If your child just was sick it would be totally normal to drop on the charts even a mild cold can do that!
DD was underweight, and we had a lot of trouble with her weight early on, which made us really worried specifically about weight. However, when she was just over 18 months old she had a cold and we took her to the Dr for a rash, Dr weighed her, and she had LOST weight. I nearly panicked, but the doctor told me this:
1. Between age 1 and 2 many children stop growing for a while, or even lose weight, after they become more physically active, they see it ALL the time.
AND
2. After even a mild illness a child may lose weight.
In the case of 1., it can take a while, but all of a sudden the child will usually go through a growth spurt. It is also very common that they might stand still in weight while having a growth spurt in height.
In the case of 2., you'd expect the child to be "back on track" within a month of two.
Remember, toddlers rarely starve, so the actual concern with weight dropping off (and not catching up) should be that something is wrong, and tests should be done. Cow's milk wouldn't help anyway. I thought that was an unusually bad suggestion, as filling up on COW'S MILK is common problem with toddlers without much of an appetite.
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html
This page has loads of good info about extended breastfeeding:
Quote:
"Human milk expressed by mothers who have been lactating for >1 year has significantly increased fat and energy contents, compared with milk expressed by women who have been lactating for shorter periods. During prolonged lactation, the fat energy contribution of breast milk to the infant diet might be significant."
-- Mandel 2005
* "Breast milk continues to provide substantial amounts of key nutrients well beyond the first year of life, especially protein, fat, and most vitamins."
-- Dewey 2001
* In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breastmilk provides:
o 29% of energy requirements
o 43% of protein requirements
o 36% of calcium requirements
o 75% of vitamin A requirements
o 76% of folate requirements
o 94% of vitamin B12 requirements
o 60% of vitamin C requirements
-- Dewey 2001
* It's not uncommon for weaning to be recommended for toddlers who are eating few solids. However, this recommendation is not supported by research. According to Sally Kneidel in "Nursing Beyond One Year" (New Beginnings, Vol. 6 No. 4, July-August 1990, pp. 99-103.):
Some doctors may feel that nursing will interfere with a child's appetite for other foods. Yet there has been no documentation that nursing children are more likely than weaned children to refuse supplementary foods. In fact, most researchers in Third World countries, where a malnourished toddler's appetite may be of critical importance, recommend continued nursing for even the severely malnourished (Briend et al, 1988; Rhode, 1988; Shattock and Stephens, 1975; Whitehead, 1985). Most suggest helping the malnourished older nursing child not by weaning but by supplementing the mother's diet to improve the nutritional quality of her milk (Ahn and MacLean. 1980; Jelliffe and Jelliffe, 1978) and by offering the child more varied and more palatable foods to improve his or her appetite (Rohde, 1988; Tangermann, 1988; Underwood, 1985). |
All of this is copied from Kellymom.
Hope this helps!
