Itty Bitty Babies Club (Slow Gainers)

[Eala]

Gah, HVs

Big for you Teal.

I wish they'd never brought out these bleedin' centile charts As if a baby's weight is all that matters! As long as a little one is actually gaining, surely that's good? We're not all the same shape and size as adults, so why do health professionals get in such a flap about wanting babies to follow lines on their little charts?!

 

[florabean1981]

Teal... If it's not what you want to do & it doesn't feel right for you, then dont let the HV pressure you into it. They are not medically trained & are there to offer support & advice & be a port of call if/when Drs & nurses aren't available. If your Dr is happy with G's general well being, I would be much more likely to believe a medically trained professional that someone with an NVQ level 3... (not that there's anything wrong with an NVQ mind, I just mean it's not as good as a doctorate!)

As for the early weaning, I always though that breastmilk had more calories & easily absorbed nutrients than 'real' food in babies under a year old? so surely weaning will be like empty calories & make him take even less milk & affect your supply??? I dunno for sure though...

anyway, I'm rambling!

 

[teal]

Thanks for the support girls

I really hate those centile charts!

I only seen my GP last week and she commented on how happy Gabriel is. She said he's just a small baby but he looks happy and healthy. You would think that would be enough to keep the hv happy!

The weaning comment confused me because my sister (whose baby is 5 days older than) was weighed today and she told my sister not to wean until at least 6 months because they're not ready before then.

I've to back in 2 weeks to have him weighed again. She did want me to go back next week but I thought being weighed once a week was a bit much (bad enough once a fortnight). I don't even want to go back and see her at all. I always feel awful after seeing her.

xx

 

[Eala]

The thing is... the WHO recommends that babies under um... it's either 6 months or a year... should only be weighed every 4 weeks. The Department of Health is supposedly picking up these guidelines. They're applying them in Scotland, certainly. The idea being that 4 weeks is long enough to see any true gain/loss. Babies can go through such phases with their growth, 2 weeks is an awfully short period of time!

Randomly, I thought health visitors were actually qualified nurses? Certainly mine is, she's a registered child branch nurse. Maybe it's different down south

Remember that you don't *have* to go back to get him weighed in 2 weeks, if you'd rather wait. It's a recommendation, not a directive! Your GP is happy with his development, so to what the HV says. If she moans, just tell her the WHO recommendations, and suggest that she should really look at her practice and make sure that she's using the best possible evidence

 

[florabean1981]

yeah, some HVs are ex midwives & some are nurses... but the only qualification they have to have is an NVQ level 3 in Health & Social Care, taking the child & baby modules as a compulsory factor... there's then some on-the-job training too & top ups like first aid & they also have to do all the courses that they offer to new mums like baby massage, learning through play & all that jazz... I blieve that at every official weigh-in session they are 'meant' to have a qualified nurse, a regular HV & a child nursery worker too if it's held in a nursery or sure start type centre... but it varies soooooo much! I'm lucky that the HVs are here are quite nice, but the nursery workers are arses who make you feel like a failure in every aspect of parenting!

My centre has a policy of weighing every week for the 1st 6 weeks, then every month until their 6 months old, then every 2-3 months after that... However, it is only a suggestion... weigh-ins aren't compulsory... check ups arent compulsory... even immunisations aren't compulsory... no one can make you go or do anything... and yet so many of us take it as a law, lol.

 

[cleckner04]

I stopped taking Emma to get weighed AGES ago! But than again, we don't have HVs here. It's all up to me to schedule and decide where I want to take her, etc. I say if babies are happy and meeting milestones. SCREW what anyone else says. There was a point that Emma wasn't even ON the charts because she was so small. But other than her size, she was perfectly normal, even advanced with milestones. Now she is finally hitting her stride with weight gain and I'm glad I didn't listen to advice to put her on formula. She's still on the boobie and I can't see it any other way.

Teal- It honestly seems like your HV is just a complete idiot. I mean you get one thing of advice, and your sister gets different advice. It makes no sense. Follow your heart and your instinct on it hun. Your LO is JUST fine.

 

[teal]

I think I'll say to her to stop weighing him so often. For the first 4 weeks or so she was wanting to weigh him every few days - she was always shocked when he hadn't gained anything within the 2 days! Four weeks sounds more reasonable than two weeks.

I'm seeing the nurse tomorrow, for Gabriel's third lot of jabs, so I'm going to mention it to the nurse that I'm not happy.

I appreciate all your advice girls xx

 

[Belle30]

Hello ladies

Can I join you, please? My little boy is 5 and a half months old and weighs 13lbs. He was born at 8lbs 13, so somewhere between 75th and 91st centile, and he's gradually dropped to below the 2nd!

He was referred to the paediatrician and had his first appt yesterday. Basically she advised me to get him on solids straight away to try to get him to put on some weight.

Please see my thread in the BF section if you want the long version!:
https://www.babyandbump.com/breastf...atrician-re-poor-weight-gain-v-long-rant.html

He's at nursery today and I'm supposed to be working but keep worrying about him putting on weight instead!

Hope you're all having a nice day! xx

 

[Eala]

Welcome Belle Try and not worry too much (easier said than done, I know!)

I'm obviously not a paediatrician, but I really don't understand this "We need to bulk them up, get them on solids!" argument As far as I was aware, milk (whether it is breastmilk or formula) is the best source of calories that a baby can be given? Or is it to do with different levels of nutrients in other foods?

I'm not medically trained, so maybe I'm missing something?

 

[florabean1981]

Belle- welcome to the group. I wont reply properly now as I'm not feeling very well at the moment, but will reply to your thread tomorrow... didn't want to read & run though! but yeah,

 

[cleckner04]

Welcome Belle! I agree, I thought solids would actually hinder growth. In fact I've seen women say their babies stopped gaining so fast after solids when I was reading the weaning section. Maybe you should start a thread in the weaning section and ask what they think on the matter. The girls in there are quite knowledgeable about it. And I think a few even have slow gaining babies. Welcome to our little group!!

