Curious about EBF baby weight gain norms

[lsmama]

Just curious.  I just read in another thread that "the average EBF baby doubles her brithweight by 3-4 months."  DD, now 9 months, was 9 lbs 15 oz at birth.  She has stayed consistently 80th % for weight and 90th % for height since about 4 weeks old yet she just hit 20 lbs 15 oz at her last check up which would mean that she's just doubled her birthweight in the last month or so.  Clearly her growth/weight is not a concern, but I'm just curious.  Is this considered slow growth for an EBF baby or is it that she started out so big?

[foreverinbluejeans]

For the breastfed baby we expect the baby to gain 1-2 pounds a month in the first 6 months and maybe less from 6-12 months. Usually a baby will double weight at 6 months (not 3-4) and triple at 12 months. You use the lowest weigh the baby got down to after birth. We would expect a 7 pound baby to be 14 pounds at 6 months and 21 pounds at a year.

Weight gain is a lot more complicated and there are more things that need to be taken into consideration. There are the percentile charts, head growth, and weight gain per month. Your baby was so big you might want to look at gaining 1-2 pounds a month. I think it is good for her and you that she hasn't gained more. She may have been big at birth for some reason (medical, whatever) and she is getting back to a more average weight. Having a heavy baby is difficult to carry. That means you get sore. It also means the baby/toddler gets carried less. Its good for babies and toddlers to be in arms.

Your baby may weigh only around 23 or 24 pounds at 12 months. That is a great weight for baby girls.

[Megan73]

Kellymom.com has this great page on normal BF infant growth: http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/weight-gain.html
According to that site, BF babies do typically double between three and four months old and triple at about a year. I presume that's for an average size newborn because a big baby would have to gain incredibly quickly to get there.
From what I've read, the doubling by six months is more typical of FF babies - I've heard it a lot from older HCP like the nurse at my family doc's office.
But BF babies grow more quickly in the first few months then level off - that's why they appear to be quickly climbing the percentiles then drop on standard charts. FF babies grow more steadily. The reason is that BF babies drink about the same amount of BM per day (19-32 ounces, 25 ounces is average) between one and six months. FF babies tend to drink more formula as they get bigger.
I am surprised that your nursling is 80th percentile at 9 months and 20 pounds. My doctor uses the WHO charts and my current nursling was in the 82nd percentile at 9 months and 22 pounds, 15 ounces. He was born at 7.5 pounds (which is exactly 50th percentile) and doubled birth weight at about 3.5 months.

[azhie]

I wondered about this as well. My ebf dd has finally doubled her birth weight at around 6 months (she was 7 lbs at birth). I was concerned at first because her weight gain seemed slow. My mother kept saying she's tiny (my brother was over 15 lbs by 4 months!). My dd has always been healthy though, and not too fussy, so I just assumed she was getting enough breastmilk and stopped worrying about it. 

[suzywan]

My ebf second son was 7lbs at birth and 15.5 lbs at 6 mos. but only 16lbs at 9 mos.  Ped said it is very common for ebf babies to start dropping percentiles in the 2nd half of the first year as they get more mobile.  DS2 is a total wiggle worm - he's been crawling since 6 mos and will not. stop. moving!!  I freaked out a bit, even though I had the same issues with DS1, but DS2's growth in length and head circumference is on the same curve since birth, so I figure we're on the right track.  I highly doubt he's going to be 21lbs at 1 year....