I don't think my milk is enough

[Palestrina]

I've been paranoid since taking LO to the pediatrician last week. LO is EBF. Many of you may remember my story but in a nutshell LO was born full term but very tiny at 4lbs5oz and was in NICU for a week. Formula fed until I decided to EBF starting at 3wks. It was difficult and the doctor tried to pressure me to supplement due to his low birth weight.

Luckily LO doubled his birth weight by 6wks and tripled his birthweight by 5months. At his check up last week the doctor showed concern that my LO is only in the 20th percentile in weight and in the 5th percentile for head circumference and suggested formula again and introducing rice cereal. I have refused and intend to EBF until 6 months. I told him to give my LO a break because he's worked hard to triple his birthweight!

My concerns are that his weight gain has slowed down. I admit he's a small baby but he's meeting all his milestones and seems to be alert and happy. I feed him on demand and even offer breast without signs of hunger. However I can only muster 5 diapers out of him every day and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. Is my milk not enough? Should I be more persistent and feed him more than on demand? Will introducing solids now help or worsen the situation?

 

[austinsmom]

I think you're doing a great job. My LO only puts out 5 diapers a day... and has for a long time now. If I were you, I may consider introducing solids a little early. It's not that early as your LO was born full term. If your completely against that, that's ok too Sounds to me like 20th percentile is great for your LO. Are you using BFing growth charts? There's a link at the top of the BnB BF section. They're different then the CDC growth charts, which is primarily FF babies. Solids won't make anything worse. I would just start small. My LO would literally only take 2-3 tiny little bites of rice/oatmeal cereal at one sitting. You're doing a great job hun!

 

[Maman]

are his head circumfrence, length and weight all approximately in sync on precentile? if so then dont worry.

my eldest was a slower grower, i dont think he even did 5 nappies a day, i ahd everyone on my back and even when i supplemented his feedign and weaned him, its never made a difference, but hes in proportion, happy and healthy so i guess thats just who he is. i think those percentile scales are silly, were all different- theyre a guide not a rule.

 

[Palestrina]

are his head circumfrence, length and weight all approximately in sync on precentile? if so then dont worry.

my eldest was a slower grower, i dont think he even did 5 nappies a day, i ahd everyone on my back and even when i supplemented his feedign and weaned him, its never made a difference, but hes in proportion, happy and healthy so i guess thats just who he is. i think those percentile scales are silly, were all different- theyre a guide not a rule.

It doesn't seem so. He's at nearly 40% on height, about 20% on weight and at 5% on HC. I try BF as much as I can but he seems satisfied, I can't force feed him. I also wonder if weaning to foods will increase his caloric intake or jeopardize it.

 

[Maman]

ok, well hes 5 months and reallistically some babies need food at 4 months, a little baby rice to start off with might actually help, make it up with breastmilk even. i used nestle cerelac.

 

[austinsmom]

I see what you mean, as solids really don't offer alot of calories. But with the PP suggestion of mixing it up with BM, LO should be just fine.

 

[summer rain]

To be honest that sounds fine to me; its not like your baby is on the 90th plus centile in height and off the charts in HC (either at the top or bottom) the centiles for each are not that far apart; not all babies follow a specific centile in all three; none of mine ever have as long as your baby is not dropping more than 2 centiles in everything; its ok. I looked on our Uk charts (based on WHO ones) and your baby started off below the 0.4th centile and is now on the 9th, its not a huge leap but it is a jump up the charts and as you said your baby has tripled his birthweight already, which is what you're are looking for. Its normal for a BF baby to have 5-6 wet diapers a day; and at this age they pee the same amount but more spaced out, so this can cause them to have slightly fewer wet diapers than previously even though the overall pee volume is the same. Personally if I were you I would just feed more frequently if this is possible, my son started to have much fewer wet nappies at that age and also his weight did stall a bit so I did this and everything soon picked up, between 7 and 10 months he gained loads of weight for his age despite us taking solids really slowly, starting at 6 months and he was still only on one meal a day at that stage xx

 

[Palestrina]

Thanks for the advice I feel so alone because my doctor doesn't seem too sympathetic to my desire to BF. Perhaps rice cereal in his ebm might help but scared to do it.

 

[Maman]

aww i understand, my doctor and hv were the same. to the point ive declined hv contact this time round. Its a really hard step to take, but its one of those things you never know until you try.

 

[patch2006uk]

I really don't see how filling his tummy with zero calorie stodge will help at all. Your milk is super calorific. Weight gain does slow at around 4 to 6 months, and as long as he's following his curve, that's fine. 50th percentile isn't a target, it's an average - some have to be below it, or it wouldn't be an average! My LO has trundled along on 25th percentile. Head circ hasn't been measured since 2 months, height is 32nd percentile ish.

 

[Palestrina]

I know I shouldn't worry too much about percentiles but I can't help but feel like if something goes wrong it will be my fault and I will be blamed as being selfish for wanting to BF when it "clearly" doesn't benefit LO. The pediatrician said that they want a baby to triple their birth weight by 1yrs old, and my LO has done it within 5 months. He was behind to begin with but surely his progress is remarkable considering the circumstances. But to be doing so well and to suddenly feel inadequate is taking its toll on me.

 

[patch2006uk]

Your ped sounds like he's pretty ignorant about BFing. If your LO was 99th percentile, I bet he'd be telling you off for 'overfeeding'! Percentiles are something I'm not convinced help anyone. They seem to cause more worry than they're worth. As long as your LO is following a curve, who cares which curve it is?

But in all seriousness, rice won't help-it'll probably reduce his milk consumption and therefore calorie intake as its harder to digest but contains no nutrients.

 

[Palestrina]

Well I have fed every hour today, I'm thinking I may have a supply issue because I've been working part time for a few hours in the evening here and there and not pumping during that time. Still can't get him to wet more than 5 diapers in 24hrs. I'm hoping this will help.

Where do you think I should go for help? The ped is making me worry, LLL is telling me to ignore the doctor and just keep BF, my husband says everything is probably fine and mil says "he's feeding AGAIN????" as always lol. Should I find another pediatrician?

 

[BlackBerry25]

^ Sounds like my life.

I don't know



I am sure getting sick of HES FEEDING AGAIN though haha. Assholes.

 

[ashley2pink]

20% for weight actually sounds huge compared to what he was born at which I assume was only 1 or 2%. And he has already tripled his weight at 5 months! Babies usually triple their birth weight by 12 months.