Need Help Asap ~ They Threatened to Take Her Son Away!

Here is a web site I found

http://www.babycenter.com/baby-child-growth-percentile-ca...

I don't have all your nephew's info but when I put in 4 months and 12 pounds it said he was below the 5th percentile....that is really low. From what I recall,and this is for full term healthy babies, babies should double their birth weight in the first month.

She needs to stop the "schedule" and feed on demand. She should probably add some formula also. if she still wants to beast feed she should follow what she was told, pump and feed. That is mostly so that she can keep track of the amount he is eating. I assume she was told to keep a log. If she wasn't told to keep one she should. That way she has documentation if she needs it.

She needs to know that the state doesn't want to take her baby. They are only doing their job. The system is all ready over loaded with kids. They have to follow up on any and all reports that they get. She should call who ever the social worker that came to the doctor's office is and ask for help and advice. The WILL work with her but she needs to stay calm and not get defensive. She needs to remain open to any and all suggestions they make. If they suggest she take parenting classes she should, even if she doesn't think she needs them.

I do have one concern though...why did her doctor not talk to her first? I wonder if the weight issues have been addressed in other visits and she failed to act on them? Honestly, it sounds like you sister is leaving out some of the story. I haven't had to deal personally with the social workers but my parents did foster care when I lived at home and I seen some crazy stuff and I don't think I ever remember a child (they fostered about 100 kids over 10 years) being taken for anything so minor unless it was a repeat offense. She really needs to talk to someone and get it all sorted out before it gets totally out of hand! She really has to work WITH them not AGAINST them!
I wish her the best!

I am so sorry that she had to go through that!
I too had a baby who was slow to gain weight in the beginning. She actually droped pecentiles. She started in the 75th then went to the 50th and is now in the 25th and has stayed there. My ped also told me that if she didn't start to gain weight that I was going to have to start pumping and feeding. Luckily this was not my 1st but my 3rd so I was a bit more informed and seasoned or to would have freaked out more that I did.

1st of all pumping is not a good indicator of how much milk a woman produces. I will pump for an hour and only get maybe an ounce of milk...then I will nurse and have a let down and hear the baby gulping milk and finish nursing satisfied. She was getting plenty from my breast!

2nd breast fed babies gain weight diffrently than formula fed babies but doctors use the same growth charts for both. There is a growth chart put out by the WHO that only measures bf babies. (you can google it)

Dr Jack Newman who is bf expert from Toranto ha this article posted that I found very helpful. about slow weight gain in bf babies that that it is perfectly normal. Here is the link http://www.drjacknewman.com/help/Slow%20Weight%20Gain%20F...

3rd she needs to throw the schedual out for a little while and bf on demand. When ever she even thinks that the baby is hungry put it to it to the breast. Get as many calories into the baby as possible.

I don't know if they can leagly take her baby away for this but I would be very surprised. If I was your sister I would change Dr's today and never go to that dr again. With that said I would also be up front with the new dr and tell them that the old dr was concerned about the babies weight gain.

I hope that this was helpful!
Blessings, K.

Hi M.,
When I was reading your post all I kept thinking was there's something else missing. Did her ped. already talk to her about the low birth weight? I can't imagine my ped. just calling a social worker without first talking to me about whatever was going on. With that being said I would suggest her NOT putting her baby on a schedule. Let him eat when he wants and I would also do what they suggest and start pumping or supplamenting with formula so she knows how much he is getting. My son at six weeks was eating 6 ounces of formula. I haven't ever had to deal with social workers but I would assume the last thing they want to do is take her son away from her. As long as she does what they want her son will be healthy and she'll learn a few things maybe. Good luck.
Chris

I won't respond to the rest since I don't know all the facts, but I will say this... she needs to quit the schedule and feed her baby on demand. I'm not saying all babies are like this, but my baby wanted to nurse every two hours at that age. This was because he only nursed for about 5 minutes on one side each time. If I had him on a schedule, there is no way he would have gotten enough. Some babies eat a little often and others eat a lot less often. No baby breastfeeds the same, so the idea of a schedule just doesn't make sense. At this age, the baby really does know what's best when it comes to feeding, especially breastfeeding.

Also, if she truly is doing all else the right way and the baby isn't thriving on breastfeeding, I would suggest she consult a breastfeeding specialist. The hospital I delivered at had one I could contact.

My daughter weighed 12 pounds at 4 months... she was normal but onthe small side..

Breastfed babies are often thin- and perfectly normal.

Myonly comment would be to feed the baby often as long as he wants. Let him nurse whenever whereever.

breastfed babies should never be on a schedule..

I dont think they can take him away with out a hearing or something..