HV said i am not feeding her enough????

[tu123]

Hi peeps
I have been on alot lately about getting LO to eat more as she is barely eating a thing.

Many people said try more snack type meals rather than three square and it HAS made a difference!

I took her for a weigh in today and she has last 5lbs!

This time last month she was 33.5lb. She is now 28.5 and longer.

The HV said i am not feeding her enough and looked at me with "that sort of look".

What am i to do? A month ago she was only just properly crawling. Now she is all over the place. And she wont eat if she doesnt want to!

 

[Noirin]

my son was 26lb at 14 months and my HV said this was overweight? tbh i woldneven listen to her, i choose to ignore mine!! around this age they start to be more active so obviously theyre gona lose the weight, even lookin at my son u can see were hes lost all his chubb in his face etc, just keep doing wat ur doin and encouraging her to eat as much as possible, a child will never starve themselves so she must be getin enough x

 

[Hannah]

To be honest I think as LO's get more active they do drop a bit and if she has grown and stopped eating that's gonna be why but if the small meals/snacks has started working I would persevere and then get her weighed again in about a month, to see if she has started gaining. If she was still losing weight then I would probably tale her to the GP jut to rule anything else out that might be causing the lack of appetite.x

 

[Nats21]

Callum is older then your LO and is only 22lb 11oz, hes always been on the smaller side. He does actually eat three proper meals and two puddings and pretty much always finishes them. Hes just so active that he works it off. I wouldn't worry hun, as someone else said they'll just be eating what they need to be eating xx

 

[Mindy_mini]

That's quite a lot to have lost. Can you get her weighed somewhere else to see if the scales are correct? IMO you'd be able to tell if she'd lost that much, do you think she has? Tbh you hv should be putting a plan in place if Shes that concerned about lo.

How much milk does she take? What sort of meals and quantities does she have of solids?

 

[BethK]

Does LO have any bottles? My LO goes through stages of not eating. If she doesn't eat for a while then i up her formula bottles.

Mind you i stopped seeing my HV at 9 months as she just spouted rubbish!

 

[BabyJayne]

I don't think I would worry too much. It is a lot to have dropped (providing scales were right) but as you say she is moving now, and has grown, so there are a lot of things going on that can affect weight.

She is a good weight anyway - and as long as you are offering her food then she will eat what she needs to eat. Madeline was 20lb 10 at her 8 month check, and at her 12 month injections appointment she was exactly the same - and no-one batted an eyelid. Even now she is only 23lb (well, she's actually 21.5lb at the moment because she has had a horrible chest infection and didn't eat for a week, but that will soon come back on). She isn't very tall - but nobody has commented on her weight loss or lack of gain. She just eats when she's hungry.

If you are worried, maybe just offer her more snacks in between meals, or try some full fat cows milk (if she has made the switch). You know your LO, and you know if she is hungry or if she is not right etc. I wouldn't worry unduly at this stage x

 

[Bexx]

I agree with what the other ladies have said, it sounds like she's using more energy thanks to her increased mobility. My own HV told me to expect Zachary to gain weight considerably more slowly once he started crawling and walking.

It's best to get her weighed regularly and see what kind of pattern is forming. If her weight is free-falling, then there may be a problem, but if the weight loss is gradually slowing, it's likely it will stabilise and then she'll start gaining weight at a more typical level.

It's wrong for your HV to insinuate you're underfeeding her when she hasn't looked at the whole picture over several weigh-ins.

 

[Miss_Bump]

If she doesn't eat much then you should encourage her to eat high calorie things when she does eat

Things like avocado, bananas and full fat yoghurt, cheese etc

 

[aliss]

Hi peeps
I have been on alot lately about getting LO to eat more as she is barely eating a thing.

Many people said try more snack type meals rather than three square and it HAS made a difference!

I took her for a weigh in today and she has last 5lbs!

This time last month she was 33.5lb. She is now 28.5 and longer.

The HV said i am not feeding her enough and looked at me with "that sort of look".

What am i to do? A month ago she was only just properly crawling. Now she is all over the place. And she wont eat if she doesnt want to!

I would not be concerned.

33.5lbs is very heavy for that age (mine is also heavy & off the charts, bigger than your girl ) and now that she is becoming mobile it is very normal for babies to drop in weight - if she was underweight or even average at her age then perhaps there is a real concern but let's be honest from one big baby mama to another - they aren't starving! LOL!

Being mobile has two factors - one, the obvious, that she is burning more calories. Two, more likely, she is entertaining herself more and has better things to do than eat. Crawl here, crawl there, etc...

Sometimes health professionals are so into charts (dropping Xlbs) that they forget to look at the big picture. You can always get a 2nd opinion too!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

^ this!

 

[tu123]

That's quite a lot to have lost. Can you get her weighed somewhere else to see if the scales are correct? IMO you'd be able to tell if she'd lost that much, do you think she has? Tbh you hv should be putting a plan in place if Shes that concerned about lo.

How much milk does she take? What sort of meals and quantities does she have of solids?

I thought that about the scales, but hubby weighed her before bed and it seems correct within half a pound.

I knew she had lost weight as i have been able to carry her a bit more lately and she is fitting all her three year old clothing in length (that was too long a month ago), and her belly is gone. She is still pudding around the neck, arms and thighs though.

