Dear Pam, Where do I start?! First, let's look at the big picture. Here is a baby with slow weight gain (not NO weight gain, SLOW weight gain), who is active, crawling, pulling to stand and cruising (an 8-9 month milestone), happy, smiley, normal stools, taking 3 oz at an observed feeding along with solids appropriate for age, good color, no illnesses, and I'm guessing wet diapers are qs.....and the docs want to force feed him based on ONE parameter of health measurement? Are his parents slim or short? Is there something I'm missing here? Take a look at this child's activity level. Most kids his age are just learning to sit unassisted. The calories are getting burned off as fast as he takes them in! The only other thing that might come in to play is the spitting up, which is not unusual for kids with weak gastro-esophageal sphincters. It often resolves around the time they are able to pull to stand...usually well before their first birthday. There are ways to minimize post-feed spit-ups (feed in upright position, minimize activity immediately after feedings). Unless there is a problem which would give other obvious symptoms, some babies simply are slow gainers, normal for their own needs but slow to the rest of the world. Growth charts are based on both formula-fed and breastfed babies, unless the docs are using the new ones for breastfed babies. Regardless, growth charts give the average measurements of where MOST of the infants lie. But, of course, there has to be babies on both ends of the bell curve, yes? How else do you get averages? Remember mean, median and mode from our middle school math classes? There will always be weights on both ends of the fringe. He is not alone. Force feeding creates food issues that can last a lifetime. Hints of food allergies can often be the reason why children often refuse new foods until they are ready. Healthy breastfed babies are self-regulating. He's nursing 7x a day PLUS all night long, plus solids?!!! Sounds adequate to me! If she wants to increase his fat intake, try breast compression (to keep him interested as he falls asleep toward the end of the feeding) or one sided nursing (going back to the same breast instead of switching for one feeding.) This way he gets more fatty hindmilk per feed. He is healthy because of the breastfeeding, so why would we want to disturb that by adding formula? Ounce for ounce, ABM has the same number of calories as breastmilk, with NONE of the protective factors. We all know that babies can lose weight when they get sick, right? I'll never understand why docs think that ABM is better than the real thing! I had a client with a 6 lb, 9 oz baby girl who grew slowly but consistently under the 5%ile, refused anything but breastmilk for 13 months, despite her tall-and-thin parents' best efforts to offer solids. She hit all her milestones at the right time and is now a 50 lb 8-year old, small in stature and weight but bright, athletic and above normal in every other way. She is my daughter. Annie Brown, LLL Leader, IBCLC *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html