Solids and not gaining

Hi chick, Rory has 4-5 boob feeds a day and feeds for about 10-15mins thats both sides and has a big breakfast lunch and dinner, he loves his food. some babies are big eaters and some are smaller ones i guess sorry cant give you any answers but just thoght i'd let you know what R does.....will be intresting to see the amount others eat coz i think R is a big eater.

Hi,

Solids have nowhere near as many calories as BM or formula see ; with DS2 the more solids he ate the less weight he gained..not that I could get Plunket to understand that! Solids are supposed to be about tastes and textures and milk is supposed to be their main source of nutrition into at least 9 months. Solids at this age are NOT about replacing milk feeds. I did an experiment and found that if I gave him MORE boob and less solids he gained heaps better; and when he didn't, he got longer and/or his head got bigger. Some babies are just small....wish people would stop worrying about how much kids weigh all the time, there are better ways to tell if they are growing than how much they weigh (or don't weigh as the case may be).

Has he been ill recently? BF babies tend to plateau in weight gain at around 4 months. My plunket nurse flipped out bc Alex had basically stayed the same one month and when I challenged her she hen proceeded to tell me he'd lost lost 50gm in a month....like 50gm is the end of the earth! They're not machines, they aren't gaining weight every week, let alone every day and the average bf baby "only" gains between 50-80gms a week from 6-12 months anyway. Watch Brennan not the scales; I stopped going to Plunket 6.5 months ago bc they just wouldn't get off my back about how much he didn't weigh....and funnily enough, in that time he's gained a whopping 4.9kg! Rant over.............

To answer your question, Alex had just started solids at 7 months, but even when he was only just on 3 meals at 10 months he was still being fed on demand and having as many as 6-8bf a day for as long as he wanted, usually about 10 minutes a side tops. He was having about 2tbsps max per meal at 10 months and when he first started he wasn't even having them everyday.

This talks about some of the calorie and fat content of common first foods, it's kind of scary actually. The only thing we found that "put weight on" him was avocado as it has more fat than even BM, but it's good fat.

Edited by mumtooboys

What is his weight? James is a porker but also had a drop around 8 months and has picked back up. He was very reluctant to get into solids and LOVES his boob......we are just starting to take off with solids now. One thing I am changing is his meal times. I am making them earlier as I think his last meal was too late and he was knackered. I would often give up half way through and think "I'll just give him boob" but then he would be full from solids and not interested. Now the plan is to feed him at 4.30 and then boob at 6.30. Fingers crossed it will work!

Try not to get too worried, I am sure he is not wasting away.

I wouldnt be worried at all grrrr at plunket for making mums worry. its normal to lose weught when they start moving, James is trimming down heaps. He prefers finger food but most of it ends up between his legs. I'm making an effort to give him "dessert" like custard or yoghurt to help fill him up more

Doesnt help that im a big worry wart at the best of times. Im pretty sure my gp will say hes fine.

Thanks for your words of wisdom, just stressed out and this didnt help

We had pretty much the same thing with kaelin (not gaining anything & still being monitored monthly by plunket), it is stressful especially when they start questioning you about how much/often your feeding them!
Kaelin doesn't eat a lot at each meal (1/2 a can would be the most shes ever done) so i let her snack a lot on bits of fruit or crackers or anything she can feed herself (would rather feed herself then let me do it).
Sorry i dont have any advice but just wanted to let you know you're not alone

Try spacing out the time between boob & meals. So boob & then an hour later his solids.

Also from 8 months old start doing the switch around. Cooper has only really liked solids since I started putting them first.

Doctor said pretty much the same, hes happy, growing in height, got fatty arms and legs. got to weigh again in a month and if its still the same then run some tests

All the best for the tests tomorrow. I will be thinking of you & Brennan!