Weight Gain in 6 Month Old/breast Milk

My baby who was born on March 13th has a similar weight issue. Her doc instructed me to up her milk intake (something that I've had to gradually do) and to give her cereal with each meal.

She's been packing on the oz since I started and I'll get to find out on Halloween how she's doing. :)

HI D.
I was in a similar situation with my daughter. I was breast feeding her exclusivley, at about 5 month, she stopped gaining weight. It was a VERY scary time. We had to get a lot of test done, and go to a G.I. specialist. To make a long story short, i was told to start giving her formula to see if she would gain weight, and she did, right away! I gues she was not getting enough from my breast milk alone. At 9 months, she weaned herself off the brest and was on formula alone. I am a mom who strongly supports breastfeeding. I breastfed my son exclusivly (no pumping, no bottles, no formula) for 14 months. I thought I would do the same for my daughter, but it did not work out that way. I was not upset, because I needed to do what was best for my child, and formula was what was best in this case. She is now 17 months and as healthy as can be Than G-d! I would sugest giving her a lot more formula maybe 3 formula bottles a day, and see how that goes! When this problem all started, she was in the 5th percentile for weight, she is now in the 50th percentile for weight.Good luck !
C.
***************EDIT********************88
I am reading a lot of these responses, and as I agree your milk has plenty of fats, and is best, SOMETIMES, you must listen to what the doctors have to say as well. Are they always right...no, but when it comes to our children I would not just wait and see what happens. She does need to gain weight. Maybe she is small, but if the doctor thinks her not gaining weight, and something like giving more formula needs to happen, there is no shame in that. Listen to yourself, as well as the doctors. Breast milk is best, but sometimes if you have to supplement with formula it IS OKAY! Don't feel bad or let anyone make you feel that you are doing the wrong thing! Good luck.

Drs always think that breastfed children are too small around that age...because they base their charts on formula fed babies, who are naturally larger. Around this age babies become much more active and thus use more calories. there is no problem with your milk and it is helping her much more than formula.

D.:

the problem is NOT your milk... not sure where the problem is but milk is not lacking in appropriate fat content ( under normal conditions)

as to the nose... put some breastmilk nosedrops up her nares... it will help.

there is too much going on and too much unknown for a quick reply... you are welcome to call me.

Patrica, RLC, IBCLC
Pres. Lactation Support Group, Inc
www.lactationsupportgroup.com

YOur daughter probaby has a good digestive system. It is probably not your milk. My son weighted 18 lbs for a year and a half. He ate ten times a day when he was under three. He is still a twig. The doctors drove me crazy with he is not gaining supplement his breast feeding with formula. I did not do anything but feed he as much food as he wanted. One time after being accused of not feeding him I begged the doctor to come home and watch him eat. They realized then that I was a good parent trying to care for my child.

Your daughter has a harder time eating because of birth condition. She sounds health to me. I think you feel she is healthy. Stop letting the doctors run how you feel inside about your daughter. Doctors practice medicine. There is never one perfect solution that fits all patients. Everyone is different. Your daughter is an individual. You and I gain and lose weight so does she. How is her bone structure. My son is still small. She may just run off the food. Better to be small instead of over weight as a child.

Relax you are a great mother. Go with your instincts. I know it is hard for her to eat. Milk is the easist for now. She will survive in spite of the doctors and us as parents.

One of my women friends was in a study in Michigan because she had clift palate and her sister had clift lip. I guess it is rare in a same generation. I do not know if that study is on the internet or in books. There is a connection between Swedish descent and the clift.

If she's following the growth chart curve then she is gaining just fine even if she's small. My son is 16 months old and still only weighs 21 lbs, but he's been following the 10% curve since he was a couple months old so we don't worry.

If you're worried about not having enough fat in your milk make sure she is getting the hindmilk and not just the foremilk. Easiest way to do this is when you BF her make sure she really empties one side and then switch her over. When you pump make sure you pump for long enough, and/or after you BF her. Also you can offer her the breast more often than you do - maybe every 2 hours or so when you're with her instead of every 3 or 4 hours. If you're exclusively pumping because of her cleft palate, you'll just want to pump for longer. Some women "power pump" - pump for 10 mins, then take a break for 10 and pump for another 10. This can help you get a bit more of the hind milk too. Also, put a little butter in with her vegetables etc.

I would NOT switch her over to formula because of this - I don't think it will help and the breastmilk is better for her anyway. Just make sure she's getting enough of it.

If you feel like you're just not getting enough when you pump you might check the yahoo group "pumpmoms" - there are LOTS of women there who have similar situations to you and they are really supportive and knowledgeable.

Good luck!

D.~

My oldest DD when she was 6 mths was 14.6 & she was BF only. My doctor said that while she was "small" she had always shown a consistant amount of growth at each visit. My doctor said as long as she kept gaining at the same pace she was not stressed about it. I know that I fed her about 24oz a day (EB), she had veggies/fruit at lunch & dinner, and nursed at night.

