Itty Bitty Babies Club (Slow Gainers)

[Eala]

Flora - that's good that Harry seems better today, long may that continue! Glad the nurse's check-up went well Good luck with the asthma clinic - hope you get it sorted out on Thursday!

Logan's Mum - nice idea about the introductions

I'm Eala, Mummy to Romilly who (like Harry!) is just coming up for 10 months (eek!). She is doing a mixture of bum shuffle and backwards wriggling at the moment, and has just started pulling herself up onto her knees. After "teething" from about 9 weeks, she has gone from 0 teeth to having 3 in the space of a week! She loves to clap and wave, especially if you start singing to her. She loves to clap along, and gets very excited! We are doing baby signing, and her first signs were "milk" and "cat"! Still waiting for "Mummy" and "Daddy" She's babbling lots, bit like her Mummy - likes to talk

I have a flappy HV who likes to give me grief about Romilly's weight, despite me thinking that she's doing just fine! Romilly is BLW, eating well, still taking a fair amount of milk, and is having gains each time she's weighed, so I fail to see what the problem is! Last weigh-in was fine as it wasn't my HV there

Can't think of anything else, but have probably babbled on enough anyway

 

[Seity]

Good idea about the intros
I'm Denise, mom to Gabriel. I'll be 37 on Friday and Gabriel will be 5 months next week. He's almost but not quite rolling back to front. He's done it once with encouragement last week, but not on his own yet. He mastered front to back before he was 1 month old and often spins himself around in circles while attempting to crawl. He's very busy sucking on his toes these days and loves to laugh and babble and squeal. No sign of teeth yet and he's still on 100% milk diet. I would like to do baby signing with him and should probably get started on that.

 

[WW1]

Hi all

I'm Wendy and my LO, Rebecca is 6 1/2 months old (where has the time gone?!) She is currently trying to master sitting up - she has managed about a minute before flinging herself backwards ~ thankfully there are plenty of cushions to catch her! She loves her sophie giraffe and mini piano and giggles like mad when I tickle her head with my hair

She's due to have an operation in September due to craniosynostosis (premature fusing of the skull) and although I'm dreading it I'll be very glad when it's all over.

Anyway, that's enough of us! I love this group - it's so supportive

 

[megewansmum]

Hi everyone...

Sorry haven't logged on for a few days. Well, Megan had her 9 month check up last Tuesday and Dr was really pleased with her despite the pediatrician causing us endless worry 2 weeks before saying she should be making some attempt at crawling and should be pulling herself up by now! Anyway she was 17lb 8oz which was a lot less than at the pediatrician appointment at the hospital 2 weeks earlier where she was 17lb 12oz. However, the public health nurse came yesterday and did her normal monthly weight in for me and she was 18lb 1oz Just goes to show how different scales can cause you to worry. I really thought she'd lost weight I always go by the HN scales (they always give higher readings!)

WW1 - I so hope you get a date through for the operation soon. I'm sure the bloods will come back just fine Great news that Rebecca is sitting unaided for a short period of time. Megan only mastered that at 8 months! Still it took her 8 weeks to take a bottle and its taken 3 months for her to drink from a sippy cup so she's not speedy at new things.

Florabean - Glad to hear that Harry is ok and hope the asthma clinic can get you sorted.

Seity - Hope Gabriel is doing ok.

Kota - Pheonix's gain of 2lb in 6 weeks is absolutely amazing and something that should be congratulated HV...never happy!

Eala - Great that you are doing signing with Romilly. I wish I'd done that with Megan but she can't wave or clap yet so I think she'd probably be talking by the time she mastered it.

Logans mum - Happy Birthday to Logan I hope the jabs went ok. I'm absolutely dreading taking Megan for them. You'ld think the amount of specialists and doctors she's seen in her short life she'd have got used to the doctors office but no, absolutely hates it. The 9 month checkup didn't warrant and jabs and she still cried.

Here goes then... Hello everyone - I'm Gaynor and my little angel is Megan. We emigrated here from England and then 3 months later was pregnant and along way from home Megan went through a really rough time for about 5 months but is doing great now. She has 2 bottom teeth that arrived about a month ago and loves to show them off when giggling. Her favourite thing is having a bath and will quite happily splash away for hours if I let her. She'll put everything in her mouth except food which is why I went the TW route with her. She's still trying to master cheerios but still flicks them around and wonders where they've gone She's also very much an outdoor girl and loves to be in the back pack hiking. Sometimes it has its bonus being itty bitty.

