Update on DD weight gain

[Mama Geek]

Thank you for the prayers and advice thus far...I am afraid we still need the prayers.

 

In 6 days dd has gained 6 oz based on the scale at the Dr's office. The Dr would still rather me supplement with formula, but hey I am hard headed :D. She has her diagnosed as Failure to Thrive which from what I can tell means that she is not gaining weight as fast as the charts say that she should. They want me to bring her in weekly for a weight check (me doing a weight check daily at home and calling if she wasn't making the same type of progress wasn't good enough.) The one other sign she was really concerned about was that she didn't have enough fat around her temple areas of her head.

 

I have started feeding her in the middle of the night again as well as more frequently during the day. I have taken the advice from here and started to incorporate avacado into the solid foods that we are giving her. She eats some fruit for breakfast and some potato for supper and is on bmilk the rest of the time. She only gets fed the solids after drinking milk.

 

I'll tolerate the weekly weight checks for now, because she is willing to work with me on a different schedule for vaccines. DH and I will decide what to do after he returns from his 3 month contract job. We will get to visit a couple of days a month during the 3 months, but it isn't long enough to really go visiting other Dr's. I really don't like having a Dr that I don't think is looking at the whole picture.

[Heatherwith4]

That's an ounce a day...sounds very good to me. I'm still praying for you. I had a similar issue with DD, and it was very frustrating.

[Mergath]

I didn't read your previous posts about this, but the charts used by most doctors are way off. The WHO charts are much healthier, so if you haven't already, take a look at those- they might set your mind at ease.

 

My dd was diagnosed with failure to thrive (such a lovely term :glare:) at 18 months old, because she hadn't gained a single ounce or inch in three straight months. I rolled my eyes, just kept doing what I was doing, and sure enough, dd went from being in the 2nd percentile since birth for both height and weight, to the 20th now (and her head has always been in the 95th, which has caused every doctor she's ever seen to absolutely freak out). Some kids just grow in spurts. And our dd had to have formula from when she was a month old because the medications I was on weren't safe for breastfeeding, so don't let your doctor convince you that supplementing will make much of a difference. Kids grow on their own schedule.

 

As for the thing with her temples, I've never heard of that. :001_huh: I didn't even realize there was much fat at the temples- isn't that mostly muscle?

[justamouse]

I agree with everyone else, and have one more thing I thought of--how about nursing her with your shirt off? Get a good, skin to skin cuddle in, let her feel your warmth, smell and love?

[Lightly Salted]

glad to hear she's gaining. I would suggest stopping all solids, though, or slowing way down at her age if she isn't gaining well. Most foods cannot compare in fat/calorie content to breastmilk.

 

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/babyfoodcalories.html

 

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/weight-gain_increase.html

[idnib]

A traditional remedy for this situation is to give the baby raw eggs yolks. You can give them slowly from a small spoon or try some cup feeding. Obviously you want to get eggs from a source you trust.

 

Some of this info may help as well:

 

http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health.html

 

These articles and our local chapter helped me move my son from failure to thrive to a toddler in the 40th percentile in a few months.