Is My Baby Getting Enough to Eat? - Provo,UT

If he is growing at a steady pace I would not worry too much. My 18 month old son has never been above the 10th percentile for anything, but he is growing at a steady pace and his Doctor is not worried about him at all. I hear that all the time too,"he seems small for his age" I just brush it off and give him some extra loves! I hope that helps and have a great day!

J.

Hi, J.-- You've gotten tons of comments but I just wanted to add mine and say I think you're terrific and your baby is so, so fortunate to have such a responsive, devoted mom.
You sound so informed and it sounds like your baby is thriving. Clearly, you are working very hard.
If anyone offers you any more discouraging/passive-aggressive/ignorant comments, please send 'em my way and I'll give them a flick in the forehead for you. ;) I have received similarly unhelpful comments and I am sometimes blown away by what unsupportive remarks people make. An easy, non-threatening comeback is "His doctor says he's doing great!" Even people who are presumptuous enough to question you as a mom will not question the doctor's decrees.
My two older sons were thin babies--but perfectly healthy-- and I often said "He's just a little bit of honey! We enjoy him so much!" and that helped tactless bystanders keep their comments positive. My third son is build like a sumo wrestler, and also exclusively breastfed. When I get comments about his chunkiness, I indulge in a little bragging and say "he's just a butterball because his mama's milk is all cream and butter!" A little humor can diffuse any awkwardness and/or shut people up.
FYI, a study was done several years ago in an African war zone and the researchers discovered that mothers in *famine* conditions produced nutritionally perfect milk for their babies. Your milk is perfect and there is nothing superior to it.
Also, most growth charts are based on artificially-fed infants, who tend to be fatter since they do not self regulate the quantity of milk they receive like a breastfed baby does. (This is part of the reason artificially-fed babies are at a lifetime risk for obesity; they are encouraged to drink beyond satiation and ignore internal cues of fullness.) Percentile charts also do not take ethnic background into consideration and are most often based on white American artificially-fed babies, which has freaked out some Asian moms I know, whose babies are typically on the smaller end of the spectrum--and perfectly healthy.
To know what percentile your baby would naturally fall into, look at yourself and your husband. Are you NFL linebackers? Are you slight of build? How do you compare with 100 people walking down the street in Anytown, USA?These genetic markers count for a lot in the study of body type and health. Since your baby receives the biologically normal food, you can expect him to look like the biological norm, which would mean he has similarities to you and his father. It's far more important that he follow a healthy, consistent growth curve with no sudden drops than rank at a certain percentile.
You might like the book "The Fussy Baby Book" by William and Martha Sears, or "The Baby Book" by the same authors. Those books really helped me re-frame my oldest son's personality (especially related to sleeping and frequent nursing) in a positive way. He was a high-need baby, not a "bad" baby, and he continues to be very people-oriented. It sounds like your son knows he can turn to the people he loves best--especially you--for comfort and reassurance as he learns and grows and reaches often overwhelming developmental milestones, as opposed to things. How healthy! What a lucky baby to have such a great and secure foundation for relationships his whole life. Consider that a plastic pacifier is just a substitute for the real thing--a mom-- and your baby has the real thing to check in with. Why fly coach when you've got a first-class ticket, you know? Non-nutritive nursing is comforting and normal and means that he can use more calories learning and growing instead of complaining and crying.
Many moms find their babies seem more satisfied if they nurse for longer at one breast at a feeding, and only switch sides if the baby wants to or even wait to switch at the next nursing. This allows Baby to get lots of high-fat hindmilk.
It can be hard to shake off the anxiety of a past bump in the road, even when things are OK again. Unless you're really worried about supply issues (and you already know about the accurate cues to watch for) I'm not sure you need to pump, especially if you are exhausted. It seems easier and more effective to nurse more often, especially since you can do it laying down and resting. Consider that swallowing is a reflex and your baby would swallow additional ounces of Mountain Dew if you put it in his mouth, but that certainly wouldn't mean he needed it.
Finally, I found the moms at my local La Leche League group to be a godsend. I could borrow things from their library for free, there were lots of experienced moms who could offer suggestions to try, and everyone was gentle and respectful and informed about their parenting choices. Plus, no one ever made discouraging "well, maybe it's time to supplement since your milk isn't doing the job" kind of remarks--because they wouldn't be helpful or accurate. It was a relief to be there and get helpful ideas and reassurance instead of more worries in my head. I really recommend finding your local group. You can look it up at www.llli.org.
My sincerest best wishes to you and your little men.

Some breastfed babies will eat all the time like that. My youngest about sent me over the edge with the constant eating! He's an active healthy rambunctious 4 year old now. (And still a string bean. I'm thinking of finding some suspenders for his pants!)

