I agree with Denise Parker's post about weight gain in babies. My last child
weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. at birth. At one year old she "only" weighed 15 lbs. and
according to her pediatrician was not "on the charts." I knew she was healthy
and developing normally. My doctor told me if I kept on feeding her the way I
was (breastfeeding) her weight would stay low!

In looking at the size of others in our family, I am only 5'4" and my father
is only 5'2" so we are not a large family although my other children were
bigger.

At 4.7 years (and still nursing BTW), my daughter is still a small child. She
weighs 29 lbs. but is very healthy and very smart and is developmentally
right on the mark. I feel that if I had forced the issue by supplementing I
could have probably increased my daughter's weight but for what means-a
percentage on a chart? Our whole society is too hung up on weight! We want
our babies to be large but then when they reach adolescence we encourage
thinness. No wonder we are seeing younger children who already think of
themselves as "too fat".

Just my soapbox for the day . . .

Kim Balzer
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