[Amber76]

Our son will be 9 months next week, and he is barely weighing in at 16 pounds when we weigh him at home. (He weighed 14.2 at doctor's office when he was 7 months.) It seems like he is constantly eating, but according to the growth charts I've been looking at, he will have fallen all the way to 1% or less. I'm wondering if I'm not feeding him enough or something! Here's what his typical day looks like:
Wakes at 9 AM, eats a jar of stage 2 fruit mixed with 2-3 tbsp. of oatmeal baby cereal and has an 8 ounce bottle of formula.
12:30ish, eats another 8 oz. bottle and a jar of veggies
4:00ish eats an 8 oz bottle
7:00ish eats a jar of meat and veggies(stage 2) and a 6 oz. bottle
9:00ish eats an 8 oz. bottle and goes to bed for the night.
So, he's eating about 38 ounces of formula, 3 jars of stage 2 foods, and 3 tablespoons of oatmeal every day. Does this seem like enough to you? He NEVER cries to be fed, I just feed him on this schedule. The few times I have waited for him to tell me he's hungry, he went almost 5 hours between feedings. He's active, happy, standing, rolling, sitting, laughing, etc and developmental right on target in every way. Should I be concerned?

[devildogwife]

Well, I know nothing of how much healthy babies eat, but that looks great to me lol! Really, I'm impressed.

The thing with the growth chart is this, is he maintaining HIS own growth curve? That is what matters. Some of us just have smaller babies.

I've had to chill way out with the stupid growth chart. Cameron's been on it twice in his life. I don't care though, my baby has come far.

[Amber76]

He started out at 70th percentile at birth, dropped to 25th at 2 months, 3rd at 4 and 6 months. His length and head circumference have held pretty steady though-60th and 40th consistently.

[Fran27]

Is the pediatrician worried? Maybe he can run some tests? He's eating more than my two at 10.5 months. That being said, mine only gained 3 pounds between 6 and 10 months, but they're still on their curve, although it shows that weight gains slows down a lot after 6 months.

[mrskt]

DD is 6 1/2 months and is eating 16-20oz of stage 2 foods, and 22-26oz of formula a day, if that helps any...

[Amber76]

Fran, the pediatrician isn't too concerned yet, but wants me to bring him in for another weight check in a few weeks instead of waiting for his 12 month visit. She said since he is developing on track and doesn't seem hungry that he may just be small (and both birthparents are tiny-birthmom weighed 103 lbs when she checked into the hospital to give birth). I just wanted to be sure I'm feeding him enough!

[cborsa7]

I think I have seen your blog before. I know your son was a domestic adoption but isn't he Guatemalan? I can tell you he is probably about right on for a Guatemalan child that age. My son came home at 9 months and weighed 16 pounds also. His food intake seems good. I would think it is more relative to the size of his Bio parents than what he is eating right now. I bet you will start to really see some growth spurts in the next few months. My son stayed small until just about 14 months and then really started growing. I wouldn't be worried.

[mommamarci]

That does seem like a lot... Spencer is 10 months on Saturday. He takes 4 bottles each day, 6-7 ounces each. And he eats 3 jars of baby food plus a little oatmeal or rice cereal. And he weighs more than 20 pounds...

[Amber76]

I guess maybe Ben just has a high metabolism because he chows down every bite and never, ever spits up or anything. Wish I could do that....:-)

[Wisdom]

He seems to be eating very well. Below is one of our son's day of eating in his mid-9th month. At nine months he weighed 21lbs 10oz at 29 1/2 length.
6am 8oz bottle
10am oatmeal & 6 1/2 oz bottle
2pm 1/2 jar peas mixed w/prunes; 7 1/2 oz bottle
6pm 1/2 jar green beans & prunes; 6 1/2 oz bottle
8pm 5 oz bottle

[sbaglio]

I would speak again with your pediatrician. Your son seems to be taking a ton of formula for his age and size, and the calories don't seem to be translating into tangible weight gain. Not having examined him or knowing anything about his medical history, the weight loss from birth until now seems excessive. At his age (roughly my DD's age), he needs more calories from food sources, and less from milk alone. Has the ped mentioned FTT? As Fran suggested, your pediatrician can send off tests to check various nutritional parameters. Best of luck.

[Amber76]

Originally Posted by sbaglio

I would speak again with your pediatrician. Your son seems to be taking a ton of formula for his age and size, and the calories don't seem to be translating into tangible weight gain. Not having examined him or knowing anything about his medical history, the weight loss from birth until now seems excessive. At his age (roughly my DD's age), he needs more calories from food sources, and less from milk alone. Has the ped mentioned FTT? As Fran suggested, your pediatrician can send off tests to check various nutritional parameters. Best of luck.

