610 Month Old and Losing Weight

hm. well, i do think it's a good idea to keep a close eye on it, as your doctor is doing, but it also sounds as if they're scaring you. the weight fluctuation isn't severe, and many kids do boing about a bit when they start becoming more mobile, and are incorporating table food into their diets.
what did she weigh at birth? has her weight gain up to this point been steady?
good for you for continuing to nurse her. i see no reason to switch her to formula (or whole milk, for that matter. your milk has plenty of fat and is far easier for her to digest.)
it's probably pretty stressful for you with 4 kids, and the concern over the weight fluctuations, and very easy for someone from the outside to say 'just relax.'
but my best guess is that your baby is just fine. do keep an eye on it, and do keep nursing her and offering her the food that she's enjoying. try not to let the worry take on a life of its own.
khairete
S.

What was her birth weight?
The rule of thumb I always heard was that babies doubled their birth weight in 5 months and roughly tripled it by their 1st birthday.
Our son was 9 lbs 1.5 oz at birth and weighed 18 lbs at 5 months and about 24 lbs at 1 yr (so he didn't quite triple his birth weight but our pediatrician was very happy with his gains and development milestones).
Is she crawling and/or walking?
Because once they are, their weight gain often slows down quite a bit.

10 months is not too soon for teething issues and that can affect their eating/drinking.
Our son was on formula till his first birthday (my milk dried up at 5 months and he was slow to take to solid foods).
You can try whole milk or goats milk if your dr says it's ok and there's nothing wrong with drinking water or very watered down juice.
Keep working with your doctor.

So...she lost 8oz? I really don't think that's anything the be concerned about. Heck, at that age mine were drinking (and peeing/pooping) 8oz bottles.

I would not stop nursing if I were you. I'm actually shocked the doctor suggested switching to whole milk at this time. Breast milk has all the nutrition a 10 month old needs, whole milk does not.

if you are not pumping - it's hard to tell just how much milk you are producing and she is getting.

I would encourage her to eat "adult" food and work on pumping to see just how much milk you are getting out. If she won't do a bottle? Try a sippy cup.

Do you think you are producing enough? I guess that's the only thing I would try. Make sure (especially with 4 kids) that you are getting enough rest, drink tons of water, and time her breastfeeds so that she's not already full on food.

I wouldn't worry about it too much - if she's healthy in every other way. Sounds like your doctor is on top of things.

As for bottles, I had to try different nipples, brands, heating it up to different temps - for all my babies to take the bottle after breastfeeding. Maybe try another nipple? Just a thought. And make sure she is good and hungry (like really hungry) before trying the bottle. Like not after you've fed her, but before food.

My friend had a failure-to-thrive baby (just hard to put on weight) but healthy in all other aspects, and she breastfed - her doctor suggested same thing as yours. So instead of doing the bottle, once she hit about a year she tried whole milk in a cup (to supplement). It worked for her.

Good luck :)

I'm curious about the food she's eating. What kind of meals do you prepare? Some families eat for convenience, preparing quick meals with lots of processed ingredients and artificial additives. Some families try to eat as healthfully as possible, using very little fat and almost no processed ingredients.

It is possible that she's not getting enough fats and real food, or is it possible that she's filling up on processed sugary foods?

Perhaps keeping track of her meals or daily food intake for a few days or a week might provide some insight into whether her diet is sufficient.

My thoughts are mostly about your diet. What sorts of foods do you eat? Is your diet such that it isn't producing what she needs? I've seen people eat some odd combinations of food and say it's their healthy choices so I thought I'd ask.

What sorts of foods is she being given? She needs fats and foods that are high in the nutrients that her body has to have.

Breast milk is supposed to be the most nutritious food for your baby but regular vitamin D milk is 4% milk fat. Maybe the doc thinks she's not getting enough fat from your diet?

The only thing I can think of with what you've said is that you and the doc seem to be on top of this. If he's concerned enough about her weight to suggest she stop breastfeeding and go to regular milk then my only thought is there's a reason why he thinks your milk isn't giving her what she needs.

Not to be mean or anything just saying, from those I've known who breast feed, they sometimes would get on some diet kick while nursing and it wasn't good for the baby.

I would stop worrying about her losing weight the way you are describing.

Have you tried breast shields to help with the teeth? I'd try that to see if it helps.

At 9 months, you should try a cup and see if you can get her to take that. Another idea for trying a bottle is to put rice cereal in the formula with a nipple with a larger hole. It's not the best thing in the world to give rice in formula,, but you have a special circumstance. Sometimes when a baby tries something different, they forget about their aversion. Put the cereal on her lips with the nipple and maybe she'll try it. It will be more about "food" than formula...

I do think that if you could pump on a regular basis to make sure you don't lose your milk supply, it will help. If you get to the point that you get enough out, you could mix the breast milk with the cereal instead of using formula.

Her eating helps with calories, that's for sure. But a baby under a year needs breastmilk/formula more than she needs food. Make sure she's getting vitamin drops, because breastmilk doesn't provide that.

A pound in a week? How certain is everyone that the larger measurement was accurate?

Eta: sorry, read that as 15lb 2oz, barring other symptoms, lots of babies level off on weight as they become more mobile and active. Offer healthy nutritious food regularly, and I'd put more focus on her mood, demeanor, and eating habits than the number on the scale. Hope all turns out to be well!

at 10 months i would feed her from the breast as often and as much as she wants. at 12 months my dr put my son on the toddler fat diet... basically told me to feed him butter with everything, and all of the high caloric foods. (avocado is a good one) you can google toddler fat diet to get more ideas of foods that will help with weight gain.

I am just gonna add this cause you mentioned your gut issues in your SWH. But you did not get specific.

One of my close friends had a baby that had trouble gaining weight and feeding. She was breast fed. Turns out the baby was gluten intolerant (mom not). Then turns out hubby (40 years old is also gluten intolerant). Symptoms on both were not recognized in either until diagnosis. They had blood work done to confirm Dx. They had ruled out a lot of other issues before getting to this point.

I had joint pain so bad in my hands that I could not use silverware or open car doors. Had ton of blood work done turns out I am gluten intolerant. Last thing I would've put together. My docs wife has same symptoms/issues as me so he was really on top of it. My neighbor (strangely) was Dx gluten intolerant and states she no longer has gut issues. Her brother no longer has psoriasis since going GF.

No it is not a weightloss diet, and no I don't think the world has to go GF. But I do think you may need to dig deeper and maybe get some blood testing done?

Just throwing it out there in hopes that it might be helpful. You sure have a full plate. I hope you get some answers and some sleep soon :-).