Help friends and Barb! GP recommends introducing solids due to lack of weight gain

Hi all

I really need your thoughts please!

Annabel is fully BF and has been putting on weight fine until a month ago when she starting having poo issues (not pooing often) since then she has only put on 70 grams in a month. The GP yesterday says that they now recommend starting solids around 4 months? is that right? anyways I told her that I wanted to do BLS and would prefer not to start with Farex like she suggested. GP suggested though it needs to be carbs to help Annabel gain some weight (shes 6.02kgs), what do you guys recommend? I actually said to my GP that I would prefer to just give her more BF at this stage but she feeds already nearly every 2 1/2 hours so im unsure what to do?

Barb do you have any advice? I dont know if I should start solids yet or not? thanks Really appreciate it!

I wouldn't recommend starting solids at 4mths and fared really isn't going to make a difference to her weight IMO. Hopefully Barb will have some more advice. I'd just give her more breast feeds and considering she is still gaining and hasn't lost weight I wouldn't be to concerned. Especially if she is happy and alert.

I would definitely not be starting her on solids hun. That advice is incorrect. Farex will not do anything for her weight except cause her to take less of the breast, which could lead to early weaning and even weight *loss*, because there is nowhere near as many goodies in Farex as BM. I'd just be upping her breastfeeds and watching her nappies. If her input/output is good I would not be too concerned. She may just be growing at a different rate, or she may just be a petite girl :hug:

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I wouldn't recommend starting solids at 4mths and fared really isn't going to make a difference to her weight IMO. Hopefully Barb will have some more advice. I'd just give her more breast feeds and considering she is still gaining and hasn't lost weight I wouldn't be to concerned. Especially if she is happy and alert.

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Exactly that!

Also, was her last weight taken on the same scales? You can get quite a bit of variation between different sets of scales, or if the scales have been recalibrated between weigh ins. And, the difference of a full bladder or a full tummy vs an empty tummy/bladder can also have an effect of 200-300 grams (which is really what we're talking about).

Personally, I wouldn't be worrying to much now, she has still gained weight. I'd probably try and up the BF's and then maybe weigh her each week on the same scales for the next little bit to see if there actually is anything to be concerned about.

I have heard that the solids recommendation has gone back to between 4 and 6 months from a couple of friends with little bubs. Personally, I don't think it hurts to wait, especially because the amount of food and calories that they consume in the first few months is negligible compared to BF so it's hardly going to 'solve' a weight gain issue IMO.

It can be hard when you are told something by a medical professional that goes against all your mummy instincts.
is she happy, healthy, meeting development milestones? Maybe she just had a slow growth month, it may be worth keeping a close eye on her weight for the next month and then reassess then.
They eat such small amounts at that age and it takes a lot for there little bodies to break it down it may be counterproductive.
My pead suggested the same for my little man when he was 5months (2mths corrected) because of failure to thrive. I felt it was far to early so I didn't. I just tried to feed him more often.
I started him on solids at 7mths (4 mths corrected) and he still didn't have large gains (he is about 8.3kg at 22 mths) so it didn't make a huge difference.
I think it comes down to trusting you instincts, you know your baby better then any one.

My DS always freaked out MCHN's because of his slow weight gain. It was just him. We started solids at 6 months and he still plods along :) He's holding steady at the 25th percentile now. I was also told to start solids early, but I thought there were more calories in bm, so I just fed him whenever he wanted. He was feeding every 2 hours, the only way I could have fed him more is if I woke him up more often overnight (that wasn't gonna happen!) Is your DD showing any signs of being ready to start solids? I'd use that as your guide.

It's hard when you think everything is fine, but someone tells you they're not, it can play on your mind. But just watch your girl, she'll tell you if she's happy or not!

Good luck hun, your doing a great job!

6 months is still the recommended age for starting solids, I was looking at the newest guidelines just the other day, so your GP is wrong in that respect. Has your DD started moving more recently? Often babies will start to gain weight slower when they become more active. Personally unless she was losing weight I would not be looking at solids but might increase BF's, maybe to every 2 hours during the day to see if that makes a difference. Remember as well, some babies are just smaller and the charts that the MCHN service give out are often based on FF babies who tend to put on more weight, faster. According to the BF charts released by the WHO your daughter is only slightly under the 50th percentile, so she is far from underweight. Trust your instincts on this I would say :)

thanks girls im happy my instincts are similar to yours not to start solids yet and def not farex, I didnt want to yet anyway.

Brief background she weighed 6.19kgs 3 weeks ago on the chemist scales and yesterday 6.05kgs but was wearing more weighty clothes 3 weeks ago. On the GP scales she was 6.02 3 weeks ago, she didnt poo for 21 days and was weighed in similar clothes, since then she has pooed about 5 times and now weighs about 6.09 on the GP scales. I definately dont want to interupt our BF routine as it is good and shes the only baby I could fully BF. I really dont think there is a prob with my supply, but im starting to doubt myself because I had supply issues with my last 2 kids and had to supplement at this stage.
She is a happy content bubba, not screaming for food and sleeps fine. She doesnt over sleep or anything and wakes up at night for a feed at 11pm and 4am then 7am or so.

