6 Month Old Baby Not Gaining Weight

I have a little tiny peanut too. It's awful to try and "bulk" her up! She's 2 and we still have a hard time. Start on solids, like your doctor recommended. Start with the rice cereal and go from there. If you think he's hungry, feed him! Most of all, don't blame yourself! It sounds like he's growing fine, just skinny. If the doctor didn't seem concerned, you shouldn't be either. If he's healthy in every other aspect then he's fine! The solid foods will help. Also, the charts are guidelines. JUST GUIDELINES! I hate that all of our children have to follow the same path of growth. Everyone is built differently! I finally told my doctor that my husband and I were both small children and my daughter was fine. I wasn't going to force feed her just so that she would gain weight. (She had always been in the 10 percentile or below.) Know that it's not your fault. Your milk is just perfect for your child.

Make sure that you are not using a nipple shield...I was using one and was having the same problem, and immediately after I stopped my daughter took off (and feeding times were so much faster!). I think 6 months is a great time to strat introducing rice cereal...It will definitely help with spacing feeding times out and longer sleep periods as well!

M.,
My sister is going through the exact same thing with her daughter. Her dr has her bringing her daughter in for weekly weigh-ins. It has my sister very stressed out! Start her on solids and see how she does. She might just be a little peanut her whole life! Good Luck!

Check out this website:
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/growthcharts....

They have developed a different growth chart for breastfed babies. The standard charts are for formula fed babies. My little guy is also in the 5th percentile and is doing great and my Dr is not worried. He'll start to gain weight when you introduce solids.
Also is he very active? My little guy is so active, that I think he burns off every calorie he takes in.

My six month old granddaughter is being fed her breast milk with cereal at night. My daughter pumps it and adds cereal thru a special nipple that is larger. She is also being fed baby food now. The doc said to start with one new food a week. She loves fruit and won't let you give her squash!

Hope this helps!
J.

M.,

As long as your dr isn't worried about the weight, I wouldn't be either. My daughter at birth was 4lbs 13oz
18 1/2" long (not a big baby). Yet as she grew she was on her own growth scale. She is now 27 yrs old, an still a small person. There is nothing wrong with being small, I am and so is her dad. As long as you know he is getting what he needs, I wouldn't worry about his weight. Some people are just born to be small. As her dr told me when she was a child, she just isn't going to set the world on fire with her weight. Don't worry about him too much ok as long as you are doing all you can for him, well you are just doing all you can.

K.

I would start with watery rice cereal in the morning, at noon, at supper time, and before bed. After that is gone and he hasn't had any reactions go on to oatmeal, then start veggies.
I know it sounds like a lot of veggies and fruit, but a salad with another veggie for lunch and dinner helps get the right amount down and fruit juice counts as fruit as well as actually eatting it. So try having a 1/2 a cup of juice in the morning and in the evening instead of water, tea, or whatever else you are drinking then have and apple, some grapes, or whatever for a morning snack and mid afternoon snack. Goes a long way for you too.

I don't think you have been starving him! But I do think it's time to introduce solids. Milk is digested so much faster than solids that now that he is not eating as often as before, he is starting to feel an empty stomach faster. I'm sure that as soon as you start solids, he will start gaining more weight. Breast milk is very nutritious but is not everything that a baby needs at a certain point (in the future) so he needs to prepare to that point. Developmentally, he will reach many milestones like coordination or speech through eating solids. I think you have just reached a new stage with your baby and it's time to get started! :)

Rather than adding solids, I would supplement with formula. This way you can gauge how much he gets. When little ones start to eat solids, they tend not to get much food! Good luck!

Your milk is ALWAYS good enough:) Has he gotten more mobile? Or is he just moving around more if not actually crawling? You can try to up your supply and nurse him more often. Start solids with high-calorie and good-fat foods like:
Avacado
mashed bananas (not from a jar)
sweet potatos (cook in skins then peel and mash or puree)

How active is he? A couple of my children gained NO weight, and one actually lost weight between 4 and 9 months. They were totally fine, but there were so darn active they just burned through the calories they ate. By a year or 2 old they gained it back and were in the 50th percentile again.

