Slow weight gain

Daniel had probs gaining weight in the beginning, he picked up for a little bit and then slowed down and just continued that cycle for the first 6 months or so. I wasn't worried, I figured so long as he was happy and gaining something who cares.

By Sophia's age Hannah had gained 1.9kgs (from birth-weight)
In fact, she's 1 in less than three weeks and has gained all of 4.2kgs in her lifetime.

My Plunket nurse was a little worried to start with, but as she got to know Hannah she realised that she's just a small child - and perfectly proportioned.
She's in the lower percentiles on the charts, but sleeps 7pm-7am every night, eats like a horse and is tracking well (if not a little ahead) milestone-wise.

I wouldn't worry, if I were you. She's obviously a very content baby - and I know a lot of people who would be green with envy over your good little sleeper

Stick to your guns - you know your little girl better than anyone, so as long as you feel she's eating enough and is happy, she's fine

Keep up the good work!


*edited to clarify a couple of points

Edited by MamaPickle

Emily was small at birth and slow to gain weight, being a premmie played a part in that, but also she is just a small girl anyway (like me ) and probably would've been the same had she been full term. In the early weeks after coming home from NICU, Emily gained between 70 - 110 gms a week, even with feeding 3 hrly day and night. At the most she gained 200 - 250 a week during her growth spurts. She was otherwise happy and healthy, with plenty of wet and dirty nappies, a good sleeper and in proportion for her weight/height ratio. Although the nurses were all concerned because she was still so small and didn't gain much weight, which really did my head in, especially when she started sleeping longer during the night and they told me I should keep waking her for feeds. Although when I did it just made her grumpy and irritable and she wasn't overly interested. So in hindsight I think she was getting all she needed during the day and so just wanted to sleep at night, not feed, so I should've gone with my instincts and let her sleep.

She's 10 months and still in the lower percentile of the charts for weight and height (I think she's about 6.5kg now) but tracking along nicely. She eats lots and still has plenty of wet and dirty nappies and developing normally, so I don't worry about her small weight gains anymore. As I said, she's just going to be a very petite little girl like me.

I wouldn't worry about what the plunket nurse has said. Sophia sounds like she is a very contended baby and getting plenty of feeds in during the day, so I say let a sleeping baby sleep.

Like mamapickle said, stick to you guns and only you know your baby best. If you think Sophia is happy and fine, then she probably is and there's nothing to be worried about.

You're doing a fab job