 

[Logan's Mum]

Hello Belle! Dont worry about your baby's weight gain, and dont feel pressurised in to early weaning too. BLW is a great idea as he can play with the food and have little tastes without being too much. If you want to give him bland puree to start off with, I would recommend baby porridge with no added sugar or salt (Ive mentioned it before on here that the Boots one is YUMMY! ), it has more calories in and a nicer flavour and texture too.

OH took Logan to get weighed on Wednesday (Im back at work), and hes now... 19lbs!! Hes coming along soo fast too, hes now has 3 teeth, and one more on the way, and can pull himself up to standing, and can just about use his push-along walker to take a few steps. Bless him though, he doesnt know how to get back down once hes standing up, so we have to often go in to his cot to sit him down as he stands up when we put him to bed but is too tired to figure out how to get back down

 

[florabean1981]

well done Logan!

 

[Seity]

Well done Logan!
We got Gabriel a Jumperoo and I picked it up yesterday. He's too tiny to use it without a burp cloth under his butt, so he can reach the toys. I also have to put a cushion under his feet because he can't reach the floor. He really seems to love it though.

 

[megewansmum]

Hi everyone

Can I please join the itty bitty club. My daughter was 7lb 13oz at birth but following a diagnosis of reflux she was prescribed ranitidine. She had a severe allergic reaction to it where her skin blistered, burnt and eventually peeled completely. It was horrific. 7 doctors including 2 at the hospital emergency department looked at her and just said that it was a severe case of baby acne to start with. I had a gut feeling that it was more and insisted on seeing a dermatologist. She immediately diagnosed the allergic reaction and stopped the meds. During this time she practically stopped eating and her weight plummeted.

At 3 months she was only 10.5lb and was still not eating much at all. The pediatrician was very concerned and was going to admit her to hospital for tests. I was BF but was told that she would need supplementation with formula. I so wish that I hadn't. She was really sick and crying constantly and we were sent for blood tests and to the allergist. Turns out she has a cow's milk protein allergy too! Anyway she is now nearly 9 months old and still only tiny at 17lb. The supplementation with formula made no difference to her slow gaining. She is just a slow gainer and a petite baby.

I wish I had joined this site earlier as I used to feel so upset when I took her to Baby Group and all the other babies were so chunky. She always looked so tiny but she was always happy though bless her. Anyway we stopped going due to napping clashes but we are hopefully starting again in September. It is so great to know that there are other tiny but happy babies too and that we're not alone.

I just have to think that although she is tiny she is perfect.

 

[florabean1981]

Megewansmum- that sounds so scary to go through all that, bless you both! Having refulx & the cow's milk allergy must be difficult for you both, but I'm glad to hear your daughter is happy, despite being on the smaller side of life!
Are you still BFing, or does she have some kinda special formula?
She sounds about the same size as my son- he was 17lbs 1oz at almost 9 months & he's perfectly happy & healthy now too.
welcome to the group- hopefully your experiences will also be able to help other people out there too who have gone through similar things

 

[Eala]

Megewansmum that sounds very scary. I'm glad you got the allergy diagnosed so at least you know where you stand now.

Last time I got my LO weighed she was around 8 and a half months and weighed 15lbs 7oz. I understand how it can feel like our LO's are just so dinky compared to other babies, but I'm getting used to it now. I know that she is healthy and happy, and that's what matters.

Just think - if we didn't have babies at the small end of the scale, then we wouldn't have a scale to measure the bigger babies! Sometimes I think that HVs just forget that you need the 0.4 centile babies just as much as the 98th centile ones!

 

[teal]

Well done Logan

Hello Megewansmum my son was 10lbs 8oz at 3 months.

Eala - what you said about the scales just made me feel so much better! My son gets weighed again on Tuesday but I'm going to tell the hv I don't want him weighed so often.

xx

 

[Seity]

Hi Megewansmum. Gabriel was 9lb 7oz at 16 weeks.
He goes in for his 4 month visit this Wednesday, so we'll get to see how much weight he's put on in the last 3 weeks.

 

[megewansmum]

Florabean - I was breastfeeding but told to supplement with formula. I was EBF during the night but she started to STTN so I pump and give her B milk bottle when she wakes then a mixture of soy formula and B milk for her other bottles. I tried her on Nutrimagen and Alimentum formulas which are hypoallergenic but she wouldn't drink them at all. Not surprised they are really nasty. I tried them and they made me heave!

Teal - Good luck with Gabriel's weigh in on Tuesday

Seity - Good luck also with your Gabriel's weigh in on Wednesday

Hi Eala

Well, I thought that Megan was a happy little camper but since posting its been awful. She seems to have stopped eating and drinking too. Last night she only had 1oz before she went to bed and only 2.5ozs this morning when she woke. She hardly touched her breakfast, refused her mid morning bottle and then hardly touched her lunch. That means that as of last night at 7pm she's only had 3.5ozs I'm so worried about her as she can't afford not to eat. I noticed in the past few weeks that her intake has really gone down and now its practically none existent.

I'm hoping its something to do with teething as I know this can affect them in this way I think I read somewhere. She's also crying before and after naps and before bedtime. Infact she's fussy pretty much all day long with the odd smile now and again.

I emigrated to Canada from England 3 months before she was conceived having been told that we would probably never have children and have no long term friends here or family. I do feel so alone and such a failure at times. I often wonder if she would be better with another mummy and that are all her problems something that I'm doing wrong. No one else seems to go through all this. It just seems to have been one thing after another. Its so hard