Another unhappy pedi apt.

[emilyjace]

DS is 6 months old and weighed 15 lbs. at his pedi apt. today. That's a whopping 3 oz up from last month. I'm so sad. I feel like a bad mom. We nurse on demand and have started solids (and he loves them) but I'm just so disappointed. Doc wants to run some bloodwork to rule out metabolic disorders. I'm not concerned that DS has any real medical problem but figure that we might as well rule them out so I can focus on putting weight on the boy.

She suggested adding oil to the purees that I make. Anyone do that with good effect? She also said we could add formula powder to his breastmilk bottles but we'll hold off on that for now.

At LLL today I mentioned this in passing but didn't want to talk about it. So of course it was discussed. The well-meaning leader mentioned that when her daughter was 1 she weighed less than 20 lbs and now she's a petite, healthy 18-year old. Don't get me wrong, obviously I want him to be healthy, but I want him to be a strapping, athletic boy, not petite and frail. I want a fat baby. Is that wrong?? I feel like I've been doing him wrong all this time. I won't get into our feeding strategies or nursing history, just needed to vent a bit. Thanks for listening.

[Fuamami]

Originally Posted by emilyjace

Don't get me wrong, obviously I want him to be healthy, but I want him to be a strapping, athletic boy, not petite and frail.

What are his genes like? How big are you and his father?

[Viola]

Well, I know you are just venting and I want to respect that, so take this with a grain of salt. I don't think it's wrong, per se, to have a different idea of what our children will be, but to an extent, you just acknowledge that while accepting them as things as they are. Not that you can't try and improve situations, or correct things that are going wrong, but realize you can't really fix something that isn't broken. Not that I hear you saying that, you are just venting.

I just think that weight is such a polarizing and potentially negative topic, there may be plenty of times you are disappointed at the pedi's office. My children were both large at birth, but not huge gainers, under 20 lbs at a year, and now are basically fat. High BMIs, considered in the danger of becoming overweight or overweight category. My 10 year old wants to be smaller, wants to be skinnier but at the same time doesn't understand why her friends eat junky foods and remain so thin.

I know it's probably a different issue with boys and being petite might seem like a sad thing, but I think it's really too early to tell at this point. I think a lot of it depends on genetics and what the builds are like in your family, but even if he is of the shorter and slighter frame, he can still be athletic and build muscle and all of that.

[AllyRae]

It's so different with all kids too. At 6 months old, my son was 12 lbs...he's now a tiny 39 lb 6 year old. At 6 months old, my dd1 was 14ish pounds...she is now about 33 lbs at 3 years old and is SO strong and muscular. She's been in gymnastics for several years and can do things that kids a couple years older than her can't do because her upper body strength is so great. At 6 months old, you would have thought she was going to be this tiny petite frail thing like my son, but she is a powerhouse.

So, you just don't know...

[AllyRae]

Oh, and I seem to remember a football player named Barry Sanders when I was a kid...he was fairly small as far as pro football players go, but he was awesome at what he did! He was only 5'8"!

[SunshineJ]

I'm sorry. DS was considered a failure to thrive baby/child for a few years because he just didn't gain weight easily. I will tell you this, ds was exclusively formula fed, ate everything in sight, and we had the exact same issues, so don't assume the problem is nursing related in any way. After all the tests, evaluations, etc. the best they could tell us was that he just had an incredible metabolism. I don't know if that was the case or what it was to be honest, but he was always healthy - and after all we tried I can honestly say there was nothing I could have done differently that would have made a difference.

Today he's 7 yrs old. He's of average height (which is surprising considering he comes from short stock!), and while he's slightly on the slender side (but completely out of size "slim" pants) he's very solid and muscular and looks pretty much like the other kids in his class.

Hugs! Feel better mama, it all works out the way it should.

[Kailey's mom]

DS is 6 months old and weighed 15 lbs


I wouldn't freak over that at all!!!! My dd was 15lbs at 11 months old.

[Jackies Ladybug]

i think you should check out the breastfed baby growth charts, around 6 months most babies stall out for a while and then have a big burst again between 9 months and a year.
is your doc going off of a formula baby chart or breastfed chart? most docs go off of the formula one, which shows MUCH higher weight gain in the first year (not necessarily a good thing) than the bf charts.
growth as a baby is no indicator of how big the adult will be. i was a big baby in the 90th percentile for most of babyhood up until 2nd grade when i was the tallest in my class and then i just stopped growing. i am now a petite 5' woman, just like everyone else in my family. but the doctors kept telling my mom i was going to be 6' tall because the growth charts said it.
i wouldnt worry about him unless he starts losing weight, he is still gaining so i doubt something is wrong with him and 15lbs is more than acceptable for a 6month old.

i would find a different ped if it were me.

[WC_hapamama]

My oldest ds was pretty low on the charts as a toddler and preschooler, really up until he hit puberty. Now at 12 he's about average.

He'll never be a linebacker, but he's not a hobbit either. He's long and lean.

[mandib50]

moved to life with a babe

[Anastasiya]

My dd was 19 pounds at almost 18 months. She was perfectly healthy. I don't get the doc's fuss over a 15 pound 6 month old.

