6 mos and gaining little weight

[octobermoon]

should i be concerned? i heard the average weight gain for breastfed babies after 6 mos is about 4-5 oz per week. DS was spot on for weight gain until about a little over month ago. he hit 17lbs and has stayed there - OK he gained like 2 oz but i'm starting to worry a little. he's EBF, i nurse him on demand and he nurses about every two hours and he recently started nursing both breasts sometimes. we co-sleep and he nurses several times at night as well. he doesn't seem sick at all and is very happy. he's not skinny, he has a tummy and everyone comments on what a big boy he is. i haven't been taking him to the ped for well baby visits since he has seemed fine plus we aren't vaxing and my ped really thinks we should so i'm not comfortable taking him there. i have lost about 6 lbs myself, don't know if that matters. any advice? should i take him to the doctor?

[Ambishop19]

I would think he's fine. 4-5 oz a week is the average, but that means there will babies gaining more than that average and babies gaining less. Especially with you nursing on demand, I would say he's fine. Is he getting more mobile? Sitting up, rolling over, etc?

[Pandme]

no, 4-5 oz. a week is theaverage from 4-6 months, according to kellymom.

After 6 months is 2-4 a week.

http://kellymom.com/babyconcerns/gro...ight-gain.html

btw, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. He may plateau a bit. They gain in fits and starts.

[octobermoon]

oh right! i see 2-4oz a week better but he would still be behind even that. although when i add it all up he's still in the normal range as far as what he currently weighs cause he was at the greater end of the average before...... and he is definitely sitting up and kicking his feet, rolling over, trying to crawl etc a lot more these days. plus when we are out which has been very often lately he is so distracted he won't eat. IDK if that is a contributing factor or not. i feel better though, thanks, keep the replies coming.

[Pandme]

Originally Posted by octobermoon

oh right! i see 2-4oz a week better but he would still be behind even that. although when i add it all up he's still in the normal range as far as what he currently weighs cause he was at the greater end of the average before...... and he is definitely sitting up and kicking his feet, rolling over, trying to crawl etc a lot more these days. plus when we are out which has been very often lately he is so distracted he won't eat. IDK if that is a contributing factor or not. i feel better though, thanks, keep the replies coming.

Trust me, you have nothing to worry about.

Those are averages.

My son gained like 8 ounces a week up till 4 months. He had doubled birthweight and had two extra pounds on top of that. Then from 4-6 months he gained 6 oz. Total. That's 0.7 ounces a week. Me ped was unconcerned. She was right, he had tripled by 11 months. Never a big kid (except at 4 months he was good-sized, 75th percentile), but growing as he was meant to grow. But he's genetically a totally skinny 3 year old now.

You don't have a weight gain problem, I promise you.

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Ethan has leveled off too. We were experiencing HUGE gains from birth til about 4 months, like 8-16 oz per week. It was nuts. He was off the charts in everything. He was only in each size for 3-5 weeks, and by 4.5 months he was in 12 month clothes. But now he's slowed WAY down. He's still getting taller, but he's only gained maybe 4 ounces in the past month. I'm not really worried, though. He's happy, playful, and eats well. DH and I were both stringbeans as kids (and I never really filled out much..!), so I'm not surprised DS is heading that way as well. If he were starving, I'm sure he'd let you know!!

[octobermoon]

Originally Posted by diana_of_the_dunes

Ethan has leveled off too. We were experiencing HUGE gains from birth til about 4 months, like 8-16 oz per week. It was nuts. He was off the charts in everything. He was only in each size for 3-5 weeks, and by 4.5 months he was in 12 month clothes. But now he's slowed WAY down. He's still getting taller, but he's only gained maybe 4 ounces in the past month. I'm not really worried, though. He's happy, playful, and eats well. DH and I were both stringbeans as kids (and I never really filled out much..!), so I'm not surprised DS is heading that way as well. If he were starving, I'm sure he'd let you know!!

my DH and I were total string beans as kids too. so maybe our boy will be one.

[Pandme]

Originally Posted by octobermoon

my DH and I were total string beans as kids too. so maybe our boy will be one.

Yup, can't fight genetics!

When my kid was BFing less, we were drowning everything in fats to get him to gain weight. Nothing ever worked. That's how I know it was never a breastmilk issue.

[bezark]

I wouldn't worry. DS was 23lb by 3 or 4 months, and at 12 months he's now 25lb. He can still wear clothes that he wore at the end of last summer.
He's happy and healthy and still nurses just as much as he ever did, he's just growing up rather than out. He's still chubby, but he's very obviously thinning out.

I'm not sure where the change came from, though. He didn't start crawling until almost 9 months, and while he cruises like crazy, he still isn't quite walking yet.