As for people making comments, just tell them your goal as a parent is for a healthy child, not a miniature sumo wrestler. It might not be polite, but them commenting about the weight of your child isn't polite either.

If your doctor is not concerned, and your child is growing along a good curve, then as hard as it is I'd try not to worry about it.

sounds like you are doing everything you can to keep up your supply and fulfill your baby's needs. "using you as a pacifier?" some babies really love to comfort suck or are more oral. . .or just want to be near you. . . don't give it a second thought. it is absolutely fine to satisfy all of your baby's sucking needs at the breast. Also, sounds like you have a full plate with work and family, breastfeeding is probably giving you all the wonderful hormones to relax a little. . .don't give up nursing. . . when people say it makes life easier. . it's NOT TRUE :)

those growth charts are made for formula fed babies. . . a long lean baby "on the spectrum" is absolutely normal. . . particularly if he's pretty much always been about the same on that spectrum. . . he's just long and lean. ignore the charts and ignore those people who make you feel like a bad mother. . . you are doing the best thing for your baby physically and emotionally by continuing to breastfeed. . . you go mama!!! if he's meeting all of his developmental stages, and he's happy and healthy, and not losing weight suddenly. . .. then he's probably doing just fine on your milk. even at this age solids are just tastes. . . you can always offer him more solids during the day. . .i love that you are pumping and offering that in a cup to supplement times when he's not nursing. . .

just relax, nurse him when he needs it and realize at this age, babies are getting so busy with crawling and pulling up soon and being so involved with their environment that they do tend to get a little more lean (even the "fat ones") and have less time to concentrate on nursing. . . but your body was made to satisfy your baby's nursing patterns and needs and will respond accordingly to give him what he needs at each feeding!!!

If you'd like to meet some likeminded moms. . . La Leche League is a great place to go. depending on where you live, we have a meeting in murray, ut lllofmurray.blogspot.com, sandy, ut lllofsandy.blogspot.com and other places in the valley. . . you can google lll of utah and find a list there of all meetings in utah. . . good luck and keep at it!!!

I loved breastfeeding but it is very unscientific, isn't it? He's getting so close to where he will get more of his calories from food that I wouldn't worry about it. Still, just so you know, what if you pump before you nurse him one time? How much milk can you get? (And I assume you are using an electric pump.) Sorry I'm a bit rusty on how much milk kids that age need, but if your milk production on a full breast time the number of feedings/day = the recommended level, you can rest easy, in my view. If not, and maybe even to ease your workload, you can supplement him w/ a couple ounces of formula after feeding, instead of the extra effort of pumping and then feeding him pumped milk. He's getting all the benefits of nursing that I wouldn't hesitate to supplement w/ formula too..

It's ok to keep nursing... but at 6 months he should also be starting baby foods, mainly cereals, and some veggies. I guess that's the 2-4 tbl. a day.. maybe increase that a little. some are just thin and little kids and fill out later! its alway's a worry, and wondering specially cuz they cant tell you! but mom's are blessed with intuitions! just maybe relax a little and do some experimenting, maybe do formula too to help supplement you if you feel you don't produce enough.

breathe! i'm a big fan of momtuition, but it really sounds like you are worried about nothing. your son sounds like my daughter...except she's short (50th percentile last i checked) and right OFF the bottom of the charts in weight. but she's healthy and happy and thriving at three. i breastfed her pretty much round the clock until she was just shy of three...now she eats solids pretty much round the clock and is still tiny. it's just her metabolism. i'm sure your son is fine too. :)

Hi, I didn't read all of the responses so sorry if I'm repeating, but first of all, it sounds like you've done an absolutely marvelous job to date, so congrats on that. It's amazing you can even keep a 7 month old going on almost nothing but milk if you think you have a low supply. I was in a similar situation and the minute I reduced how often I nursed, my supply just plummeted, so I would not agree that he is using you as a pacifier, I think he's just eating that often because if you have low supply, that's probably what he needs.

That said, I also agree with the comments that you might want to consider upping the solids. By the time he's a year, that needs to be his primary food source. You could think about offering solids 3X per day, do it right after he nurses if you'd like, but feed him as much as he wants (till he refuses to open his mouth/pushes the spoon away/spits it out).

For reference, my baby, who will be 7 months in 1 week, eats solids 4X per day (he just seems to like them more than milk) and a typical meal might be two ounces of milk or formula with cereal, half a jar of fruit, and half a jar of veggies.

