Almost 7 month old not gaining weight

[ENMS]

DD will be 7 months old in a week. I've had supply issues since the beginning because of her tongue tie, but we were able to continue to BF exclusively up until now. Every time I'd notice stalled growth, or DD being more unhappy than usual, I'd pump after feeds and top her off with the EBM and that would take care of increasing my supply.

However this does not seem to work anymore. She is exactly the same weight she was 4 weeks ago (nov. 23). I tried this week-end not to pump and top her off (thinking my supply would have adjusted by now) but she was hungry all week-end. Cranky and not sleeping well and not very wet diapers. I've tried feeding her more often (every 2h) or stretching her feeds so she takes a good feed every 4h.

She has started crawling on November 11 so she's spending more calories than she used to. But is it ok that she is not gaining anymore at all?

I'm considering introducing formula. I really hoped not to have to but at this point I'm not sure what to do. I eat oatmeal, drink lots of water, take 8 domperidone per day. Fenugreek and blessed thistle did not work for me.

If I do introduce formula, wondering what is the 'best' way to approach this as I really do want to continue our nursing Relationship. Should I replace one feed with formula, but keep all other feeds BF? Or should I keep all feeds BF and just top her up once in a while with formula? I'm scared that by introducing formula my supply will dip even more. I really would like to continue to BF her until at least 1 year. I can live with supplementing with formula, but I wouldn't that to ruin everything.

WDYT?

Thanks!

[lauradj]

Oh I know that battle well.  In my case I had no choice but to supplement and then switch to formula as I developed thyroid problems related to pregnancy.  I was able to EBF for the first 7 months.  At first I offered one bottle a day that was half BM half formula and I kept pumping so I had a good supply of milk in the freezer to use.  I did this for about a week, and then I made that half/half bottle all formula.  At that point I learned it was thyroid related so I started giving him bottles for every feed, making them all half/half for as long as possible. 
HTH!

[ENMS]

Thanks Laura! It's a good idea to make the bottles half EBM / half formula.

I spoke with my LC yesterday and she suggested pushing more solids that have a lot of calories. She's loving exploring solids but she's not eating much yet. We're doing BLW but supplementing with a few things spoon-feeding.

[becj86]

L stopped gaining weight with new physical activity and then started again, not sure if it was for this long though :-/ I too would push high calorie solids (is it since introducing solids that she's not gaining?) Solids is still tiny amounts 1-2x per day or more than that? Just wondering if cutting back solids would help.

[jessmum46]

Recs here are not to weigh any more frequently than 2 monthly between 6-12 months, precisely because weight gain can peak and drop with physical development, growth spurts and periods of illness.  I wouldn't be hugely worried if she is otherwise well and happy in herself, and has previously been gaining satisfactorily. Rather than dropping off on solids (I think you said she wasn't eating much anyway?) I'd personally agree with the LC and Bec at this age that provided you are giving ample chance for her to take the milk she needs, and offering milk an hour or so before solids, then I don't see why higher calorie solids can't make up any additional calorie need.  There's nothing 'special' about formula calories in that sense.  If you particularly want extra milk in her diet then perhaps you could put formula on cereal but keep her milk feeds to just breastfeeding?  I know that sometimes here it can seem like there can perhaps be an over-bias toward milk for under-1s, I don't doubt that it is absolutely important but also that solids can and arguably should be a good part of an LOs intake at this age. 

[michaeljacknnugg]

Yes, I think weighing her too often may be causing unnecessary worry.

It did ring a bell though - my friend's lo who had tongue tie also didn't gain a lot of weight. Higher calorie solids were recommended. You can add butter and cheese to foods with abandon now, unless she is dairy free? In that case oils, avocado etc may be the way to go.

[ENMS]

Yes, I know I am weighing her too often

But we struggled so much with supply and weight etc because of her tongue tie, and often I don't notice my supply slowly dipping and the only to tell so far before the supply is really really low was to weigh her weekly. That way, i would catch early on if my supply was going down and I was able to start pumping and topping her off, yk? But now, even this pumping and topping her off was not cutting it which I assume initially was milk supply related.

But you all have a good point, I think solids is the way to go. I don't really wish for her to get extra milk, I really just want her to satisfy her hunger and provide enough food for her to grow well. I wish she would take more solids, I don't know if it has to do with her tongue tie, but she loves exploring and chewing foods but she swallows almost nothing. I've tried spoon feeding her to help get more calories into her but it's not a success either. It's been a month since we started solids now I would have thought she would catch on sooner. We also have tons of restrictions unfortunately for solid foods - she is sensitive to dairy (she can now tolerate cheese and yogurt through my milk but milk and cream makes her spit up tons), and her brother has a congenital enzyme deficiency which makes it difficult for him to digest starch and sucrose. Since there is a 50% chance she may have it as well we were taking the approach of doing as if she has it for now, but it's restricting us so much, I've made a decision to slowly start introducing some of these foods now since I do want her to increase her weight. I tried porridge this morning and am thinking of trying banana tomorrow. I've offered avocado often since the last month but so far she's not a fan