I thought everything was going perfect!

[MommyFirefly]

As the title says, I honestly thought everything was as perfect as it could be. My daughter is 13 weeks EBF. I have never had any nipple pain, no soreness, no cracked nipples, never had the "lipstick" thing happen.

She was 7 lb 14 oz at birth, dropped down to 7.5, and now (at 13 weeks) is only 9.12. She's hardly gained anything at all. She does have a slight upper lip tie, but it's never really seemed to affect our breastfeeding relationship.

Her pediatrician says she is "perfect" and that there's "no need for me to supplement with formula". I thought everything was fine until I started looking at charts for the national average for breastfed babies her age.

I really don't know where to go from here. Everyone I've talked to suggests to stop breastfeeding altogether because I'm staving her.

Honestly, I had no idea I was doing anything wrong. She's hitting milestones, she's having plenty of wet diapers, but she's small and it's really starting to scare me.

 

[misspriss]

Her doctor is not worried, she is hitting milestones, having plenty of wet diapers. Why are you worried? Is she staying in the same percentile, or dropping percentiles?

Your doctor is going to be more of an expert at interpreting the charts than you are, if the doctor is not worried, I wouldn't worry yourself.

Also, was she full term? DS was a prem, he has always been small. He is 21lbs at 23 months!

 

[MommyFirefly]

She's staying in the same percentile. At first I was just kind of worried looking at the charts and I know I don't really know what I'm looking at so I dropped it after that. But then I went to my breastfeeding moms group and they panicked and scared the crap out of me and reminded me 10,000 times how small my daughter is and how their kids are younger but so much bigger.

I probably just need to forget about it and stop worrying myself. but I'm a first time mom and crazy with worry most of the time. Thank you though.

She was full term.

 

[misspriss]

She's staying in the same percentile. At first I was just kind of worried looking at the charts and I know I don't really know what I'm looking at so I dropped it after that. But then I went to my breastfeeding moms group and they panicked and scared the crap out of me and reminded me 10,000 times how small my daughter is and how their kids are younger but so much bigger.

I probably just need to forget about it and stop worrying myself. but I'm a first time mom and crazy with worry most of the time. Thank you though.

She was full term.

Staying in the same percentile is perfect! She is growing at the same rate as every other baby, otherwise she'd be dropping percentiles. Shame on those moms making you worried. Babies are small, all babies are different, not all babies are a big and chunky!

That settles it, she's keeping the same percentile, her doctor says she is perfect, she is having wet diapers and is hitting milestones, nothing to worry about! I'd express your concerns to her doctor (which you probably have) and just ask your doctor to be honest with you if they ever sense a problem. Then if your BF moms give you crap, tell them you have discussed her growth extensively with her doctor, and her doctor is perfectly happy with it.

Were they saying she was small, as in unhealthy? Or just "OMG she's so small! How cute!"? I get that a lot, but DS *is* small.

 

[DebbieF]

My daughter was the same. I worried myself sick about her weight. Some babies are just small and as long as she is having plenty of wet/dirty diapers and reaching milestones, try not to worry. (Easier said than done, I know) My dd is now almost 15 months old and she has just hit 18 pounds. Some babies are just small and there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[laurarebecca1]

This sounds exactly like my daughter!

She was 7lbs 3 at birth and now at 15 weeks she is 11lbs 5! She has always been between the 0.4 and 9th percentile on the charts! We couldn't understand why, she was feeding every 1/1.5 hours in the day and every 2 hours at night until about 9 weeks and even now she still feeds every 2 hours in the day and every 2.5/3 hours at night!

Some babies just gain quickly! And some gain slowly!

She could sit by herself just short at 14 weeks, rolled at 6 weeks!
Honestly I wouldn't worry as long as there are plenty of wet nappies and she's gaining weight!

Edit: forgot to say, only 2 weeks ago did she fit into her 0-3 month clothes and still fits into newborn!

 

[luna_19]

She gained 39oz in 13 weeks, that is 3 oz per week which is a little on the low side as at this age bf babies typically gain 5-7 oz per week. It sounds like she is doing well so maybe she is just a smaller baby but I am wondering if that lip tie may be interfering even though it isn't causing you any pain.

 

[Berri]

Stop looking at the charts and look at your baby. If she is happy and meeting her milestones.... don't stress!!

I had this with both my boys. My youngest actually dropped off the charts altogether at 8mths but at his 12mth he was back in the 10th percentile.

If your ped isn't worried you certainly shouldn't be. Just keep feeding on demand and doing what you're doing!

 

[noon_child]

There is no line on the charts that you "should be". What is important is that you stay roughly around the same line and don't "suddenly" leap up or down by over two lines. The charts are to be read in conjunction with other things - those being the proportions of the child, the developmental milestones and the effectiveness of milk transfer (i.e dirty nappies and whether Mum feels pain/discomfort).

That sounds like a really unhelpful bf group. Is it run by any health visitors or trained peer supporters? Who are the people who are pressuring you to stop breastfeeding her? If they aren't a medical professional or her parent what does it have to do with them?

 

[leash27]

My DD has gained weight at roughly the same rate (between 3-4oz a week) and she is absolutely fine. We were a little worried to begin with as she dropped from 91st centile to 50th due to a slow start with BF but she has followed that 50th centile perfectly ever since and the Health Visitor assured me that was the most important thing. As long as your LO is on the chart and following the curve, I wouldn't worry!

The way I see it, some babies have to be at the top of the charts and some at the bottom!

X

 

[itsnowmyturn]

Check her tongue, with upper lip tie there's usually a tongue tie too it's very often posterior so can't always be seen, put a finger at either edge of baby's tongue and apply a little pressure and see whether the whole tongue moves back or whether the middle bit stays and makes a notch or heart shaped. There's a thread called upper lip tie? On here where me and other ladies have been discussing this. I thought the lip was my baby's issue but turned out she had a very thick tie that was significantly restricting her movements.