If you breastfed were you tempted to quit or supplement with formula? Charlie isn't gaining weight hardly at all, she's just under 12lbs at 6 months old, that puts her on the bottom of the 10th percentile. The Dr. isn't overly concerned, as long as she gains a pound in a month she's ok with her size. I'm seeing other babies on fb and here and real life that are younger and weigh more, like 16-17lbs and it makes me wonder if I should be doing something different. I give her rice cereal in the morning, and puree at dinner. Although she's had a cold and has been refusing both this week.
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I wasn't tempted to quit or supplement. (I started purees at 6.5 months, but didn't add cereal, nor did I try to give her anything to bulk her up.). My Ped was happy with LO's progress, so I was happy. She is still a peanut, but doing really well! Try not to stress, mama. I have a friend with the opposite problem . . . Her 9 month old outweighs my 17 month old, and she is nervous about how big her LO is going to be.
ETA: my LO was around the same weight at 6 months. She now weighs 20-21 pounds at 17 months (she feels heavier lately, so she may be up to 21 pounds! But she was 20 pounds, with her clothes on, a few weeks ago).
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Xander was born around the 75th percentile, but by 4 months, he was down to the 17th percentile (and was at the 13th percentile at 9 months). He was EBF and didn't really get into solids until well after 7 months.
Honestly, I personally wasn't too concerned. My pediatrician was always happy with his weight gain and his milestones and she really put me at ease. Plus he was (and still is) always such a happy baby and he was STTN (meaning 7+ hours) fairly early on. I always just figured if he was hungry and needed more, he would wake up to eat! Plus I felt like he was eating a higher amount of breast milk at daycare than most babies, so I really felt like he was fine!
BUT I definitely got a LOT of pressure that I wasn't feeding him enough. Since he dropped from the 75th percentile down to the 17th in 4 months, I got a TON of pressure that my breast milk wasn't enough, that I should start solids, that I should give him formula, etc. It was really hard and my husband and I fought about it a lot because I really felt strongly that continuing to EBF was the right thing to do whereas my husband just saw the 17th percentile number and thought Xander was underweight.
Not sure if my story is helpful for you at all. I think if your baby is producing the right amount of wet diapers, is gaining (even if it's not a lot), seems happy and healthy, meetings milestones, etc, and your pediatrician isn't concerned, then I don't think you need to worry. Some babies are naturally smaller than others and there's nothing wrong with that!
One thing I did do was visit an LC a couple times to do a weighted feed. That confirmed for me that Xander was transferring well (~4 oz) and I was providing him with 5 oz bottles at daycare, so that really made me feel confident that he was eating enough, even if he wasn't gaining very quickly!
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My LO was also around 12 pounds at 6 months.. My pedi assured me that she was on her own curve and that supplementing would only be necessary if she stopped following that curve or if she ended up completely off the charts. She is 14 pounds now at nearly 9 months old. Another thing that calms my fears is that I am short-5'1-and was barely 16 pounds at one year old.
Ultimately, the way I look at it is that there will always be babies in the 1-10 percentile. That percentile doesn't really indicate alone whether their growth is within the spectrum of normal.
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@MsLipGloss: thank you
The pressure from my MIL and her Mother is immense, if it weren't for them I'd be fine.
@Adira: She lost weight too, she was 14lbs at 4 months then dropped 2lbs at 5 months and hasn't gained it back. When I start to question myself my husband pulls out the formula which really gets to me. She takes a 4oz bottle when I give her a bottle, otherwise she nurses a lot. Thank you for your story!
@bisous: I'm under 5' so she probably is following after me, her sister is so much bigger! She's hitting her milestones perfectly so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing.Thank you all, love the Bee
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My LO is also a tiny one. At 6 months, she was also around 12 lbs. Our pediatrician wasn't too concerned but she did say that we should try to give her high calorie purees so we skipped rice cereal and went straight for avocado, banana, sweet potato, etc.
At 18 months, she's still tiny at 19 lbs and has no chub but she's hitting her milestones and she's actually increased in percentiles. She was below the 1st percentile at one point and now shes above the 5th.
Don't worry too much! It's easy to say but hard to follow
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My daughter was a slower gainer than that, and I was never tempted to supplement. She's small, I didn't worry.
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LO dropped from the 9th % to off the charts when she was around 3mths. She started to gain slow and then lose weight. We tried increasing the # of breast feeds during the day and night, then we supplemented, then we switched to FF by 5mths. She's 13lbs now, so still small, but gaining really well now.
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DS1 has always been a tiny one, and his doctor has never been concerned with his weight. He hovers around 5 percentile and has always followed his own curve. I EP'ed and always went by his hunger cues. I didn't consider supplementing with formula since he was growing at a healthy rate, even if he is on the smaller side.
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@StbHisMrs: I am sorry your family is giving you grief. I realize it's probably coming from a place of love, but *augh*. Fwiw, I am 5'7" and usually weigh around 135 (I am about 10 pounds heavier right now). My LO is about 40th percentile for height, but about 15th (maybe?) for weight.
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My son was officially failure to thrive at 6 months old. He dropped from the 50 percentile to the 0.5 percentile. He was exclusively breastfed because of food intolerances. We did do formula for two weeks because I went on a work trip. He took the formula like it was going out of style (9 oz at a time). Then when I got back he stopped taking a bottle at all (even breastmilk). After that he started gaining one pound a month. He is still a little bit but has always hit all milestones on time or early.
As for what you should do or feel, that is up to you. Our pediatrician did not seem to think that the percentile drop was an issue. It was a holiday drop in for a rash that the doctor mentioned he had dropped so low. Because he had bad stools and pain we pursued a GI. Of we didn't have other symptoms, I probably wouldn't have worried. If you are worried you can do whatever you think is right. You probably have a gut feeling that things are okay or not. Go with your gut.
And get a second or third opinion. I started going to la Leche because I needed someone to tell me if we were doing the right thing as far as breastfeeding. Look for a lactation consultant, they would have a different viewpoint. Then you probably have the information you need.
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My story is very similar to @Adira. DD was born 8lb 2oz, discharged at 7lb 4oz (!!!) and at 6 month was just under 12 lbs. she didn't even hit 20 lbs at 12 months - 19lbs 4oz. The ped was never concerned either since her height and head growth was good and she hit all her milestones plus slept very well. Doc said it was probably genes at play since DH is tall and skinny. DD continues to be on the lower end of weight chart. I was never tempted to start solids early or supplement because I felt she was healthy but I know some others were concerned and commented on how skinny she was. If your ped isn't concerned and she's on track otherwise, then it should be ok.
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