Baby not gaining weight

[PrehistoricMother]

So my 8m old has been gaining weight okay and has been a large baby from the beginning. In the last month or so though, he has stopped gaining at the same rate and in the last week he even lost a bit. He is almost 10kg. I booked to see the HV as I am concerned (he has reflux and only eats very little solids). Does this happen with other babies around the same time/ age?

He has been very wakeful during the night in the last couple of months, wanting to feed for hunger and comfort.

I was hoping that with solids he would settle during the nights but he is more & more cranky. I breastfeed him still 5-6 times during the day (always short feeds).

I am a bit worried that sth is wrong but also wondered if it’s normal at this stage? Thank you!!

Their weight gain does slow down over the first year – that's completely expected. As an example, the average (50th centile) boy gains about 0.6 kg from 4 months to 5 months. From 7 months to 8 months, he only gains about 0.3 kg, so half as much.

The other factor is how often you are weighing. The recommendation (barring special medical circumstances) is no more than once every 2 months once baby is 6 months old, and most babies don't even need to be weighed that often. Weigh gain isn't perfectly smooth, plus we all weigh a bit more or a bit less through the day depending on when we last ate and used the toilet – as the weight gain slows down, if you measure too often, you'll be measuring these fluctuations more than actual growth. The apparent 'loss' in the last week is very likely just a difference in how much milk was in his stomach or when he'd last filled his nappy (although a little bit of weight loss is normal if they've been ill and usually quickly regained once they are better).

Oh wow thank you, this is so helpful!

I had no idea re expected weight and it seems we are weighing him way too often! I did not know about the recommendation of weighing them every two months. Can you tell I am first time mum?!

I will talk to HV too but feeling reassured with your answer. 🙏🏼

Oh good, I'm glad that helps.

The HV might be able to offer some ideas on weaning as well. It's still early days at 8 months – neither of mine ate much volume at that point, and both are good eaters now – but a second perspective never hurts.

By any chance has he started crawling or being more active? Lots of babies at this age are developing their gross motor skills and they burn off all the calories they take in. It picks up again pretty quickly

Yes he has started moving much more, and we think he may crawl soon. He cannot stand still, even when he is asleep resulting to waking up!

I hope he settles and starts taking more solids soon as I am knackered!

My daughter stopped gaining weight at 7 months and didn't start again until 13 months! She never lost weight but was only gaining 20-50g a month between weigh ins.

My HV said this is quite common as they get more mobile but their appetite doesn't always increase enough.
My daughter was slow to wean. I had to stop breastfeeding at 10 months and then she was having 6-8 breastfeeds a day and she only ate a few spoonfuls of food a day. She went on to 25-30oz formula and to gain weight she need this amount of formula and eating 3 times a day. She was 20 months before she was eating enough food to drop formula. We were under paeds and dietician due to allergies and reflux. Her starting to engage with food corresponded with her allergies and reflux being managed better also once she had a long break in teeth coming through. Teething made her reflux to go really bad. Her allergies improved a month or so after I stopped breastfeeding which allowed us to get her to eat more food and we were able to identify the last few allergens we were struggling with. This made her start gaining weight again but caused a growth spurt that sent her reflux back to newborn days. She had all her meds increased and around 18 months that was back under control and then she started eating enough to sustain herself on food alone. She's 4 now and still has trouble eating enough to gain weight when her reflux and allergies are problematic. Unfortunately she hasn't grown out of her reflux or allergies

You mentioned reflux, how is this being managed?

My 2 year old is 10 and a half kilos, but she's on the smaller side. I feel like what others have said is true - that they gain more slowly as they get older. Do you have his red book? Can you check his centile, roughly? It's pretty straightforward. Or HV can help with that.

Thank you, he is big for his age and is on 90th centile, so GP was not concerned at all when I went to check about reflux symptoms a while ago. I am feeling reassured by responses that slower growth is to be expected after 6m.

I will check with HV about solids and feeding more generally though.

Thank you, it’s reassuring to hear about slower growth being expected at this stage.

Reflux is managed with patience! Tried Gaviscon a while ago but did not help much so we stopped. He has been a bit better in the last month, we just still have to keep him upright often post-feeding to limit it. We think he gets it more when sitting immediately after feeding and when he doesn’t spend enough time on the mat. So far no allergies at least!

It might be time to try treatment again. They might get on better with omperazole. My daughter couldn't be moved after a feed. Moving to an upright position made her be sick so I kept her in the position she fed in for 20 minutes