[jittermama]

My dd was eight months old yesterday. She has never been a great gainer. Also, I had retained placenta which was not detected until she was two months old. I started taking Domperidone when she turned four months old.

She has dropped percentiles and I am so concerned. She was 8 lbs. 6 oz. at birth, and when I went to get her checked at 7 and a half months, she was 15 lbs. 5 oz., down to the 12th percentile from a high of 65th. She is still 95 or so for height (she was 22 inches at birth).

She wets and poops, but I don't feel like I'm *drowning* in wet diapers. It feels so erratic. Some days she seems to wet more than others.

Also, she will not touch solid food. We keep trying but she just makes faces and spits it out.

I wanted to nurse her until at least 18 months, but today I just feel anxious and unsure of my milk supply and worried that in my determination to not give her formula, I am not doing right by her. At what point do I have to admit to myself that I have to supplement? She never really took a bottle and I returned the Lactina pump I was renting several months ago because I am home with her full time and didn't see the point in pumping if I could nurse her directly.

What to do?

 

[georgia]

I try really hard not to worry about %s. When you look to her, is she happy? Does she seem content? Does she seem hungry or satisfied? I understand the anxiousness of wanting to "do right." If you're nursing by cue and following her lead---you're doing awesome!!! It sounds like she'd almost doubled her birth weight at 7.5 months! To me, that's great----look at the nourishment and love you've provider her! There is so much more than the numbers. I know babies who are "off the charts" at both ends and are perfect and happy. It's really hard to find peace with knowing that you know your baby best, but it's really true. There are many babies who refuse solids for a long time---with their reasons and on their own timetables---and it's our job to follow their cues.

There is a WONDERFUL new book called Nursing Mothers Herbal that I would recommend reading if you're concerned with supply. Heck, even if you're not, it's a fantastic resource!!!

If you've never been to a LLL meeting---I highly recommend them. Meeting other mothers in person who are going thru or have been thru what you're feeling is so reassuring. You are not alone!!!

 

[Tupelo Honey]

My middle ds did not gain ANY weight between 6 and 9 months. he was nursing plenty plus at 8 months had started eating significant quantites of homemade baby food loaded up with fattening flax oil (I was pg and concerned about my supply, but he did act satisfied whenever he nursed). The new, very green ped got all worried and had us get bloodwork, and there was nothing. Since then, I have learned that this is very common at this age because they are getting taller and also more mobile, which burns more calories. I would try to base your feelings about the baby's wellbeing on your observations from being with her every day, rather than percentiles.

 

[wendy1221]

My first ds went from the 95th to the 25th percentile during the 2nd half of his first year. He was a big baby and then suddenly stopped gaining weight and just gained height for a while. His ped said weight gain didn't matter as long as he was growing, plus his head size stayed in the 99th %ile. I think his height only dropped from 95 to 50th. I don't think he reached 20lbs till he was over a year.

Ds #2 was 9lbs 4 oz at birth (and 2 weeks early to boot!). He gained weight incredibly fast, but he hasn't gained a single lb in the last 3 mos. I think he may have gained half a pound. I'm not sure where he is in percentiles b/c my ped wouldn't tell me. He said those charts are worthless and Jake is growing well and is obviously very healthy (I'm so sad he retired last week!

) Jake's been 20 lbs for months now, but he's up to 27" (I know he's short. ds #1 looks exactly like my tall thin dad and ds #2 looks exactly like my short stocky dh. ROFL!) I think it's normal for bf babies to do this. Hope that makes you feel better!

Oh! And ds#! wouldn't touch solid food at all until he was about 11 mos old and then he went from taking a few bites a day to eating 3 full meals. Bizarre! Ds#2 was grabbing food out of hands and off plates at 5 mos and is still into everyone's food constantly. Each baby is different.

 

[wombat]

I wouldn't worry yet. And I'm the Queen at worrying about poor weight gain!

At 8 mo, you'd expect her to start dropping down the weight curve. And the fact that she hasn't dropped on the height curve shows she's growing well. Plus you're offering her solids and she's not eating them - that's ok, she's just telling you she's not ready for them yet.

Re the wet dipes, the older my dd has got, the fewer wet dipes she has but when she does have a wet dipe, it's a BIG wet dipe. Better bladder control I guess. Does that make sense?

Also that 6-12 mo age is a really distractible time and it can be hard to get them to nurse enough. My dd could never keep still for more than 2 seconds. You could try nursing in a quiet, dark room. Try offering nursing more frequently. Try a nursing necklace to keep her there longer.

 

[jittermama]

Thank you all for those reassuring words. I guess I am just concerned because she seems tiny to me...not really outgrowing her clothes at the rate she did for the first six months (at eight months she's still in her 6-9 month size stuff). She smiles and laughs and is trying to pull herself up at the coffee table but hasn't quite mastering crawling yet. As this is my first baby and I am an anxious person by nature, it's hard for me to just have faith that she's ok, even though everyone around me, including her pediatrician, thinks she's doing great on just breastmilk so far.

 

[georgia]

jitter, bf babies often do most of their initial gaining in the first 6 or so months then taper off. once they're mobile, they don't just sit there and pack on the pounds....if baby's happy, try and follow her lead

you are doing a wonderful job.