skinny baby

[girlspn]

I ebf my dd until she was about 5.5 months old, and she still nurses around the clock now. She eats some food but very little (likes to play only). She was 7 lbs at birth and didn't double her birthweight until 6 months or so. Now she's 10 months old and about 16 lbs. Random people on the street comment on how small she is, they think she's 4 or 5 months old only. My mother thinks I'm lazy with giving her solids and that she's way too dependent on breastmilk. My dh is also concerned because she's a skinny baby. 

Nowadays I take dd to playdates and she's always much smaller than other babies. Developmentally she's fine though. I've seen other ebf babies and they're all larger than she is, even though same weight at birth. Is it genes? Or my milk? 

[rtjunker]

This sounds like something I'd bring up with her pediatrician. Babies come in all shapes and sizes, so if she's on track with meeting milestones, seems happy and well-adjusted, and has plenty of wet and poopy diapers, it could be normal for your LO. If there is a problem, your pediatrician knows you and your LO, and should be able to offer possible solutions, or just reassure you your LO is doing just fine.

[mommy22IN]

I would definatly bring it up with your doctor.

At 8 months my son was 16 pounds and at his last check up (yesterday) he was exactly 20 pounds.  My son started solid food (table food at about 7 months.)  And is still breastfeed in the evning and at night.  He is tiny (in the bottom 5%.)  the doctor isn't worried due to the amount of food he eats though and how active he is.  Most people don't believe me that he is 15 months due to his size.  My son is very skinny, if it wasn't for his cloth diapers his pants would all fall of him.   

what kind of food do you give her?  I know I'm not an expert, but both of my kids my oldest and youngest have always been at the bottom of the charts, feel free to ask me any questions.  . 

[girlspn]

Her last visit was about 2 months ago (when dd was 8 months old) and the doctor commented that she looks skinny because she's long. She was more concerned about me because dd was still waking 3-4 times a night to nurse. She suggested giving more solids. I didn't voice my concern out much because it's common for doctors to push formula. Hardly anyone here breastfeeds exclusively, most are on formula completely by 3 months due to not enough milk (according to their doctors), so babies here are quite big. My cousin's baby was 7 lbs at birth, and 20 lbs by 6 months. 

I never thought her size was a problem until my dh began to comment that dd seemed to look thinner lately. I think it's because she's very active, crawling and standing everywhere. The other day we visited a friend and her ebf baby. At 5 months old, he looked bigger than my dd. Which made me wonder.
 

Originally Posted by rtjunker 

This sounds like something I'd bring up with her pediatrician. Babies come in all shapes and sizes, so if she's on track with meeting milestones, seems happy and well-adjusted, and has plenty of wet and poopy diapers, it could be normal for your LO. If there is a problem, your pediatrician knows you and your LO, and should be able to offer possible solutions, or just reassure you your LO is doing just fine.

[girlspn]

We give her mashed bananas, potatoes, carrots, egg yolk, fish, a bit of meat, rice, bone broth. She does not like purees and prefers to have whatever we're having, although she eats very little or just plays with the food in her mouth. She can eat a whole egg yolk in one sitting sometimes. Some days, she refuses everything. I don't like to force too hard, so I just go along with her. 

Besides her small size, she seems fine, very active and not too fussy. I've been fortunate in that regard, because otherwise I'm not sure how I would have handled my family's criticism on my parenting!

Originally Posted by mommy22IN 

I would definatly bring it up with your doctor.

At 8 months my son was 16 pounds and at his last check up (yesterday) he was exactly 20 pounds.  My son started solid food (table food at about 7 months.)  And is still breastfeed in the evning and at night.  He is tiny (in the bottom 5%.)  the doctor isn't worried due to the amount of food he eats though and how active he is.  Most people don't believe me that he is 15 months due to his size.  My son is very skinny, if it wasn't for his cloth diapers his pants would all fall of him.   

what kind of food do you give her?  I know I'm not an expert, but both of my kids my oldest and youngest have always been at the bottom of the charts, feel free to ask me any questions.  . 

[OSUvet]

My son is about the same track as your dd! He is currently 14 months and a bit under 20 lbs I think (havent gotten an exact weight on him in a couple months - at 12 months he was 18 1/2 lbs). He eats plenty of solids now and just nurses mainly at night (didnt' eat much at all until 10 months or so and really just now upping the amount and variety of solids he will take). He was walking before 12 months and he currently says probably 25 words at least. My pediatrician is not concerned at all - he is just a little, active guy. Are you and your DH small people? We are and I think that makes a difference.
 