 

[florabean1981]

oooh, we have a back pack carrier for Harry too- it was invaluable when were in Italy for 2 weeks & he loves it and yumyumyum to Cheerios. I've never given them to Harry- I like eating them too much by myself, lol!

 

[snugglebot]

Girls, do you mind if I join you? My son is Finley, he isn't itty bitty but is a slow weight gainer and has been dropping percentiles from the beginning. He sits on the 16th now, at 17lbs 3 oz @7 3/4 months.

Born at 10lbs 1 oz , he has gone from the 97th to the 16th percentile in weight. His height, which used to be off the charts is down to the 50th. His weigh gain slowed when we started noticing uric crystals in his diapers at 4 weeks, this continued until 2.5 months. The crystals are gone - he always had fairly wet nappies and BM, so it was strange - but the weight gain never picked up.

Most recently his weight gain has gone from subpar to only 3 oz in a month.

I guess there are two reasons why I am hoping to join. 1) Your experience and knowledge from your peds and HVs etc. I don't know how long it will be before I get seen.

2) I have never liked BF. It has always been a battle for Finley and I. We have cried many tears, but trudged along. Lately it has gotten worse and so have his solids intake. I am starting the slow switch to formula and then cows milk. Just wondering if any of you have done this and did it improve the LO's weight gain? My mom is convinced the issue lies in my breastmilk. (Although if that were true shouldn't the intro of solids meant a faster weight gain, not a slower one - the latter is the case)


Here is his growth chart : Finley's growth chart - go to the link, scroll down and click Graph
Thanks.

 

[Seity]

Gabriel seems to be doing well, slowly closing in toward the 1st percentile. I think he's around 11.5 lbs now. My home scale only does .5 lb increments and he doesn't exactly sit still.

 

[Logan's Mum]

Thank you for all the intros! I didnt realise how much older Logan was compared to all the other Itty Bitties! Where has the time gone?!? Good to hear all is well with your babies too, WW1 keep us posted when LO has the operation, try not to worry about it beforehand (easier said than done I know)
Will post again later today, only had a short amount of time this week to do any posting, have had relatives visiting for the past week and a half for Logan's birthday, nice to see them but awfully pleased as well that the last one here is going this morning

 

[WW1]

Just wanted to say Hi Snugglebot

You're not alone with your LO dropping percentiles. My LO was on the 50th at birth and dropped to the 9th by 6 weeks. Since then she has followed the 9th pretty consistently until the last few weeks when she has move up a little bit.

I'm afraid I don't have any answers to your questions but I'm sure there are others on here who will be able to help. Looking at his chart, it seems like he is always gaining weight just not as quickly as the charts would suggest is the norm (is that right?) There are lots of women on here who don't have very complimentary things to say about the charts - especially for BF babies!

The way I see it is that the paediatricians will look into an possible causes for the slow weight gain but if your LO is happy, broadly reaching milestones and has plenty of wet nappies then things can't be too far adrift!

to you and your LO!

 

[megewansmum]

Hi Snugglebot

I was exclusively BF Megan for around 3.5 months. She was 7lb 13oz at birth but was really poorly with a rare allergic reaction to reflux meds. Her weight gain was fabulous before this but her weight gain completely stopped for weeks. She is still comparatively tiny now at 18lb 1oz at 9 months. I was told by the pediatrician that I would have to supplement her with formula to try to "build her up a bit" but what a mistake. She refused the bottle for 8 weeks and I was having to syringe feed it to her.

The fact is that it wasn't a problem with my breastmilk it was the fact that she just didn't drink much, still doesn't. Formula caused more problems than ever and she was very ill. We tried 4 different formulas but it turned out she had a cow's milk protein allergy and is now luckily happy with supplementation of soy formula. I so wish I had listened to my gut instinct and just carried on BF. She didn't gain any additional weight through having formula. Now she has 1 bottle of BM and 3 bottles of formula.

I agree with WW1 that if you LO seems happy, has wet diapers and is gaining, albeit slowly and not losing, then that is what matters. For me, personally, formula was a regret that I will always have but I did what I thought was best at the time for her. to you and Finley.

 

[bky]

Hi ladies. Hoping you can help me.
Looks like I may have a slow gainer. I was wondering if you noticed when your babies went through growth spurts, was it later/earlier than the norm, that is did they go through the x week growth spurt around x weeks or was it delayed that you noticed? (x being 2,3,6 week, 3 month 6 month etc).

