HELP! Is this true, or is my Dr misled

[sovereignqueen]

We wne to the Drs today for Elizabeth's 15 month check up. Elizabeth has not gained any weight since her 12 month check up. She still nurses, especially at night, but eats 3 meals a day + snacks. The Dr said her weight is down b/c she bfs all night long and that I should night wean her. I'd love to nightwean, but her logice sounds faulty. Also, she said the squeaker was starting to have tooth decay and blamed it on BFing at night too. Also, she says shes "all about BFing" but just not at night once they no longer "need" to bf. Is any of this true? I don't know what to believe any more. Thanks!

[RachelGS]

No, that's crazy. It's VERY common for toddlers to not gain weight. My dd went about seven months without gaining anything, and we were in excellent company. Do what feels right to you and don't sweat it. If your baby is happy and healthy, you don't need to rush anything just because of what the scale says.

[wawap]

noooooo

I think he's crazy! Has she started walking since the last appointment? My son gained less than a pound from his 12 month to his 18 month (with a 15 month appointment in between!) & my ped never blinked an eye.

They are moving so much more and such - it goes to reason that they'd not gain....

[DreamsInDigital]

Every last bit of info your dr. gave you is wrong. Breastfeeding does not cause tooth decay. Is your doctor a dentist as well?! Take your DC to a dentist to talk about teeth, not the doctor. Nursing at night definitely does not cause poor weight gain. That's so ridiculous in so many ways, I don't even know where to begin. I'd start looking for a new doctor if I were you.

[katsam]

I just took my ds for a check up too, and he hasn't gained anything from 9 to 13 months. He went down from probably 85% to 45%. He grew a couple of inches though! The nurse seemed a little concerned, but then the doctor came in and said it was fine. He said that is what happens to babies at this age. I think there was an article on breastfeeding and dental health in the recent mothering!

[ceilydhmama]

Hmm - my daughter was 24 lbs at 12 mos, 22 lbs at 24 mos (she had been sick but still), 27 lbs at 36 mos and is now 35 lbs at 3 yrs 9 mos.

As for tooth decay, a dentist will tell you genetics and bacteria play the big role not breastfeeding... I would take her in for a dental check-up instead of listening to a Dr.

And for the biggie - define "need to breastfeed" - emotional? nutritional? attachment?. We are talking about active little people whoe spend the whole day being as brave as you can imagine - trying new things, learning new things, taking big risks. If your dd is nursing at night it's because she "needs" to...

If *you* are ready to night wean that is something else. I nightweaned at 28 mos or so because I was burning out. DD would have liked to continued but I mummied better on a good night sleep

IMO Doctor's are there to assist us with illness and injury, *not* to tell us how to parent. Our children know what they need and intuitively we know how to parent them. The trick is tuning out all the invasive outside s!&*t that comes our way and go with our mama instincts.

[hottmama]

I don't think there's anything wrong with a toddler who doesn't gain weight, but anecdotally, my son went from the 1st percentile to the 60th after night-weaning, and that was the only change in his diet/routine. He was nursing ALL night though, he did not unlatch once from bedtime until morning unless I tried to unlatch him, which caused a screaming fit. I night-weaned him shortly after a year and he started sleeping through the night after a week, and gained a ton of weight (went from 18 lbs. at a year to 28 at 2, and is 32 lbs. at 28 mos.)

[nancy926]

Originally Posted by DreamsInDigital

Every last bit of info your dr. gave you is wrong. Breastfeeding does not cause tooth decay. Is your doctor a dentist as well?! Take your DC to a dentist to talk about teeth, not the doctor.

This is nice advice, except most dentists won't see very young children unless there's already a problem...and lots of dentists will tell you the same thing about breastfeeding. I have had friends whose dentists told them their kids' decay was THEIR fault for bfing and they should wean...and our own dentist's office is misinformed on the issue as well. IMHO I think it's great that your doctor checked out your DC's teeth - lots of them don't.

As for breastmilk causing decay, it does not if your child is only bfing and not eating solids. But once a child starts solids, if there are any residual sugars in the mouth at night, night nursing can contribute to decay. Or, a lot of times decay this young is because of an enamel malformation (my DD has problems w/the enamel on her molars, and had her first filling when she was about 19 mos old).

I agree w/the other PPs about the weight gain - kids don't read growth charts - she's just fine.

[sovereignqueen]

Thanks! Thats good to know. She is quite the active child, so that probably has something to do with it.

