Trouble gaining weight

[maciaccia]

Hi there,
I'm hoping that someone out there has some really great nuggets of advice for me and my family. We have a couple of things going on here regarding food. My fraternal twins Rose and Lucas are just about 13 months old. Yay! It's been a challenging year, juggling their needs with my 3 yr old's needs (and, oh, yes, my own...;-) Rose and Lucas were born by cesarean at 39 weeks and weighed 6 lb 7oz and 6lb 14oz, respectively. Off to a great start I think. Well...somewhere around the 6 month mark I noticed that my son was not gaining weight very well. He began to dropped percentiles and "fell" off the chart at one point. This wouldn't normally concern me too much, however, Lucas has been an extremely high need baby...very fussy, not sleeping or eating very well. He's definitely sensitive to dairy, which I cut from my diet when he was 6 months. He's been tested for other allergies, but nothing is apparent. We likes to eat table food and I continue to breastfeed Luke, but still at almost 13 months, he's a little peanut. This could be heredity (I'm small and so is my husband), but I just am not sure that something greater is causing him to be so small. Has anyone as experience with this? I've given you a very abbreviated version, but am happy to answer ?s.
The other issue: I'm feeling depleted as a nursing mom, and would like to start weaning the twins, but it feels like there's no end in sight. Neither of the twins likes milk (cow's, goat's, soy or rice). How can I get then the nutrients they need, while gently weaning?
Thanks for any input you have!!
m

[Valerieg]

My two LO's began showing weight-gain issues as soon as they began to move- crawl, walk, etc. They nursed great, ate great, and both were taken for bloodwork and testing to see if there was any medical reason why they were so small. I'm 5'2" and around 105 lbs when I'm not PG and my DH was my size until he graduated high school (though now he's 6'4" and 200 lbs).

For us, there was no medical reason. I just have small skinny kids (DD is in the 3rd and 5th percentiles for height and weight and DS is in the 70th for height and 3rd for weight).

IMO it doesn't hurt to rule out medical issues because it'll ease your mind. But if you're small and your DH is small then chances are your children are just meant to be smaller. Someone has to be at that end of the curve.

We tried a lot of different things for weight gain- more butter, cheese, etc. Avocado. We did what we could to get high-calorie and high-fat into their diets. Even with that, no real change. Both of my kids nursed until they self-weaned at 18 mo.

As far as wanting to wean, you have to do what is right for you and your family. But try not to fall into the trap that once you wean from mommy milk you must replace with another milk source. This country places a major emphasis on cow's milk, but, once weaned from mommy mammals do not NEED milk. However, milk does provide calcium, protein, vit D, and calories in a nice convenient (quick and easy) little "package" which is why I think a lot of people go that route. But you can get those things through other foods and that's what we've done here mostly. I still give my children milk but I've made an effort to get the calcium, protein, vit D, and calories elsewhere. In our house milk is just a beverage- like water. Just another choice and not a requirement. But I don't let my kids have more than 16 oz because it can interfere with iron absorption.

I know that's a lot. Let me know if you have questions!

[maciaccia]

Trouble gaining weight

Thanks so much for your advice, Valerie. I feel like I took the same approach as you with my oldest, but somehow I started losing sight of the perspective I once had before twins. It's good to touch base with that again.
Take Care,
Melissa

[kjoy2]

Everything Valerie said!

It's quite common for weight gain to slow or even stop once the babes start moving until they are 18+months.

My girls are little peanuts. They were born full term, 7lbs, and were around 18-19 lbs at a year. Now, at 21 months, I'd bet they are around 21-22 lbs. I'm not particularly hefty, and my MIL & SIL are petite little things. So there ya go.

Does Lucas seem okay developmentally? We've never had any concern about our girls' sizes b/c they seem happy, healthy, & bright (and our pediatricians were never concerned, either). If you are concerned, though, better to test for a cause than to worry.

In our house, I like to rely more on hemp milk than cows' milk. Hemp milk has lots of naturally occurring essential fatty acids as well as some of the fortified vitamins present in cows' milk. It also tastes better than soy, rice, almond, etc., in my opinion.

Take care!