I'm Becky, mum to Lucy, exclusively BF until 2 weeks when she was found to still be still -10% birth weight despite eating up to 18 hours a day. We've been doing formula supplements since but birth weight is still not back. If she hasn't gained it back soon we'll be off to the pediatrician for some kind of metabolism evaluation. More details in my journal, but hoping to go back to exclusive BF eventually. We even bought our own baby scale so we can make sure she doesn't start to lose again.

 

[snugglebot]

Thanks so much ladies!

megewansmum, it is helpful to know that formula might not help with weight gain. I have noticed so far that when he is offered a bottle of formula vs breastfed, he only takes 4 onces and a couple ladies told me to expect 6-8oz? That said, the formula switch is actually more than just the weight. nursing is very painful for me these days - we did a month of various treatments for thrush and full sterilization of everything everyday with no success - and Finley has always been a fussy nurser so I am not heartbroken at all to stop. This is just the final push.

But as I said, it is helpful to know it might not help because I think I would be disappointed otherwise.

I am giving him lactose free formula just in case it is a milk allergy, but then again I am giving him cheeses and yoghurt for solids Should I stop or wait for the peds? He loves cream cheese on mummums

 

[WW1]

Hi bky. Congratulations on the birth of your LO.

To be honest, I've always found it hard to detect growth spurts as Rebecca has been such a fussy eater from the start, I never knew if it was a growth spurt or something else (she has silent reflux). I kept a record of how much she was feeding once I started FF (month 2) and only looking back could I see that she would have a few days of eating more, then go back to a lower amount for a while.

My paediatrician looked at her weight as she dropped from the 50th percentile at birth to the 9th at 6 weeks. She then stayed on the 9th and has continued pretty much along that line (she has gone up a bit recently). The paed said they tend to ignore the first 6 weeks as this isn't necessarily indicative of a baby's genetic weight - birth weight is often a better indicator of placental efficiency than anything else. Having said that, my LO didn't lose 10% of her birth weight and never actually lost weight (just slow gaining) so I can understand your concern.

Keep pushing to see the paeds (have you got an appointment?) - you may need to be pushy about it but it'll be worth it just for piece of mind.


snugglebot- for us, FF has kept her weight at a steady gain but I had real issues BF and ending up combined feeding for a month until my milk pretty much dried up so I can't really comment. I wouldn't worry about the amount of formula he takes - my LO will still only take about 5oz on average, she just drinks more often during the day. She has NEVER taken 8oz in one go - not even close!! I tend to keep a total so I know how much she's had over the day. I find she's pretty good at self regulating and if she's not had enough during the day, she'll cluster feed in the evening.

Anyway, I've gone on a bit! Hope you are all well

 

[snugglebot]

Thanks! I found a pretty good feeding long that I am keeping track of . The little guy is getting at the moment three 4 oz bottles, plus 6 BF a day/night ..plus solids. So he has got to be getting enough food...

 

[florabean1981]

Thanks! I found a pretty good feeding long that I am keeping track of . The little guy is getting at the moment three 4 oz bottles, plus 6 BF a day/night ..plus solids. So he has got to be getting enough food...

that sounds like a fair amount to me for his age... I agree with what the other's have posted in reply to your origonal post thought.

to the new members of the group too.

Sorry I've been MIA the past couple of days- we've had comapny & I thought it would be rude to bugger off n spend all evening in the study on the computer, hehe! will catch up properly tomorrow though.

 

[teal]

I've not been on this thread for a bit but I hope everyone is doing ok

I've been feeling much better with not seeing my hv so often! xx

 

[megewansmum]

I am giving him lactose free formula just in case it is a milk allergy, but then again I am giving him cheeses and yoghurt for solids Should I stop or wait for the peds? He loves cream cheese on mummums

Hi Snugglebot...I had LO on Similac Lactose Free formula but she was really poorly on that. It has no lactose but still contains cow's milk protein so would be no good if milk allergy is the problem. I can still give Megan yoghurt and cheese but it is soy and labelled vegan. You can also get vegan cream cheese too Mummums also contain milk so be careful. But having said that I think it would be better to wait until you see the pediatrician as it may not be a milk allergy or if it is your LO may also be allergic to soy too so I wouldn't like to suggest you change at the moment without consulting them. They will probably suggest Nutramigen or Allimentum which are hypoallergic formulas first anyway. They are really nasty and LO wouldn't drink them at all so we ended up with Isomil Soy.

Also Megan eats so little in comparison with other babies and drinks very little too. She only has between 10-14oz a day now which is well below the recommended 17oz! But she is gaining steadily, pooping regularly and has wet diapers so they have told me not to be too concerned. Hard though

Hopefully your pediatrician appointment will come through soon. We live in Canada too and ours came through quite quickly.

