First of all, if it is accurate that baby was 6 lbs 8 oz at birth, then she was no where near 75th percentile!  That is an age that babies sometimes have a lull in their growth.  Sometimes, especially if the baby has learned to crawl well or otherwise move around a lot, they are spending more time active, burning more calories, and possibly not spending as much time eating as previously, due to having more interesting things to do.

Babies in this age range can also be quite picky about the flavor of the things they put into their mouths.  I found that this was a big issue (not noticed by anyone else) with my Julia, whom I adopted at six months old, weighing nine pounds.  Although babies who have already been on soy formula for some time will usually continue to take it at this age, a baby who has been used to the taste of yummy breast milk may be totally turned off by the taste of soy formula, which is pretty yucky!  If the baby will take juice or expressed breast milk from a bottle or sippy cup, this might be more of an indication that the taste of the formula is a problem.

This baby might also do better with some real food, rather than commercial baby food.  Mom might feel like she is giving her a lot of food, but is really spoon feeding her a lot more water than she realizes.  The baby may not be too crazy about the taste of the food, either.  She might do much better making her own with a baby food grinder and/or offering a variety of soft finger foods in bite sized pieces.   In place of baby cereal, she can offer quick oats, ground millet or brown rice, sweetened with a little bit of molasses.

As far as the question of milk, in addition to encouraging the mother to keep nursing, at least a few times a day, I would suggest that, if she thinks that the baby still needs some other kind of milk, she consider trying some goat milk (Meyerberg pasteurized, fresh goat milk is available in many supermarkets) or rice milk.  If the baby cannot take cow's milk based formulas, and does not tolerate the taste of soy formula, there is no other kind of formula, that I know of, that would work.  A baby who will not take soy because of the taste will most certainly not take the even nastier tasting specialty formulas!  I would also give the mother some guidelines for making sure the baby is getting enough water, like making sure her urine does not become strong smelling.  Giving some diluted apple juice each day is a good idea, too.

I hope this helps!  It sounds to me like the doctor has effectively engineered a crisis where one would not likely exist otherwise, or at least where one is becoming more serious than it needs to be.  It would especially be sad if the next baby gets no nursing because of it!  This moms needs all the praise she can get for having provided for her firstborn, physically and emotionally.

Darillyn

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