Please Help

[babyflash]

Hi bubhubbers,

At our recent nurse visit i was told that my DD was about 1/2kg under weight in comparison to what she should be, she is 4 months old tomorrow and weighs 4.80kg.

I just wanted to ask all you other bubhubbers have you ever been told this and if you have how did you get your baby to put more weight on.

DD is breastfed exclusively and is on demand she gets as much as she wants.

I am so confused i thought we were doing really well considering DD was 4 weeks premature.

Any advice or sugesstions would be greatly appreciated.

[Freya]

hey dont stress yourself out too much... your doing everything you can do by demand feeding her. just dont get tempted with giving her a formula top up because even though te nurse said shes under doesnt necessarily mean shes unhealthy some babies just have more trouble with it. good luck

[mogsy79]

hey my dd was a month premature but was always above average with health visits but she was also bottle fed. i wouldnt stress about it too much espiecially when you are demand feeding theres not much more you can do. just as long as you bubs is happy then dont worry. health nurses can jump the gun a little ive noticed take it with a grain of salt:thumbsup:

[cwsmum]

Has she been gaining weight? Any at all since the last checkup? That's all I would be worried about at this stage, not what the charts say.

[Jo9999]

As Cwsmum says, you shouldn't look at what she weighs now but at the pattern of her growth, to make sure its following the line in the books (even if it is under them). Also the other measurements - is she growing in height, head circumferance and most of all is she active, alert and healthy in appearance.
And I am not sure what the nurse is getting at, but I had a quick look at my charts, and 4.8kg is in the bottom of a normal range for a 4 month old, so considering she was 4 weeks early I think that's great!
If you still think there is a problem maybe you could see a paeditrician and get some advice on topping up, but I think she is probably just petite!

[Butterfliez]

I wouldn't worry - you are doing great! Not all babies are going to go by the chart. Don't let the CHN upset you - I have left a few times in tears as I was made to feel inadequate. Now I listen and take their advice onboard, but ultimately, "Mother knows best!!!!!!!!!!!" I have found the self-doubt you get as a mother is an evil thing...I am trying to beat it myself! If you do want her to gain some more weight, try expressing after every feed and topping her up at night (this is what I did early on with my DD as she was very little too). Definately try not to resort to formula top-ups or she may reject your breasts altogether. Good luck. :hugs:

[Hokey Pokey]

Oh I am sure she is fine, chn can sometimes be a little over the top with this kinda thing. Charts are just guides and by no means a set guideline.

I will find out next week what Ebony weighs as she was shy of 4 weeks prem too.

[babyflash]

Hi everyone, :wave:

Thanks so much for your kind replies they have all made me feel so much better, i was starting to think i was doing something wrong and not looking after my daughter properly i was nearlly in tears at the nurses, but after reading all your replies i trully beleive that babies grow at their own rate and maybe DD is just petite :yes:

Three sweet peas i would be very interested to know what Ebony weighs next week as it sounds like our DD's are similar in age as well as being premature.

Thanks again ladies look forward to seeing you all around the threads.

[Hokey Pokey]

Ebony was born 18 April due 7th - 10th May.
What about your lil miss?

[babyflash]

Natalya was born on the 11th April and was due on the 25th April (ultrasound) or the 30th April (dates) however when she was in the special care nursery they said that my dates must have been wrong as she was acting like a 36 weeker (she wasnt strong enough to breastfeed and had to have a tube in her nose for feeding)

[Bel1978]

Hey just a piece of advice... if your concerned book them in to see a paed... as the community nurse said to me i needed to get Sienna's eyes checked... we have a paed any way so i asked him and he said the nurse only had a 1/3 of the theory right and tested her wrong Sienna is fine....

What is She in comparrision with the blue book or what ever colour it is there?? even thought the book is only for formula feed babies.. ( I didnt know that until this week).