I try to make sure there is something filling with every solid meal (cereal with milk or forumla rather than water, yogurt, a "dinner" baby food that has a meat blend, a rich veggie like avocado -- yes, I know it's supposedly a little early for meat and yogurt, but my pediatrician okayed it, though you could stick to cereal with milk/formula and fruits and veggies till he's 8 months). Just fruit or veggies by themselves won't really fill him up much at all (look at the calorie count on the jar if you want to know how filling something is).

BTW, my boy is 45% for weight and has stabilized there, but when he was on just milk, he was 25% and cried a lot more because I think we was always a little hungry. I started to supplement with formula when he dropped to 15%, so if you're stable, I don't think you need to worry too much, but it does sound like you can up your solids.

Good luck!

What a sweet, conscientious mom you are! I think you can relax a bit. It sounds like your little guy is doing great! As long as he is on his growth curve, he is fine. My little pumpkin is small--my daughter was, too; my pediatrician celebrated his success at moving from the .44 percentile to the .71 percentile in weight! So, all kids are different sizes and you have to look at what is relative to your kid. It sounds like he is doing just fine. You can probably start upping his solids soon, and you'll see some growth in his size with that. Remember, too, though, that little ones get more active at this age, so even though he may be eating more, he might not gain a bunch because he's working it off so fast!
Keep up the good mommy-ing, and go easy on yourself. :)
S.

Keep breastfeeding and start offering more solids since you are worried that he's not getting enough to eat. If he's hungry he'll eat them, if he's not then he won't. Babies are pretty good at listening to their hunger at this point in their lives. If you offer him all he wants, you'll soon find out if he's a long and lean baby or if he just needed some more calories to plump up. My daughter was eating about 1/4 cup of oatmeal or veggies twice a day at 7 months.
I have to say I'm surprised you get anything from pumping after feeding him (pumping after feeding him is a great way to keep up/increase your supply). I tried it with my daughter and I get like 2 drops so I quit -- but she's at 50% for weight and is kinda chubby looking, so I'm not too worried.
Relax and feed him as much as he wants of healthy stuff (cereal, veggies). Good luck!

Try to trust your doctor, they see hundreds and hundreds of babies and if they are not concerned then you shouldn't be.

All three of my kids are tall and lean, my oldest son is 95% in height and 50% in weight, my middle son only registers on the charts for a year older at the 95% in height and 40% weight (weight registers in his age group) and my daughter is 97% height and 30% in weight. None of my children had baby fat, they were all skinny. The two boys have always been terrible eaters and I often wonder how they sustain life. I nursed only, no formula and they are all thriving. I would give him more solids if you are worried, 4-8 tbls a day doesn't seem like that much at 7 months old.

The biggest thing you have to remember is if you are worried and stressed then he will be too. Also, your milk WILL go down if you are stressed. Just relax and enjoy the ride. You will both benefit from it.

HI> Don't worry about your baby. If he's staying on his growth chart lines and developing normally, he's fine. My baby is also long and lean, and I worried a lot about it, but it was all needless stress. Somebody has to be in the lowest and highest percentiles, and it happens to be your son. Enjoy him and don't worry, the baby days fly by and there's no use missing them because people make comments that stress you out. Good luck.

Mine is tall & skinny too. Our first doctor said everything was fine. I know I have a smaller milk supply too. Then at 9months we changed insurance and had to get a new ped Dr. She was kind of worried and took all kinds of samples and tests. He came out perfectly fine. Apparently, he is just a really active kid. If your Dr. says everything is okay they are probably right, but you could ask them to test samples and his blood just to make sure. I just made sure on my end that I fed him whenever he was hungry. One thing my Dr. recommended to put a little meat on his bones was putting cream cheese on his toast and pancakes and crackers, etc. Now he is 15 months and still long and thin, but really healthy. He runs around everywhere instead of walking and I just make sure that I am giving him all the calories I can. Plus I am still breast feeding twice a day although we are in the process of him weaning himself. He is smart and active and all seems good! Good luck!

My first child was always in the 90th percentile for height and weight and my second was in the 10th. My doctor thought she was so small because she wasn't getting enough breast milk and encouraged me to switch to formula. I was young and didn't know better so I did. She continued to stay in the 10th percentile anyway. She is now 18 and is 5'2" and weighs 100 pounds (which is exactly the size my mother was in college). My oldest is 5'8". So my second daughter simply inherited recessive "small" genes and none of my other kids did. It had nothing to do with how much food she was getting. I would keep breastfeeding and feed him whenever he seems hungry. Most of my 7 kids breastfed during the night until around age 13 months (I breastfed the other 5 until about that age). I wouldn't worry about it.

Sounds like you've gotten some great advice & are calmer about the whole thing. :) I just wanted to add something on perspective.

