8 month old not gaining weight

[theduchesse]

My 8 month old DS went for his 8 month health review recently and the HV was concerned about his weight. He had put on a small amount of weight but had dropped from the 50th percentile to the 25th percentile. He was weaned at about 5 months and at about 6 months I stopped breastfeeding him during the day (very much against his will) when I went back to work. He was a bottle refuser for a while but now will take some formula milk throughout the day from a cup and is breast fed morning and night. He eats porridge for breakfast, a fruit pot and one or 2 savoury pots each day (we are lazy and feed him jars). Our HV is rubbish and didn't really offer any advice but we have started to give him a yoghurt each day and to add some cream to his morning porridge and sometimes to his fruit.

He was weighed again today (2 weeks later) and had lost 20 grams. Does anyone have any advice of what we should do. We are going back to have him weighed again in 2 weeks and in the mean time don't really know what to do. He does actually eat what seemed to us to be a fine amount of food. He is very happy, healthy and active and I don't know whether to be worried or not.

Thanks if you have read this far.

Can i ask what percentile he started on at birth?

I am no health pro but have 2 dc, and my dd had reflux so I had a slightly similar issue.

First, I would say relax on the weighing, I don't think (IMHO) it does anyone much good, esp every 2 weeks. 20grams is not much- if you think perhaps last time you had him weighed perhaps he'd just eaten lunch/not yet had a poo, then this time maybe he had not eaten yet and already had a poo....? I would not be hung up on 20g.

If you are concerned, perhaps you could ditch the jars and give him some better quality home cooked fresh food?

When my dd wasn't gaining weight my hv also suggested adding cream to her food. This was before she was diagnosed, so it was simply to make dd gain weight. Personally I find that a ridiculous solution, I take the attitude of treat the cause, not the symptom, and as I say it turned out there was a valid reason she was not gaining weight. The suggestion gets me quite angry, I know weight gain is the aim at 8m but simply from eating a high fat content food.....I don't think that can be as good as it is suggested. I'm happy to be corrected though.

What do you think about your ds? If you hadn't had him weighed, would you have been concerned? Usually, Mum knows best but just struggles to find the confidence to realise that. HTH and please anyone correct me if I am wrong!!

Thanks for your replies. He was in the 50th percentile at birth and basically tracked that more or less for 5 months. My instinct is not to be worried. He seems fine and has just started crawling and cruising so using up lots of energy. I agree about the too frequent weighing. Our hv wanted us to go back after a week but I thought that was ridiculous. This time I suggested a month but was told I should come back in 2 weeks. Argggh. Why do they manage to make me feel like i'm doing something wrong.

I see your point about the cream however I had realised he was mainly eating fruit and veg before so maybe a bit more fat would be good.

It's good to hear that not everyone thinks its the dire problem hv seem to think it is.

Is he having much protein? Can he eat a proper meal with you in the evenings maybe? If he's not having much milk now, and breastfeeding has been replaced with fruit and veg, then the amount of calories/fat/nutrients he is getting has possibly dipped a bit.

I'd give him lots of cheese and yoghurt to make up for the milk.

I agree with Rubirosa, you might need to look at his protein intake and this would be much easier if he ate the same meals with you.
Your description sounds spot on if he is now moving so much, he's bound to burn off loads of energy!!!

Sounds like you're doing a great job, don't let anyone make you feel like you are doing anything wrong, have the confidence I mentioned- to be able to say to the hv, no thank you I really don't want to get too stressed over this when I really feel he is a happy, healthy child.

The hv I had when I had my ds (not same one as dd) even slightly discouraged us from weighing our los too often as she thought some people had a tendency to become a bit obsessed. I just liked to write down every ounce, cm and movement, oh the things I used to do when I had time!!!

I agree with offering yoghurt and cheese due to reduced milk intake.

I'm also no medical professional, but mother of 2dds! Dd1 dropped from just below 50th percentile to 25th around 8 months. She then went on to drop to 9th where she can still be found at 3.4 years! Dd is all skinny arms and legs with 2 chubby cheeks and a double chin . Dp's family are all really skinny no matter what they eat till their mid thirties then fight the flab.