[Sheer Bliss]

:hugs: My DD was almost 4weeks prem too, and she was slow to gain to start with - but is now a healthy happy 2yo - and a chubby one at that! It shouldn't matter what she weighs only that she is not loosing weight, developing weeing etc.

My DS was also 4weeks premmie (i just can't seem to make it to 37weeks) and the paed we seen it adamant that they should be graphed on those growth charts according to their corrected age. The first 4 weeks don't really count as they were not meant to be here. So my CHN does that with DS. If you look at her weight on the charts - she is still fine if you say she is 4months, but even higher if you say she is 3months. Some CHN seem to know very little!

[jasesmum]

I think sometimes CHN's make u worry a little more than u should...as they don't explain everything. I think its a good idea to just keep an eye on how ur bubs is...whether she seems content and is doing the stuff bubs do at each stage. My bubs was born on 18 April and last weighed on 27 july, she was only 3 days late so not early or anything and decent sized to start with being 8lb exact. She was just over 5kg on her last check(can't remember exact but around 5.2kg?) but still underweight according to the book, I go back for another weigh in at the end of this month just to check things are ok. The CHN thinks it is nothing to worry about but may be due to a growth spurt at the time of her last weigh in.

[our little treasures]

I wouldn't worry about it. As long as bubs is having good nappies and a lot of wet ones I wouldn't take to much in on wieght. I am sure the graphs they use are based on ff babies and not bf.

[Hokey Pokey]

Ok well Ebony was weighed this week 6.2 kilos but since being sick she has dropped down to just under 6 kg's.

I would say you're little girl is fine:) What did she weigh at birth?

[Bel1978]

As i said the nurse said there was some thing wrong with sienna and i checked with her paed and he said no she was fine...... they arnt doctors check with a doctor

[ZooKeeper]

I read in the Courier Mail the other week that Qld Health are thinking of revising weight charts downward as they have been based on formula fed bubbas & so put unfair pressure & worry onto mums who BF cause our bubbas grow in fits and starts, less predictably mainly, just as their feeding pattern changes.

the nurse at my gps got all antsy at six week check cause starfish 'only' gained 200 gms in a week and was near bottom of the curve, she also has a long petite face already, not chubby bubba face really. but she's tall (61.5 cm at 12.5 weeks), and building a lot of muscle which she uses a lot, so that explains for me why she's not put on more weight, she's been making bones and stuff. i can see her grow overnight sometimes, so dang to the charts, just feed the bubba as often as they r keen for it has become my motto.

we all evolved just fine without weight charts after all :thumbsup:

[miss ani]

there are updated weight charts on the WHO (http://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/en/index.html) website, which are now based on breastfed babies.

lily's weight gain was virtually non-existant for almost the first 6 weeks of her life. she was quite severely underweight when we saw the paed, so he did recommend formula top-ups (note, this was medical advice specific to our situation). she is still a petite baby (4.5kg @ 15 weeks), but at our last visit the paed was very pleased with her progress. both my partner and i are thin people, so we don't expect her to be a chubby baby.

the CHNs i have seen harped on about her weight as well... so now i just weigh her at the chemist, where i don't get hassled.

[babyflash]

Hi Everyone,


thank you so much for your kind words and experiences i had Natalya weighed and measured today and she is 5.28kg and 59cm long i think that it is ok my nurse has finally relised that my little girl is just that little and i seem to be accepting it more. I have started taking blessed thistle for my milk and not sure if it works or not but my bbs feel fuller so who knows.

Hope all your little bubbas are making veryday special for you all and i look forward to seeing you all around the threads.

luv
lizi :hugs:

[miss ani]

lizi, glad ot hear your feeling better about bub's weight gain! it sounds like she's doing very well!

i weighed lily the other day and she's over 5kg now as well!! :yelclap:

if you bump up natalya's feeds for a few days, that should boost your supply as well... always works well for me! (too well sometimes!! argh... we need a squirting smilie!! :laughing:)