When I was pregnant, there were some people who'd say things like, 'Are you sure it's not twins?' and then there'd be others who would say I was TINY for how far along I was. (What??)

Ditto with the babies. At some point, each kid was around the middle of the chart (both then went down to less than 10% on weight but have still been thriving, just to add that in for your encouragement!) and there'd be people who would comment that they were 'huge,' or 'didn't have any fat rolls,' or anything in between. Just today someone commented that my preschooler seems really tall. Nope, he's right around 50%.

So ignore them all... they clearly have no idea what they're talking about! ;) (And it really does take breastfed babies a while to find their place on the curve.) It sounds like your little guy is doing awesome! Keep up the great work, mama!

my first baby had such a hard time sleeping. he was so hungry. i supplemented with formula after almost every breastfeeding because i did not want to give up on that. but breastfeeding and then preparing a bottle afterward was really a hassle. everyone kept telling me that my body would produce what the baby needed as long as i kept with it. but it just didn't happen that way. my milk supply was great with my second baby and it wasn't until my 3rd that i figured out what i should have done 5 yrs ago. in the beginning i pumped after feedings in hopes of increasing my milk supply with my 3rd baby and it just wasn't working. i was only getting at most an ounce. i suspect that it was due to a hormone imbalance. so i started taking herbal supplements. they have worked well. as long as i take them, i have milk and i can increase or decrease as needed. when i notice that my baby is waking more often to eat, i increase the herbs so that she gets full and can go back to sleep for a longer time. i started out taking fenugreek but as i increased the dosage to what i needed, i got dizzy. so i switched to More Milk Plus, which is a combination of several herbs, including fenugreek but at a smaller dose. it is more expensive than just fenugreek, but it is more potent and working well for me. good luck and remember that good sleep is also needed for your son's growth and your milk production, so do what it takes to get that rest.

Tall and skinny is just fine. Relax. You really don't have anything to worry about unless he starts losing weight. Stressing out about whether he's getting enough or not can actually reduce your milk supply. So stop worrying about it. He's growing and that's what matters.

Your baby is just fine. My first 2 kids were the same way.(90% for hieght and 25% for weight). They stayed that way even after they stopped nursing and switched to formula. Its just genetics.... I'm sure some were in your family there is some one tall and skinny that he is taking after.There is a big problem these days with obese children anyway so people are just getting used to seeing chunkier kids and when one comes along that isn't people assume that something is wrong with him. Stop stressing your doing everything you are supposed to do.... you are a good mom don't let anyone tell you any different.

I have 21 month old boy/girls twins. My daughter is always been chunky and my son extremely skinny, he isn't even quite 20lbs. yet. I think every baby is just built differently. He eats healthy, he just burns it fast and has high metabolism. I wouldn't worry unless he starts losing weight. When my babies were in the NICU for a week, the nurses kept telling me that stress made me have less milk, so if you are worried about your milk supply you have to stop worrying and stressing! :)

I just took my daughter in for her 9 month well-baby visit and she was in the 95th percentile for height and 25th for weight...which according to the chart is where she's always been. She is gaining weight (which is what is the important thing...not percentiles) and she is eating often and enough. I would say as long as your son is gaining and growing, you are doing a fantastic job and try to enjoy the non-roly-poly-ness of your baby...no matter what other people say. If your are wondering about your milk supply, you can try to pump a bottle shortly before he would nurse and find out how much he would have gotten. Then just give him the bottle (or cup). I have done that when I am worried about not making enough milk for my daughter...my worries are always calmed when I pump because I find I still am making plenty. Best of luck with your little sprout!

Take your pediatricians lead. He believes your son is completely healt hy and growing normally. My daughter spent her entire first year in the 3rd percentile for weight and the 10th percentile for height. My husband and I are average size. I worried a bit also but I noticed that she was happy, she was a very active baby and is now a very active preschooler. She is still tall and skinny but her percentile rankings have steadily increased. She is now in the 50th percentile for height and the 14th for weight (only 25 lbs at 2 1/2). I understand your concern but it sounds like you are doing everything right. It also sounds like you are producing plenty of milk because you are still able to pump an ounce after you feed your son. You might try pumping that ounce before he eats so that he gets more hindmilk but other than that just try to relax. Again, let you childs doctor's behavior be your guide, bring up any and all concerns when you have them and take his response at face value.