Don't worry about your milk - it's fine. There are VERY few cases when something is actually wrong with mom's milk. Have confidence - once you start to stress you probably will decrease your milk supply because stress does that. You may want to offer to nurse more often now, though, since many kids go through a growth spurt around this age -- and therefore eat more.

He's probably more than ready for food, though. Six he's already 6 months, sit him in his high chair, put a few pea-size bits of soft food on his tray and let him try. Cheerios (the normal kind - they dissolve fast), noodles/pasta, peas, cooked carrots, avacado and banana are all great first foods. There's really no need to use the expensive jarred baby food (most cultures around the world do not use that stuff). If you feel like spoon-feeding then yogurt, applesauce and normal oatmeal (quick cooking from the canister) are good. Babies get most of their nutrients from formula or breastmilk anyways for the first 10-11 months. Eating at this point is just 'practice' and exposure to a wide variety of textures and tastes. All my kids were 100% self-feeding by 7-9 months old (with fingers - spoons and forks came later) and not a single tooth until after their birthday. Babies can gum anything.

Hi there
One of my friends went through the same thing w/her baby boy. She ended up adding formula to the breast feeding and he started gaining weight. The dr thought that maybe her breast milk didn't contain enough calories...

I so hope you get to read this response. This happens with so many breastfed babies. The problem is not how your child is growing, it is with the growth chart they are using. Most doctor's offices only use one growth chart and it is based on numbers relating to formula fed babies. It is EXTREMELY rare to find a doctor's office who uses the official breastfeeding growth chart for a breastfed baby. They tell you your child isn't growing like they should or making the pretty curve on the chart and get you all nervous. While there are many websites that explain the breastfed growth chart, I'll just include one. http://massbfc.org/news/growthChart.html However, you can google breastfed growth charts and look over more if you desire. The only reason I know all of this is because of all the testing they put my little baby boy through when they labelled him as failing to thrive. He was completely healthy, happy, reaching new milestones, and a little ball of chub but they still made us do so much because he didn't fit their curve. They told us his growth had stalled. After my husband and I started doing our own research we realized the problem and stopped the testing. The doctors were so surprised we would do this and equally as surprised when he went through his next normal breastfed baby growth spurt and was right "back on track" according to their chart. At least one doctor in the group we were seeing did take notice when we presented her with a breastfed baby growth chart. I just wish it would become more common knowledge. We are pregnant with our second now and have moved so you can be certain I'll be bringing the info with me to her doctor appts.

M., the fact that he gained 6 oz shows you are not starving him...so it itsn't you or the breastfeeding (kudos!). I do think the Dr is right about him just needing solid foods. Even if you just start him on some cereal twice a day, and then add in fruits and veggies. He is in a new state of development, now that he is moving around and stuff he is burning energy, you just need to add a it to what you have already been giving him. Good luck!

Hi M.,

Congrats on your little guy and on breastfeeding! Keep it up, it is the best food for him!

It sounds like he is fine.

I once heard a talk by Katherine Dettwiler (spelling? and her website is good , btw) on how there are many factors that affect the measurement of your baby's weight that have nothing to do with your baby's actual weight, just with differences between the two weighings at two different check-ups. For instance--was baby clothed or naked each time he was weighed? If clothed both times, was it the same type of outfit? If he wore a heavy outfit the first time and a light outfit the second, it would look like he hadn't gained so much. Same thing with a diaper--was it full (heavy) or empty (light) each time? Is he at the stage where he poops a whole bunch, once a week? If so, then where did the weighings fall in the "poop cycle"--just before, just after,or in-between? Was baby weighed on the same scale? when was it last calibrated? a lot can happen to a scale in two months. All these things could account for a significant change either way.

Solids won't hurt, he's about at the right age; check for the other signs of readiness too (can sit up unaided, doesn't push the food out of his mouth, showing interest in your food, that sort of thing). But as other moms have mentioned, don't quit nursing, that's still his primary source of nutrition.

Do you nurse him every 3 hours because that's what HE wants or because that's what YOU want? If it's him, that's fine. If he cries and you think he might be hungry, nurse him--if he eats a lot, he was hungry. Babies tend to stop when they have eaten enough!

Good luck to you and enjoy your baby!

