Camilla Aviss asks for input on a case in which a baby at 5 mos has dropped
from around the fiftieth percentile to just over the fifteenth in weight for
age according to the WHO curves.  Laurie W has already addressed some of the
obvious red flags: long interval at night without feeding and with pacifier,
and baby sucking thumb a lot during the day.  Both these things suggest that
baby is cueing more often than mother is responding, and if for no other
reason than to remind the mother *how weaning happens* I would definitely
talk with her about the effects of these behaviors.
But I still would want to know how the baby's length, and head circumference
are comparing to weight.  Some babies grow more in length than in weight,
and their weight starts dropping while they move upwards on length for age
curves.  A number of the babies I have been consulted about have fallen into
this category.  It always makes me wonder how absent minded a practitioner
can be if they don't notice that the baby is extremely long and then reflect
that it is nearly impossible to grow both plump and tall simultaneously.
The baby's activity level plays a role too.  A placid baby who just lies
around may be rounder and squishier than a future gymnast who is doing
advanced yoga exercises and situps in the pram.
The other day a grandmother asked me what ingredients should be in a tea to
increase milk supply.  Her daughter's baby was causing concern at three and
a half months because she had only gained about four ounces or a hundred
grams in one month, after gaining huge amounts in the first two and a half
months.  The grandmother mentioned that her daughter looks awkward when
feeding because the baby is so long she barely fits in her mother's lap.
Hello??  The grandmother is quite tall, her daughter is the same, and the
baby's father is taller still.  The baby is outgrowing clothes on a weekly
basis, but she is doing so without increasing her weight as rapidly and so
she is dropping down in the weight percentiles.   

Rachel Myr
Who is still no mail in Kristiansand, reading at the archives, and who would
love to know the magical charm for accomplishing longitudinal growth only,
because she is short for her weight herself

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