Breastfeeding and baby weight gain question

[poppy]

Just a quick question.

My baby Tristan was a big baby when he was born and has up till now put on weight consistently. I am exclusively breastfeeding (until about three days ago when I started weaning).

He is 23 weeks old now and when he was 20 weeks, I had him weighed and he was 16 lbs and 8 oz (on the 75th percentile) and I had him weighed yesterday at 23 weeks and is 16lbs and 15 1/2 oz (just about 17 lb - just over the 50th percentile) - so he has only put on about half a pound in three weeks! He was ill for about a week and a half and threw up a lot of his feeds, so I guess that accounts for some of the slowing down in weight gain.

My question is to all you breastfeeding mums - did your baby's weight gain slow down as they got older. Should I be concerned that he has only put on half a pound in three weeks? He is also very tall (his dad is tall and slim) and is on the 91st percentile for height.

 

[Serene123]

Caitlyn put on an lb a week at first, at 4 months she was 16lb, now at 9 months she's 17lb.

 

[Alexas Mommy]

Alexa rapidly gained weight until she was 7 months-at 7 months she was 30 pounds and here at 10 months she is still thank God, she is overweight as it is, so I am thankful that she has stopped gaining weight...

 

[marley2580]

Totally normal, as babies get older and more active they take a lot longer to put on weight.

 

[alice&bump]

katie's weight gain slowed down when she was about 12 weeks. she was 9lb12 when born and she's only 13lb12 now! the HV told me its completely normal for their weightto drop off. she puts on an ounce or so a week now xx

 

[ryder]

Babies are supposed to double their birthweight by 4 months... And triple by a year. After the first couple months they really start to slow down in weight gain. Jasmine was 11lbs 5 oz at 2 months and was just weighed over a week ago and is only 12lbs 3 oz... and she is ff...

 

[poppy]

Babies are supposed to double their birthweight by 4 months... And triple by a year. After the first couple months they really start to slow down in weight gain. Jasmine was 11lbs 5 oz at 2 months and was just weighed over a week ago and is only 12lbs 3 oz... and she is ff...

Really??!!! That would mean that Tristan should have weighed about 20 lbs at 4 months! That would be off the charts for weight. It must be relative to their initial birth weights i.e. bigger birthweight babies must have less chance of doubling their birth weights than low weight babies. Else we would have some gigantic four monthers out there.

 

[ryder]

LOL ya I guess your right... thats just what I was told... but it sounds like he's doing great.

 

[freckleonear]

Sounds totally normal. Aaron's weight gain slowed down a lot after 5 months.

Incidently the pertcentile charts used by health visitors are based on formula-fed babies anyway, so it's quite normal for breastfed babies to weigh a bit less than expected and not follow the line. You can now get charts for breastfed babies from the WHO website.

 

[ryder]

lol... everyone here says the charts are for bf babies... I dont think it matters.. honestly, they either have good weight gain or they dont... regardless of whether they are bf or ff.

 

[marley2580]

Personally I think everyone puts too much importance on weight gain, especially HVs. I really believe they should take a holistic approach and look at the whole baby, not just the numbers on the scales. I've seen loads of women posting on here because HV's have implied (or said) that they're starving their babies, when if they looked at the whole picture they'd see that there's nothing wrong with the LO.

 

[Samantha675]

Totally agree with Marley, about the weight gain. Brenn is really slowing up on his weight gain, but he is very active, and one of the happiest babies ever, or so I am told. He may be a little guy, but as long as he is nursing, and thriving, I am not too concerned about how much he weighs.

 

[Vickie]

Hannah hadn't doubled her weight by her last doctors appointment (at 6.5 months) though she was only a few ounces off. She's always gained steadily though and remained on the higher end of the percentiles

 

[Jemima]

Totally agree with Marley, about the weight gain. Brenn is really slowing up on his weight gain, but he is very active, and one of the happiest babies ever, or so I am told. He may be a little guy, but as long as he is nursing, and thriving, I am not too concerned about how much he weighs.

Poppy, I think the same as everyone else. My Poppy's weight gain has slowed in the last couple of weeks but it's just because they are much more active as they get older.

Sam, I love your pic! x

 

[poppy]

Thanks everyone, that has put my mind at ease.

Tristan's weight is still very good for his age - he still weighs a bit more than average. It is just that is weight gain had slowed down in the last three weeks. However, like you all say, I am not going to get hung up about it!

 

[Vickie]

poppy I love your new avatar

 

[freckleonear]

Awww that is sooooo cute!

 

[emma_27]

Ellies really slowed down as well i was really disheartened she'd only gained 1 lb in like 3 weeks when she was 13 weeks but then i had her weighed week later and she'd gained 1lb in one week!!

 

[Whisper]

He sounds to be doing the exact same thing as Amelia. Which to me seems perfectly normal.

I heard that they should have doubled their birth weight by 6mnths old.

Saying that Amelia didn't and she is perfectly healthy and fine.

 

[poppy]

poppy I love your new avatar

Thanks Vicks!