Hello, I have a mother with an 11 month old. She was gaining until 6 months and has slowed down and stopped gaining over past few months.  She was about 7 lbs at birth and is now 14.5 pounds.  Mom is petite and does not weigh much herself and dad is tall and very thin. Baby is eating solid foods very well over past 2 months and breastfeeds every 2-3 hours or so. She sleeps well at night.  She eats table food and eats a large amount. She is very active and alert and everyone who sees her talks about how smart she is. She started crawling early and she is walking well and climbing around.  Mom is a healthy eater and feeds her baby homemade healthy food.  Mom has not been worried about baby.  Baby looks healthy also.  As you have probably guessed by now, the doctors are very worried.  They are saying it is failure to thrive. Mom started giving formula 2 weeks ago at dr's request and baby gained one pound.  They want her to continue with formula and to begin giving her more.  Mom told me that after her baby eats food and formula her tummy is very distended and looks uncomfortable.  Baby is scheduled to see a specialist in 2 weeks.  Also, she is growing in head circumference and height.  

I know this is a typical story, but I just need to "talk" about it with people who understand.  I feel baby is doing well. Mom has been doing her own research and came across zinc deficiency.  Mom stated she feels she has some of the symptoms and wonders if the recent slow down in weight gain in her daughter may have something to do with that.  When she brought it up to the doctors thay stated that zinc deficiency is only a problem in third world countries and they dismissed the idea.  I have read some posts about zinc related to weight gain in lactnet archives.  Could this be a possibilty?  If so, what tests can be run?  Thanks for your time. Take care.

Christine Lichte, IBCLC

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