I'm a little sad about this...

She's only in the 10% for weight. She was in the 75% before. The pedi basically told me that I HAVE to get her to eat solids 3x a day. She said that most babies are eating solids 3x a day at 6 months. I don't think that's true though! That seems like a lot to me. She looks fine. She told me that she only looks proportional b/c she is short! Anyway, I started rice cereal like 2 weeks ago, but then she got sick and I haven't really been giving it to her. I did feed her sweet potatoes a few times, but she just spit them out. The hardest thing is finding time to actually sit down and feed her solids with the other 2 running around crazy. Now I feel like a bad, neglectful parent

ETA - she was 14lbs. 4oz. and I just looked at Andrew and Catherine's books and Catherine was the EXACT same weight and Andrew was just under 14 lbs. and they were eating solids for at least a month then...

 

3 meals at 6 months??? :shock: That is crazy!! Mine ate one meal a day until about 9 months.. and actually, my chunky monkey didn't eat any solids for two months (7-9). If I were you, I'd try and add another nursing session in during the day. Your milk is what is going to get her to grow.. it is what she needs. :hug99: I know no mom wants to hear that from their doctor!!

 

QUOTE(JicJac @ Oct 31 2007, 01:47 PM) [snapback]475385[/snapback]
3 meals at 6 months??? :shock: That is crazy!! Mine ate one meal a day until about 9 months.. and actually, my chunky monkey didn't eat any solids for two months (7-9). If I were you, I'd try and add another nursing session in during the day. Your milk is what is going to get her to grow.. it is what she needs. :hug99: I know no mom wants to hear that from their doctor!!


Thanks Jackie. I feed her on demand, so I'm not sure how I'd get her to nurse anymore than she already does (about every 2.5 hours or so). I know I need to start solids, but 3x a day just seems excessive to me!

 

QUOTE(melissao @ Oct 31 2007, 05:42 PM) [snapback]475374[/snapback]
She told me that she only looks proportional b/c she is short!


I may be being a tad dim here, but if she's not very tall, surely that makes it ok weight-wise. ie if both her weight and her height are in the 10th percentile then she's fine. We also didn't introduce 3 meals til at least 9 months. Oh and if she's the same weight as your twins then she's surely perfectly on target. Silly doctor scaring you like that...

 

QUOTE
She said that most babies are eating solids 3x a day at 6 months.


Enh??? :huh: I keep offering mine solids and I'm lucky if they swallow a few mouthfuls! We don't even have ONE meal per day yet! (And FWIW my ped. said it's perfectly fine, and suggested trying finger foods instead of purees, but not to freak out if they don't catch on.)

Is there anyone you could ask for a 2nd opinion about Elizabeth's growth? It does seem a little odd for her to have fallen from 75th to 10th percentile --- but OTOH if she seems happy and healthy and is filling her diapers, is it really a problem?

Just another thought or two - was she weighed on the same scale both times? And are you sure nobody at the dr's office goofed entering her weight on the growth chart? Even a slight mistake on the charts could make percentiles look higher/lower than they actually are.

 

This doesn't even make sense! Proportionate means that their weight and height are equal or comparable. Saying she is proportionate only b/c she is short is ridiculous...she should be proportionate and if taller then would be too skinny, right???. I am blown away by this! My ped said for a breastfed baby, no solids until earliest 6 months at which time we will start cereal one time a day. I don't know...this seems a bit off!!

 

QUOTE(fuchsiagroan @ Oct 31 2007, 02:45 PM) [snapback]475508[/snapback]
Just another thought or two - was she weighed on the same scale both times? And are you sure nobody at the dr's office goofed entering her weight on the growth chart? Even a slight mistake on the charts could make percentiles look higher/lower than they actually are.


I was just talking to my sister and she thinks they must have made a mistake as well. I think they must have charted her weight incorrectly. But it still bothers me that they think she should be eating solids 3x a day. That just can't be right. I'm kind of surprised at my pedi too b/c she breastfed her twins, but I think she pushes formula too (atleast according to my LC). I have a call in to my LC and I'm going to ask her what she thinks...

ETA - I just used a little online growth calculator thing and it puts her weight in the 13%.

 

My ped said to get to 3 meals a day by 9 months and didn't even really push things. We all know thier main source of nutrition is breastmilk for the first 12 months and that breastmilk has way more calories and fat than solids, so if they want her to fatten up (which is soooooooooo american, lol) then focusing on the nursing would be the best thing to do!!!
I did one meal a day until mine were about 8 months, then did 2 meals a day until 11 months then added in a 3rd meal. And mine are GREAT eaters, so I never understood what the rush was

oh, and ds has always been in 10% for weight (except for one check up) and I think he is perfect :winking0009: and he IS tall (75-90% always).

 

What was her weight at 4 months? Was she 75% then, and now they're saying she's 10%?

Karina was 14 lb. 10 oz. last week at her 4-month well visit, and that's supposedly 75% -- that's why I'm asking -- so it would worry me if she's all of a sudden in the 10% at her 6-month appt....it would mean no gain at all between now and then.

