For everyone who started baby on solids because the weight gain was tailing off

[mloo]

Did it work? I mean, did your baby actually go back up the centiles? Did baby get anywhere close to the percentile that they had been on previously?

I was told to start DS on solids at 17 weeks because he had fallen from 25th to 9th percentile.
He is now 9 yrs old. And he's still pretty much on the 9th percentile.

I was told to start ds2 on solids at 20 weeks because he'd fallen from the 9th to the 2nd centile. I ignored it and carried on BF for another 3 weeks by which time he'd fallen to the 0.4th centile. At 23 weeks he started solids and then he started to gain weight again but now still follows the 0.4th centile. I wish I'd started weaning sooner because then he might not have fallen so far down the centiles. On the other hand ds1 went from the 25th to the 9th and after weaning went quickly back to the 25th, by the age of 2 he was then on the 50th and has stayed there ever since (aged 4), but then ds1 eats like a horse and is 75th centile for height. ds2 has no appetite to speak of and is on the 2nd centile for height so both are in proportion.

I was advised to start DS on solids at 22 weeks if he has continued to drop centiles from 18 weeks - when he was last weighed.

He is 21 weeks now and appears perfectly healthy, I think I will be carrying on with my exclusive bf. I also won't be weighing him at 22 weeks because I don't want to be bullied into weaning - he is fine! But probably hasn't picked up the weight gain as much as they would like, because he has had a cold this week.

I started ds1 on solids at 21 weeks as he dropped from tracking the 50th centile for his first 3.5 months to the 9th - only gaining 6oz in 7 weeks.
He took to solids like a dream, and has now started climbing up the centiles again - making up for lost time - currently on the 25th at 26 weeks .

It's worth pointing out the that the typical growth pattern for exclusively breastfed babies is rapid gain for the first 4 months or so, followed by a slowing down in the rate of growth. On the standard charts (which are not based on ebf babies, but all babies regardless of feeding method) this can look like they are 'dropping off' their centile.
There are exclusively breastfed charts that can be used instead and might give reassurance.

There's always variation between babies though- my DS clung to the 9th centile (born on the 50th) throughout 6 months of ebf, then shot straight up to the 50th on weaning, but this is apparently not typical -my HV was quite surprised by the graph!

Should add then that the growth chart I referred to was the ebf one. Also, position on growth chart not the only reason I weaned of course, others being the usual biological indicators, acid-reflux (symptoms were eased straight away on introducing solids), and that in the later weeks he just never seemed satisfied with milk alone.

Sorry, wasn't meaning to get at you, Mummytomonty, but sometimes people are encouraged to wean early when in fact their babies are developing perfectly normally, it's just the charts are being poorly interpreted.

I did plot mine on the WHO charts, but he still made a significant drop on those, but even those charts are based on babies who have been exclusively breastfed for at least the first 4 months not 6 months as per WHO recommendations. This is because there is not enough data to make charts based on babies who are exclusively BF for 6 months and it makes me think that this plateau from 4-6 months is incredibly common (and even flatter than it looks on the WHO charts). Within my own immediate circle of friends I know another 3 people whose babies stopped gaining weight from 4-6 months with exclusive BF on demand but those all started out higher up on the charts than mine so even though they followed a similar pattern, they don't look quite so tiny as ds2 does now.

My DD isnt on a low centile - opposite end infact but I have noticed this slow down in growth recently. She is ebf (and very much demand fed (groan) at 24 weeks.

At 20 weeks she was 21 pounds and off the scale. At 24 weeks I dont think she has really put on anything this month and come back down - havent got her weighed just stuck her on our scales with me the other day.

That's interesting, I really didn't think I'd be in such a minority.

Okay, so starting solids actually does make a difference to weight gain, in most cases.

I was told by the head health visitor that dd was a great weight, doing really well etc when we saw her at 5 months. She then asked what she was eating and I said just breastmilk. SHe was horrified and had never heard of the 6 month thing (this was 5 years ago). I explained to her the NHS guidelines and WHO. She pulled out the leaflets they give out and I pointed out they were dated many years ago and she needed to get more recent ones to give out.
She said dd should be eating and I asked why as she had just said she was doing was great - no answer for that.

I did complain to my surgery who said she advised all the hvs and gps on weaning and bf and then complained to my trust who said they cant force them to get their training updated on breastfeeding and weaning.