My daughter just had her 6 month appt. and only weighs 14 pounds. She has been exclusively breastfed (although we have been trying to get her to take bottles and formula since she was almost 2 months old). Her pedi was a little concerned about her inadequate weight gain but attributes a lot of it to her being so active. She started crawling at about 5 1/2 months and sleeps very little during the day. During the day she nurses every 1-2 hours usually and then once at night. I work evenings so I think she has learned to stock up early to avoid having to take a bottle from her dad. She does become distracted while nursing but she has also always nursed on only one side at each feeding. I started trying to give her solids around four months of age. She refuses cereal but has eaten vegetables a couple of times for dad. I even try getting her to drink formula from little dixie cups since she has such an aversion to bottles and sippy cups. Sometimes she'll drink a little but more often she just plays with it. What am I supposed to do with a baby that won't eat? She is an otherwise very happy baby, laughing and playing all the time. I'm just worried and wondering if anyone has had a similar experience. Thank you.
A.
Dear Amy,
if she is laughing and playing all the time, i would relax, let her breastfeed as much as she likes, and not offer other stuff until at least 6 months-old. If she is a one-breast only kid -- i wouldn't worry. Both mine were. And it means that they definitely get the high protein milk of that one breast, which comes at the end.
sounds like you are both doing great.
D.
your baby sounds normal as for her weight gain that is a good weight mine is exclusively bf but a lil over weight he is 6 months & 20# but my others were just like your baby very active. see bm is natural and the fat in it is natural so the active babies do not pack on the fat it is burned quickly. just like once my baby is mobil his chunkyness will go away because bm fat burns quick. as long as baby needs 4 dipes that needs changing and baby is meeting milestones at an average rate dont worry too much. plus always look at faily from both sides are they fairly thin and small.
If your pediatrician isn't too concerned, I wouldn't be either. My first son also has always been a difficult eater and was very active -- he spent just about every waking moment pushing furniture around my house from the moment he was able to do so. He's always been in less than the 1oth percentile for weight (around 50th for height). My pediatrician was a little concerned, so she ordered some blood work when he was about a year old, and everything came back fine. Since then we haven't worried too much. If you are concerned, you could ask your pediatrician whether there are any tests you could have done to make sure there's nothing going on. But also keep in mind that many people don't start babies on solids until 6 months. If your daughter is only now 6 months, she might be just on the cusp of deciding she likes solid foods. Have you tried mixing fruit with the cereal rather than just milk? I have heard that breastfed babies think plain milk and cereal tastes boring (breastmilk changes its flavor at each meal, whereas of course formula doesn't). I don't know how much stock to put in that, but my first son wouldn't have anything to do with plain cereal and milk. Once we added some applesauce or apricots or whatnot, things got a lot better. We also found that he would eat more if we distracted him with a toy during meals. Good luck!
Dear A.,
Please check out this book. Most libraries have it:
Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense
http://www.amazon.com/Child-Mine-Feeding-Love-Sense/dp/09...
It has helped me a lot with my son. Don't worry about feeding her cereal, my son never liked it and it used to make him constipated. You just need to make sure she has a good iron supply which is the main reason most doctors push the baby cereal.
A.
Hi A.!
I'm not going to tell you not to listen to your pedi. but as long as she is active and happy most of the time it sounds like she is doing well. My girls were only 16 lbs at 1year, they are both petite and very......active little ladies, they also were both breastfed for 15 months-would not go near bottles and went right into a sippy cup.My oldest never ate until she was about 3 or 4 she was very picky, my youngest ate everything when she was small but now she is the picky one....you just can't win so be patient and try not to worry, like I said as long as there are no signs of distress she sounds like she's fine.If it makes you feel better I'm sure your pedi would'nt mind weight checks from time to time.
My, now 6 1/2 year old son, didn't eat any food till he was well over 1 year old, maybe even 18 months. He was bottle fed. I introduced solids at 4 or 6 months (I can't remember). He took one tiny spoonful and clearly clamped his mouth shut after that. Our pediatrician's attitude was to leave him be unless he showed signs that were concerning to the pediatrician. The pedicatrician noted that formula had all he needed regarding nutrition.
My son never showed any developmental problems. He still has a very limited diet (mostly beige - crackers, bread, butter). Just this past year he started eating chicken "nuggets" and pizza. Every once in awhile, he'll have a little bit of sweet and sour meatballs. And, this one we can't figure out, he'll eat crab rangoon. That's it (except for, of course, chocolate). But he's healthy and thriving. He has a phenomenal sense of taste (he does love to taste spices but won't eat anything cooked with them) \, smell, and and texture which is why I think he'll look at food or smell it and find the food offputting. My guess is that he'll be a chef or restaurant critic once he does "discover" food.
Hope this helps.
Good luck.
Have you tried contacting a Lactation Consultant?
www.lalecheleague.com and you can find one in your area.
I noticed that you live in Waltham.
Dr. Gwon in Newton is a pediatrician AND a lactation consultant if you want to see her: ###-###-####.
Good luck!
I don't think I would be too concerned either. You might want to check out this website:
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/index.html
They have a weight chart for BREASTFED babies. Pediatricians typically lump breastfed and formula fed babies together. But because breastmilk is so much better for your baby there really isn't any waste and that results in lighter babies. Check out this scale because your baby might be right on target for weight - it is unfortunate that doctors know so little about breastfeeding and that they don't really have any training in it. I wish you the best of luck.
If you are interested, there is an excellent board about bf-ing on this website with tons of knowledgable women who would be more than willing to help in any way:
http://www.justmommies.com/boards/index.php?s=93344e18bc#...
