Bad advice from pedi or ?

[SelenaJean]

Hello ladies, I'm currently bfing my 45 month old and my 12 month old.  Yesterday I took my youngest in for his one year check up.  His dr was happy I'm still bfing and supports long term nursing.  She did have a slight concern over his weight though.  He's 17lbs 2 oz so below the 5th percentile.  I was happy with this because at his last visit he was 16 lbs so he gained a pound in a little over two months.  Between his sixth month and 9 month checks he only gained a few ounces.  So I thought it was great that he gained the whole pound. Also he's very active and has been crawling since five months(now walking) which is when his weight gain slowed and he dropped percentiles.  Anyhow she did not seem overly concerned but recommended I give him pediasure or carnation instant breakfast mixed with whole milk and cream once per day.  She also recommended the usual add butter/olive oil to veggies, whole milk cheeses/yogurt etc.  I just not thrilled with the idea of giving him pediasure or instant breakfast.  I normally do not give my kids cow's milk until much later like around two years and like to keep breastmilk as their source of milk.  I'm fine with feeding other diary like cheese and yogurt etc.  She also thought I nurse him too much at night as he still wakes every two hours to nurse.  Part of her advice in giving him the pediasure was to do it in the evening to fill his belly.  We nurse on demand and I'm not taking her advice to night wean or space out feedings seriously.  I'm just unsure about the pediasure/insant bkfast.  What do you guys think?

[Adaline'sMama]

I only nurse one child, and mine is 13 months and 17.8 lbs. I occasionally give cow milk when DH is watching her and Im not home, but I cant imagine why youd need to give pediasure or instant breakfast. If you are concerned, you could make him some baby shakes. I make a shake from organic yogurt or keifer, tiny bit of protien powder, tiny bit of probiotics, pureed fruit and water. If you are lazy, you could just do like I do half the time and just buy yogurt with fruit already in it :). Instant breakfast, no. I just dont think your kid needs it.

The night wakings are something thats totally up to you. Are you sure he's hungry, or does he just want to nurse on his mama for comfort?

Also, there is a skinny babies tribe somewhere in the Life with a Babe forum that could support you about your tiny little one :)

[Graceie]

I would follow your gut with the night nursing , has a little extra food maybe a smothy made with coconut milk and fruit and spinach ? Yummy and nothing super prosessed ?

[Emmery'sMom]

I agree with the PP's- continue with night nursing as long as it is working for you, and definitely make your own shakes! I would say for a 12 month old nursling a good serving would be up to 4oz at a time unless he happens to be a big "drinker". You could try 4 in the morning 4 in the evening.

[SelenaJean]

Thanks for the advice!  He gulps the milk at night when he nurses so I have not wanted to night wean him yet.  He has cut back on his own a bit over the last few days.  I think he was nursing more at night because he started walking full time a couple of weeks ago.  He was just taking steps here and there before that.  He's really started to eat more solids over the last month so I think he'll keep up on his weight gain without adding any pediasure.  He still nurses a lot during the day even with the extra solids.  I will try making so yogurt smoothies though.

[PatioGardener]

Just checking to make sure your ped is using WHO charts?

It may be less of a drop on the WHO (aka gold standard!) chart.

As for pediasure... I'd go with whole, healthy foods (like breastmilk!)!

[SelenaJean]

He is in the 3rd percentile on the WHO charts.  I'm definitely going the whole foods route and not doing pediasure/instant breakfast.  Thanks again everyone!

[marinak1977]

I think you're making the right choice. My DS dropped from 25th to under 5th percentile between 9 and 12 months and I boosted up his nursing, started giving him more whole foods with butter, coconut oil, coconut milk, and other good fats, and got more diligent at feeding him solids that were easier for him to eat (We do BLW). He was back on track gaining after that and we are not worried (he is still tiny but gaining)
Since your DS is gaining well, I wouldn't worry.
BTW - my ped's solution to gain slowdown was to nightwean I did not listen of course.

[SelenaJean]

I just wanted to update.  Silas gained a full pound in the last 3 weeks!  I did not add pediasure or instant breakfast nor did I night wean like recommended :)  I think he just slowed down gaining from being so active from starting to crawl at five months and then working on walking.  Now that he's a full time walker he is packing on the pounds lol.  He really has picked up on liking solids and snacking too which I'm sure has helped.  We still nurse on demand night and day.

[PatioGardener]

 

Originally Posted by SelenaJean 

I just wanted to update.  Silas gained a full pound in the last 3 weeks!  I did not add pediasure or instant breakfast nor did I night wean like recommended :)  I think he just slowed down gaining from being so active from starting to crawl at five months and then working on walking.  Now that he's a full time walker he is packing on the pounds lol.  He really has picked up on liking solids and snacking too which I'm sure has helped.  We still nurse on demand night and day.