Yep follow your instincts that's what they're there for :)
Also unless she was weighed completely naked I wouldn't follow those weights to much, to many variants like was the first nappy wee'd in more etc.

GPs don't always know best, some of them are hopeless.

My DD hasn't gained weight since 8mths and is now 10mths but she is only a little thing, but still looks healthy and happy she is also no longer on the graph doesnt even make any of the percentiles lol

:hug: I wouldn't be too concerned hun, and I wouldn't introduce solids yet if she has been having long periods with no bowel movements.
I was advised to start solids early because DS was a slow weight gainer, but he is fine, he is just small compared to most kids. You need to consider the genetics she has and whether she is going to be 'big'... what were your other children like at this stage?

And I agree with em... unless they are weighed naked and on the same scales, then I don't take too much notice as there are too many variables

I wouldn't panic just because of one 'number', particularly since it sounds like it may not be accurate. It isn't unusual for weight to plateau a bit at that age, and on top of that, from what you describe, it sounds like she's doing very well (as are you!). If your supply has been adequate to date, then there's really no reason why it would suddenly be lacking. And, as others have said, if you introduce solids now, you'll only be displacing high calorie, nutrient rich milk with glug like farex and fruit and such.
If you have any concerns still, then the best thing to do would be to see an LC or at least a GP who is knowledgeable about breastfeeding.

Hun she needs to be weighted naked on same scales to give you any idea of what is going on as some clothes you think are light are actually heavier than you would think.

WHO still says 6 months for intro of solids.

I suggest going to MCHN for a weight and then getting her checked again 2 - 4 weeks later while increasing length and frequency of BF's. Other option is expressing and offering a top up after each BF.

DS1 was slow to gain weight and dropped right down to 3rd centile but over time has moved up and has just been slower to gain weight but output etc was fine.

thanks Feeb,

I have been offering her top ups especially in the afternoons which hopefully have helped. Good point re the scales I will do that from now on.

Im not going to see MCHN I have not had good experiences and ended up worse with PND after seeing them and making me doubt myself...

My local health centre has a drop in morning, they have scales set up for the mums to weigh bubs them selves without an appointment, the health nurse is there to answer questions but is not looking over your sholder IYKWIM.
Maybe you could give them call and find if your local centre have the same thing.

yes they do, but so does the chemist! I would rather go to the chemist! and after my experience with them in the past with my other two kids im avoiding the centres like the plague this time. Im actually surprised that the MCHN I used to see hasnt called me as shehas my paperwork.

You've been given some great advice already :hug: but I'll share some of our story. Sorry if it's all over the place, it's 3am and I'm up with a restless (well grown) toddler ;)

My DD was a very slow gainer and such a tiny little thing. She didn't wear 000 clothes until she was 3.5 months old! She was 5.5kg at 4 months and I tried Farax at about 4.5 months but only once and didn't attempt solids again (pureed fruit & vegies - that Farax is wrong!) until DD was almost 6 months. She was so much more ready for solids then. Some kids do well starting solids earlier (I'm just talking from experience of friends babies) but there really is no reason to start early.

As DD was such a slow gainer (we had quite a lot of BF issues) I was quite obsessed with weighing her but I always did it when she was naked. Definitely do that and try to use the same scales. A drop in session at the chemist is perfect. I managed to borrow some proper infant scales from a friend with a premmie at one stage so I could weigh DD before and after each breast to check how much she was getting from each side. That was so interesting and really uplifting. My LC had done this with her in the early weeks too. I highly recommend doing it if you can as it can really help ease your mind.

DD had top ups after every feed until about 4 months (I think) and we continued to offer them randomly after that point, when she appeared to need or want more milk, to help with her weight gain. That certainly helped a lot.

DD continued to grow and thrive and hung around the 50th percentile (I'm sure she was well below that for her first 4 months) but certainly didn't need solids at 4 months, milk was perfect for her.

Hang in there and trust your instincts. Your LO seems to be doing just fine.

If your baby is happy, healthy, normally settled then my biggest tip DON'T WEIGH them. If they are reaching their milestones and growing out of their clothes then they are PERFECT.

Whatever did they do before scales and stupid GPs!

BLS works best for babies that can sit unaided. This means their coordination is better and they can use their gag reflex ;)

For their to be such a thing as percentiles, there has to be someone healthy at 99% and someone healthy at 1%.

I'm over six foot and can you believe my kids are TALL? And I have very short friends who's kids are TINY..... It's shocking isn't it LOL

hugs to you for the unnessisary stress. As EM said 'follow your instincts, that's what they are there for'

I agree with Tegam, if your baby is happy and reaching milestones then step away from the scales. The best parenting decision I ever made was to stop weighing my babies and to look for signs out output and growth in other areas instead. If you are concerned then yes of course weigh her, but if it just makes you doubt yourself then is it really worth it?

:) 4 months & 6kg is a healthy weight. A couple of my bubs were around that size at the age. Like others said 'if she's happy & healthy it doesn't matter what she weighs'
With my bub#2 I barely weighed her at all, BF exclusively until 9 months simply because she didn't need solids til then. And I only weighed bub #3 more often because he was prem. I say wait & see what you DD is like closer to 6 months (if she's ready for solids).

You are doing a great job!