Is he being overly cautious? update

amother

DarkCyan

Wed, Mar 15 2023, 10:46 pm

amother Oak wrote:

I dont beleive starting solids early is a cause for stomeach issues. my grandmother started solids at 4 months with all her 6 kids and non of them have any issues.

Studies say otherwise. And some people being ok does not mean it’s not hurting many people.

amother

Lightblue

Wed, Mar 15 2023, 10:47 pm

I might also get a second opinion on that tongue tie. Someone who knows how to tell if the movement is restricted at all or not, not just if there's an obvious frenulum.

amother

Lightblue

Wed, Mar 15 2023, 10:48 pm

amother Oak wrote:

I dont beleive starting solids early is a cause for stomeach issues. my grandmother started solids at 4 months with all her 6 kids and non of them have any issues.

Gut issues doesn't just mean obvious stomach and digestion issues. It's a lot more than that.

amother

Impatiens

Wed, Mar 15 2023, 10:51 pm

amother Impatiens wrote:

I’ve given mashed avocado mixed with coconut oil to a pretty young infant. Probably around 4-5 months old.

Just want to add to this- this dc was a very slow weight gainer and GI had us add formula to expressed bm to bring it to 28 calories and for formula feeds we had to add extra amount of powder to also bring the calorie count up. (In our case dc was a very fast breather and burned calories really fast so needed extra supplementing.)

Eta regular formula is 20 cal per ounce and there are some higher calorie formulas I think that are special for preemies.

Ema of 5

Wed, Mar 15 2023, 10:51 pm

amother Lightblue wrote:

I might also get a second opinion on that tongue tie. Someone who knows how to tell if the movement is restricted at all or not, not just if there's an obvious frenulum.

I’m pretty sure the ent who snipped it would know how to see that….right?

amother

Lightblue

Wed, Mar 15 2023, 10:54 pm

Ema of 5 wrote:

I’m pretty sure the ent who snipped it would know how to see that….right?

Not sure. Very few providers are truly very well informed regarding tongue ties.

amother

Impatiens

Wed, Mar 15 2023, 10:54 pm

amother DarkCyan wrote:

Studies say otherwise. And some people being ok does not mean it’s not hurting many people.

Op will have to weigh her options (no pun intended) on what is the best way for her child to gain weight. Failure to thrive (it shouldn’t need to get to that, but my understanding is that baby’s older sibling was FTT) is not ok either...

Ema of 5

Thu, Mar 16 2023, 9:30 am

amother Impatiens wrote:

Yes, one of my other kids was FTT. He still has eating/weight gain issues :-( Definitely not something I want to go through again.

amother

Grape

Thu, Mar 16 2023, 11:51 am

Ema of 5 wrote:

Yes, one of my other kids was FTT. He still has eating/weight gain issues :-( Definitely not something I want to go through again.

But throwing more calories at a kid doesn't prevent ftt. As you see from your older kid, he still has issues with food and weight. Finding an underlying cause would probably be much more helpful.

Ema of 5

Thu, Mar 16 2023, 11:57 am

amother Grape wrote:

But throwing more calories at a kid doesn't prevent ftt. As you see from your older kid, he still has issues with food and weight. Finding an underlying cause would probably be much more helpful.

Yes, which is why I want to go to a GI, even though he’s not recommending it.
(As an aside, my older one’s issue is ARFID, not necessarily connected to the ftt, but right now, we are throwing calories, while also trying to expose him to new foods and hopefully form healthy eating habits.)

amother

Tealblue

Thu, Mar 16 2023, 12:59 pm

Ema of 5 wrote:

I nurse in demand. I can’t force him to nurse anymore than I can force him to take a bottle. There are times when he wants to nurse less than 3 hours later, and of course I do it. Any time I nurse, I also try to give him a bottle.

That’s great! Sounds like your trying hard. How long is is his stretch at night. Maybe nurse him in his sleep?

amother

Grape

Thu, Mar 16 2023, 1:22 pm

Ema of 5 wrote:

Dealing with arfid now too, with 8yr old who was my hardest to feed as baby and always very slow weight gain. I'm beginning to think it's not unrelated.

In any case, I don't think gaining 1 pound a month is a problem. My baby now is 8 months old and eggs just over 16lb. She was born 8lb 8oz, had a very slow beginning with the weight gain and is now gaining about a pound a month and pediatrician is totally fine with it.

amother

Crystal

Thu, Mar 16 2023, 1:31 pm

In my humble opinion…you should continue doing what you are doing. If your baby is content from nursing alone and he is gaining something, then why give him something other then “the best stuff on earth” - your mama milk? Just like adults have different stomach capacities and gain weight differently, so to babies. At least stall a bit more….I think the Dr. is being a bit over cautious and use your mommy gut feeling to see if everything is ok.

Ema of 5

Thu, Mar 16 2023, 1:40 pm

amother Tealblue wrote:

That’s great! Sounds like your trying hard. How long is is his stretch at night. Maybe nurse him in his sleep?

The problem with that is that if he doesn’t wake up, neither do I!! He generally sleeps very nicely at night, let’s just say that. It’s a good stretch.

Ema of 5

Thu, Mar 16 2023, 1:45 pm

amother Grape wrote:

ARFID is awful :-(

I think part of the issue here is that, because I didn’t take him to the ped for a bit, there’s no way to see his growth curve since birth. Going in for weight checks cost me $25 per visit, so I’m going to ask him if I can weigh him at home every few days and just send him the weight.

(Also, remember before I said he is very inconsistent with dirty diapers? Well, I’m feeding him now, he nursed 10 minutes and so far took 3.5oz formula bottle, and he just pooped for the third time today!)

amother

Grape

Thu, Mar 16 2023, 1:54 pm

Ema of 5 wrote:

Arfid is terrible.

Hope he agrees to remote weight checks. Will hopefully work out and help you figure out how to proceed.

I'm gonna pm you.

amother

Tealblue

Thu, Mar 16 2023, 2:17 pm

I think the problem is that he isn’t getting enough breastmilk. If he isn’t having enough dirty diapers and isnt on the breast for so long during the day and is having a long stretch at night then he doesn’t have enough time to get enough milk. If he is going longer then 10 hours at night you should feed in the middle of the night. Set an alarm and dream feed him.
One more thing, you must bring him consistently to the doctor. It’s a pity that you can’t track his growth curve since birth.

amother

Cadetblue

Thu, Mar 16 2023, 2:43 pm

amother Tealblue wrote:

She is giving him formula bottles after each breastfeeding.