new recruit, seeking advice re: poor weight gain

[jillteresa]

first, allow me to introduce myself. my name is jill, bfing attached sahm to ds, aiden, who will be 3 mos on march 7. married to dh, eric, for 3 years march 20. will include pics of me and aiden behind the cut. now onto my problem, sorry if this is long, but i want to be as specific as possible.

Comments

[tiny_tinkerbell]

What a beautiful face your son has!

Here's the kellymom scoop on milk supply problems: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html

Oatmeal, Mother's Milk Tea, and Fenugreek tea have been my friends.

[jillteresa]

thanks! i will tell him you said so ;)

reading through the information, it looks like i have been trying everything except the herbal supplements. so i will definitely be giving them a try, starting with some organic oatmeal i bought today! i will definitely try the teas as well. thanks for the tips.

[jillteresa]

mmm just tried my new oatmeal (why not start now?) and i must recommend it: bear naked peach and nut. its delicious, organic, and instant! what could be better? (it is a little pricy though - 5 bucks for a box of 8 packets)

[tahoebean]

How is his wet/poopy diaper count?

My daughter has always been small, too - and she was born at the same birthweight as your son ;) I've never supplemented, and she's only been sick twice in 29 months. She's ahead of the curve in smarts, too - and started reading at 22 months! :)

10/01/04 1 year 17lbs
09/02/04 11 months 16lbs 4½oz
06/17/04 8½ months 15lbs 14oz 27½"
04/29/04 7 months 15lbs, 8oz
04/15/04 6½ months 15lbs, 2oz 25½"
02/02/04 4 months 12lbs, 14oz 24¼"
12/01/03 2 months 9lbs, 14oz 23"
10/27/03 3 weeks 7lbs
10/06/03 5 days 6lbs, 6oz
10/03/03 2 days 6lbs, 5oz
10/01/03 birth 7lbs 20½"

[tahoebean]

also, try plotting his weight out on one of these charts and read the associated content ;)

[jillteresa]

thanks for the link. he is below the lowest curve on all the charts i see here. its tough stuff because now i am really second guessing myself, and i start to worry.. i try not to! but when you see a chart like that and your baby isnt even on any of the lines... well, you know.

i will respond to your other comment here for brevity's sake: he has eaten like that from birth. i havent been able to discern any patterns in which he eats more or less. its a good thing i stay home all the time because i literally cant do anything with how much i nurse him. not complaining, just giving info :)

[tahoebean]

As long as his diaper count is good and he's still *gaining* and not losing -- he's just a small guy, and babies come in all shapes and sizes -- not all babies are fat, nor do they need to be! :)

As for his "schedule" it really isn't THAT unusual. A lot of babies like to nurse a LOT, and you just have to try to meet his needs as best you can. My daughter nursed every 1-1.5 hours for 30-45 minutes each session for the first 9 months of her life (but thankfully she did start sleeping through the night fairly early on...) :)

When is your next scheduled weigh-in? I really did obsess over it a great deal for the first ~9 months, but I wish I hadn't... ;)

[whooey22]

My daughter was born at 5lb 3oz and 18 inches and at her 6 month appointment she was almost 16lb and 24 inches. I know that boys and girls grow at different speeds, but it seems like you just have a tall one on your hands.

[jillteresa]

i suspect that has a great deal to do with it. however, the constant feeding (which hasnt gone in spurts - its been pretty consistant) coupled with the low gaining is what has me concerned. shouldnt he have spaced out his feedings at least a teeny bit by now?

[sugarpoisonappl]

shouldnt he have spaced out his feedings at least a teeny bit by now?

not necessarily ... a *lot* of babies just have higher needs, and nurse more frequently. it doesn't mean anything about your milk supply, it just means that he wants to be at the breast. and his suckling isn't all for milk, i'm sure; babies also do a lot of comfort sucking. they learn how to suck so that they don't really get milk out, but they can still suck for comfort and snuggles with mommy.

i think he is absolutely gorgeous and looks very healthy! ^_^

if he's not listless and cranky, his diaper output is good, and his fontanels (soft spots on the head) aren't sunken in, he isn't dehydrated. from his behavior and body signals (other than weight gain) it looks like he's just a long, think kid with a kickass metabolism. obviouslt i'm just some chick on lj and not a medical professional, but what you've said doesn't send up any red flags for me.

[jillteresa]

thanks good to know. we are going to see a pediatrician in the mean time, but i am glad everyone here seems to think its fine. ive been trying to trust my intuition on this one, but i get a lot of crap about it, so i hope going to the doc gives me some back up.

[bicrim]

I actually had a low supply (thyroid issues) and found out with before and after weighings on a very fancy baby scale, the medela baby weigh (not the baby checker). It lets you know how much baby is taking from the breast. I found this helpful because it let me see what was really going on and stop worrying. I ended up on domperidone and using a small amount of donor milk, but that is just me with my medical problems, using the scale my reassure you that baby is getting enough. You can rent one weekly from pharmacies or some lactation consultants.

[jillteresa]

thanks for the tip i will look into it!

[sarmakala]

Your baby looks like an older version of my 4 week old. My baby reminds me of my youngest brother, who is now 6'2" and has a high metabolism. My brother has never had an ounce of fat on him, it's just his body type. I was trying not to worry and just nurse this baby, but the WIC people got to me, and I ended up taking him to a pediatrician just to make sure. He is long and skinny, but the doctor said he is in perfect health.

My baby also nurses non-stop except for a 5 hour nap and sleeping through the night with 3 nursings in bed. I would have him checked out just for your peace of mind, so you can again relax and just nurse him. These video clips might be helpful for you:
http://www.drjacknewman.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=42

[jillteresa]

thanks for the link. i checked out the clips and will see if any of them help at the next feeding.

im going to the ped on wed and hopefully she will put my mind at ease. thanks for your help!