Great to have a reference for that 30g/day figure, Ersilia - 
thanks.  This was the rule of thumb gain that referring 
paediatricians liked when I worked in private practice.  For the 
pre-terms, <1.5kg or so, they liked a gain of 20g/day.  But once 
these babies really got going, and on exclusive BF, or exclusive 
B-milk-feeding they would gain far in excess of this.   When a baby 
gains less than roughly 30g/day in the first few months, I always 
look for a cause.   In my experience, when babies breastfeed well, 
then they gain about 250g/week.  When they gain less than 180g/week 
there's usually a reason, and I don't believe this is "normal".  The 
challenge is to find the reason and address it.  Usually the baby is 
not very happy, either, though everyone else tries to convince her 
there's not a problem.  But there is, and that's usually why she's 
looking for more help.

Sarah asked whether Ersilia's figures were for FF babies.  I just 
found info from the 1992 DARLING study (Kay Dewey) reporting that 
breastfed and formula-fed infants grow at basically the same rate for 
the first few months.  After 4-6 months Ff babies gained more.  By 
6-12 months BF babies were leaner., but during those crucial early 
months, they were the same.

Pamela Morrison IBCLC
Rustington, England 

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