of the time, not to worry. Also as both Dh and I aren't big he's obviously not going to be a great big lump either.

So my mind is running away with itself thinking all sorts of sinister things going on in his little body. He is hard work, much harder than his big brothers and the first HV yesterday seemed quite interested in that!?!?!?!?!

So am I worrying about nothing or whould you be worried too.

maybe this should have been in 'health'........

I don't know if you should be worried or not... but I'm just thinking that their brains are growing a lot at this age, & that takes up a lot of calories, too. My kids are runts (born slightly small, have always been "little" or "petite", after falling through centiles, too) -- You wouldn't believe how much my kids eat. People constantly comment on how much DD can eat, and 4.5yo DS eats easily half as much as I do for tea (and I eat a like a pig, myself). DS is still in 3-4yo clothes. I never understand where it goes (DD appears to have a great big store in her tummy, though). She's 2.5yo and only just grown into 18-24 month clothes.

i shouldnt be to worried if he feeding fine like not still hungry afterwards it might be where he's so active i sort of get the same problem what size jars is he on four months or seven month ones because it might be you just need to go to the next size jar but if he seems happy and healthy to you i wouldnt worry afterall who knows there child better than there mother

Dont Worry!!! But I would say do follow it up anyway. I know my daughter had to have supplements for a short period, but it was only a short time and nothing to worry overe

Thank you ladies.

He eats the 4 month jars, I have tried the 7 month one but the lumps are too big and blending them down sometimes make tham go abit funny.

Hmmmmmm isn't motherhood fun!?

Fio......can you explain about supplements?

i think you and i have had the same baby!!!!!
8lb 6 at birth 6.5mths ago. was weighed 2 and a bit weeks ago and was 14lb 4. which believe it or not, everyone was delighted about. (following a week of desserts and not being as active as usual.)
i have spent the last 6.49 months worried about him and his weight and like you, differant hvs have said diff things.

i'm half dreading going back for another weigh in following our success(!!!?!!) last time.

i am not currently worried but that state of mind is dependant on what questions i have been asked by mil or hv. (still b/f? )

the way i look at it is, like you, dh and i are small equal small baby. ds is one of two babies per hundred this size but there are a lot of hundreds out there.(he slid between centiles too)

hope you're ok.im lucky. my hv is very supportive and looks at ds in context. i've broken down when dh has walked in door because i have seen someone else. let me know how it's going.

sorry, they were called 'fortini' drinks and they were a high calorie drink with all vitamins on. She was 2 though, I know for babies under 12 months they use another product. I does work well though and is usually onloy temporary. They checked my dd for food allergies aswell

my friend's cousin fed her dd icecream(older child i know) for a week with all meals to get the weight police off her back. not a suggestion but shouldn't we just throw the graphs out if our offspring are healthy but not adhering to them.

for under 12 mths they use maxijoule which is glucose based or another oil/glucose mix one called duocal, these are powder adn instantl soluble for adding to milk or food.
If weight gain is really poor and muscle tone or growth is an issue they may use pediasure (my dd is on this one)
it is very easy and nothing to be worried about!
You would need to be referred to dietitian, they have a chart called Thrive Lines which are more diagnostic than the silly HV ones. my dd was not a FTT after all, but required supplements due to a genetic condition she has
HTH

ps
my dd is 17 mths and weighs 16lbs 9 oz

spinamum, I have a very odd baby as he will not under any circumstances eat anything sweet, and if anyone could get fruit into him it would be a major achievement. If I'd been in hospital to have him I suspect my baby had been swapped for another as DS1+2 came out suger coated becuase of my sweet tooth.
He refuses any homecooked stuff unless ike just now at dinner it's heavily mixed with jared (should that be jarred???) food.

Fio, waiting for GP to phone (since our appointment at 10:30am!!!!!) so might ask him about supplements when he calls.

Hmmmmmmmmm again!!!

Kiwi, GP did measure his head and checked his length and both are growing at the normal rate. He is most happy standing one my lap so I don't think muscle tone is a problem as his little legs are very strong......just not very squeegy.

my dd is normal height and head is ok too. My dd was crawling at 8 mths and cruising at 10 mths (weighing 12lbs man was that a sight!)
She is still not walking unaided though but she is very very mobile and developmentally ok in every other way.
I think her muscle tone is prob a factor as she has no layer of blubber fat that babies have and store, this is used when working on the the muscle tone.
Your son sounds like hes doing ok, some babies do dive a bit finding their natural lines

Have you tried offering a "dessert" of some sort? Not sure exactly what if he won't eat sweet stuff though - another savoury course?? Or is he stuffed after one jar?

Hi Emmatmg

I remember you from the 'babies refusing bottles thread'.I'm sorry to hear you are worried.I had a look at dd's chart & she weighed just 10z more than your ds at exactly 6.5 months No one was worried that she had dropped a centile or so,my hv said she expected it as they are getting far more active at this stage.

