The husband drove me even more paranoid as he said he would like to ask the pediatrician to recommend formula milk because he noticed that P is drinking less breast milk lately. He went on saying that baby looked thinner now if you look at his pictures as a newborn. Even his clothe size proves that he's not on the chubby side.
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He really looked thinner after he got sick![/caption]On growth charts
But i was soon appeased after our checkup. The doctor plotted baby's weight for his height and weight for his age on the growth chart. She assured as that although baby seemed to be in the low percentile based on the weight for age and weight for height charts, it's still within the normal limits and we need not panic.
She emphasized that growth charts tend to be biased for babies born full term. My son was born 2-3 weeks short of his expected birthday. Hence, growth charts in the the usual baby books supplied in clinics may not be a good tool to use.
It's also good to check if the growth charts in your baby book are based on the WHO standard. WHO recently revised their growth charts to make breastfeeding a norm or the main basis of measuring the baby's growth. There's a big possibility that the growth charts in the baby book are based on privately funded studies of formula milk companies, who also supply these baby books that most pediatricians use. Thankfully, we're using WHO-based growth charts naman pala. Click here for boys and here for girls if you want to check your baby book!
Birth weight vs current weight
I was just not sure how the pedia computed but she said at the rate baby's growing, he's surpassed his expected growth rate! Given his birth weight, at 10 months if he weighed just 7.6 kilos it was still ok. P, being a preemie, was born underweight, just 2.1 kilos. In the Philippines, babies with birth weights less than 2.5 kilos have low birth weight.
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How primitive is this scale to weigh a baby?!Source of Photo:www.loc.gov[/caption]
Average weight gain for breastfed babies
According to Kellymom, for 6-12 month olds weekly weight gain ranging from 57 to 113 grams is acceptable. Click here for more of Kellymom's discussion on weight.
There's also a study by the US CDC showing that directly breastfed babies gain less weight than bottle fed counterparts. This is largely because directly breastfed babies eat on their own demand and liking, rather than on cue (usually by the feeder) , as in the case of bottle fed babies.
Feeding issues
Unlike other babies who seem to be hungry all the time, P seemed to be less interested in eating and more fond of playing and exploring things around him. That's why it's very important that he'll be (force)fed on time and with the enough amount.
I'm lucky my MIL is an eager feeder so i can be at peace while at work knowing that my baby does not go hungry. Read this for more tips on feeding older babies.
It's in the genes!
Note that genes will play a key factor in baby's growth. So there's a very big chance that if his parents are on the skinny side, the baby will grow to be thin as well.
To summarize, the pedia reassured as that baby's weight is ok. As long as baby seems happy and active and is fed regularly with nutritious foods and milk, then we need not fret.
Hopefully he'll be heavier on our next checkup!
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