In a slightly humorous way, I sometimes tell clients ect, that a few people only 
seem to allow breastfed babies to be somewhere between the 55th and 65th 
Percentile. Any smaller, and they are told they need to wean and/or supp 
because the babies are "too small" any larger, and they are told to wean 
and/or supp because the baby is "too big." (In the not to distant past, a few 
moms of "Big" babies were told to supp with, ugh, watered down, seriously 
diluted formula....as if pure weight growth was the only concern. I haven't 
heard that one in a while, though, thankfully.) 

Just as *someone* has to be 5%, someone also has to be 99%. Either are OK, 
as long as the baby is healthy and growing well. 

As long as it is recognized that many babies may "plateau out" at around the 
4th month for a short while, and that growth slows after "the fourth Trimester" 
(the first 3 months of life or so) as long as growth and development are fine, 
little needs to be worried about. IMO. I always show moms the difference in 
the "charts" of growth of BF babies vs others. Also, explain to them that 
Nature intended babies to grow in fits and starts, not at 45% angles. (and 
that AIM is always the same, not changing with the baby''s need, desire and 
age, as human milk does, so an AIM fed baby may have much different grow 
curves.) Sometimes this explanation helps. 

Why is breastfeeding or breastmilk always the first thing to be "blamed" when 
there is any diversity in a baby is in ANY way? 

*sigh* 

Mary Jozwiak IBCLC, RLC, LLLL
Private Practice 

             ***********************************************

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