K. Z.

When I was breast feeding I was told to eat a chocolate bar every day it would enrich my milk. I hate chocolate but did it and I do think it helped witht the breast feeding. My youngest would fall a sleep and seemed he feed evry 15 to 20 minutes. He grew just fine.

Hello- When I saw your post- it reminded me of my 3 daughters- who all did the same thing. I exclusively nursed as well- I did not start solids with my youngest two until at least 7 months old. I felt that it was completely unnecessary. My last two children gained about an ounce a week or sometimes less. Anyway- they were off of the weight chart. Don't be worried about that because those weight charts are really designed for formula fed babies and not breastfed babies. Starting solids- I don't think really helps and actually causes the babies to nurse less and take in less milk because they are full from the baby food. Once I did put my last two on solids they were still well below on the weight charts- and it did not seem to help them gain weight at all. Please don't rush into starting solids- it will only make things worse. Our doctor urged the solids for weight gain as well- but we told them that we would do it when our child was interested and old enough. Also I would not give him- the baby cereals- as much as everyone says to do so. They contain an iron in them that is hard for breastfed babies to digest- the iron that it contains is typically found in formulas. If you do start solids soon- I would start with Stage 1 vegetables. Hope this helps!!! Take care.

A little about me: Stay at home mommy of 4 children- ages- 8 years old, 7, 2 1/2 and alomost 10 months.

Unless you are starving yourself, it is my understanding the body provides enough calories in your breastmilk for your baby by robbing from your system. So I wouldn't worry about that unless you are on a severely restricted 800 calorie diet or something. Just add the cereal, and other solids and see what happens in a week.
R.

Hi there...I had this happen with my now 2 year old when he was a year. He actually lost a few oz between his 9 month visit and 1 year visit. After many tests it was determined he had a metabolic disorder. He was exclusively breastfed as well. Stay on it!

Are YOU taking in enough calories? My last baby actually lost an ounce between nis 6 and 8 month check ups, he was eating fine, even a few solids, the problem was that even though his tummy was getting full, I wasn't eating enought calories, so neither was he. Make sure you are getting enough.

Real quick- active toddler here....
My son shrank before we recognized I had supply issues while bf-ing. He was born at the 75th and shrank to the 5th (he was losing weight) before we finally decided to supplement with formula after each nursing session(at 4 months). In an effort to help him catch up on lost time, I was very thoughtful of what I fed him when we moved to solids at six months. High protein, high fat foods made me feel like he was getting more to help him grow/put on weight. So here's a short list of foods we moved to once we established he didn't have food allergies (as others have suggested, start with watery cereal and move to veggies and fruits before these more complex foods):

yobaby or whole milk yogurt
cheese
tofu
edamame (soybeans)
jarred foods that had fat content but no added sugar (most all veggies and fruit have no fat which makes sense, it's just pureed food)

With my daughter we used a food mill (Munchkin brand, tabletop use, cost $10 at Target) to grind up what we ate at the table which in some ways was the easiest (and cheapest) way to feed her and know exactly what she was eating since I cooked it. She also got a balance this way of fat, protein, and other nutrients.

My son is 3.5 now and holding steady at the 50th. Who knows if what I did helped him catch up but feeding him what I did made me feel like I was helping, and sometimes that's all you need, know what I mean?

HTH-
J.

Hello! You could try supplementing your breastmilk with formula (remember to have someone else feed him). Also, at 6 months he can begin the cereal and jar fruits/veggies as you mentioned. That should help some.

Don't feel like your milk isnt good enough. It's very hard to eat a "perfect diet". You could try adding a daily multi-vitamin to your breakfast. I finished off my prenatals until they ran out and then bought regular vitamins.

Doctors don't want to freak you out about most things. Usually they will give you recommendations and go from there. Remember, all babies grow at different rates and once your little guy starts solids he may catch up quickly.

Good luck :-)

I am no doctor, but I say start the solids now. Also, you could suppliment with formula if you are afraid you don't have enough milk.

My daughter gained approx. 2 lbs from her 4 month to her 6 month appointment. She has always been in the 20% for height and weight, and I used to worry that she was too small, but my dr. said not to worry, she is fine. If your doctor is not worried, don't freak out.

Try to breastfeed more. Breastmilk has a high fat content in it. That will help him gain more weight than baby food in my opinion. Good luck to you and your little man!