Help Please!!! Weight Issue!!!

[caiesmommy]

Ladies I need help!!!!
My sin was 6 lbs 14 ounces at birth...he just had his 7 month apt and he is 13 LBS 6 ounces.

At his 4 month apt he had lost an ounce so my fam dr sent us to a ped. who told me to feed him more cereal(3 tbs twice a day)....and breastfeed him less often so he'll go for longer stronger feeds.
I tried but he'd cry and cry until I'd feed him and I can't do that!!!
And then brong him back in April..and if he hadnt gained enough he'd be sent for "tests"
So he gained a pound at his 6 month apt but when we went for his 7 he had only gained 4 ounces....
The fam dr asked if im feeding him!!! EEEEERRRRR!!!!!:
So he also said.....MORE CEREAL!!! and of course supplement with formula!!! My poor son has had formula 3 times when I've gone out(I know it's horrible and I cant feel worse then I did when he vomited all over me when I got home and cried all night and wouldnt let me put him down). So I mentioned this to the dr and he said well try a different kind.
I DONT WANT TO SUPPLEMENT!!!!

HELP PLEASE!!! My families answer is well it's time to give him formula...your breast milk isnt strong enough!!! HELP!!!
Any ideas????

[alegna]

I don't hear anything in your story that tells me he's not getting enough. Were you or dh small as babies? Are you small people?

Cereal has significantly FEWER calories by volume than breastmilk- that's not a good thing to be feeding him if you want to fatten him up. I would focus on nursing more often. How often does he nurse? Does he nurse through the night? How much solids is he eating? What kinds?

I would avoid any spoon feeding and let him self-feed solids. Then I would try to focus on solids with lots of good nutrition and fats when possible (avacado is a good one for babies.)

How many diapers is he having?

really- I think you need a new dr.

-Angela

[caiesmommy]

My df was 5lbs at birth and hes 5'7 now. I was 7ish at birth and im now 5'2 and 108lbs.
We use cloth and go through about 8 diaper changes? give or take.

he'll nurse as often as I'd let him during the day and ate night he sleeps frm about 930 until 6ish..nurses then goes to sleep until 9.

He's eating a variety of cereals and some veggies. and loves steamed rice off of our plates. He LOVES all foods!!

It's really stressful!!!

[alegna]

I wouldn't do any cereals. And I wouldn't spoon feed him at all. Just let him self feed (babies don't need to be spoon fed- gerber brainwashed us )

Just keep nursing. Does he sleep with you? That might encourage him to nurse some more at night.

-Angela

[davi]

ditto on the co-sleeping. my dd nurses approx every hour during the day & about every 2-3 hours all night. you said he would nurse all day if you let him, so i am wondering if you are on some type of feeding schedule?if he wants to nurse all day, let him & try to encourage more nighttime feeding. we heard the same lecture from our ped, but we still havent started solids yet. dd would rather nurse & i actually prefer that nutrition for her.

[mothragirl]

you need to find a new ped. rice cereal is empty calories, it won't help weight gain at all and nursing less often will hurt your milk supply. how much is he nursing? did he start crawling? do you feel like he is healthy? try offering to nurse every hour and cosleeping so he can nurse at night. if you do solids let him feed himself and do foods like avacados, sweet potatoes, and bananas that are high fat and nutrient dense.

[caiesmommy]

I am having a hard time dealing with the cereal feedings(but an even harder time dealing with the family and dr saying that I have to start feeding him "real food")
Caie was sleeping with us but his parents gave him his own room since they dont believe in cosleeping and it was just easier then hearing his dads lectures.
Ill try the cosleeping again and see if he'll nurse a bit more at night. I'm really nervous about the docs trying to send us for tests. And I really dont want to give up breastfeeding! But its to the point where I'm tired of hearing"whats more important you wanting to breastfeed or Caie being healthy" ERRRRRRRR

[EmilyS]

Hah! Your post is like a carbon copy of mine fiv emonths ago with our daughter. SHe was almost 10 lbs at birth though. She is 10 months old right now and weighs around 15 lbs. She was a peanut all through her single months. I seriously woudl not worry about it. Our medical world is so obsessed with fitting kids into cookie cutter images. "They are to obese.They are to small. Give them formula. Breastfeed them. Give them cereal. No cereal before six months." It is all so conflicting and WRONG. Also, by waiting longer to feed I think you are just giving him more skim milk. I could be wrong, but I thought it was the milk the baby gets when your breast is almost empty that is the creamiest????? I would say nurse as often as he'll let you and definaely co-slep and nurse during the night. They say babies get 25-30 percent of their calories in the middle of the night.

[mamaofthree]

Maybe just stop going to the well-baby checks. LOL (Sorry)
I think our society focuses too much on a certain weight. If both you and dh and smallish people then more then likely you will have a smallish baby/child. I mean it does happen... two smaller people having a smaller child. Dh and I are both "bigger" people (I am 6 foot so is he) and we are skinnish people (not cuz we don't eat like horses) so our kids are tallish and skinnish. People are always saying we need to feed them more... heck I don't think I could cram more food into them. LOL
I guess what I am getting at is it seems like if he wasn't getting enough food he would not have gained that pound, and there would be other signs that something was wrong... GI problems, developmental problems. Weight is so not an issue I feel, there is so much more to a child then pounds and ounces.

[Mizelenius]

My 2nd DD was not gaining well. She gained very slowly-- turned out she was not transferring milk right. It was hard, but we fixed the problem.

Anyway, for awhile I was in denial. I thought, we are small so it is OK. Once we fixed the problem, DD turned out to be a chubby baby-- so I was WRONG.

I doubt anything is wrong with your milk, though. If in doubt, weigh him on a