Slowed weight gain between 4-6 months

[minties]

The same thing happened with my last daughter, but this time it's a little different as I am dieting and losing weight. So thought I better get some opinions!

Born at 38+6 3.4kg/7lbs 8oz July 21st 2016. 200g away from the 75th centile.

Gained weight and length just fine for all of her newborn and infant checks. On the 22nd November (so about 4 months) she was 6.84kg/15lbs 1.27oz). 200g under the 75th centile. She was also 63.7cm which was spot on for the 75th centile in length

Today she was only 7.2kg/15lbs 14oz. She is 190 days old and 50th centile for 190 days is 7.385kg.(https://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/wfa_girls_p_exp.txt)

I thought she would be closer to 8kg. Seems she's only gained 400g in a couple of months?!

I am dieting, eating well though, lots of protein, good amount of fat etc etc. I'm taking in 2000 calories and more on days I exercise. I started on xmas day.

Can this be from my dieting? She is still pretty much only on breastmilk. She doesn't have solids every day, and when she does she is BLW so doesn't eat a very large amount. Corner of toast or few mouthfuls of an avocado slice etc.

She wakes to nurse about 2-5 times a night, and I demand feed her during the day and night. She always seems satisfied and I get letdowns nice and easy and promptly. We bed share so any time she is hungry she reaches out to touch me and I feed her for as long as she likes.

Sorry if this is confusing with all the numbers.

Note: I am weighing her on digital home bathroom scales. However, I am a weight lifter so I also weighed a 2.5kg, 5kg and 10kg plate and the scales weighed them accurately.

 

[Zephram]

Your diet and exercise sound fine to me and no, probably won't have anything to do with her slowed growth. It's largely a myth that breastfeeding women shouldn't work out.

Growth does slow at that age, that's why the growth charts start out at a steep incline and then level off as they age. At 6 months she doesn't need to be eating full meals, so BLW sounds fine to me, but just go by her reactions - you can try offering more meals and see if she takes it. Neither of mine ate much at that age.

My DS2 started at the 75th percentile for weight, then shot up to the 95th and then dropped back to the 75th. It isn't a problem for their percentiles to change in the short term, with my second the midwife told me that some do pack it on very quickly and then level off. If she's happy and feeding on demand and peeing and pooping then there likely isn't any problem. She may just be between growth spurts. I wouldn't worry.

 

[Ganton]

My little one was born at 8lb 6oz (somewhere between 75th and 91st). She settled on the 75th line and stayed there until around 5 months old. Then she had croup so I took her to be weighed 2 weeks later and she'd lost a couple of ounces. Neither the HV nor I were concerned, because it could be explained by the illness, but I just wanted to get her weighed at that point so I could track if she gained well once recovered. Two weeks later, she'd gained back her couple of ounces plus a couple more. But then every 2 weeks her weight was literally up and down. Over 12 weeks, she alternated between gaining and losing, and only gained a total of 10oz in that time, putting her on the 9th centile.

She just happened to have a paediatrician appointment towards the end of those 12 weeks and he said to keep an eye on her weight, but was more than happy with her general development (rolling, neck strength, alertness etc).

Since then, she has gained at each weigh in. She only averages around 2oz a week but that's enough to keep her on the 9th centile, so maybe she just wasn't meant to be such a big baby in the first place.

At 9 months old, she's still not a great eater, so that worries me slightly, but we keep trying. She enjoys porridge at breakfast, but otherwise won't entertain the idea of being spoon fed purees, so we are largely doing baby led weaning. She's trying lots of different foods but I think it just takes time until they're able to consume decent quantities this way.

 

[minties]

Thanks guys!

She's only put on about 500 grams (about a pound?) in 10 weeks, which was a wee bit of a concern. She was weighed again yesterday and has put a small amount on.

She's only have one "meal" a day, she's not all that fussed on solids, but I do give her the odd bit of food off my plate also.

She has dropped a centile I think.

 

[campn]

Hey mint, my DD gain weight has also really slowed down, I'm not eating any differently at all, I just felt that maybe my milk just isn't that fat. I've started taking sunflower lecithin and it's supposed to make your milk much fattier, maybe worth a try!?

 

[minties]

Thanks! I will look into that, though my milk looks/seems fine and normal when expressed. She has again not really put on any weight, or length. She was 7.3kg today. Ugh! 100g difference in 3 weeks and 3 days, and it could have just been that she had a poo that needed to come out or had drank more from me before she was weighed

 

[autumnal]

My baby dropped from 98th to 78th since month 3

 

[noon_child]

Hey mint, my DD gain weight has also really slowed down, I'm not eating any differently at all, I just felt that maybe my milk just isn't that fat. I've started taking sunflower lecithin and it's supposed to make your milk much fattier, maybe worth a try!?

Human milk hasn't got much fat naturally. Because we can carry our children with us so they can feed often, don't need to keep themselves warm while they are left etc. our milk doesn't need to be that fatty. Just in case you were worried that everyone else was getting cream while you got water

However there are suggestions that the lecithin can stop the fat getting stuck in the breast and stay emulsified within the milk, but unless feeding is very infrequent, this shouldn't be preventing large amounts of fat reaching baby anyway. There are no contraindication for taking it so I can understand why people might try it, but I worry about solutions that target the wrong problem or a problem that doesn't exist. Let us know how things develop Minties.