Pregnancy Info HOME

Is she crawling already? Once they crawl they typically lose some baby fat.
Can you bump up her solid intake to see if she gains weight?
From what I know, it's only a concern if she falls off of her growth chart curve which she appears to be doing. I'm not trying to scare you, nor am I a doctor. Are you and her dad also small people?
Personally, I would press the doctor to have some testing done to ensure that her growth hormones are not an issue. I'm sure nothing is wrong with her but they need to set your mind at ease by covering all bases.

Your dd isn't maintaining a growth curve whatsoever, and that is cause for concern. Your doctor should have offered to run some blood tests just to eliminate that possiblities of such things as thyroid disorders.

Both my boys had/have no problems gaining weight during their 1st year. But during his 2nd year ds1 started dropping in his curve (from 75th to 10th). He was gaining weight really slowly. So, now my doc is monitoring his weight with 6 month visits when he plots his growth. Right now the doc is happy because even though ds1 dropped he is establishing a new curve.

I would start BF'ing her more often...every 2hrs? and try to keep her on the breast for longer periods. Maybe she isnt getting enough of the fatty hindmilk. Does she eat cereal? any starchy/carb food is good for weight gain, and even flavoured tofu would be great because of the high protein levels. Ds1 loves the stuff! Check out this website it has some good info on finding out how much your baby is actually drinking while BF: asklenore.info/breastfeeding
/slow_weight_gain.html

Bu
t
the most important things are that your baby appears happy, healthy, has enough poopy and pee diapers daily, and is meeting all her developmental milestones. If all these things are checked then more than likely she is just fine.

It could just be the normal weight gain for her. DD (10 months) gained a good amount of weight for the first month as well, now she only gains 5oz a month. She's perfectly healthy, exceeds her milestones, and although it took 9 months of convincing, her pediatrician agrees that it's just her genetics to gain weight slowly.
As long as she seems happy and healthy I don't think there's anything to worry about.

My husband and I are both pretty big people. he's 6', and I'm 5'7", and neither of us have ever been skinny. Liliana scoots and rolls a lot, and is beginning to crawl, but she doesn't actually ever *go* very far, she'll scoot or crawl about a foot then roll over and chew on her toes. If it was just her height I wouldn't be as concerned because she is pretty active, but she's falling behind in height and even her little feet just don't grow. I'm trying to give her more food, she had solids 3 times yesterday instead of twice. I'll switch her to second foods, too, after we run out of the first foods that are in the pantry, and maybe that will help.
The dr said not to nurse her more often because it takes work and burns calories, and if she nurses too often she'll burn more than she's taking in. She's pretty happy for the most part, and exceeds milestones - at a point in time when a friend's baby had trouble rolling over one way, Liliana rolls every way she can, scoots, is trying to crawl (mostly she just sits on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth), sits up on her own, and will take steps if you hold her hands.

She's also extremely social and says "mama" (with full cognition that I am mama; if someone else is holding her and she gets tired of it, she will turn toward me with her little hands out and go "mama, mama".) cutest thing ever, but still, I don't understand how she can be so far ahead, but still barely growing at all. If she's still not growing enough when we go back for a weight check, I will ask the dr to do some blood tests. What I wonder is...is it possible she's a midget? Do midgets grow slower as infants? How do you tell at this age?

My son was born weighing 8lb 10oz, but he soon was falling behind on the charts. By the time he was about 9 months he was in the 25% rate. By 18 months he was below 0%. At 2 years he was so far below the chart it was as if he was 10% below 0. His doctor said he would probably would not make 5 feet tall. Well today he is 16 years old. He is 5' 10" tall and weighs over 200 pounds. So much for my midget baby. Every baby has their own growth rate. Mine son was a late bloomer for growth maybe your baby is too. BTW I have 4 daughters and they have all been average growers. So it doesn't run in our family, it just happened to him.

Have you asked your Dr a copy of the growth chart? The reason why I am asking is that first of all, there is a separate growth chart for breastfed babies, and not all Drs go by it. Also, if you are in the US, you should go on the World Health Organization website and compare with their growth charts, which are made with all countries in comparison.
I had a smaller baby at birth (6 pounds 10 ounces) and she went from the 40th to the 10th percentile. At 6 months, for reasons totally unrelated, I stopped bfing and started solids and formula. She is now in the 50th percentile (at 11 months) and has been since then.
Another thing I can think of: was she born term?

Hi Becky! I've wondered about you and how everything is going with your baby girl. I don't know much about the growth thing but it sounds like maybe you should consider switching doctors. I don't know...I think you should be able to feel really safe with your child's pedi and be able to trust them completely. It just doesn't sound right that they should blow this off. I think it is just her growth pattern and I doubt anything is wrong at all...you just should have more reassurance or testing done by your doc to ease your mind, you know? When is the next time you take her to the dr? If she seems to be developing well and pees and poops regularly she IS probably getting enough. I'd just wonder about a metabolism issue or thyroid problem. Not sure, but let me know how it goes!