[wendy1221]

My ds2 gained only 1 lb between 6 and 18 mos!!! My ped seems to be very knowledgable about bf and has told me more than once that my milk is better for ds than any solids, even after the "magical" one year mark (which is SO arbitrary, really). Before I lost my milk ds was only eating grains and fruits. I asked my ped what I could do to encourage him to eat more of a variety (and I know I'm very lucky to have a ped that I can actually ask ?'s like that of and not be afraid of a lecture!). He basically told me that ds was only only eating those things b/c he was getting all the protein, fat and vitamins he needed from my milk. He told me ds would start eating more of a variety when my supply dropped b/c of pregnancy and that's exactly what happened. And he's not getting more than however much colostrum they can get in a day now, and he hasn't suddenly started gaining weightb/c of more solids. If anyhting he'ssuddenly losing all of his baby fat rolls. Bf has little to do w/ a toddler's weight gain in most cases. My older ds was always skinny. I weaned him at 15 mos and he actually LOST weight, which was really bad since he was already so skinny. Some peds are just not up to date w/ their info.

[3girls1boy]

One of my daughters also gained in spurts in her second year. She came in more often for weight checks when she hadn't gained from 1 yr. to 15 mos., and there was another time same thing (don't remember exactly when), but she seemed to not grow much at all and then have a big spurt.

Incidently, she nursed much less than my other children at this age and ate much more table food than the others. She is still my best eater and still a petite girl.

Jeanne
Mom to DD (7 more wks. til she's a teen), DD (almost 10), DD (7) and DS (4)

[mom2threenurslings]

One thing to always keep in mind is that doctors spend little to no time learning about the normal function of breasts (breastfeeding) in medical school, even if they specialize in obstetrics, gynecology or pediatrics. The things many of the doctors DO "learn" are from other doctors (who are misinformed), from making assumptions, etc. I have spoken to several doctors who have admitted this...one of whom was an OB who told me that he learned far more about childbirth and breastfeeding from a Bradley Method childbirth class (which he attended with his pregnant wife) than he did in medical school ... and he even changed the way he practiced because of this!

Whenever a doctor or dentist says something to me about breastfeeding that goes against what I know (or think) to be true, I ask said doctor for the sources of their information and offer to guide them to or send them publications that will tell them the reality of the situation.

The weight gain (or lack thereof) sounds absolutely right for a child that age. At 15 months children tend to slim down a bit because they are much more active and are really just getting started getting their nutrition from solids. Nursing is still definitely a need at this age (just ask your nursilng...or say no once and she'll demonstrate how much of a need it is! :LOL ) ... nutritionally, immunologically, physically, mentally, emotionally, etc. I'd guess that if you cut down on nursing, your child probably wouldn't eat a heck of a lot more and would probably lose weight, if anything.

Tooth decay....do a search for it here on MDC - you'll find lots of good info.

[~Megan~]

Why would she not be gaining weight because you are feeding her at night.

She is definitely "misled"

[bluey]

Why would she not be gaining weight because you are feeding her at night.

:

So, what if you did night wean her and her weight gain slowed even more? My youngest is petite, at least compared to her sister :LOL Anyway, if she was to stop her night nursing I feel her weight gain would taper off even more. Why? Because she never. stops. moving. Ever. She is a firecracker! I firmly believe she needs the calories she is getting in at night when she slows down. But that's just my experience I also have a dr. who recommends bf'ing as long as I can and said "Maybe if my mother had breastfed me longer I could have been a surgeon instead of a family gp" :LOL

[Kira's mom]

Well if it makes you feel any better my dr. suggested i STOP bfing coz' he wants my dd not to gain anymore weight(in the next 6 mos), At her 2yr checkup she was 36.5 lbs.She's also in the 80% of height. He says breastmilk has 20 cal /oz.- I chose to cut out the macn'cheese! I was devastated. I now realize drs. don't know much about bf'ing

[royaloakmi]

IMO, keep nursing. Just b/c you nightwean doesn't mean they'll eat any more solids during the day. Docs always seem to suggest weaning a babe older than one for any old reason.

[mollyeilis]

The logic is definitely faulty, IMO.

As for focusing on the weight, what happened with her height? Did she grow taller?

Doctors really seem to forget that GROWTH is weight, height, activity, learning...it's all those things wrapped up into one word. If one stops to think about where all those calories are going, one realizes that every calorie that goes towards growing bone and muscle and everything else, to get the kid taller, is a calorie NOT going towards stores of energy. And with all the activity, it's hard for me to understand how my one year old is growing taller or gaining any weight, with all his calories going towards walking!

I say, if baby is growing in any ways other than just plain weight, there's little to worry about. Except how soon you can either tell the doctor off OR go to a new doctor after explaining why the old one will be losing your money.