PS - Now she's 39 pounds at 5, still perfectly healthy.

[PoppyMama]

I did mix a small amount of coconut oil with food.

[CookAMH]

Originally Posted by PoppyMama

I did mix a small amount of coconut oil with food.

I agree with what has been said about varied sizes of healthy babies. Since your LO is eating food, coconut oil would be a very beneficial thing to add to his food. It's important for the foods they eat to have a good deal of healthy fats and coconut oil is #1 imo after bm. My 8mo DS LOVES LOVES eating that off a spoon. He just laps it up and it's a wonderful food to eat!

My DS has gained very slowly the last three months. I wonder about my milk supply sometimes but I know he's healthy and solid. He was big at birth so I think he's leveling out.

[Shahbazin]

Is he hitting milestones? Is he gaining weight steadily? What do your family's growth patterns look like? I got a lot of flack from the ped about my daughters' weight gain (both hit 15 pounds at a year old), but after considering that DH & I are not big people, & a lot of our relatives hit big growth spurts around HS/college (my dad entered his JR year of HS at 5'2" & 85 lbs (then grew to 5'4" & 125 by graduation - he was on the foot ball team, too) - I was 50 lbs at 8 yrs old, eventually grew to 5'4"), & our DDs were hitting all milestones & growing on a curve - just their own curve - the ped relaxed, & said they were healthy kids, just on the smaller side. They eat loads of food, full of fats, but they're super active & just burn it all up.

[GoestoShow]

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Edited by GoestoShow - 1/4/11 at 9:07am

[emilyjace]

Op here--

Thanks for all of your feedback. In response to some of your inquiries, I'm 5'9" and DH is 6 foot. We've both got an athletic build.

Also, (and I don't know why I failed to include this info) DS has totally fallen off his growth chart. He was 10 lbs 4 oz at his (home!) birth. Of course he couldn't maintain that trajectory but 2 months ago he was in the 25-50th percentile, now he's in the 10th. Last visit for height he was in the 95th, now he's 75th. Head is solidly 75th. He's amazing. So so so active, smiling and laughing all the time. (In LLL last night one of the leaders said something funny and everyone started laughing, including him!) I'm just so in love and I don't want him to be starving!

Again, thank you for your support. It's lovely.

[kamane18]

DS also went from like the 50th% at his 4 month visit to the 25% at his 6 month (he was like 16'2 at 6.5 months). I haven't weighed him since then but he's obviously had a major growth spurt. Still long and slender (he's over 75% for height) but a bit more filled out now. My doc wasn't concerned at his 6 month visit, saying it's common for that to happen before the 6 month (and 9 month) growth spurt and when babies start getting more active and mobile.

But adding coconut oil to his purees is a GREAT idea. Such a good, healthy fat for him to have any way. What food is he eating? Can you focus on high fat stuff like avocado, egg yolk, etc? And then add the coconut oil to stuff like sweet potato and the like?

[boobs4milk]

have you read this?

http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/bf/scales.asp

my oldest dd was 31" 15lb 14 oz @ 1 yr. she was 7.1lb and 20 1/2" at birth. i caught so much h#ll over her size and she was ff. she's now a 6'2" 170 lb basketball AND academic star! now i know that kids don't follow a chart and i look at the kid to assess their growth, not just the scales.

[Italiamom]

Nothing to add about weight, but poor you, mama! It has to be really REALLY frustrating. Try not to correlate your skills as a mom with the plumpness of your babe. It sounds like you're doing as much as you can, which is all any of us can do!

[wombatclay]

If he seems healthy and happy, he probably is. Certainly get any tests that might give you more peace of mind, but don't worry too much if it's "just" a matter of size.

My own story... dd1 started at 9lbs6oz and stayed in the 95+% for both height and weight. She is 4yo now and a perfectly proportional but big kiddo still pegged in the 95+% for height/weight.

DD2 arrived at 9lbs even and prromptly fell like a stone through the breastfeeding growth charts. Our family practice dr wasn't worried in large part because dd2 was healthy and hitting milestones. She did say that if dd2's height/weight % continued to fall after her first birthday then we should consider tests. Well, she was at the 10% for hehight/weight at her one year visit and has remained on that curve since then. She is a bunfle of energy but still wears 12mo clothing at close to 3yo.

DS was 9lbs8oz at birth and is following in dd1's footsteps in that he has remained in the 95+% for height/weight so far. In fact, he is wearing 12mo clothing that is only a bit smaller than dd2's wardrobe! And they can share diapers.

We have learned that in my mom's family there have been one or two "petite" people every generation. So even though most of my relatives and dh's relatives are big/tall there is obviously a genetic combo in the mix that results in a smaller look. So even though you and your dh are bigger, ask around... there may be others in the family tree that can reassure you. And as I'm sure you know... height/weight (especially before a year) have little to do with how active, athletic, healthy a child may be. Think about the builds you'd see in football versus baseball versus soccer versus wrestling versus basketball.

I hope the testing shows a healthy kiddo and that you can put this worry aside.