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Posted by: Minnie | 2012/05/02

Q. reply to 18

Hi purple, thank you very much for the info! I have tried offering her milk during the day but she is SO active that she just cant lay still to breastfeed and if she does latch, she will only take 1 or 2 sips and let go or she will bite me! During the night she will latch well and drink till full without any problems.

she has been following the 50th percentile and her length is 100% in line but her weight did take a dip. She has not lost any weight but she picks up relatively slowly, about 300-400g a month. Is this something to worry about? She is VERY active so I do think that she burns so much calories as well. Her diet is currently as follows:

breakfast - a bowl of Cerelac cereal and a full cream yogurt
snack - 2-3 bites of avo/banana and some of those nestle flowers shapes snacks
lunch - any meal consisting of meat with veggies and then some fruit
snack - she loves cheese so I give her some grated cheese and maybe a teething biscuit.
dinner - again some meat and veggies,either a purity meal or some food that I freezed or prepared beforehand and another yogurt

She then breastfeeds about 2 times during the night! I do worry that she is picking up weight slowly but she is a very happy and active baby so I do not constantly want to worry about something that is not necessary!

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Posted by: Purple | 2012/05/03

We all stress and worry about these types of things - whether we have one child or 8. It just shows you are a normal mom.

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Posted by: Minnier | 2012/05/02

That is very good to hear! I am a very perfectionistic mom and since this is my first baby I try(sometimes too hard) to do everything perfectly and stress over little things!!!

I am not sure which chart I have but it sounds like the one you describe for formula fed babies because the growth curve keep going up all the time and now it seems like my little girl is not keeping up! I will google it a bit at see what I can read up about that.

Thank you SO much for you help and advice, I feel so much better know. As a first time mom you never know what you are doing right and what not! O yes, I do express milk everyday that I add to her cereal in the mornings!

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Posted by: Purple | 2012/05/02

sorry, I''m going on about avo and banana and you have written there quite clearly that you are giving this to her already. Sorry, half asleep.

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Posted by: Purple | 2012/05/02

She sounds just perfect :) and you are offering her nice healthy balanced meals.

Babies at this age are just as you describe - to obusy to feed. Sometimes it helps if you go to a quiet place or lie down with baby for a nap or try to feed her as she is waking up from a nap. My daughter is a biter too - if she doesn''t want to feed she also gives me a good nip, or if I use my phone while feeding - yesterday she drew blood. so I feel for you.

It is normal for baby''s weight to plateu a bit in the 9-12 month age group. Do you know which charts her growth is being plotted on? The WHO charts based on the multi reference growth studies (i.e. normed on breastfed babies in developed and developing countries over an 8 year period) accommodate this natural pattern. The old, out of date charts from before 2002 don''t, they are normed on formula fed babies (the artifical way of feeding) and so the curve keeps on climbing, so if a breastfed baby is compared to these charts, it can look like baby is failing to gain weight - when actually they are just following a normal growth pattern for a breastfed baby. Google info on this to read up about it if you like.

Some breastfed babies get hugely plump in the early months and then in this period are so very active that they slim down. Others are small all along. Just like adults, babies come in a variety of shapes and sizes and follow family patterns.

You might like to try expressing a bit of milk and adding that to baby''s ceral (not to oats though as breastmilk seems to thin the oats out). That way you will be getting a bit more in. You can also offer some half defrosted milk on a spoon as a slushy treat during the day. Offering avo and banana which are quite nutrient dense can help too. They can be mashed or pieces given to baby to feed herself. A wedge of baked potato is also nice for her to gnaw on or a chop bone with some slivers of meat left on it.

Weight is only one part of the picture - if baby is alert and active and has healthy glowing skin and bright eyes - then, even if she is not putting on a lot of weight - she is just fine. It sounds like that is what you are describing. Being so active, as you say - will mean she burns up a lot of what she takes in.

Have you considered going to a La Leche League group where you can meet other moms who are also breastfeeding and where there are trained volunteers to answer questions? I have found the meetings extremely helpful and reassuring and met some lovely friends there. If you are interested, have a look at hte website and find a local group by using the " choose a country" drop down menu and you will find phone numbers for your area.

it sounds like you are doing a wonderful job.

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