This sounds just like my baby (who is now 11yrs old!). This drives me
insane hearing stories like this. My story is almost identical to this except
my bagdering to give formula started at 4 mths and then continued with the
same advice you listed here.
It seems it is always the fault of breastfeeding,--the breastmilk as to the
cause of weight issues and formula the answer to it. Breastfeeding can
and should continue as they pursue a reason for the underweight. It makes no
sense to stop breastfeeding and giving the one thing that the baby will
drink and provides so much benefit. I ask, if this baby was happily drinking
formula and the baby wasn't gaining would they say stop giving formula???
NO! They would say give MORE formula or change to pedisure since the baby is
older but it is still formula. Is there other symptoms in this baby?? De
velopmentally on track? Eating solids ok, does the baby swallow the food or
have a hard time eating solids? What do the diapers *look* like, is it
normal poop? Any other things that are "off" with the baby? How is head and
height measurements been? We must take in the WHOLE picture to put the pieces
together to figure out what is going on. AND it very well may be that
nothing is wrong with this baby. And of course there may be something wrong but
stopping the breastmilk will not help this baby when we know the norm is
to nurse past this age and it is even more important for this baby to
continue to get breastmilk in case there is something wrong. What testing has
this baby had? Labs?? Swallow study? Etc??
You ask about giving pedisure. I would say mom can approach it like she
would like giving any other thing to her toddler at 14mths. She can offer it
and see if he will take it but I would NOT substitute it for breastfeeding
and would not wean. Sort of how at this age you are still nursing but you
toddler will drink water or juice.
In my case, I didn't supplement with formula and I didn't force feed my
baby solids at a young age. I did pursue the cause of his underweight (and he
also had other symptoms) and he turned out to have cystic fibrosis, which
if they had just thought lets do a simple sweat test (not invasive, doesn't
hurt, cheap, and instant results and later I come to find out a first line
of testing for babies who don't gain weight because even with the newborn
testing it is not always reliable) we would have known so much earlier what
was wrong but everyone seemed to focus on something is wrong with my
breastmilk and just give him formula and that would solve everything. And just
so you know formula would not have been the answer for a baby with cystic
fibrosis and would not have helped with weight gain but formula would have
put him at a higher risk for infection. So glad I kept nursing him despite
not knowing exactly what the cause was for his weight issue.
Does this mom feel something is not quite right with her baby? I do feel a
moms instinct can sometimes tell us if something is wrong or not. I wish
her the best! And it is possible to find answers while continuing to nurse
but it is hard to deal with the medical profession to do so, so she will need
to have support through this.
Kim Ann Lorber
LLL Leader Quad Cities IA/IL
[log in to unmask] (mailto:[log in to unmask])
_http://cancercaughtme.blogspot.com/_ (http://cancercaughtme.blogspot.com/)
In a message dated 2/22/2011 11:17:23 A.M. Central Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
I am hoping the wisest women I know will have some insight. Permission to
post.
I have been working with this mother for over a year. Her baby is 14
months old and still breastfeeding well. There has never been a problem
breastfeeding. However, this baby has struggled gaining weight. Mom has been given
varying opinions from physicians, most related to stopping breastfeeding.
For the first 10 months she stayed at the 4%. Then, she dropped to the 2%.
This was enough for the ped to refer to a gastro-specialist. Her appointment
was yesterday. She is now 17 lb. 4 oz.
She first met with a dietitian who gave her the usual information on
increasing calorie-dense foods, which she had been doing. Then, she told mom to
limit breastfeeding to after snacks and meals, while eliminating a nursing
session every five days until weaned.
The doctor then ordered only Pediasure, breastmilk, and water to be given,
eliminating milk and juices as they are less calorie-dense.
This mother has no intention of refusing breastfeeding. She is proud of
what she has accomplished.
My concern is with this very low weight gain and drop in percentage, is
any Pediasure warranted? I am not a dietitian, and cannot give feeding
instructions, but this goes against everything I know to be normal. Have any of
you wise women worked with a baby like this? How can we get her to gain
without introducing formula and removing breastmilk?
Thank you,
Melanie Thurber
WIC BF Peer Counselor, CLC, IBCLC hopeful
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