If you are worried, you could always add 1-2 oz of formula to her bottles of EB (a 4-2 ratio)try it for a few weeks and see if she adds a little weight.

Good luck,

Jen

Your breast milk is not low in fat. There is no such thing as "skim" breastmilk. Most likely your daughter is just a small child. If you want to convert the baby to formula for other reasons, that is your decision, but you shouldn't do it to try to make the baby gain weight.

One trick if you are pumping is that the foremilk (the first milk that comes out) tends to be lower in fat than the hindmilk (the later milk). So you can discard some of the first milk and feed her bottles of the milk that is the more concentrated hindmilk. That way even though she drinks the same amount she will get more calories and fat. You may have to work to increase your supply a bit to do this. I have also heard of people letting the milk settle and "skimming" it so to speak to remove some of the liquid and make it more concentrated.

Please consult a lactation consultant or La Leche League leader before you stop pumping (again, unless you just want to stop pumping for other reasons, perfectly fine, your decision). Your daughter is getting benefits from your breastmilk that do not come in formula.

By the way, I have two small children so this is an issue I have experienced often in the past. My 3 year old was 8 pounds, 11 ounces at birth and now at 3 and a half is only 24 pounds. This is pretty small but the reality is that I was a small child and my husband was a small child, so it only makes sense that she is also small. My son is the same way.

Good luck.

*****

Editing here- there seems to be some sort of misconception that a child in a lower percentile for weight is somehow unhealthy. Remember that the children in the upper percentiles are big for their age and those in the lower are small for their age. The only reason for concern with regards to that is if your baby suddenly falls from 60% to 5%, then there may be an issue.

Also, check the growth charts the doc is using. Many doctors in the US use growth charts made by formula companies. The numbers are different and reflect the weight gain pattern of formula fed babies. Your doc should be using a World Health Organization chart that is made for breastfed babies. The weight gain pattern of a breastfed baby is diffferent.

Deciding to breastfeed or not is a choice only you can make and only you can decide what is best, it's just that so many women are forced to make this decision without proper information.

I would try to add a few more ounces of breastmilk or formula during each feeding. I would also mash some avacado (fatty goodness!) and give that to her during meals.

At 14 lbs for a child who is 6.5 months old, I'd be a little concerned too. Hope all is well and she bulks up soon!

I would not be concerned that your little girl is 14 lbs. at 6 mos. I know many little girls who do not hit 20 lbs. by a year. Mine was one of them. AT 6 mos. my dd was 14lb 1oz, and that was the 20%. AT all other weigh ins, she was between 5-15%. My dr. was not concerned cuz she stayed consistent on the charts, and told me that I could adda bottle of formula if it made me feel better, but it would probably just decrease my milk supply, so i didn't since the dr. wasn't concerned.
BUT, I don't think we have enough of the details to fully answer your question. Has she been at a somewhat consistent percentile on the charts? My bf son dropped on the charts a bit after 6months, which is pretty typical of bf children.
I recommend talking to a lactation consultant about this one.

Hi!, My daughter is 8 mos. old and weighs 14 pounds! My three year-old weighs 24 lbs. Some children are just thinner. All my four children are thin. There is nothing wrong with that! I am breastfeeding and feeding a bit of solids. My baby is happy and healthy, and is already saying a few words. Do not let them make you think your milk doesn't have enough fat or other nutrients for her. Your milk is perfect for her and you are wonderful. Keep up the good work.
Remember those charts are based on averages that include very obese children. Your daughter is fine.:)

I think a 14lb 6 month old is perfectly fine. Don't switch her to formula, why? So she gets bigger? there's no guarantee that would happen anyway. Every baby is different in weight gain and breastmilk is the best thing for her.

I work on an OB unit and know that sometimes babies in the NICU are on expressed breastmilk and need extra calories, so they add a packet of Human Breastmilk Fortifier made by Enfamil. I doubt you could get this over the counter, but maybe you could talk to your doctor about prescribing this. That way your daughter still has the benefits of breastmilk, just with an added boost.
And make sure she is worked up by the appropriate specialists to rule out other causes/problems before making any major changes.

1st of all, please contact a LC right away. I would feel very bad for you and your baby to miss out on continuing to BF your baby at such a young age when the doctor does not sound like he knows what he is talking about. Generally, doctors do NOT know what they are talking about when they advocate switching to formula from BM. There is rarely an occasion where formula is better than milk, if EVER. (Just check the research and stats)
Having said that, you would be best off talking to Patricia or another LC, or even a LLL leader, not us mothers. Every mother has her own strong opinion of this matter and the truth is this is not an opinion issue. This is a circumstance issue which needs to be dealt with in detail, at hand. If we had all the information it would be a little helpful but again it seems like most mothers are posting opinion based info rather than a professional, non physician based response. I wish you genuine luck with this one. I can tell you it is not so uncommon as some other mothers mentioned, to have a skinner baby on breastmilk. Weight does NOT dictate how healthy an infant or toddler is. As mentioned, often formula fed babies end up being way heavier than nature would have them. Good luck and keep up the great work.