He has just slipped down to the 3rd percentile... suggestions NEEDED, I think I might not be too far off losing it!!

[mum2fred]

My almost 7m.o DS has always been on the small side, normally somewhere between the 17th and 22nd percentiles. This past month he has slipped down to concerning levels.

We are struggling with weaning, as the little man is JUST. NOT. INTERSTED. We are lucky to get 1/2 a normal feed in his mouth, and have struggled to establish lunch (breakfast and dinner are much easier). I have tried every food under the sun numberous times (As we started introducing food at 5 months on advice of HV)and many different food/milk combinations. He likes pumpkin, sweet potato, most fruits, vegemite (yep, his dad is an aussie), rice crackers, crushed up rusks, baby bereal, parsnip (he'll tolerate that one)and LOVES yoghurt. SO it's not an issue of him liking food - it seems ot be an issue with getting him to take a reasonable quantity.

Its quite distressing and whilst I put on my 'happy happy' face during meals, I worry that I radiate concern and frustration.

ANYWAY - if anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate them so much.

ALSO - if anyone has any good books they could recommend on weaning - I would really like them. Not so much for recipes or information - but I would like to understand the 'psychology' behind what I'm doing andwhat he is thinking (For example - we had sleeping problems up until a month ago, then I read Ferber, who I found explained it so brilliantly, that with an adapted version of what he suggested we were able ot get DS sleeping through the night with no problems whatsoever)

teething is an appetite buster, make sure he gets his milk, he will get most of his nutrients from his milk (breast milk or formula) and as long as he is not lethargic or sick it will be ok. Believe me, this is the easy phase, at around 13 months they don't eat anything, not because they don't want to, but because they don't have to (they learn to say no!!!!)

Good Luck.

Have you thought of maybe stopping the weaning for a few weeks and start again, just to give yourself some time to breathe?

interesting article if you want to know more about theories of the 'psychology' of eating

wow. some of this food sounds delicious (mmmm... butter) so I hope not too much of the spoon makes a detour to my mouth before DS.

I really like the idea behinf BLW, and I think that if I had a kid who was a bit closer to normal weight, I would give it a go. BUt I do give him a lot of finger food at the moment (encouraging him to experiment) and to be honest, not a lot goes in. I have more success with feeding him myself so for the time being, whilst the weight is such a concern, I think I will continue this. Maybe in the future.

And for that same reason, I don't know if I should give weaning a break. This thread has given me a tremendous boost, the lunchtime was much happier than normal and the proof was in the result!!

It's funny how thiese things work out isn't it? THe smallest person in our family is 5'6 and DS weight is significantly lower than either DP or myself were at his age.

But my DP is 5'7 (and a half he will claim) and a wonderfully active, smart and attractive man. So if DS turns out to be like his dad, I would have no complaints!!

oi honeybunny are you still on the same email address??

dh and i discussing last night hwo we havent seen you for ages - email came bouncing back!

ds is tiny too. He's 2. 9th-ish centile for weight, just off the charts for height. He's never been big (just over 6lb at birth (term, well, 38 weeks)) and is pretty skinny and terribly active - and very healthy indeed. His eating is erratic - sometimes very good, sometimes not. But the last thing we want to do it make an Issue out of it. We just try to feed him nutritious but calorific foods (lots of olive oil, good bread with thickish layers of butter, full fat mlk, creme fraiche, as well as fruit, veg, pasta etc.) I am 5'1 and dh is 5'2, so I take it a good part of it is genetic. The paediatrician has said there is no sign of a physical problem, but ds can have growth hormone later if he gets bullied at school - but dh 'wears' his height, or lack of it, so well that I'm not overly concerned - he'll have a strong role model in his short but confident dad.

Echo the recommendation for the Carlos Gonzales book "My child won't eat"....having read his book as well as heard him speak at the LLL conference last year I cannot recommend it enough.

Hi honeybunny - yes we are both keen to push up his adult height (predicted about 5' 4" , same as me atm ) as it is such a huge social deal - it's a bit like age or weight with women, if a man is small it's the first thing that's commented upon as an attribute. Just somewhere normal would be nice . No hurry for treatment apparently so being measured every 3mo just now for 12-18mo