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Breastfeeding and weight gain

Christine - posted on 09/26/2009 ( 5 moms have responded )

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My 9-month-old was almost 9 pounds at birth and was consistently in the 90th percentile of weight and height until 6 months. Then, at his six month check-up, he was 40th for weight and 60th for height. Now, he's just had his 9-month check up, and he weighs 19.25 lbs and is 28" long, both of which are the 25th percentile for growth.
He has breastfed exclusively since birth, with only the occasional formula bottle, and solids since around 7 months. His usual schedule of eating before the appointment was:
Wake up at 7AM - nurse
Cereal and applesauce (or something similar) at 8AM
Nurse at 10:30AM
Baby food/cheerios/cheese,etc at 12PM
Nurse at 12:30PM
Nurse at 3PM
Nurse at 5PM
Dinner (whatever we're having or more baby food) at 6PM
Nurse before bed around 7PM

So, he was nursing a LOT, but it seemed like he was getting enough food. Now I'm worried I'm not feeding him enough solids because his weight gain has dropped off so much.
What do you feed your 9-month-old?
(Also - his dad and I are both over 6 feet tall and his expected height is around 6'4" - does this matter?)

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5 Comments

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Kerry - posted on 09/27/2009

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thats great christine! hope you can keep a great breastfeeding relationship going with your beautiful son. I gave up at 9 months and wish i had continued especially as it had become so easy by that stage....now he's 16 months and i'm trying to figure out how to get him off those yukky bottles!! all the best

Gennifer - posted on 09/27/2009

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Personally I would not worry they told me nothing was wrong with my child she was of course formula fed after about 2 wks I was young stressed a first time mom and very young just gave up but she weighted 17lbs at 1 year old took her to doctors to nutritionist and all of the things I could think of because I was worried they told me it was fine what I was doing was okay and I tell you she is 5 today and only weights 40lbs. Dont stress unless your doctor is worried

Christine - posted on 09/27/2009

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thank you! those were excellent responses. I looked at the chart on kellymom for breastfed babies, and he's right where he should be. also, i didn't even think about crawling - his weight started evening out as soon as he started racing around the living room all day long. i've kind of upped the solids, but i still want to make sure he's nursing more than eating solids. he's at 5 times a day now. my gut says he's fine. thanks again!

Kerry - posted on 09/26/2009

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great advice amanda..i second all that!! Our medical system seems to be all about bottle fed babies who continually gain, unlike bf babies who slow down after six or so months. Possibly a reason why so many mums give up breastfeeding at this time? If your worried christine, see your doctor or child nurse. But sounds to me like you have a bub with a good appetite!

P.S. I found my boy slimmed down a bit once he started crawling and being more active

Amanda - posted on 09/26/2009

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It could be that he isn't gaining enough weight or it could be normal...breastfed babies grow at a different pattern than bottlefed babies. Breast babies tend to gain the majority of their weight in the first 6 months and then really slow down the next 6 months. I just had this conversation with a friend of mine. My daughter was 16.5 lbs at 6 months and only 17 lbs at 9 and still only 18lbs at a year. My son did the same thing. Go to kellymom.com and look for the WHO growth chart for breastfed babies and see how your child measures up there. If he is growing mentally and is otherwise healthy there may be no problem at all. You are the mommy...go with your gut! My kids were total chubos for the first 6 months and really slimmed down after that. My doc got concerned that my son "fell off" the growth chart, but when I brought the breastfed babies chart he was right on target just a small kid (we are both small people). Good luck and keep up the breastfeeding it is such a wonderful part of the mommy experience!

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