My daughter has had the same thing since birth, she is 2 now. She has been in the 75-90% in height and 10-35% in weight. Now my husband is tall and I have always been tall and skinny so the doctor said that genetics can play a big roll in that. We had a blood test done on my daughter on her first birthday just to make sure that her vitamin/protein levels where okay, which they were. Now your little one is 7 months old, make sure that the solids that you are feeding him are high in good fat like avocados...sweet potatoes were popular with my little one too. Keep breastfeeding, but I would start giving solids too. Remember that he might loose a bit of weight as he gets more mobile too...remember that stress can lower your milk supply, as long as he is developmentally on target and is loking to eat more, he will be fine...good luck

It sounds like he's doing just fine. He's been right along the growth curve all along, which is a really good indicator. Following the curve is more important than which curve they are on. And if he's having poopy diapers, they're probably also wet too (most babies do both); not all wet diapers will be "sopping" depending on the absorbancy, how soon you change him, your idea of sopping vs someone elses, and his body (some babies go little bits throughout the day, others fewer times but more at a time).
He may be using you as a pacifier, but I'd go ahead and nurse him anyway as long as your comfortable doing that. Many breastfed babies don't sleep through the night anyway (neither of mine did, until after they were 1 and weaned). So you probably don't have to worry.

As far as other people's comments, it's a shame that people are so insensitive. My middle son is, and always has been, down near the 5th percentile in height (he takes after me). His grandma has often commented it, going so far as to suggest I ask about growth hormone for him! (He's only 8). I made a point to bring it up with the doctor, so I could tell her "the doctor said ..." next time, but I don't think she realized that she implied there's something wrong with being short. When you get comments about his size I'd 1- smile and nod then move on (easiest if its a stranger), 2- say "he's healthy and that's all that matters" or 3- (maybe if its someone who's always saying things) say "I hope we don't bother our children about their size their whole life. He's just fine." or something like that. Let them (esp family who take liberties) know that their comments are uncalled for, and that they are upsetting you.

Hello!
I just had a thought. At 7 months, he should be ready to eat some solids. I would start introducing rice cereal, and simple fruits and veggie purees. Maybe your making enough milk, and he is just ready for more than you can give him. Definitely start with the solids and see what happens. good luck!

Most likely the growth chart you are looking at is based upon bottlefed babies...who are typically heavier...and not necessarily in the good way. This means, that breast-fed babies usually are a little below the curve. This isn't a bad thing. It just means that the growth chart that you are looking at doesn't quite apply.

At 7 months, I would be feeding him solids first and then nursing after to fiish filling him up. Not only would his belly get full for sure, but also, it would give you body time to fill up with milk. If you nurse when ever you think he's fussy, then he'll always keep you drained. So give him food - 2 tablespoons isn't very much, i'd step it up - then next time you nurse you'll have more milk, and it should fill him up for longer, so the next time, you'll have a little more milk, etc., etc. Don't feel bad about where he is on the growth chart, as long as he is constant. My daughters weight is under 5th percent, even when we expressed a little concern, and our ped. has us swith her from milk to pediasure for 2 months, she didn't gain ANY weight, not a single pound.

I think you shouldn't worry too much. Like everyone said its more about him growing rather than matching the percentiles. My sister in law was constantly harassed by her doctors with her oldest daughter for not feeding her enough (she is just a small petite girl) and she was just exasperated trying to get her to eat and it turned into this HUGE power struggle.
If you are really worried about your supply try fenugreek. It helped me.

Also something to consider. Your son is pooping 4-5 times a day. no wonder he is always hungry. Is it like diarrhea? You may consider testing for a food allergy, possibly milk. My daughter was pooping all the time and since I have been off all dairy she poops once or twice a day on average. She also had a lot of other symptoms so we knew she had an allergy. Maybe your son just has a slight one. I'm no doctor but maybe you could ask yours about the possibility. just a thought. good luck.

Sweetie, just relax! My kids were the exact same on the charts. I breast fed both until they were about 12 months old. My daughter's head circumference even fell off the bottom of the chart because it was so small, but she was developing normally so they weren't worried about brain development. Now they are 4 and 8 and still about the same: long and lean and beautiful and normal. I have troubles with their pants staying on and have had many times when they both have literally run out of their pants. The adjustable waist pants are a life saver from embarassing moments! No worries. Who cares what others say? Just put on a thick skin and know that you are doing what you feel is best for yourself and your children. Hang in there and get some rest. Have someone like your mom or a good friend come and watch the baby one or two nights so you can get some good sleep. It is ok to ask for help; it doesn't mean that you are weak or a bad mom. Taking care of yourself is the best way to be able to take care of others. Good luck!

Our three daughters were also very lean, and in the 5-10% range for weight. It sounds like you probably have nothing to worry about, and that you should not listen to anyone who is criticizing you. That can be perfectly normal for some kids. I don't know what your body type or your husband's is, or what typical babies' sizes were in your families - is that consistent with family history at all? or very different?

