Jaxon not gaining weight:(

Hi, Had plunket visit today. its been a month since Jaxon had seen them or got weighed. He has only put on 6oz in a month. He is 3 months old and weighs 14 pound 6 ozs.

He has grown taller though. He was 67cm last month and now 70cm.

I am breastfeeding and on the weightwatchers breast feeding plan. Not starving at all. Plunket nurse said maybe its my diet but cant be because Im still eating good food even the cheese sauce etc etc.

He is getting a re weigh in 2 weeks.

Any one know why this could be or had this happen to your bubs??

 

Hi Kellverona,

Emma Rose gained weight very slowly too -- at 9 months, she's right around 8kg. She's always been on the 25th percentile on the charts, for both weight and height, but she's been steadily gaining and growing -- it's never stopped or gone backwards.

One thing to keep in mind is that breastfed babies sometimes don't gain weight as quickly as formula-fed babies -- they are often smaller until they start solids, and then they tend to catch up. If Jaxon is growing UP, meaning, getting taller, then he might just be a little bit skinny for his height -- but the important thing is that he IS growing. Sometimes their height ramps up quickly, and their weight seems to be slow, because the growth is in the height and not the weight. Then next weigh-in, his weight might be rising and his height staying the same. The point is, he IS growing!

I wouldn't worry too much, although I know it's hard. I've also been where you are, with the Plunket nurse telling you your baby isn't putting on weight, and feeling panicked and desperate to do SOMETHING to help them grow. As long as Jaxon's weight and height are steadily increasing as he gets older, that is what counts. If you can breastfeed him more often, or express milk and feed him an extra bottle a day, that might help, but try not to stress yourself out about it. Some Plunket nurses have a very strict idea of what you should be doing as a mum, and all babies grow differently, so as long as your wee one is happy and healthy, you're doing everything right!!!

Big hugs to you!

Edited by Katherine

Just a quick note, further to what Katherine was saying, that the Plunket growth charts are based on formula fed babies apparently. The world health organisation (WHO) have done a really long study of breastfed babies and have made a growth chart - I remember looking at it a while ago, just google searched WHO growth chart or something. So I guess what I'm getting at is like what the others have said, as long as he IS growing and happy, dont worry about the Plunket nurse!

It wasnt until Ella was on solids that she started steadily gaining weight. I wouldnt worry to much as long as he is healthy and happy

I am the same. I stressed alot over Paris' weight gain, and fair enough she had alot of feeding probs, but she has always been a slow grower.. she is tall, and has been 75% and above for height since day one, yet, waaayyy below the 25% for weight despite being 7lb 3 when born. My first visit with plunket i had a fill-in plunket nurse, and she was a bit of a battle-axe, lol.. she plotted Paris's weight on the graph and it was on the 25% line and she snapped "I don't want to see it get any lower than that" I can't tell you how much i just felt like bursting into tears.. i was trying my hardest with frustration to feed this child, and felt like my efforts were futile. I stressed and felt bad, and ended up starting supplementing with formula cos it all got too hard with breastfeeding and you know what, yeah, when she went on formula, she got chubier, but she still didn't gain weight any quicker.. she just looked like she did. Looking back now at her graphs.. she has had steady increases each time, not alot, but she's growing. I would find she would fill out a heap, then use that to boost her spurts up, and when she went upwards in height, her weight stayed the same.. cos she had already stored up enough energy to do the growth upwards, so any extra weight that should have been put on went into sprouting her up as well. At 3 and a half yr old she is still only 13.5kg, but is well above her daddy's waist height (fair enough he's short, but she's still a nice tall girl)

Once i had Ayja, and she was a little 6lb 2oz, I thought great! when she fed and fed and fed, and gained 9 - 10 oz each time, a few times she went up by a pound in just over a week. Yet it soon levelled out, and she is steady as well, she is little and shorty, and is a light weight. She is now, at 18 months old - only 8 and a half kilo.

I wish i hadn't spent so much time stressing - i now know that i just don't breed em big. I should've known - look at mike.. they're lucky girls to have his genes.

Edited by mum2paris

I'm guessing that he's been putting all his energy into height lately and not tummy If the re-weigh is not enough to make the Plunket nurse, just go off and see your Doctor. In my case, our Doctor is far more relaxed than Plunket.