No, the pediatrician hasn't mentioned failure to thrive at all. He is meeting and/or exceeding all developmental milestones. He is happy, smiling, laughing, playing constantly on the go. He loves to eat and will eat anything I give him-except the spinach and potatoes I gave him, that he spit at me. His length and head circumference are growing right along his original growth curve. He's quite the charmer and certainly lets me know when he wants or needs something! I'm guessing that's why she isn't concerned about failure to thrive at all. I can say that he is lactose intolerant and has to take low lactose formula, which makes adding certain foods like yogurt that others feed their babies out of the question for him-he gets the worst gas and constipation followed by the runs if he gets dairy stuff.

I also did forget to mention that he had the stomach flu-along with everyone else in the house-over New Year's, so perhaps that's another reason. He only drank pedialyte and popsicles for one whole day because he was vomiting everything else. I know I lost two pounds while I had it, so maybe he lost a little too.

The pediatrician is having me bring him in for weight checks for the next couple of weeks before she orders any other tests. Maybe since she knows he had the flu she's giving him a bit of time to catch up.

[mondk]

I don't know at this exact moment what Joshie weighs, but at his last well-baby appt. his weight and length were in the 10 and 25th percentile. My little man is on whole milk, of course, but eats most of what he needs. He must have a really high metabolism...I can't even eat all the stuff he will eat in a day. Bmom says bdad was lean and muscular...bmom is slightly obese but she is tall.

And, like you said, he is doing everything right on track and ahead in some things even. I have considered giving him some PediaSure, if his pediatrician recommends it at his next appt.

You could ask your doc about supplements like PediaSure...but it may be milk based...you said lactose intolerant...I also used to mix Joshie's milk and Carnation Instant Breakfast but then I started giving him a vitamin every day so he was good to go that way.

Keep us updated....

Blessings, Michelle

[aclee]

Originally Posted by Amber76

Our son will be 9 months next week, and he is barely weighing in at 16 pounds when we weigh him at home. (He weighed 14.2 at doctor's office when he was 7 months.) It seems like he is constantly eating, but according to the growth charts I've been looking at, he will have fallen all the way to 1% or less. I'm wondering if I'm not feeding him enough or something! Here's what his typical day looks like:
Wakes at 9 AM, eats a jar of stage 2 fruit mixed with 2-3 tbsp. of oatmeal baby cereal and has an 8 ounce bottle of formula.
12:30ish, eats another 8 oz. bottle and a jar of veggies
4:00ish eats an 8 oz bottle
7:00ish eats a jar of meat and veggies(stage 2) and a 6 oz. bottle
9:00ish eats an 8 oz. bottle and goes to bed for the night.
So, he's eating about 38 ounces of formula, 3 jars of stage 2 foods, and 3 tablespoons of oatmeal every day. Does this seem like enough to you? He NEVER cries to be fed, I just feed him on this schedule. The few times I have waited for him to tell me he's hungry, he went almost 5 hours between feedings. He's active, happy, standing, rolling, sitting, laughing, etc and developmental right on target in every way. Should I be concerned?

It seems like a long time between meals to me. How does he sleep. Ty was never a big complainer to say he was hungry either, he just took long naps and once I started giving him snacks mid morning and mid afternoon, he was up more, and I believe it was the low blood sugar that made him sleepy. I might cut out some of the formula and add in more grains. Are you feeding him things like Avocado? It's high in healthy fats and really good for them. I would also roast veggies in a little olive oil.

Ty was born at 50% for weight, and we fell all the way to 8. The Dr told me that if they weren't putting on a minimum of 1 pound a month, or fell more than a certain % points in any one month (I can't remember what it is now, it was a while ago) that they would put them on a watch, and he went in for several weight checks. They did say that one of the main things they watched for though was how he was doing, and if you baby is meeting milestones and well adjusted, they might not be too worried. To me though, if he's falling way off his curve, it's better to start keeping an eye on it sooner rather than letting it get to the point where it IS effecting him you know?

What is he taking for protein? I went into our 9 month appointment and was basically yelled at because Ty only had non meat sources of protein up till then..so at 9 months, he should be going on the protein and table foods too.

Good Luck...it's so hard when everyone thinks your baby is small. SOME of us have to make up the other end of the chart though right???

[Amber76]

Aclee-3 to 3.5 hours is too long between meals? It sure doesn't seem like that long! He actually is rarely sleepy or tired during the day. He takes only one nap for about an hour and a half to 2 hours, but he sleeps 12 hours at night. Maybe I do need to feed him more often. Thanks for the suggestion about avocado. I think we'll give that one a try! He does eat at least one jar of food containing meat every day and he does have whole grain cereal mixed into every jar he eats, so I think we're doing okay on those fronts. I agree that some of us have to make up the small end of the growth charts! And when I did some looking, it looks like most of the babies of Guatemalan descent are smaller, so maybe that's just who he is!

Thanks everyone for you suggestions and I'll keep you posted when we go back to the pediatrician.