need some suggestions - 12 month old underweight

[Prizm]

Hi guys, just looking for some suggestions.

Our 12 month old only weight 7.4kgs, and we're at our wits end as to what to do. She's very active and alert, and her blood tests are all normal. The problem is she has no desire for food. My wife basically tries to feed her bits and pieces ALL DAY while I'm at work. If we're lucky she might have one tablespoon equivalent of food by the time she goes to bed. If we can get her to eat 3 peas one after another, we're on a roll.
She's still on breast milk and refuses formula (except for the occasional taste).

We try everything: vegetables, fruit, baby cereal, chicken, fish, etc. Our pediatrician suggested we might have to go cold turkey on breast milk because she is likely relying on breast milk to keep her full, and she's not getting the nutrients she needs.
Our baby is not losing weight - but she's certainly not putting much on. She's barely progressed in weight for the last 3 months (at 10 months she was 7.2kg).

Any suggestions? What do you think about stopping breast milk suddenly? I know our baby will go absolutely nuts (and it'll really stress out my wife), but I don't know what else to do.

thanks

[LeanneJO]

If she is happy and healthy I wouldn't worry, maybe cut back on the number of milk feeds but not stop altogether!

[BlessedAndDesufnoc]

I'd try cutting down on the number of feeds rather than going cold turkey and keep offering healthy, delicious food throughout the day. My 11 month old is a similar weight and gains weight slowly too. Keep monitoring it with your Paed of course. My little one loves to eat whatever we are eating, especially risottos and pasta with lots of flavour. Good luck.

[Gothel]

dd2 ate like this and gained very little weight between 6-9m. 300ml of milk &maybe 3 spoons of solids every 24 hours. I started taking her to an infant chiro , after each visit she would eat heaps, which would gradually drop off until next visit. Then at about 11m she just started eating. Worked for us!

[CocktailBubba]

Is it possible that she's just a 'little' girl?

I personally wouldn't cut back the breast feeds, I'd ensure that I myself am eating a healthy diet so that the nutrients is passed onto bub and just continue to offer a variety of foods as your wife is doing.

[Gothel]

ps we later discovered an intolerance of cows milk and sesame which may have been a factor too.

[Elijahs Mum]

Try feeding solids before breastmilk , maybe she's not hungry so before a feed might help? Also as a pp said my DS loves to eat what we are eating, maybe have her sit at the table with you and put food on her
plate while your eating and don't make a big
deal over her and maybe she will try
something? Also try goats milk products, formula, cheese , milk, yogurt usually people with cows milk intolerance can easily handle goat as it is a different protein and much easier to digest

[BlessedAndDesufnoc]

Also, make sure that eating is an enjoyable experience that you all do together. She may be picking up on the fact that you're stressing about how much she is eating and pushing her to eat more. Keep trying new and varied foods that are tasty. Put them near her nose so she can smell them and then show her how you eat it. How many feeds is she having a day? Is she snack feeding? What kind of food do you offer? Finger foods? Or purees etc?

[Hollywood]

My 4 year old boy didn't get into solids until he was well over 12 months old and went on to breastfeed until nearly 4. I can't remember how much he weighed at a year but he has always been lean (not skinny but very fit and healthy and he's tall). Some kids just don't take to food straight away, which is stressful of course when all the other babies seem to inhale their food and yours is very "take it or leave it", so I totally empathise with you there.

[Chazrity]

You could ask your paediatrician for a referral to see a paediatric dietitian. They might have some good suggestions.

[MissPoss]

How tall is she? If you look at the percentile chart our little miss is under the 3rd percentile. At 12 months she was 8.2kg, but at 18 months she was only 8.7kg. her height is also quite low though, she is a little shorty. Her weight is lower on the chart than her height, but she's not unhealthy. At last MCHN visit I was told to just offer proteins, carbs and don't hold back on higher fat items. Full fat anything is fine up to the age of 2 apparently.

If she is healthy, doing all the things kids are supposed to do, not lethargic, I wouldn't be too worried.

[SpecialPatrolGroup]

My DD wasn't a big weight gainer either. I can't remember her weight at 12mo off the top of my head but she was in the 15th percentile for weight and 25th for height. After a GP told me to cut back on breast feeds I saw a pead who said the she was well proportioned and looked beautifully nourished. He also said not to cut back on feeds just offer after solids as she was still getting real benefits from breastfeeding, including nutrients.

My DD is fussy so I just started offering her everything and she took some things that weren't *baby* foods so I would just keep adding those things to her meals (at 18mo I discoved she likes a good morrocan lamb tagine:rolleyes:).

Good luck, it can be so stressful.

BTW, their weight gain does taper off as they start cruising and walking because they are more active, but it is cold comfort when they seem to run on the smell of an oily rag.