Help my little guy bulk up

[aikigypsy]

Hi.

I haven't been on here much lately but I'm worried about my little guy's weight and finding our pediatrician's advice stupid and illogical. 

My son is 9.8 months old from birth, about 8.5 months adjusted age. He was born at 34 weeks. His head circumference is over the 50th percentile, his length is around the 3rd percentile, but his weight is way off below the charts and has fallen off more in the past couple of months.

He is doing fine developmentally -- crawling, pulling to stand, creeping along the furniture ever so slightly, etc. but the pediatrician is saying that his slow weight gain is very worrying (I find it a little worrying) and that he should be getting 3 solid meals and 2 solid snacks a day. She strongly implied that we should limit breastfeeding to as little as possible, and only immediately after the aforementioned 5 meals, which to me is ridiculous.

He's an enthusiastic but messy eater. I started him on mostly-homemade baby cereals 4 and a half months ago, with commercial cereals (for the extra iron, needed because he was a preemie) once a day from 6 months-ish until a few weeks ago, when he started refusing to eat them (and who can blame him, have you tasted those things?). He gets some breakfast food -- oatmeal, pancakes, whatever, all home made now, mostly whole grain, with butter for added calories, a grain, green veg, and orange veg (sweet potato, squash, or carrot) at lunch and dinner, plus sometimes meat at dinner. In the past few weeks he has really started insisting on feeding everything to himself, he loves to grab and shove stuff in his mouth. Lots of it comes out the other end -- I mean, I can tell by the volume of his poos that it's not all ending up on the floor! He also always wants whatever we're eating, and most of the time I'll give it to him, unless it's something like peanuts (he's already eating eggs, cheese, and yogurt with no problems).

I'm game for adding the snacks, but I'm not convinced by the pediatrician's line that all solids contain more calories than breast milk. Any tips for high calorie snacks for a little guy who wants to do it all himself?

[MJB]

Not all solids contain more calories per oz. than breastmilk, but many do. When we were trying to chunk my daughter up, we did a lot of yogurt, eggs, meat, and cheese. Veggies were all covered in butter or cheese. Banana and avocado are good high calorie fruits. We also do peanut butter. I give her all the fat off of my meat which she LOVES.

You should still nurse on demand along with food. Are you concerned about your supply? In the end, going on domperidone for my milk supply made a much bigger difference in E's weight than any amount of solids. She went 4 months without gaining, and has gained 3 pounds in 2 months since my milk supply improved.  

[Parker'smommy]

Has he gained weight? He hasn't lost weight, right?

My dd is 9 months and has steadly gone down on the growth charts. BUT, her pediatrician is NOT concerned in the least. She was born around the 50th percentile 7.2 lbs and is around the 20th percentile now at 17 lbs 11 oz. BUT....her heighth is also in the 20th percentiles. She LOOKS chunky....but she's just petite...short, so she's proportional, kwim? AND she is behind in her milestones. She isn't crawling or pulling up. She can sit well :) She also eats a variety of foods....about 3 meals a day. She eats with us. She snacks if one of the older kids are and she wants their food. And I nurse her upteen times a day. Her pediatrician said that even though she has dropped in percentiles and isn't at the top of the milestones chart, she IS growing, and IS progressing, and that is what is important. She wasn't sitting up at 6 months. And now she is. She wasn't batting at toys at 4 months...she is now. Progress is important.