https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 09 Apr 2026 18:38:06 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried/page/2#post-2890198 Sat, 06 Jul 2019 19:17:05 +0000 YogiRunner 2890198@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 9 month old has been in the &lt;1 percentile for months now and we finally got referred to a GI specialist. She said 95% of these cases are from just needing more calories, and since he’s happy and meeting milestones we aren’t running any tests, but instead fortifying breastmilk with formula and we’ll see a nutritionist too. It’s hard keeping up with all the pumping since I have zero stash though! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2890153 Fri, 05 Jul 2019 20:10:44 +0000 Ms.Mermaid 2890153@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Dr. Pepper: My daughter has dropped from the 89%ile to the 5th over 9 months and we have been weighing her daily/several times a week for the past two months. If she's eaten overnight/recently, her weight is definitely up a good 3-4 ounces, and if it's been more than a day since she last pooped, she's also usually up a good 3-5 ounces. So we know she's definitely getting enough in when she's eating, but she just isn't gaining a lot of weight. </p> <p>It was recommended to us that we try supplementing her solids with some kind of oil. She rejected olive and coconut oil but tolerates MCT oil and so we've been adding a squirt of that to her oatmeal + applesauce combos. We just started adding formula to breastmilk as well to see if that helps. Right now they are sort of waiting and seeing to determine if she's just small or if she is going to fall off the charts eventually. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2890152 Fri, 05 Jul 2019 20:04:06 +0000 ALV91711 2890152@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Dr. Pepper: well that is good news! I hope that she continues to gain for you. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2890130 Fri, 05 Jul 2019 13:59:35 +0000 Dr. Pepper 2890130@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@QBbride: Yes, they are using the WHO charts :)</p> <p>@ALV91711: Thanks for checking in on us! We had a weight check on Wednesday. I have no idea how, but she had gained 7 oz in just 6 days. Which is absolutely crazy since she's only up 60 oz total over 4 months. She did just finish a bottle at daycare when I picked her up, so that might add to her weight- it was a 3.5 oz bottle, but that means she's still up a good amount over that. </p> <p>We had only fed her rice cereal once a day and she didn't even eat much of it. The doctor asked what we had done differently and I told him the truth- which was pretty much nothing. We are waiting a week for another weight check before we decide what other interventions to do at that point.</p> <p>They did weigh her on a different scale, so I am concerned about that a little bit, but we will see next week. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2890056 Thu, 04 Jul 2019 21:21:12 +0000 ALV91711 2890056@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Dr. Pepper: Just wanted to check in and see how things are going? Did you have a follow up appt this week? How did it go? Hope she’s eating good for you. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889957 Wed, 03 Jul 2019 16:23:33 +0000 QBbride 2889957@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Which chart are they going by? CDC or WHO? Because she’s receiving breast milk and is breastfed, they should be using the WHO charts. The CDC chart will make them super low!! My daughter is 3% on WHO but &lt;0.01% on the CDC chart. For reference, she was 15lbs at a year (6lbs 7oz at birth). She’s just turning 4 and I think she is about 27lbs now. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889691 Tue, 02 Jul 2019 00:32:23 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 2889691@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just an FYI. My son was a micropreemie and had trouble eating. Adding rice cereal isn’t really considered starting solids. It’s a thickener (which is why we tried it) and also adds calories. It didn’t work for us so we ended up using a higher calorie formula mixed with breast milk. After that we added whole milk powder to a lot of his food and milk. My son has been a 1%er his whole life...still is probably. But he’s good! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889687 Mon, 01 Jul 2019 21:18:00 +0000 Dr. Pepper 2889687@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Miss Ariel: I have a cousin who has a tiny failure to thrive baby right now too. He is about 10 months old and goes to daycare with my little, so that is probably why I never thought she was so small! I just found out that they are fortifying his bottles too. I'm hoping that we can do that for Allie. She gets 3-4 bottles 5-6 days a week while I'm at work. That is a good amount of her feedings so I'm hoping we could just do that and not cut back on breastfeeding. My frist two never took milk from the source well, so it was all pumping and bottle feeding for a year. I've been so happy to actually breastfeed this time. </p> <p>I'm starting rice and hoping to move onto other foods soon with her. Which is a whole new game for me as we never gave food until 6 months and only did BLW with my first two. Its crazy to feel so unprepared for something when you are a third time mom!