If you are not sure whether he is eating enough, can you offer any more - solids and liquids (not necessarily breastmilk if you can't pump any more)? If he wants to eat more, that might give you an indication. If he doesn't want to eat more, I would trust that. For our girls, mashed potatoes worked really well at that age and helped them sleep a bit.

But our girls nursed constantly. That was the way it was for a long time... I didn't have a problem with milk supply but they were pretty small, and they just needed the constant feeding. It took a while before they reached what I consider 'critical mass' to sleep through the night and not need to eat so often. I learned later that hypoglycemia runs on both sides of my family, and at least one of my daughters and I have it, so we truly need to eat more often than a lot of people. I have no idea if that was a factor at that age or not, but I do know that what is normal for one child may be VERY different from what another one needs. I had a friend who kept a very strict schedule of feeding her boys every four hours, and a very strict sleeping schedule. Her boys were huge and it worked great. If I had tried to enforce something like that, my girls would have been starving and miserable, and I know we would never have made it through.

If your pediatrician is confident that he is growing and developing well, I would trust that, because the markers for poor development would be clear. At the same time, of course you need to listen to your instincts if your concerns persist. Maybe it would help to ask more pointed questions of your doctor so you understand why he or she has concluded that your son is fine.

If the pediatrician can give you valid reasons that put your concerns to rest, I hope you can enjoy this time with your son, and forget about the naysayers.

Your baby sounds so completely normal and healthy! ! If any uninformed people make comments about your baby being too skinny just ignore them. Those growth percentiles can be misleading to parents, a baby that is in the 100th percentile is not 100% the correct size, he is just on the heavier end of the spectrum. The charts themselves are flawed because the weights are actually based on formula fed infants and not breastfed infants (who tend to be a little lighter weight, as well as healthier). In fact the whole idea of charting a baby's weight in comparison to other babies or in comparison to some arbitrary "ideal" was originally a marketing idea conceived by a company that wanted to convince mothers to buy their sweetened condensed milk and feed THAT to their babies rather than breastmilk. Your milk is not only good enough for your baby; it is the PERFECT food for your baby. You are doing the right thing by nursing him whenever he is hungry, that will ensure that he IS getting enough. It is common for some moms (including me) to not be able to pump out as much milk as your baby can get out of you when he nurses, so the amount of milk that you can measure when you pump is not a good indicator of how much milk you are really making. Now that your baby is 7 months old he can start to have a great variety of solid food to supplement his diet as well, if you really want to up his fat a calories feed him things like mashed avocado and pureed meats, as well as the more typical fruits and veggies. He can have bits of table foods as well, as long as they are easily gummed and not a chocking hazard.

The bottom line is, you are a great mom and your baby is perfectly healthy so relax and enjoy life!

Hi J.,
I think you concerns are normal, because you are a Mom and worrying about our kids is what we do! But here are my thoughts! First of all if you doctor says he's growing fine, he probably is, babies really do come in all shapes and sizes. Second of all, my baby has always had a lot of poopy diapers and the doctor just said that means he is getting the nutrients he needs from me and pooping out any of the excess. 3rd- Is he only eating 2-4 TBS of solids because that is all he will eat, or is that all you are offering. I only ask because my 6 month old will eat probably double that most days (of course he is a little chubby hee hee) Also have you tried offering things he can hold and eat himself (gram crackers or gerber graduate crackers, or putting fruit in those little net things they can chew on) My baby love stuff like that, and although it is messy it makes him happy.
Another idea I had would be to pump and bottle feed him during the day for a few days to see how much he drinks at a time. I work away from home, so I pump during the day and then nurse my baby when I'm home with him at night and on the weekends. So I know during the day he eats about 5-6 oz every 4-5 hours.
Lastly- ignore all negative comments from other Mom's, on this site, or in person. No one has the right to make you feel like you are a bad Mom. You sound like you are a great, loving, caring Mom, and you are doing a great job! Good Luck!

Hi J.,

My question is what else are you feeding him besides breastmilk. If he is 7 months old you can give him rice cereal along with lots of other "baby foods". This way, it doesn't matter if your supply is low or not. He can get whatever else he needs from healthy baby food. Good luck and it looks to me that you are doing a wonderful job.

Hi J. - My first was long and lean too. 25th for weight and 75 for height. I called him my little bird. Your little guy probably feels extra skinny just because he's taller too. He may never be a "chunky-munky" and that's okay. My oldest is now 7 and he is still built that way. Isnt it interesting how moms never feel like we're "doing it right"? I think you sound like a terrific and conscientious mom!

