Please help, dh and doc are against my continued BFing

[Penny4Them]

My DS (now 17 mos) has gained 1.5 lbs in the past 5 weeks, but didn't gain any weight b/t his year and 15 mo appt. His ped told me to stop nursing and give him cow milk. Doh! no way! (Couldn't help but wonder if a calf wasn't gaining well if a vet would suggest giving the calf human milk! LOL!) At any rate, my Ds doesn't really have much interest in anything other than crackers or homemade yogurt, and a few bites of toast or bagel. Once in a while he'll eat a few bites of apple or applesauce, but he's completely gone off veggies. I'm concerned, but trying to trust his wisdom and needs.

We did BLW as a way of introducing foods and at 12 mos he seemed to be eating more than he is now. He hasn't shown any signs of allergies. He LOVES nursing and still wakes at least once a night to feed. (Doctor and DH disapprove of that too.) My hubby wants me to stop nursing too and makes undermining comments about the fact he still nurses. (This is really tough on me as I don't want to stop nursing for my son's sake until he's at least 2, but want to respect my hubby's opinion too.)

Am I doing the right thing to continue nursing? Should I worry that he's nursing so much at this age? I don't (Personally) know any other moms nursing beyond 12 mos so I'm not sure what to expect. Am I making mistakes? Should I refuse nursing and keep offering solids? I'd SO appreciate hearing from you moms who can help me figure this out. I believe in BFing and want to continue but I feel like so much is against me right now.

Thanks for your help.

[coyotemist]

When my 9 year old was about 9 months he started dropping weight. His asthma was awful, he had reflux, we were in and out of the hospital and the pulmonologist's office. As he started losing growth percentiles (if they lose 3 they are considered failure to thrive) we started with Pediasure on top of the breast milk and table foods.

By 18 months he stopped losing and started gaining again. Of course, my husband supported the breast feeding (he was our second extended nurser, we'd had such a beautiful relationship with our older DD), but that worked for us.

With a doctor's prescription, WIC covered the Pediasure (he was drinking 3 cans a day, plus breastfeeding, plus all the table foods I could get into him). We could not have afforded that much otherwise.

My son wasn't entirely well until we saw a naturopath and did several things to help him. He still has occasional issues, but is now the healthiest of our family of 5!

[tibeca]

Cow's milk is less nutritious than breastmilk (including calorie and fat content). There's no logical reason to switch to cow's milk as it won't increase weight gain, and certainly doesn't offer other immunities. Further, it is common for reduced weight gain as babies become mobile.

More information on cow vs breastmilk can be found here. http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/so...ler-foods.html

There are plenty of posts to this affect.

Trust your baby, trust your self. Your baby will know when he's ready for more solids.

[katelove]

Originally Posted by Penny4Them

My hubby wants me to stop nursing too and makes undermining comments about the fact he still nurses. (This is really tough on me as I don't want to stop nursing for my son's sake until he's at least 2, but want to respect my hubby's opinion too.)

Does your husband explain why he wants you to stop BFing? I agree that resepecting your husband's views on parenting is very important. But, I alao think that you are righ to keep BFing your baby so I would probably try to address his specific concerns so that he can be supportive.

[anj_rn]

So you stated that he did not gain much weight, but what are his height & weight percentiles? My DD did not gain a lot of weight over that last 2 months, but she is at the 50% line for both height and weight (before she was at 50% for ht and 75% for weight). Also what are his growing patterns, my DD fattens up then grows long and repeats. My DS is on the 10% for weight and eats more than I do (it is all healthy, he has a very high metabolism).

The only thing whole milk has in it is more protein, which you can counter with protein in his food. MY DS at that age was very picky about texture. Once we figured out what textures to avoid, he ate just fine.

If you feel like being snarky, you can do what I do. "I promise I will stop breastfeeding before my child reaches puberty."

[konayossie]

s, mama! You are providing your DS with the very best nutrition you can. I can sympathize with the pressure you are feeling to wean to fix his lack of eating/weight gain (except that my DH is supportive), as our primary ped has made a number of noises about weaning. I've just stopped telling the full truth about how much nursing we do. The pediatric GI (whom I trust more when it comes to kids with eating/nutrition issues anyway) agrees with me that weaning him just seems likely to leave him with NO guaranteed source of calories.