[PatioGardener]

Rather than looking at her solids intake, at only 10 months old I'd be looking to make sure she's getting the max amount of breastmilk. Do you co-sleep? Does she nurse at night? Is she nursing regularly during the day? Do you nurse before solids?

Breastmilk is a high calorie food, and at that age it's important for babies to be getting lots of breastmilk.
 

[girlspn]

My dh and I are pretty small, lol, but the rest of my family are quite tall. 

Your post comforted me! :)
 

Originally Posted by OSUvet 

My son is about the same track as your dd! He is currently 14 months and a bit under 20 lbs I think (havent gotten an exact weight on him in a couple months - at 12 months he was 18 1/2 lbs). He eats plenty of solids now and just nurses mainly at night (didnt' eat much at all until 10 months or so and really just now upping the amount and variety of solids he will take). He was walking before 12 months and he currently says probably 25 words at least. My pediatrician is not concerned at all - he is just a little, active guy. Are you and your DH small people? We are and I think that makes a difference.
 

[girlspn]

Good point.... I think I am nursing her as much as I possibly can and offer all the time. We co-sleep, she wakes 3-4 times at night to nurse, and nurses every 2-3 hours during the day. I nurse before solids usually, this is something my mom and dh don't agree with because they say the reason she doesn't eat much is because she's full from breastmilk. In general, dd doesn't nurse very long and doesn't always nurse on both sides. She gets distracted easily while nursing.
 

Originally Posted by PatioGardener 

Rather than looking at her solids intake, at only 10 months old I'd be looking to make sure she's getting the max amount of breastmilk. Do you co-sleep? Does she nurse at night? Is she nursing regularly during the day? Do you nurse before solids?

Breastmilk is a high calorie food, and at that age it's important for babies to be getting lots of breastmilk.
 

[OSUvet]

My son is so distractible as well, and it's a good thing we cosleep or he would basically never nurse anymore! I really think that distractible, high energy personality has a lot to do with them staying small, too. It's ok though as long as they seem to be doing great otherwise!

[crimsonandclover]

My son was super long and skinny, 22 inches at birth.  He stayed between the fifth and tenth percentile for weight for his first year, but was always about the 70th for height.  My ped was fantastic and clarified what I hear others saying - so few babies are exclusively breastfed that most people do not realized they are usually smaller than babies fed formula or a combination.  In fact, there are even different size charts for breastfed babies, and it is quite a difference.  I also felt most comfortable by the fact that my kid went through a lot of diapers in a day, had good skin tone, not dehydrated, etc. 

At around a year, however, when my DS started eating more solids, he started gaining and now weighs 32 pounds at 21 months...AND is still tall. So now people tell me what a giant he is.  It's strange having been on both sides of the spectrum!

[GoBecGo]

My LO is 22 months and 22lbs!  She's about 32.5 inches.

I don't know what to tell you. She was 8lbs8oz at birth but soon dropped down the chart and has been hovering between the 9th and 25th centiles (on the WHO chart) ever since she was about 4 months old.  She didn't walk until 17months and her big sister could talk better at 15months than she can at 22.  At the same age her big sister was 5lbs heavier and 3 inches taller.  BUT she can use a spoon better at 22months than her sister could at age 4, her manual dexterity is amazing, she rolled her own fajitas the other night, and her receptive language is incredible (i.e if i ask if we should have scrambled eggs for lunch she will go to the dishwasher and fetch the whisk).  They are so different it's breath-taking!

My LO still nurses 3x/day (my choice - she would nurse 20x/day if i let her! i would if we weren't ttc #3).  Over the months i've had the "maybe it's the nursing!" worries too.  All i can tell you concretely is that when i forced a dropped feed (which i didn't even attempt until she was 21months - i DEFINITELY wouldn't do it until she's at least 12 months old MINIMUM, and even then, 15-18months is probably better) she ate more solids but she didn't put on weight any faster.  In fact the only difference i would say is that if she gets ill and stops gaining or loses a bit it takes her longer to get back on track the less breastmilk she's having.  My health visitor is far more interested in milestones and overall health than size or weight, and she really seems to be vigorously well, so no problems there.

They come in all shapes and sizes.  Try not to weigh, try to look instead.  Try to see "are clothes and shoes getting tighter?" "is she taller?" "is she developing her language/physical/social skills?". My DD recently went up a half shoe size and grew 2cm.  She gained 6oz!  LOL, i don't know what she does with her food, her paternal g'ma is tiny and very very slender, i assume she got those genes, and not those of her 5'11" tending-to-fat mama!