So, it sounds like something is off with the measurements. And, what does it have to do with her height? That's an odd comment. My DD is 75% for both, and DS is 10% for weight and 75% for height -- and they're still both perfectly fine, according to our ped. And he didn't even mention starting solids anytime soon.

And, ditto what everyone else said about solids -- 3 meals a day at 6 months is crazy. I thought you were just supposed to get started then?

 

Mine ate solids once a day at 6 mos, except DS2 who would not touch anything--and I mean *anything,* not pacis, not EBM, not any kind of solid--except the breast until he was 9 months old. And I assure you, he is just fine now, at 13 yrs old.

If she is nursing well and excreting well and proportionate, she sounds fine to me!

 

I don't know what babies your ped sees, but mine definitely weren't eating solids 3x a day at 6 months! We didn't even start solids until about 6.5 months and it took us till 10 months to add a 3rd meal.

Anyway, even if she were eating solids that often, would that really make her gain weight? I'd think she would get fewer calories for the effort expended than she does with breastmilk, and she'd nurse less often. I think your doctor is (to put it politely) mistaken.

 

That sounds crazy to me! Mine are almost six months and I can barely get them to eat cereal 2x per day and if I don't I definitely don't stress about it. My mom didn't feed me one bit of solid food until I was a year old and I was good sized, chunky baby at birth and then just got petite. I have been petite my whole life.

 

My taylor is 18 months old and only weighs 16lbs, I think that 14lbs is pretty good for 6 months old. And my girls weren't even eating solids at 6 months old. If your twins were the same weight at that age then I wouldn't worry too much about it! The doctors sure do make us crazy don't they!

 

melissa,
i would let it go.. i think the drs are in the wrong.. just take her back for a weight check in afew months..

your a good mom, dont let this get you down..

m

 

If it's any consolation, my babies are TINY. They are 10 months old and the smallest weighs 15 pounds 3 ounces. She is 3rd percentile for weight and 5th percentile for height. My ped says that she is just fine. Not worried because she is also petite in the height department, and she's at least on the chart. If a baby is 5th for height and 5th for weight, then that is a proportional baby.

Most babies aren't on 3 solids/day at 6 months. Mine weren't! You can only feed them what they're willing to eat. You know they're ready for 3 meals/day when it doesn't take you 30 minutes + to get them fed!

 

Replacing calorie-dense, rapidly digested breastmilk with low-calorie, hard to digest solids sounds like exactly the wrong thing to do. I've heard doctors give this advice before and the assumption is that your baby isn't getting enough calories because she isn't able to get enough breastmilk to meet her needs. Obviously, that's silly since you fed two just fine.

I think it's likely that she was weighed and measured post-growth spurt last time and pre this time. I wouldn't do anything based on one weighing. A trend would be a different story.

 

Uggh, I'm sorry Melissa! I don't agree with your Dr at all. How much did she weigh when she was born?

FWIW, my boys were NOT on solids 3x's a day at 6 months. It doesn't make sense. BM is supposed to be their main source of nutrition right now.

 

I agree with other people, it's probably just that she was weighed right after a growth spurt last time and right before one this time. It's also important to remember that those charts are just guidelines. Frankly they don't mean much. And the fact that she's right where her siblings were says a lot more. If someone comes from a family that are all 6 foot 5 and 300 lbs and was in the 10th percentile, you might worry where as 10th percentile might be quite large for a family where most people are close to 5 feet tall and 100 lbs as adults. Plus, there are differences within a family, as well. My DH works with a couple who fall in that first category. I bet the dad is 6'4 and 350 lbs. Mom's probably 5'11" and 250 lbs. Their 13 mo old daughter is taller and weighs more than Sydney, who at 23 months is in about the 45th percentile. My Sabrina's another matter. She's never even been on the chart for height or weight... she's wearing 12 mo clothes and I have to take tucks in the pants so they don't fall off.

And the thought that she should be eating 3 meals of solids/day at 6 months is ludicrous! None of my babies had solids until 6 months. And those in the first month or two were just to get them used to texture and introduce them to some new things, not for substance and calorie intake. And I don't believe I'm particularly out of the norm. And 4 of those 5 are totally healthy, active and intelligent children. Sabrina is active and intelligent but does have some health issues unrelated to breastfeeding.

Keep listening to your instincts and do what feels right for you and your babies. If she's growing, active, meeting milestones, etc, keep with it. Contrary to some opinions, doctors do NOT know everything. My brother is one. He's fabulous and I adore him. But he certainly doesn't know everything, even when he acts like he does, LOL.

 

Thanks girls! I talked to my LC and she told me that I should get her started on food, but only to feed her after BF and not to stress about her weight. She thought it sounded a little on the low side (she's only gained 2 lbs since her 4 month visit), but wasn't too concerned about it. Today she ate some bananas at breakfast and some green beans in the afternoon. I need to pump some more so that I can try cereal again, she'll only eat it mixed with BM! Thanks again for all the support, it's just hard when it feels like the Dr. says you're doing it wrong!

 

Oh good! I'm glad you talked to your LC. It's nice to have an LC at your fingertips!