 

[megewansmum]

Hi Bky

I never really noticed LO going through any growth spurts at all. I was BF only during the first few months and she would always eat little and often so can't be sure. Now she's older and has bottles she still drinks very little and I can't say that I've noticed any increase much from day to day. Some days she will drink more slightly more than others as some days she will eat more than others but they don't seem to coincide with any official growth spurts.

She was 7lb 13oz at birth and in the two days we were in hospital she went down to 7lb 4oz. I agree with WW1 in the fact that the birth weight seems to be no indicator of the future line they will follow in the dreaded percentile charts. I know babies that were over 10lb at birth and don't weigh much more than my LO now. She is 9 months and only weighs 18lb 1oz. She can still fit in 3-6 month clothes too.

As I mentioned in an earlier post I was told to supplement with formula and it unfortunately didn't have the miraculous desired affect of weight gain that the peds thought it would. I have come to the realisation that she is just a petite baby with virtually no appetite at all. It is very difficult as I had always thought that babies just ate and slept. It is so hard when you find yourself watching the scales and dreading weigh ins. I have shed many tears over this myself. My heart really goes out to you.

to everyone else!

 

[florabean1981]

Hi Bky

As I mentioned in an earlier post I was told to supplement with formula and it unfortunately didn't have the miraculous desired affect of weight gain that the peds thought it would. I have come to the realisation that she is just a petite baby with virtually no appetite at all. It is very difficult as I had always thought that babies just ate and slept. It is so hard when you find yourself watching the scales and dreading weigh ins. I have shed many tears over this myself. My heart really goes out to you.

to everyone else!

Bky

Ditto for me. Harry took 22 days to regain the weight he lost when he was first born. 10 days is usually considered average, but I know of babies who've taken upto 6 weeks to gain it back. Every baby is different, and with every baby, it could be for any number of reasons.

On this thread, I would say it's 50/50 as to whether formula tops ups helped their LOs gain weight quicker. For Harry it made very little difference- gaining either the same amount as when excl BFed or only gaining an extra ounce each week... in the end we all came to the realisation that he was just a petite baby, but i think everyone on here will tell you, it doesn't stop you worrying! However for some people, giving formula top ups or combo feeding or switiching to formula completely has worked absolute wonders for their LOs.

as for growth spurts, the only 2 i've really noticed so far were the 2 week one & the 6 month one. and i noticed a huge behavior difference at 4 months in terms of distraction while feeding, being way more alert & a lot harder to settle at night...

All I can really say is just keep offering feeds (whether it's Bf or FF) as often as possible- every little ounce in them counts, lol, and try not to worry too much. Look out for signs that your LO is getting enough- check for wet/dirty nappies (6-8 a day is average), good skin colouring, wet mouth, bright eyes, not overly sleepy, seems alert, make sure you're burping well so they fill up on milk not wind, try things to keep them awake while feeding like tickling up n down their spine, stroking their cheeks, hands, feet etc, talking to them, singing, maintaining eye contact... the more awake trhey are while feeding, the more they tend to take in... make sure lo's soft spot isn't sunken too, which can sometimes be a sign of dehydration, as is constipation. And if in any doubt, contact your GP or HV- it';s what they're there for....

 

[florabean1981]

Thanks so much ladies!

megewansmum, it is helpful to know that formula might not help with weight gain. I have noticed so far that when he is offered a bottle of formula vs breastfed, he only takes 4 onces and a couple ladies told me to expect 6-8oz? That said, the formula switch is actually more than just the weight. nursing is very painful for me these days - we did a month of various treatments for thrush and full sterilization of everything everyday with no success - and Finley has always been a fussy nurser so I am not heartbroken at all to stop. This is just the final push.

But as I said, it is helpful to know it might not help because I think I would be disappointed otherwise.

I am giving him lactose free formula just in case it is a milk allergy, but then again I am giving him cheeses and yoghurt for solids Should I stop or wait for the peds? He loves cream cheese on mummums

works for some & not for others... you never know It didn't work for us, however for some people it has worked wonders.
as for only taking 4 oz... try to look at it like it's still 4 oz rather than nothing at all? Harry took 5 1/2 oz a couple of times, but generally only took 3oz at a time...
I too would probably wait for peds advice with regards to the lactose stuff, or keep a food diary so that if there are any reactions or weird nappies, etc, you hav a better chance at figuring out what caused it?

sorry that's not more helpful!