Is he lively & active?If he is,there can't be much wrong,but can understand why you are worrying,I am fast learning that babies,food & weight are a sure fire recipe for sleepless nights.

I do remember reading on a US website,that it was reccomended that olive oil or flax seed oil was added to the food of babies who are slow to gain weight,plus giving them avocado to eat,as it is quite a 'fatty' fruit.It's probably best to check with your h.v first though.

I hope you get some answers soon.

If he doesn't like sweet stuff,how about natural yogurt?DD doesn't get any other sort,so thinks its a treat & will eat it til she is stuffed.

Right my Dd1 was 61b 8oz at birth and weighed in at 15lb 1oz at 6mths.

My Dd2 was 4lb 14oz at birth and was 17lb 7oz at just over 6 mths.

My Ds was 5lb 14oz at birth and was 16lb 14oz at 6 mths but had previoiusly been 17lb 8oz as he was poorly.

His weight doesn't seem to be that bad really, and i don't think the fact that he is clingy would have much to do with it anyway. My Dd2 was extremely clingy and a very big baby.

My Dd1 was never in the sliughtest bit chubby, always very slim and stick thin, but she is 6 now and we have had no probs with her.

Mirage, I had forgotten about avocado so might try that on him.......does anyone know if it's okay for a 6 month old.
Lively and active is such an understatemant it's untrue. I think that's why he's only happy on laps or being carried around as he gets to see and do so much more. He'll sit in his chair for5 or 10 mins ok but beyond that he has to be entertained. We've just started using the walker thing and he really likes that as he can get around a bit by him self so I suppose that is using a whole lot of calories.

Soupy, I tried a homecooked/jar mix tonight so it was quite alot anyway, but when he'd finished that I tried him with some more from the left over jar and he ate that too. It was his absolute favourite of cauliflower cheese so it might not happen all the time but I was quite surprised that he ate it.

Nutty, I am still curious why the HV was so intersted in the clingyness..........bloody HV's do my head in!

Yes... if he's lively and active, than he's burning off more calories so won't put on so much weight - what's the problem? Just feed him at each meal until he stops eating I guess. Then they'll say he's too fat

emma, my ds1 was also quite a lightweight, and ds2 is fast falling through the centiles as we speak.... I think at your ds3's age one of the difficulties is that while they may be eating quite large volumes and filling up, it may not be very high calorie stuff. Avocado is fine at this age; I also gave Greek yoghurt and unsugared full fat fromage frais to try to up the calories - these can be mixed with sweet or savoury stuff. Other ideas to beef up the watery mush are cheese, chicken and maybe try toast with lots of proper butter or full fat cream cheese.
It sounds extremely unlikely that there is any problem, but at the same time I can see that there needs to be some mechanism for picking up those few babies for whom slow weight gain IS a sign of underlying problems.

Elliott, Mmmmmmmmmmmm toast with real butter, will I have to let the him have that?

He does eat toast, although we have Clover so not really real butter. Infact he goes mad if he sees me eating it without letting him get his chops around it!
I suppose I should add toasts and the rusks he has to his daily food intake as well. I honestly do not understand how he can eat so much and not put on loads of weight even with his 'running around' I still think it's alot for a little person to eat.

Don't think he'd agree to the fromage frais though........fussy little thing.

not even a little dollup mixed in with his favourite jar? Other things I used to add to ds1s food were ricotta cheese and also mascarpone (but that is really very high fat!)...its all coming back to me now....the hours I spent scanning the food aisles, I must have had far too much time on my hands! ds2 no doubt will get jars with added guilt thrown in

Well, What a day. I think I now know why he isn't putting on weight. I've been starving him!!!!!!!!!!!

Today he has eaten.
5:30am= 5oz milk
7am Breakfast= 3-4 tbsp(heaped but not hugely heaped IYKWIM) of dry mix baby cereal stuff.
8am= almost 6oz milk.
Mid-morning= Almost 2 rusk type biscuits, small ones though.
12:30pm=5oz milk and whole jar of 7month food blended down. (Spaghetti with tomato & mozerella)
5:45pm=5oz milk AND LISTEN TO THIS, Jar of Chicken-y potatoe-y stuff (4month size), about 1/3 of a jar of cauliflower cheese AND half a jar of rice pudding.
7:45pm=5oz milk.

I'm quite sure he would have eaten the whole jar of rice pudding if I'd carried on but I thought he'd get a belly ache or pop! He didn't like it when I tried it before but I think we can safely say it was a success this time.

Spoke to GP today and he thinks HV will want to refer him to a paed or dietian so will wait for appointment but if he carries on eating like today I expect it will be a waste of time.

lol! I think when ds1 was about that age, he woudl be having 4 solid meals (about 3-4 large icecubes iirc), 5 breastfeeds and a bottle feed. I guess some of 'em are just hungry!