"Mom feels that she should not be concerned. She feels that as long as he gains steadily, and has no diseases or illnesses it is alright if he is small,  and the baby does really look good, he is really happy and his color is good."

Sounds like this baby was exactly like both my first son and daughter. (At 6 months my son was 11#13 -- 5#14 at birth.) Both were slow gainers and are still (at 5 and 3 1/2) at the bottom of the growth charts. Both also were (and are still) very healthy and met all of their developmental milestones on or ahead of target. I just took the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it approach." When my ped recommended formula I simply said that wasn't an option for my family and then we agreed to continue breastfeeding and adding solids. (Why is it that so many peds just say, "Oh, the baby's not gaining on breastmilk, give formula" instead of trying to determine whether there's a breastfeeding problem that an LC could help fix??!! Ughhh!)

In The Breastfeeding Answer Book it gives average weight gain for breastfed babies -- 4-5 ounces (113-142 grams per week) from 4 to 6 months and 2-4 ounces (57-113 grams) per week for 6 to 12 months (page 148). When I used this calculation I found that my daughter (16#8 ounces at 1 year) did actually fall within the very bottom of the "normal" growth range. Maybe doing this calculation for the baby in question might help ease the mom's concerns.

Also, what kind of stature do mom and dad have? Could genetics be at play here? If mom and dad are small, baby probably will be too.

Could mom start introducing higher calorie solids, such as meats?

Karen Meade
LLLL, suburban Philadelphia, PA, USA

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