</p> <p>My now 3 year old was also falling off the charts as a baby but by 4 months he was back at 10%. He is still small- he wears 18-24 month clothes still, but he is perfectly fine and healthy and I'm confident that Allie will be too! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889686 Mon, 01 Jul 2019 21:12:37 +0000 Dr. Pepper 2889686@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cyoung: we haven't looked into anything yet, but I will keep this in mind when we start testing for causes on Wednesday. Thanks! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889573 Sun, 30 Jun 2019 22:12:12 +0000 Miss Ariel 2889573@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our son dropped off the charts at 4 months too. If you look at my past posts I have a couple threads on it. He wound up being labeled as failure to thrive and they did a bunch of tests but nothing was ever wrong.</p> <p>We wound up fortifying breast milk with formula and the drs recommended starting baby food. We also cut back on nursing in order to fortify and measure how much he ate, which looking back I really regret.</p> <p>Now he’s 2.5 years and just fine, but tiny. He’s still really picky with food and only eats what he wants too. Nothing wrong though, just tiny. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889546 Sun, 30 Jun 2019 17:17:22 +0000 cyoung 2889546@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Has your doctor looked into her maybe having silent reflux. I know a friend who's baby had that and she hated eating cause it scared her and she associated food with the pain of spitting up and also had issues with weight gain. They dont have to spit up to have it. It only goes up so far but they still deal with the acid and issue some reflux babies have. You may have looked into it idk. Sending prayers so you get answers. My son had weight gain issues due to having pyloric stenosis and that was so scary. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889543 Sun, 30 Jun 2019 16:22:46 +0000 ALV91711 2889543@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Dr. Pepper: that is tough. Hopefully you can get some extra calories into her. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889542 Sun, 30 Jun 2019 16:02:35 +0000 Dr. Pepper 2889542@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Sams Mom: I am going to ask my doctor on Wednesday when we see him again about purees. We've never done them ever with the first two so this is all new to us but I'm ready to give it a try!</p> <p>@ALV91711: We tried spoon feeding rice yesterday. She HATED it but didn't spit it out. She did swallow it eventually, but most just sat there and screamed at us :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889496 Sat, 29 Jun 2019 23:10:14 +0000 Sams Mom 2889496@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I started my son on purees and soft table foods at 4 months because he just couldn't get enough to eat. I don't know how yours would take to it side she's so resistant to extra feeds, but my son did better with the pouches than the purees in a jar. We used a few brands, but settled on Happy Baby organic, and used them all the way through to the Happy Tot line. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889494 Sat, 29 Jun 2019 22:12:13 +0000 ALV91711 2889494@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Dr. Pepper: with DS2 we did oatmeal a few days after trying rice cereal. Rice cereal gave him a rash on his face, oatmeal was fine. </p> <p>Just remember with spoon feeding it may take them a bit to get it and actually consume any. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889492 Sat, 29 Jun 2019 21:36:05 +0000 jhd 2889492@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Dr. Pepper: you can ask your doc, but we did oatmeal not long after rice cereal. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889461 Sat, 29 Jun 2019 08:32:30 +0000 Dr. Pepper 2889461@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@DesertDreams88: Yes, we are going to try to spoon feed her rice cereal tonight! I was going to wait until her weight check on Wednesday to ask about fortified breast milk, but after thinking more and more about it, I think it is our best option. She refuses to eat when shes not ready, so I think more calories in the same amount of fluid would benefit her. I just finished emailing my MD about it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889460 Sat, 29 Jun 2019 08:08:31 +0000 DesertDreams88 2889460@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>at that age, I'd rather fortify bottles with formula, and do rice cereal separately. </p> <p>I don't know a ton about fortification but as LO's weight fell from 20th-3rd percentile, I did add like a 1/2 scoop of formula to her bottles. There's charts you can find online, ask your dr. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889458 Sat, 29 Jun 2019 08:07:01 +0000 Dr. Pepper 2889458@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I bought some rice cereal last night. After work today we are going to try to feed it to her on a spoon! When can she get oatmeal? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889445 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 22:47:48 +0000 ALV91711 2889445@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I hope that you find something that works and she starts gaining more. </p> <p>FWIW DS1 we started feeding cereal at 4 months and he loved it. DS2 was closer to 5 months before he would eat anything. You can still move over to BLW even if you do cereal now, I did with DS1. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889442 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 22:18:15 +0000 Grace 2889442@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I started my low-weight gaining baby on rice cereal at 4 mo (on a spoon though - he wouldn’t take a bottle). Just pay attention to her poops. LO got so constipated from the rice cereal that he started eating even less. I didn’t realize he was constipated and it was a nightmare. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889441 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 21:55:03 +0000 jhd 2889441@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Dr. Pepper: i hope you figure out a solution that everyone can be happy with, especially baby! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889440 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 21:53:19 +0000 Mrs. Turtle 2889440@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Dr. Pepper: I hope so too! Good luck, and I hope it's easily remedied with adjustments to feeding! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889439 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 21:49:07 +0000 Dr. Pepper 2889439@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jhd: Thanks for the suggestion of take and toss spoons! I will make sure I grab some of them tonight when I run to target after work and grab some rice cereal. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889438 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 21:48:08 +0000 Dr. Pepper 2889438@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Turtle: I'm so glad you figured out how to fix the low weight gain. I am hoping we find answers too! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889437 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 21:47:36 +0000 Dr. Pepper 2889437@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Kemma: Urine output is great. She rarely poops- every 5-14 days, but my MD wasn't concerned about that. She sleeps great. She will sleep 8-9 hours, but I usually have to wake her up so I have time to feed her before work- so she usually gets 6-7 hours at night. I've tried waking her, but she will refuse to eat if I do. She has a very strong stubborn personality already at 4 months. I will look into contacting lactation here and doing weighted feeds. I am going to ask my MD about fortified breastmilk on Wednesday when we do a weight check. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889434 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 21:42:08 +0000 Kemma 2889434@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Rather than offering rice cereal could you fortify the pumped milk she’s getting in her bottles? I would be very wary of offering any kind of solid food at such a young age. How is baby’s diaper output and how does she sleep overnight? I would perhaps get in touch with an IBCLC to see how well she transfers milk via doing a series of weighted feeds and I would also perhaps add in a dream feed or an extra feed overnight (to my mind a baby with low weight gain shouldn’t be sleeping for long stretches). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889433 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 21:33:13 +0000 Mrs. Turtle 2889433@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Dr. Pepper: Yes, exactly. Her later breakthrough kidney infections did involve very high fevers, but initially she was a super happy baby meeting her milestones, just not gaining. Her reflux was grade 5+ on both sides, which is why they did the surgery so early. She was on daily, prophylactic antibiotics from the day it was diagnosed until 6 weeks post surgery, and hasn't been on them since. Surgery changed everything about her. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889432 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 21:32:40 +0000 jhd 2889432@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Dr. Pepper: i don't think the level 1 would work although it's been a while since I did this. my oldest who needed this is now 5. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-old-has-dropped-off-the-growth-charts-md-is-worried#post-2889431 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 21:31:10 +0000 jhd 2889431@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Dr. Pepper: we just used Gerber and never had any issues. they have regular and organic. i think earth's best has an organic one I saw at target. I didn't look into it a ton because I feel like there's all kinds of negativity about rice cereal on the internet! The hospital gave us Gerber so I figured we would just stick with what was familiar. </p> <p>When we put it in the bottle I'm pretty sure we did a tbsp for 2 oz of formula. He needed it pretty thick. </p> <p>Just FYI the breastmilk will break it down some so mix it right before you want to feed her. </p> <p>I might start by mixing an ounce with maybe a 1/2 tbsp of cereal and then play with it if you want it thinner or thicker. You could try it on the spoon first and see if she takes to it and then you could avoid having to do it in the bottle. We used those take and toss infant spoons that are really small and shallow . </p>