6 Month Old Not Gaining Enough Weight

Please try to remember the charts the Dr's office uses are guidelines...
When my oldest was young and we visited the Pediatrician, they acted like I kept the child in a closet and only took it out to feed once a day. She was always way below the the "norm" in weight while being extra long for her age despite a healthy appetite and 100% breastfed. She is now 22, taller than me, never had a fat day in her life and could be a Victoria Secret model. And healthy as a horse. Still can eat anything she wants without weight gain. While it is important to track weight gain, overall health of a child, physically and developementally, don't allow the medical community to make you feel like you are "being a bad mother". Each child is different.

B.,

At this time you should be starting your son on solid foods (infant cereal, pureed fruits & vegetables, and/or pureed meats). Are you breastfeeding? Your pediatrician should be plotting 4 indices on his growth chart - length for age, weight for age, head circumference for and AND WEIGHT FOR LENGTH at ALL visits.

Your son should be consuming 24-32 oz or breastfeeding 6-10 times/day.

I would ask your pediatrician for a referral to a registered dietitian specializing in pediatric nutrition. If you are in Arizona, I would be more than happy to talk with you.

L. Kandell, MS, RD, IBCLC/RLC
Registered Dietitian/Pediatric Specialist
International Board Certified Lactation Consultant/Registered
AFFILIATED NUTRITION CONSULTANTS, LLC
Scottdale, AZ 85258
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"Promoting a Healthy Lifestyle throught Good Nutrition. . . Right from the Start"

My two boys were born at 6lbs and 7 and 8 oz. From there they lost almost a pound. it took forever for them to get that pound back. they have continued to stay in the 3 percentile. my almost three year old is now in the 10th. my baby is still in the 3. my DR.'s have always told me that if they at least double their birth weight by 12 months not to worry. My good friend has a 18 month old that weighs 16lbs. and they are not talking about failure to thrive. if your little one is eating good and is doing ok with solids.and has no signs of food allergies then i wouldnt worry about it. Good luck! B.

Hi I definetly know how you are feeling. I am having a similar problem with my 11 month old son. He has been below the 1% for his weight since he was 4 months old. I have taken him to every specialist thta you can and have had almost every test imaginable ran on him. But everything has come back normal. He only gains 12 ounces a month every month. I think that some children are just meant to be skinny. Dont worry to much. My son has been classified as failure to thrive since 4 months. But they said once he hits 1 year old that if he is still skinny that diagnosis will be taken off of him and he was just supposed to be skinny. If you ever need anybody to talk to that has gone through the similar thing I am here. I know how scary it is to hear. And I definetly looked for other people that were in my situation to help me through it. so feel free to contack me.

I wouldn't worry unless he starts losing weight. As long as he is gaining then he will probably be fine. My sister-in-law had a similar problem. Only it really was a problem. Her newborn was losing weight. The doctor said he had failure to thrive. She breastfed and there was something wrong with her milk. She had to supplement formula, then her baby chunked right up.

I know how scary this can be. My daughter is now 22, and we went through a similar situation. They went as far as to run blood tests on her. Finally they came to the conclusion that we are small people! She is fine. She was a bottle fed baby. My last two were breast fed, and with my history of small kids, we had no problem with a failure to thrive issue. They are healthy, and have no medical problems. If your son seems ill, or listless I would be extrememly concerned. If he appears healthy, you might want a second opinion on what is considered normal. Sometimes bottle fed infants are much larger. I also breast fed around the clock with my sons. Maybe night feedings will help? I took an herb call fenugreek to increase milk supply. It worked very well for me. I smelled like maple syrup though. It caused no gastro intestinal distress in the kids or me.
I hope everything turns out well for you, and your baby boy.
Kind Regards,
L.

We had a the same problem... a lack of weight gain. My doctor suggested an increased amount of meals. My baby is breastfed and they wanted us to really pump up the food and feed avocado (high in fat) as well as meats. I don't know when they classify them as failure to thrive but mine is finally gaining at 9 months.

When my first child was born seven years ago, she was 9 lbs. at birth and continued to stay hefty and grow at a normal rate. My second was very fragile at birth. She was definitely underweight. I had the same problem, no real weight gain for awhile. I got nervous. But I just kept her on a more rigorous feeding schedule per doctor's orders and now she is a chunky baby! When she was your child's age, she wasn't fussy at all, so if she was hungry or not getting enough she never let us know. Maybe she was fine, I don't know, but because she wasn't gaining enough weight the doctor put us on a more rigorous feeding schedule and it worked. Just keep up the regular doctor/checkups.

Im not sure if your using formula or breast feeding, but my friend had the same issue with her son, he just wasnt gaining weight, her dr told her to put 1/4 of his bottles whole milk but no more than an ounce of whole milk at his feedings she said he was soon gaining weight just as the dr wanted. hope that helps!!

Hi B.- I wouldn't be too concerned. There's "average" and there's "normal"... and as long as your son is healthy, happy, and hitting developmental milestones, his weight is "normal" and healthy for him. I was one of those ridiculously tall and skinny babies, totally breastfed, and ended up extremely healthy (and still tall and thin!). I'm sure your son is just perfect and healthy :-).

B. -
Been there! My first only gained 4 oz from 4 months to 6 months. She had a very immature stomach and went way past spitting up to projectile vomiting. Up unitl 6 months the Dr. wasn't concerned, kept saying she would grow out of it. She had been entirely breast fed and we started supplementing with formula and added cereal to breast milk or formula once a day. You didn't say if you are breast or formula feeding. If you are breast feeding, try to increase your supply and his intake if possible. If that doesn't work, start supplementing either with formula or rice cereal.

Our problems turned out to be three-fold. My milk quality was questionable, supply was low and her stomach issues. Once we added the formula and cereal she began to thrive. I slowly weened from the breast to formula and started feeding cereal by spoon, she did great! She is now 21, 5'9" tall, weighs 115 lbs and wears a size 0 tall jean. She has always been and will probably always be very thin.

Good luck!
R.
from heaven to earth

Hello,
I have been dealing with my daughter and weight gain since she was born! She has not been on the chart since she was 3 months old. To be honest I think that the charts need to go away. doctors look at them too closely and judge and it makes us mothers worry so much! My daughter is 15 months and weighs 14 lbs and 7 oz! We jumped for join at her doctors visit! She eats all the time. She has a little Buddha belly as her doctor said once! They are not worried about her as long as she came up a little bit between visits. She was never a real drinker. she would nurse about 5 mins total every 3-4 hours and that slowed way down when she started on solid foods. But she eats and look very healthy and happy! Not to worry and ignore the charts! I do so that it is hard to find close that fits her! everything falls off her when she walks! she is now in a size 6 months and that is only because of length. She can still wear 0-3 months in shorts and short sleeves! Good Luck when your son!

My daughter has always had weight gain problems. But she is healthy and eats constantly. When she was born she was 6lbs 12oz. I breastfed for a year, she started solid foods around 7 months. Around nine months she hit a plateau with her weight and they thought something might be wrong. We started going to doctor every month for weight checks, they did blood work to check her kidneys and liver. They found nothing. They also had me put her on a high calorie diet. She's 2 now and is still in the 3rd percentile for weight and 10th percentile for height. She's just little. So is the majority of my side of the family.
As long as he's eating normally and is happy and healthy I wouldn't worry. They my want to do blood work just to see if anything is going on. Did the doctor mention starting him on solid foods yet? That might help.