9 Month Not Gaining

How is your baby other than weight gain? Is her head growing? Is she meeting developmental milestones? I have seen thousands of babies over the years and honestly, with breastfed babies, the weight gain varies tremendously, but I have noticed most of the time they are very petite or very plump! Having a breastfed baby under 20 lbs at a year is extremely common and not a sign of failing to thrive. If the head growth isn't occuring, no length gain or new skills developed, then I would start to worry. But weight gain is definitely not something to panic over unless it is in conjunction with something else. My first daughter was 15 lbs at a year and was the smallest child around for the first two years of her life (she was extended breastfed). Then at 3, she shot up in height and is now one of the taller children in her age group at 4 years old. My 10 month old twins are both petite as well. My son is almost 13 lbs (wears 6 month clothes) and is walking, climbing, trying to verbalize and already is socially interactive and my daughter is almost 12 lbs (wears 3-6 month clothes) and is crawling, standing and highly interactive with verbalization. Both are growing well in length, head growth, skill development, etc. So I do not worry about their size and weight. And I ignore the growth charts. If you feel the need to see where your child is, make sure your ped is using a breastfeeding growth chart and not a regular one as there is a significant difference in growth between formula fed babies and breastfed babies. But I would be more concerned with where child is developmentally and in watching steady head growth before getting worried!

Oh Mama dont worry I know its soooo hard!!! Have you tried to let her feed herself?? How bout new foods?? Yogurt is good cottagecheese or mashed taters n gravy??? My 9 month old sometimes doesnt wanna eat either, that means lots of extra nursing!! How bout giving her a teething biscuit n letting her dip it?? I try differ brands, textures,temps and where I feed her etc....I also rembr hearing its just for fun untill their 1!!! Youre doing great keep it up xo

My son just wasn't ready for solids till after 1 yr. Weight gain slows as they get more active (crawling, walking). If she's having gas problems (did she have gas problems before solids were introduced?) ease up on the solids and give her all the breast milk she wants. If she's still gassy, try eliminating one thing from your diet at a time to see if she has a sensitivity to something.

I would suggest a crowd favorite of sweet potatoes that you made yourself. I also would suggest having her iron levels checked and then increasing iron accordingly. Bananas, avocados, potatoes and squashes would help bulk her up a bit. Try to make it from your kitchen because I have learned that the iron and other vitamins in the jars barely come close to the recommended amount of vitamin/minerals. About breast Feeding, I would do it on demand. Do not worry about your daughters weight gain to much, they all work it out in the end. My son was a 9 lb baby and scheduled to 27lbs by a 1 year or so and well he is nearly 3 and tops out at 30lbs. Does everything perfectly normally but eating lots all the time and he still fits 12 month clothing. Go figure. I would worry if she was not showing regular baby behavior, like learning to walk, getting into everything, not everyday bowel movements, learning to communicate and etc. I struggled with it and finally realized that this person was not going to comply and did what I could when I could.
I do wish you good Luck!

Wow...I thought I had written this. I also have a 9 month baby girl who is 16.8 pounds. The doctor wants to see her back in 2 weeks with a weight gain of at least 1 pound. At her 6 month check up she was 25% on the charts and at her 9 month check up she was at 10%. I can understand why the doctor is concerned...because she hasn't gained any weight all summer. But over the last week and a half she's been eating everything I give her and still hasn't gained any weight.

She is BF every 3 hours and eats 2-3 small meals a day. Mostly veggies and cherios. I just started adding more high calorie foods to her diet...vienna sausages and butter to veggies. She's been eating avocados, bananas, bread and butter...etc.

The doctor did check her iron and it's low so she needs to eat more baby cereal. So I have been adding bananas with formula to the baby cereal.

At the 6 month appt the dr did mention that she was only going to be 5'3 maybe. So I am not too worried about her weight just yet. She is eating and I won't make her eat more than she is willing. She just may be petite and I want her to make healthy choices while growing up.

I have a 6 yr old son that was 19 pounds at 9 months and he is suppose to be 6'0 later in life.

The only thing I was worried about with her lack of weight increase...is that if and when she gets sick, she won't have a lot of extra weight to carry her until she is well. So hopefully she will stay healthy.

Just keep in the back of your mind...that babies really do know when to stop eating and when they should eat. She will start wanting more table foods soon. Just keep offering it to her.

K.

Leave the poor child alone! All this fussing and fretting over food is bad for her. I was subjected to my mother's "nutrition anxiety" as a child, and I was fat until I was almost 30 years old. Her body knows what it needs, and she will eat what she needs, when she needs it. As long as she isn't sick, and her pediatrician isn't worried, she's fine.