[Pen]

Please give me advice. Some days I worry, some days, I say she's fine. My dd was 7lbs4oz full term. Lost 4oz and nursed great. I can't remember exact weights but I think she started at 30th %ile then 50th, then 30th, and she's now at 16th. Height and HC followed similar up and downs. She is meeting or exceeding milestones and is alert and happy. At about two months she began her nurse a little , talk a little pattern. She is very distractable. I have made a concerted effort now to make sure she has a less interesting environment during nursing (not easy!). We have a fairly allergic family so I don't want to start solids yet. (DS started 10-12 mos with no problem - he was also in 95th%ile). I don't mind the 16th %ile. I am worried she might con't down. If I were not the mom, I would say "don't worry" "watch the baby" "the trend could go back up - the deviation from 30th hasn't changed." But, I am the mom. I don't want to say I could've, should've. What do you think?

 

[wombat]

Know what you mean, if you're the mom, of course you worry. I found this article about slow weight gain after the first few months very helpful:

http://www.kellymom.com/newman/25slow_weight_gain.html

Also this one:

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns..._increase.html

I like checklists

I feel reassured if I can go through them and eliminate reasons or try something new. Then if the slow weight gain continues, you know it's quite normal because you've assessed it carefully.

 

[crayon]

My baby doesnt gain much either. There was anther post about this today. I think it is just that some babies are small. My first was 90% on all he charts- but my second is much much smaller.

I try to believe that she is showing ZERO signs of having a problem, so I guess it is just her way- she is just small...

 

[thepeach80]

My oldest was generally always 75+% and he was smaller at birth by 5ozs. Evan was born at the 40%ish and is now not even on the chart at 10.75 mos. :LOL He's fine! He's super active,meets all his milestones, and nurses non-stop on some days. He's just smaller than his brother, but no problem w/ it. I think he actually might hit my goal of 18# by a year a even.

 

[Quirky]

My second is a little peanut, too - started at 7 lbs 8 oz (maybe - that was on my midwife's highly accurate fish scale!

) registered at under 7 lbs on ped's office electronic scales and now at 8 months is maybe 16 pounds by mommy's highly accurate (NOT) bathroom scales. I have no idea where she is on the charts - my ped's office didn't even mention the percentile at her last appt, bless their hearts! She's totally normal and active and I don't worry about her at all.

Unless the charts you're going by are for bf babies, remember that most peds use the charts - developed by the formula companies - based on ff kids. In other words, not very reliable for bf babies.

 

[alegna]

Throw out the scale. If you weren't weighing her what would you think?

Seriously- stop the weight checks and chart comparisions.

-Angela

 

[katerkat]

I don't worry about weight unless there's a BIG drop -- and she's not meeting milestones in a timely fashion.

My boy is scrawny. 25% through 6 months, now hovering between the 10th and 25th. He doesn't have a single fat roll on him. But he's healthy, gaining weight, meeting most milestones -- it's not hard to tell that he's normal, albeit skinny.

Oh, and he's also VERY distractable -- we simply can't nurse in public anymore. We can't even nurse in front of other people. A cat walks into the bedroom and meows, and that nursing session is over. It's definitely harder but it can be done!

 

[bjorker]

Ignore the percentiles. Those things are so useless.

Like somebody else said -- I really wouldn't be concerned unless there's a huge drop or she stops gaining weight alltogether for any length of time. She's going to grow at her own pace, what you've described is really nothing to be concerned about. This is coming from someone who is way too well versed in weight problems in babies. My DD fell off the chart completely some time ago. She didn't gain weight for months (and she's only 9 months now, so that's really saying something). So not to toot my own horn here, but I've done the research and talked to so many people. If there was really a problem, you'd know. If she's generally happy, somewhat meeting the milestones, yadda yadda... you're fine. She's fine. Enjoy your time together.

I swear, somebody must have designed weight charts and percentiles just to worry parents. Doctors are so obsessed with charting everything, but all babies are different.
No, really... STOP WORRYING!

 

[stafl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alegna Throw out the scale. If you weren't weighing her what would you think? Seriously- stop the weight checks and chart comparisions. -Angela

:

My oldest has never even been on the charts! I think she was below the 5% line, so whatever that makes her...
anyway, I had to throw out my copy of the growth chart and stop getting her weighed. Now I don't have anything to worry about anymore!! She's four and a half, and the brightest, healthiest child anyone has ever seen, even if she is the size of most kids her baby sister's age.

 

[Pen]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
I know she's okay. I guess I just wanted to get some reassurance. Now, she's started cruising around the room! If I could just get her to slow down....