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Help! 5-month-old losing weight?



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amother


 

Post Fri, Apr 03 2009, 7:13 am
My 5 month old had been sleeping through the night, 7-8 hours, for many weeks. But for the last 10 days or so, he's been staying up later than usual, nursing a lot before finally going to sleep, and still waking up for a feeding in the middle of the night. Rocking/holding him doesn't help; I'm pretty sure he's actually hungry. (He's still awake and usually crying for more after nursing on the first side, but content and ready to go back to sleep after the second side.) I weighed him yesterday, and although our scale isn't very accurate, I'm pretty sure he's lost a couple of pounds. He had been gaining well as of his 4 month appointment.

My milk supply might be slightly low, due to lack of sleep and pre-pesach stress, but I'm pumping almost as much as before, (say 4.1 oz per pumping instead of 4.2) and he's getting his usual amount of milk at daycare. He has had a cold, but is otherwise healthy, happy, and active (lifting his chest off the floor, rolling over, etc.)

My first thought was that he might be ready for solids, but he's not sitting up on his own yet, nor showing an interest in food, and my inclination would be not to start solids until after 6 months (and after Pesach!), especially since he was a preemie. (Of course, if solids are what he really needs, I'm willing.) I also initially thought it might be a growth spurt, but it's been going on too long and he's losing weight instead of gaining.

I'm trying to feed him more often during the evening, and pumping more often during the day. Any other suggestions? Should I call his doctor, or do you think this can weight until his checkup in 3 weeks?
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NotInNJMommy




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Apr 03 2009, 7:18 am
Can he sit if he is supported (ie. in a high chair)?

What about a VERY little bit of banana or rice cereal before bed (after you nurse)? Not too much so that he doesn't replace nursing, but the solid food will be more filling and take longer to digest.
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amother


 

Post Fri, Apr 03 2009, 7:35 am
He can sit supported. I think I read somewhere that the recommendation these days is to hold off on solids until they can sit unsupported. But I guess every baby is different.

I would want to do a few weeks of rice cereal before introducing anything else, and then I would want todo green veggies before the sweet stuff, but pesach is coming!

I guess I could start rice cereal today and let him have carrots during pesach. I don't want to encourage a sweet tooth.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Apr 03 2009, 8:35 am
You don't encourage sweet tooths by feeding vegetables....rice cereal is not really a necessary first food. Breastmilk is sweet!!! I would start on veggies (very mushed up meat is fine too, but it's harder to deal with at this point)....carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, avocado (good fat) -- all are good starter foods.
I would also weigh him to find out if he did LOSE weight, or just hasn't gained. Losing weight at this age is dangerous. Not gaining also is a concern, but not as much an emergency as they do burn more calories by being more active.
It sounds like your milk supply is fine. You can try to pump for 2 minutes after the last drop to increase it more...also do you see any cream in it if you keep it in the fridge for a day or so? YOu can try block feeding as well to increase fatty hindmilk.
Perhaps he's gone through a growth spurt and needs more now, but that still wouldn't mean he lost weight. Are his clothes looser than they were?
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Apr 03 2009, 8:37 am
One more thing, being sick can bring on some weight loss, but it should NOT be a couple pounds in a small infant, and it should go back up...
After 4 months, it's normal for breastfed babies' weight to not go up as quickly as they were, and this is the problem with the charts (based on formula fed babies), but that still isn't the same as losing.
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ss321




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Apr 03 2009, 8:46 am
ITA w/ HY (lets make a sheheheyanu Wink).
Veggies wont cause a sweet tooth, your milk is much sweeter than them!
Weight fluctuates in babies just as it does in adults. but 4 lbs is ALOT of wt for a little baby, that is a very very very (did I mention very) large percentage of his total body wt. If he is still acting odd after being sick (ie more lethargic than usual), I would call your doctor. you can feed unsupported sitters the "first foods," those are like applesauce, carrots, etc. Rice cereal is always a good starting food, but my kids hav enever cared much for it, I think because it just tastes bland compared to everything else.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Apr 03 2009, 8:47 am
We've agreed before Wink
OP never said the baby has lost 4 lbs...she thinks he lost a couple lbs, but isn't sure.
The 4 was his month age at his last checkup and how many ounces she pumps Smile
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ss321




