>
>>Now she has a little girl whom she thought was doing fine but again at six
>>weeks the baby was about 25th %ile wgt for lgth.
>
>Is there a typo here, or maybe I don't understand this, but what is wrong with
>being 25th percentile weight for length?  Maybe we're talking different
>
>Am I missing something??
>
>Tina Smillie
>
Hi Tina,

I consider 25th - 75th %ile "normal" range wgt for length, but you have to
look at the "whole baby" and unless the baby and his/her family is very
fine boned, I've been pretty well convinced in my past 10 years in private
practice that, based on formula-fed babies or not, most of these babies
are underwgt..  In my experience, well-feeding breastfed babies are
heavier than formula-fed babies in 1st 3 months.  If these babies are
lean, it can usually be corrected with improved positioning, better
foremilk-hindmilk balance or improved milk supply.

I really believe that a breastfed baby will grow according to their own
ideal wgt. for length as long as adequate milk is available.

My own 2 sons are a case in point.  My 1st was born on 26 Dec., about 3
weeks early.  At 1 week on D/C from hosp. he weighed 6-7.  At 1 month 9-5,
2 months 12-5, 6 months 21 lbs. and 1 year 26 lbs..  His brother,
full-term, weighed 8-6 at birth, 21 lbs. at 6 months, and 26 lbs. at 1
year. The 1st gained faster than the 2nd because he needed to, but they
ended up the same by 6 months.

It's my own personal opinion, but I think the growth charts are a good
guide and I believe lean breastfed babies are the result of poor
breastfeeding management in the majority of cases.  I have never had a
case when the baby didn't put on weight very quickly and come up to an
average weight for length when an improved milk supply was made available.
 Just like the little girl I was referring to, if she hadn't needed to
gain that extra weight, I believe she would not have taken in the extra
milk.  It's kind of hard to force-feed a baby at breast, even with a
Lact-Aid.

 Sorry, if I'm a little unbending on this point but I'm afraid "skinny"
breastfed babies are one of my pet peeves!  I think they're being
hard-done-by and it gets me really upset!  Failure to thrive while
breastfeeding is my specialty lecture topic.

Better get off the soap-box here!

--
******Joan M. Fisher, RN, BN, MEd, IBCLC******
***********Ottawa, Ontario, Canada************
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