Besides that, it sounds like DS is gaining great!! I would be over the moon with 1.5 lbs in 5 weeks!

I'm sorry your DH is unsupportive.That would make it so much harder to keep going against the "authorities." Have you provided him with the WHO & AAP recommendations for extended nursing? If he's pressuring you b/c of the dr's recommendations, then see if you can show him how little dr.'s know about breastfeeding via school/training (and how they often distrust the natural process of breastfeeding even if they nominally "admit" it's the best...).

[accountclosed2]

Fat and Energy Contents of Expressed Human Breast Milk in Prolonged Lactation

Dror Mandel, MD, MHA, Ronit Lubetzky, MD, Shaul Dollberg, MD, FACN, Shimon Barak, MD, Francis B. Mimouni, MD, FAAP, FACN

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/116/3/e432

Contents: The milk from 34 mothers whose babies were over a year old was compared to milk form 27 mothers of less than 6-month olds. “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.”

[accountclosed2]

Breast milk volume and composition during late lactation (7-20 months) (Dewey)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6502372

Contents: Large study comparing breastmilk from women whose babies were 4-6 months compared to 7-20 months. Results: Zinc, copper, potassium decreased already in the first six months, and continued decreasing, slowly. Protein, iron sosium decreased in first six months, but then stayed the same. Lactose, fat, calcium and magnesium remained at similar levels throughout. Weaning did cause a change in breastmilk composition: When the baby's intake was less than 300 ml/day, protein and sodium increased and lactose, calcium and zinc decreased. (At 7 months breast milk intake averaged 875 ml/day, 93% of total energy intake. And at 11-16 months it averaged 550 ml/day, 50% of total energy intake).

[accountclosed2]

Complementary Feeding and Breastfeeding

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/extract/106/5/S2/1301

Contents: Another study by Dewey, this one about how solid intake influences intake of breastmilk. The more solids that go in, the less breastmilk.

[accountclosed2]

Dewey KG. Nutrition, Growth, and Complementary Feeding of the Breastfed Infant. Pediatric Clinics of North American. February 2001;48(1).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11236735

Contents: “Complementary foods offered before 6 months of age tend to displace breast milk and do not confer any growth advantage over exclusive breastfeeding. Breast milk continues to provide substantial amounts of key nutrients well beyond the first year of life, especially protein, fat, and most vitamins. Breastfed infants tend to gain less weight and usually are leaner than are formula-fed infants in the second half of infancy. This difference does not seem to be the result of nutritional deficits but rather infant self-regulation of energy intake.” “The nutrients most likely to be limiting in the diets of breastfed infants are minerals, such as iron, zinc, and calcium.”

“In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breastmilk provides:

-- Dewey 2001

• • 29% of energy requirements

  • 43% of protein requirements

  • 36% of calcium requirements

  • 75% of vitamin A requirements

  • 76% of folate requirements

  • 94% of vitamin B₁₂ requirements

  • 60% of vitamin C requirements”

[accountclosed2]

Sorry about all the posts, will edit them together later. I've had trouble with the keyboard when posting since the changes. Anyway, there is plenty for you to look at here. Babies do NOT gain better if they are weaned, or fed lots of solids and less breastmilk, that is a myth. The solid food only replaces the more nutritious and trusty milk and there is no growth advantage to the solids.

[accountclosed2]

Oh, and I agree, it is normal; for weight gain to stop for a while around 12 month-ish, when babies get more mobile, I though that was generally accepted among doctors? We got really worried when DD, who was tiny and grew very slowly at the beginning, lost weight around 18 months, but the dr was really calm, asked if she'd had a cold or something. Because both illness and increased mobility can cause weight gain to slow down or stop for a while, the combination of the two was explanation enough to the dr. She also said to weigh DD in a month or two, as by then she'd probably be gaining and getting herself "back on track". And she did.

[Penny4Them]

Thank you ALLLLL so very much. With the new platform change, I hadn't realized I'd had any replies. These are so helpful and I'll definitely share the info with my Dh. You mamas are THE BEST!!!!