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Apr 03 2009, 8:50 am
Hashem_Yaazor wrote:
We've agreed before Wink
OP never said the baby has lost 4 lbs...she thinks he lost a couple lbs, but isn't sure.
The 4 was his month age at his last checkup and how many ounces she pumps Smile

ooh ur right, I read too fast.
I kept seeing that nubmer, it jumped out at me. Phone was ringing.
but I still do agree. A few LBS is concerning. a few oz's isnt.
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amother


 

Post Fri, Apr 03 2009, 9:05 am
Thanks, everybody.

I talked to our pediatrician, who encouraged me to pump more frequently, start DS on solids, AND treat myself as if I just had a baby and get lots of rest! (Rest? Yeah, right!) She wasn't worried and said to try for a couple of weeks and then bring him in if he's not gaining weight.

(Nope, I didn't notice his clothes becoming loose, and he's still quite chubby. And yes, there's cream on top of my milk when I leave it in the fridge.)

And the winning not-too-sweet vegetable is: zucchini! Yay for the decision to get a food processor for pesach this year!!

I like the avocado idea, too, but then my toddler would want it too, and the two of them wouldn't leave me any to make guacamole to put on our matzah on acharon shel pesach, which is sort of the light at the end of the Pesach tunnel for me.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Apr 03 2009, 9:36 am
Can't buy more avocados? Wink

Zucchini is great...not even sure you need to process it....If you bake it, it gets pretty mushy all on its own!

Good for you for speaking to the doctor, and for getting advice that sounds helpful. If not practical Wink

Cream in bottle is a good sign. Clothes not becoming loose is also a good sign, as they only last around 4 lbs at that age. So if they fit around the same, he really couldn't have lost all that much.
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amother


 

Post Fri, Apr 03 2009, 9:54 am
Hashem_Yaazor wrote:
Can't buy more avocados? Wink


Okay, I admit it, they're expensive! And once you cut it open, you end up eating the whole thing.

But really, you're right, I probably should buy more avocados! Wink We would all be happier.
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amother


 

Post Wed, Apr 29 2009, 1:53 pm
OP here. So, I tried the rice cereal before Pesach. And he had zero interest. Spit it all out. I remember my first being eager when we started solids. But this one ignored the spoon, wouldn't open his mouth, and spit out whatever I managed to get in. Repeated attempts failed.

So life went on, as it does. Cluster feedings and night wakings and all.

A few days after Pesach vacation, I got a call from frantic DH, as DS had taken a bottle every 1.5 hours at daycare that day, and now had nothing left and was starving, and what should he do now? I yelled at him not to take my very last bag of milk out of the freezer. Try rice cereal, try formula, don't leave me without backup milk!! (This may have been an overreaction on my part, but they had recently lost a whole bottle at daycare and for a variety of reasons sending formula would be problematic.)

Well, DS ate the cereal. And took two bottles of formula back to back. (He hasn't had formula since he was a couple of days old.)

That night, he went down for a nap at 8:30. I expected him to wake up in an hour for a feeding. Or maybe two hours. Certainly within three. At 1 am he was still out. I decided I didn't want to encourage feeding at 1 am, so I went to bed without nursing him. Around 6 am, I woke up drenched with milk and went and I woke him up for a feeding!!

After a weekend of exclusive nursing (with a few tiny tastes of cereal--apparently he only eats it for DH or when he's starving or something), my milk supply is way up, and BH he's continued the early bedtime and sleeping through the night!
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amother


 

Post Wed, Apr 29 2009, 1:55 pm
P.S. And my limit on avocado purchases appears to have been wise after Bubby's incident.
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ShakleeMom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 29 2009, 4:25 pm
I too have a 5 month old. She sits for about 3 minutes unsupported… granted she’s 2 weeks past 5 months. I gave her a baby jar last night and the kid went wild! So today I gave her some rice cereal and she too went hyper, flailing her arms, following the spoon like a hawk. She wants food. And she’s been gaining steady, so go figure.
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