I agree with Laurie & Kim, DON'T STOP BREASTFEEDING & make sure all possible causes of this baby's small size are explored first. My own baby (who has numerous food allergies) didn't start gaining weight adequately until I eliminated all of his allergens from my diet. Then he started gaining 10+ oz per week & shot up to the 50%ile for weight & has remained there since. He is now 17 months old and still happily nursing away. I too think we would have been miserable had we followed our original pediatrician's advice to give a "hypo-allergenic" formula.

Pediasure is definitely NOT normal. Just read the ingredients:

Water, Sugar (Sucrose), Corn Maltodextrin, Milk Protein Concentrate, High Oleic Safflower Oil, Soy Oil, Whey Protein Concentrate, Medium-Chain Triglycerides. Less than 0.5% of the Following: Soy Protein Isolate, Short-Chain Fructooligosaccharides, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Cellulose Gel, Magnesium Phosphate, Potassium Citrate, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Phosphate, Salt (Sodium Chloride), Cellulose Gum, Choline Chloride, Ascorbic Acid, Soy Lecithin, Monoglycerides, C. Cohnii Oil, m-Inositol, Potassium Hydroxide, Carrageenan, Taurine, Ferrous Sulfate, dl-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, L-Carnitine, Zinc Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Niacinamide, Manganese Sulfate, Thiamine Chloride Hydrochloride, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Cupric Sulfate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Folic Acid, Chromium Chloride, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Selenate, Sodium Molybdate, Phylloquinone, Cyanocobalamin, and Vitamin D3.

I personally would not feed my child anything that processed, not to mention the fact that it contains a few major allergens. 

Encourage mom to continue to make every bite of food this child gets as nutritionally dense as possible. We have learned to be very creative at my house. Homemade food is more nutritionally dense than store bought baby food, as another reviewer mentioned. Stirring an extra drizzle or more of olive oil, flax oil or best of all hemp seed oil into anything baby eats will add EFAs & healthy calories. We also stir hemp seeds into fruit purees or hot cereal. They have a very nice slightly nutty flavor & are full of protein & good fats. Avocados cut into small chunks are a fun finger food at this age too. And above all else, continue unrestricted breastfeeding!

Hemp seed oil is on sale at soap.com right now & I buy my organic hemp seeds in 3 lb bags from amazon. No financial interest in hemp seeds;-) But hemp seeds & chia seeds (good source of EFAs, calcium & trace minerals) have been nutritional LIFE SAVERS at our house!

Your gut instinct that the ped's advice was bad is correct. Keep up the good work helping this mama. 

Laura Wasielewski MS, CCC-SLP, IBCLC

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