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Offline kshah

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Baby not putting on weight
« on: January 16, 2006, 13:57:03 pm »
My baby is 5 months old and fully breastfeed. He is only putting on 1 ounce a week for the past month so we have been refered to the paed. But problem is that I have to wait a month - that's for an emergency appt. Please help. I don't know what to do in the meantime. This week I have been expressing giving this so I have some idea how much he is drinking and started solids. But not sure whether to make a couple of the feeds formula to bump up his weight. GP useless and says not to change anything but i can't let it go on an longer.

Any advice. At my wits end""
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Offline LindseysMom

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Baby not putting on weight
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2006, 14:40:11 pm »
Hello.  Are you single side feeding or double side feeding?  If single side feeding you may want to move to double side feeeding to see if that will help.  How often are you offering the breast?  You may want to offer more frequently and see if that helps.  I started Lindsey on solids at this time also but only because she acted like she wanted them.  Just start slowly because you still want your lo main source of nutrition to come from breastmilk.  If you have access to a lactation consultant that may be a good idea to go in an let them weigh your baby before and after feeding to see how much milk he is taking at each feed.  Thay can also help determine if maybe there is any kind of supply issue.  However, if there is a supply issue then increasing the frequency of feeds will help with that also.   http://www.kellymom.com  has helpful info about breastfeeding also.
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Offline kshah

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Baby not putting on weight
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2006, 14:53:47 pm »
thankyou for replying so quickly. i feed from both sides but he feeds one side then takes a break!! and returns to feeding 15-20 min later. From expressing and giving in a bottle he has approx 5-6 ounces every 4 hours. i have him on EASY and feed him before if he is hungry. this is what the problem is - something is wrong but don't know what.

i will leave expressing and just feed on demand again but this is what I have been doing for a few week but not much gain. could it be the quality of my milk - not enough fat?

How much baby rice should he have? I think I got abit carried away. He keeps wanting more so today I made up 3 tsp of rice and he ate it all. Is that too much?
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Offline Luisasmum

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Baby not putting on weight
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2006, 14:55:19 pm »
I have just checked dd's little yellow book and it looks like she did the same thing at the same age. She's only a littley - 5lb at birth. She started off packing on the weight and then by 5 months, she slowed down to about 30-40gms per week which is just over 1 ounce. My MCHN didn't seem at all worried about it. She always said Luisa was thriving and I trust my MCHN a lot. She's been spot on with everything. I had to go to the paedi for something else around the same time (probably reflux!!) and he also weighed Luisa, looked at her charts and said she was doing really well!

So I say, try not to worry. As long as he is not losing weight, he'll be fine. Your doctor is probably not too familiar with this kind of thing and is only referring you to a specialist just to be sure. I hope so anyway.

Keep us posted!
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Offline Luisasmum

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Baby not putting on weight
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2006, 15:05:44 pm »
Oh yeah, I forgot to add, my MIL was sure my milk was either vinegar or water or both and kept on pestering me to have my milk tested. I rang around to try and find someone to test it and EVERY expert I spoke to said there is NOTHING wrong with my milk - they didn't even need to test it to know that. A lactation consultant told me that even women in developing countries, whose nutrition is below standard, have quality milk. You would have to be eating a Mars bar and Coke three times a day to have crappy milk.

I'm not too sure about how much rice cereal. Like Lindsey'sMom said, milk should be the primary source of nutrition at this stage. I think the brand I used to feed Luisa had a quantity guide on the back of the pack that said how much to give, but they are long gone!
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Offline kshah

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Baby not putting on weight
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2006, 15:09:42 pm »
thanks for the reassurance. it's hard not to think it's my breast milk and go straight onto formula.  He seems a content little baby. He is 5 months but has not rolled over yet despite lots of tummy time. The concern is that his head circumference is only increasing slowly. He followed the 50th centile for first 2 months then gradually levelled off down to 5th. That's the worry - head growth!
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Offline misha

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Baby not putting on weight
« Reply #6 on: January 16, 2006, 15:25:21 pm »
I would go back to feeding on demand and cut back on solids. Or mix the tiny bit of rice cereal with breastmilk. The cereal is empty calories, he needs the fatty calories from bmilk. Are you offering cereal after bf? That's what we do for one feed a day.

Sounds like it's no emergency, if you're worried about his health keep bf! It's thwe best you can do while you wait. You say he's happy so I'm sure all is well.
Good job Mama! :D
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Offline kshah

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Baby not putting on weight
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2006, 15:41:59 pm »
You have just made me feel a whole lot better - thankyou!! Family keep saying give up bf and go onto formula and solids. they also keep saying to give more solids but so far everyone is saying breast milk is more important and will help with weight. Will go back to demand feeding and cut back on solids until appt with paed next month.
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Offline Luisasmum

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Baby not putting on weight
« Reply #8 on: January 17, 2006, 01:43:03 am »
Quote from: kshah
...Family keep saying give up bf and go onto formula and solids. they also keep saying to give more solids but so far everyone is saying breast milk is more important and will help with weight....


Why do they do that? My ILs kept on saying that to me but my mum and dad said not to listen. I was starting to feel really offended by it and I'm not very easily offended. My MIL even suggested that I let her daughter BF Luisa because her milk was better -  "Just look how chubby HER baby is" :shock:  :shock:  :shock: What the...? When dd decided to self wean at 9 months I put her on formula and guess what? Her weight gain stayed pretty much the same!! She never got sick either while she was having breastmilk, yet her cousin who was drinking the "better quality" breastmilk got sick all the time.
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Offline NikiB

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Baby not putting on weight
« Reply #9 on: January 19, 2006, 11:45:41 am »
Don't worry about sizes and charts! My daughter has a small head too and she's long and has always been lean, not fat, but both her dad and I have little heads and are quite slim. You know your baby best and if he's happy and sleeping ok and developing well, let him be. Sometimes professionals just like to be cautious, overly so at times. Keep up the good work of BF, I know its hard at times like this, but he'll benefit in the long run. Dont feel pressured into something you dont want to do. Just thank people for their advice and do what YOU want!
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Offline small1

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Baby not putting on weight
« Reply #10 on: January 19, 2006, 13:39:59 pm »
1oz a week, means that she is more than sustaining her weight, and all babies go through a stage of change in feeding.  Could it possibly be teething?

If you very worried you could always pay to see the specialist?

Best of luck
Ali
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