If your son is following his growth curve consistently, meeting his developmental milestones, and he continues to be a good eater, it's no problem if he's a little skinny. The frequent nursing and night fussies could easily be because he's becoming an older baby and needs more calories from solid foods. He doesnt have a lot of fat reserves so you might find that he eats lots of small meals throughout the day. (I have an athelete husband and a skinny son, so this I know about. The hobbits had 2nd breakfast, we often have 2nd lunches and 2nd dinners too!)

I would start to increase the amount of solid foods he is eating and even introducing some little finger foods like cheerios or cut up bananas - things that will melt in his mouth but have texture. If you have a copy of "What to Expect the First Year" look around p. 219-220 for the 'best odds diet for beginners' in the 5-month old section. It has an excellent listing of how much protein, complex carbs, grains, veggies, etc that a baby should be getting as well as a list of good starter foods for baby.

I think you'll find that if you increase his solid foods, he will start to fall into a more stable nursing pattern again where you can actually do a full feed. He needs to be nursing a good 20-minutes so that he can get through the thirst-quencher foremilk and get to the fat-rich hindmilk.

Hi, J.,
I would just relax and keep doing what you are doing.Give him the baby cerals and baby food. Dont let peoples commments bother you.I too had comments from family mother in law who never nursed and sister in law who only nursed a short time.I had comments about my milk not having enough nutriants and to get it tested. I talked to my doctors and they said testing I never heard of that. Breastmilk has eveything a baby needs to grow.It also changes and adjusts as they grow to give them what they need. I never knew that. to just pump and put it in a bottle instead of nusing. I have breastfed my oldest son and twins.My mother in law would say J. I dont think

you have enough milk and things like that.To just give him a bottle and formula instead. My son was and is in the 95 percentile and was chunky. With my twins one was chubby until 1 year then skinny and small still is the other was tiny until 18 months and now tall and big. I could not get one twin to ever nurse and I really feel I lost that special bond with him.Dont let any one discorage you from breast feedingyou baby it has so my benifits and bonding.Dont give up if you still want to continue nusrsing. Comments are hurtful ignore them You are being a great mother!You are doing anything wrong to your child.Funny a few years after my mother in law made her comments she said she read a article about breastfeeding. She said did you know breastmilk has nutrients that formula dosent?That babies that are breastfed get alot of dha? I said yes I knew that.Do what you feel is best.sorry this is written so messy My kids are helping me :) best of luck,J.

I would absolutely relax. Your son is gaining weight and eating well. If you feel that your supply is down, it is fine to allow him to eat more often or pump to keep the supply up, or try fenugreek, but worrying about it makes it worse - I know from my supply issues.
I have a chunky baby. I am often told that he is "well fed" or comments about his booda belly (that's what I call it). Others at day care are slim and long, and they are all healthy, but naturally have different shapes. My son has also been all over the charts. As long as the doctor is happy, relax, enjoy the time with your son, and tell everyone else that he is perfect and healthy.

J., as a mother with the same concerns, I understand exactly where you are. I am also tired - exhausted - from taking care of the home, and pumping, it seems like I am always pumping - I work in the office 3 days a week on top of everything else. Sheesh! I don't know... but from what I have read and confirmed with my doc and other people's experiences... feed the breastmilk first, as the food is not supposed to take away from the amount of breastmilk they get until 9 months of age. I guess my primary concern from what you wrote is that it doesn't seeem like your baby ever gets the opportunity to say "I'm full" by stopping eating on his own - right? You said he slicks down everything you give him. So, I would be tempted to give him more as an experiment. Do you ever have the opportunity to pump when he is sleeping to save it up for after feeding from the breast? Since I am in the office 3X a week, we do that because we have to - I pump in the morning, breast feed in the morning (I have extra) and then on the days I am not in the office I pump and feed, but I freeze the milk - so I have "extra". Well yesterday guess what? He ate his bottle (5 oz) PLUS another 5 oz bottle!!! WOW. I couldn't believe that. He may be going through a growth spurt as he is 1.5 weeks from his 6 month, but it was interesting to see how much it took to get him FULL.
SO... I just wonder if you can experiment with extra to get your baby full too - he could already be full, but you just don't know it. Of course the deelopment charts indicate he is fine - so he probably is - it's the consistency of the percentiles that matter, not the percentiles themselves. So, he is fine... but if you wanted to know about if he would eat more, try to figure a way to give him more to see. (either breastmilk, or food, or formula) I'm not a proponent of formula, and I have been successful with brestmilk only so far but I am always afraid it's not enough or won't be at some point. Not that formula is bad, of course many babies are perfectly healthy on it...
Anyway - just an idea to give you peace of mind.
Take Care!!

my cousin had the same dilemma i would check with your l action consultant to be sure your eating enugh food with the vitamins and mineral he need and lots of water is always a good way to go. good luck :-)

You're doing a great job J.! Good for you for giving your baby what he needs. As far as people who comment on chubby babies or tall babies, just ignore them. My daughter was a massive chub (all breastfed) when she was a baby. Now she is tall & skinny. People are always commenting how tall & big she is. I just say "yes, and very talkative too." I would keep offering introductory baby foods and when he needs them, he'll eat them. Relax, hang in there and enjoy your little one! All the best!