She used to eat three square meals, plus three bottles. For two months she has had loads of teeth come through so it has been endless teething.

Today, i offered her 7 oz (i used to give her five or six but upped it as she isnt eating so well), 2 tbsp of cereal with milk, a nutella sandwich at 11 and some grapes, roast chicken, veggies and potatoes at 1pm, two large rice cakes with peanut butter at 2pm with apple and melon slices, baby biscuit at 3pm, sweet and sour pork with rice at 5pm with melon slices and yogurt, and then 7oz at bed.

She actually ate 7oz, half her cereal, one mini bite of the sandwich and less that half a dozen grapes, bite of broccolli, bite of chicken, bite of rice cake, none of her tea except for a large slice of melon and one spoon of yogurt and then 6oz.

When i say bite i mean a bird nibble and tehn usually spit it out.

But this IS better than a week ago when i was giving her three meals instead of 6 smaller portions mroe regularly.

At a loss.

 

[QTPie]

Apart from a post MMR check at 13 months (at my surgery, they do the MMR, then whisk them straight into the HV for a quick weigh and chat), I haven't seen the HV since DS was 7 months. I am a huge baby/toddler book reader and - apart from getting DS weighed - I saw no benefit to seeing the HV. By 7 months DS was well on the way to eating a good diet and we haven't looked back (a few small ups and downs - when teething - but nothing major). Book knowledge and good mother's intuition count for far more than a HV.

Couldn't the HV give you any suggestions?

What do you feel? Does she seem healthy? Is she active? Is she happy (apart from teething)? Is she alert? Not that they are truly indicative, but what percentiles is she on for height and weight ATM?

She sounds like a healthy chunk even with the 5lb weight loss (which is rather a lot...). My DS is a very healthy, chunky almost 22 month old at about 28lbs.

Her current diet (what you are trying to feed her, rather than what she is eating) sounds very good. If she isn't eating anything (rather than being fussy and only wanting to eat certain foods), then it is very tough.

Does she have formula or cow's milk? If she has cow's milk is she also on a vitamin supplement?

How many teeth does she have left to go? Since she is only 14 months now, if she still has a lot to go, then I would be worried (my DS was not a late teether, but didn't get all of his canines/"first molars" until 19 months): if you are looking at another 5 months of barely eating at all, then that wont be great for her. I would be looking to go back to the HV and/or GP for some constructive help: they should provide you with some solutions and not just accusations

QT

 

[KittyVentura]

I thought that about the scales, but hubby weighed her before bed and it seems correct within half a pound.

I knew she had lost weight as i have been able to carry her a bit more lately and she is fitting all her three year old clothing in length (that was too long a month ago), and her belly is gone. She is still pudding around the neck, arms and thighs though.

She used to eat three square meals, plus three bottles. For two months she has had loads of teeth come through so it has been endless teething.

Today, i offered her 7 oz (i used to give her five or six but upped it as she isnt eating so well), 2 tbsp of cereal with milk, a nutella sandwich at 11 and some grapes, roast chicken, veggies and potatoes at 1pm, two large rice cakes with peanut butter at 2pm with apple and melon slices, baby biscuit at 3pm, sweet and sour pork with rice at 5pm with melon slices and yogurt, and then 7oz at bed.

She actually ate 7oz, half her cereal, one mini bite of the sandwich and less that half a dozen grapes, bite of broccolli, bite of chicken, bite of rice cake, none of her tea except for a large slice of melon and one spoon of yogurt and then 6oz.

When i say bite i mean a bird nibble and tehn usually spit it out.

But this IS better than a week ago when i was giving her three meals instead of 6 smaller portions mroe regularly.

At a loss.

Woahhhh. You're offering her more food than I could eat myself Dinner at Tu's house? .

Fin just picks at food now too. I think it's a phase they go through.

33lbs was very heavy for 2 year so I am surprised they would get funny with you and claim you aren;t feeding her enough. I would continue trying different foods and just being consistent and she'll hopefully start eating better in due course xx

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Yeah that is loads of food! Ruby would no way eat all that. Today she ate, a few shreddies, a couple of sugar free biscuits, a few raisins, half a slice of bread with houmous, a smoothie pouch, 2 small fishcakes and one piece of broccoli. And about 8oz milk in total.

 

[KittyVentura]

Fin had:

Half a large banana
About 1/5 of a piece of toast with clover
About 1/4 a jar (I'm ill)
Cup of Innocent smoothie
More raisins than I can count (Wooo - coronation chicken poo tomorrow)
1 segment Terry's choc orange (I couldn't wait and he did puppy eyes)

He point blank refused dinner.

He had about 7oz cows milk this morning and about 3 this eve before bed.

 

[jojo_b]

I wouldn't worry at all and would just smile and nod at HV. Look at it logically - is she thin/failing to thrive? No. If anything, she's probably healthier now she is whizzing around if she was a little on the heavy side to start with. I hate the whole "mummy knows best" thing, but in this case, you do! You know she is happy and healthy, and your HV should too. She's obviously (as others have said) ignoring the bigger picture and looking at the red book only, which is pretty daft.

You are certainly offering a lot of food, so I wouldn't feel guilty on that score. We don't offer Finny anything near like that much, and he is almost exactly the same age as your little girl (he's 24/10/10) x x