What a terribly stressful thing for you. I can't really offer suggestions, but hopefully support. My daughter didn't nurse well and I finally had to supplement with formula and then fully switched by about 12 weeks. What an emotional nightmare! So then my chicken-legged child who didn't gain an ounce for the first 3 weeks became a formula hog and went up to 85th percentile for weight - her head looked like a basketball!! So then I got all kinds of comments about what a "solid" baby she was. I was constantly worried that she was eating too much and that I've set up bad eating habits for life. Either way, the judgement of others, whether real or imagined, is a hard, hard thing. I think that most of those comments are harmless conversation makers, or stupid things said by careless people. I've even said things to moms that I immediately realized were probably not what they needed to hear at that moment! (Often about their small kids, partly out of insecurity about my big kid!) My daughter now looks exactly like I did as a baby (with her daddy's face, of course!). I think they do just sometimes take time to even out, or they just break the mold and turn out to have a different shape than the whole family. Good luck, mama. I wish you peace with all of this.

Hi J.. I had a son that I nursed for a year. He was pretty chunky for his first 6 months, then started to slim down. It's usually because by 7 months they are starting to get quite active, so they burn a lot of calories. As long as his percentils is not changing - so he hasn't gone from 30 down to 10, he's most likely just fine. And he's just getting to the age where he's learning that he can cry to get your attention or be nursed again - so I wouldn't worry that he's necessarily not getting enough to eat.
I would try to offer more solid foods to him, though, just because he's probably getting to the stage where he needs some variety - but keep up what you're doing with the breastfeeding - he'll be just fine!!

My daughter was also breastfed, and was 90th percentile height, 10th percentile weight. My mother used to joke that if she could just maintain that, she would have a great future as a model. Honestly, as long as your child is staying fairly steady on the growth lines, you are just fine! It is normal for BF babies to be a little skinny compared to formula fed infants. It is not a problem.

Don't listen to your doc! BF babies nurse frequently, since that helps keep the supply up. Subbing a paci will hurt your supply. Pumping right after you nurse will be harder because you are more empty. I liked nursing one side while pumping the other. It really helped with the letdown. Or you can try pumping between feedings. In addition to prob getting more milk when you pump, it will also help your supply.

Good luck and HTH.

I would just relax. He souds just fine! Your doctor will definately tell you if there is a concern, trust me! If you are really worried I would put some rice cereal in his solid foods. That is what I do. Anyway, he sounds great! We are all built differenly. My friend has a 4 year old the same size as my 2 year old, and my guy is not fat. So, they are all different. Ignore those comments. People love to give their two cents. I am no different. Also, the way my doc explained to me is they need to stay kind of in the curve, kind of paralell to the "norm". Dont worry so much about the percentile as the consistant growth. So, seriously, dont worry. I freaked out about my toddler not eating enough. My doc said it was my job to present good food and his job to eat, he will eat what he needs.

If he's on his growth curve and the doctor says he's fine - he really is fine. All babies come in different shapes and sizes (just like people - go figure). I've known kids in the 90th percentile for height and 20th percentile for weight. Yes - they have a hard time finding pants that are long enough that don't fall right off their hips :) but they are perfectly healthy. If your baby were really having struggles, he would have fallen off the growth curve significantly. So take a deep breath and try not to worry (I know - easier said than done). You need to not exhaust yourself - you have a family to take care of. I would continue to breastfeed and introduce other foods as some of the other posters said. It's a great time to start introducing some fruits & veggies. I wouldn't worry so much about pumping after every feeding - I've done that - I know how exhausting that can be. But you need to make that call. If it's not that hard for you & it relieves stress, then go ahead & continue. But I don't think it's really necessary. Try to relax & enjoy your family!

I would say he is getting enough. My reason for saying that is because you can actually pump milk out. If your supply was too low, you wouldn't have enough milk left over to pump.

My oldest child was in 15-20th percentile for weight her whole 1st year and is still skinny. She is on the smaller side for kids her age and that has not changed her entire 6 + years of life. My youngest child is 9 months old and still wears 0-3 month clothing. She is just a petite little girl. Most people think she is around 6 months old!

Not all kids are chubby, so don't let those comments bother you.

Make it a GREAT day!

S.