Almost 5-month-old infant hadn't grown in a month.

[@llli*hillaryccl]

My baby boy was born on 8th of March and will be 5 months old in 10 days. A month ago on 29th June, I weighed him using my home digital scale and he was 12.10 lbs.

A week after that on 7th July, I took him for a vaccination and he was weighed at the clinic. His weight was still 12.10 lbs. The doctor said that he's small at 97th percentile but not to worry as he's otherwise developing well.

Today, it's 29th July, and I've just weighed him again. He is still 12.10 lbs.
I've checked that my scale is not broken. I've measured his head circumference and it hasn't grown either at 15.75 inches.

He feeds for 9 minutes each time, 11 - 15 times a day, usually at around 7pm, 10pm, 11pm, 2am, 5am, 6am, 6:30am, 7:00am, 9:00am, 12:30pm, 3:30pm. He poops twice a day, once at 7:30am and once around 2:30pm and fills up his diapers with pee.

From the time he was newborn, he likes to latch on endlessly which surprised even the nurses there who taught me to bf.

He likes to wake every hour at night to feed. I used to feed him each time, but this made him really gassy and turned his poop green. Sometimes, he'll clamp his mouth on my nipple to stop the milk flow too.

So now, I'll let him cry until he's found his thumb to suck on. He's able to use it to sooth himself to sleep up to 5am. After that, he'll cry even after sucking on his thumb so I'll feed him every hour or half hour till 7:00am at which time we wake together and play.

I'm not sure if this will be useful information, but he took months to recover from jaundice when he was newborn. He can't seem to nap for more than 45 minutes to an hour either.

Is there something wrong with the way we feed? My husband and I are really worried about his poor growth rate.

[@llli*hillaryccl]

Oops, I wrote that "The doctor said that he's small at 97th percentile but not to worry as he's otherwise developing well."

What I meant was that, "The doctor said that he's small at 3rd percentile but not to worry as he's otherwise developing well."

[@llli*mommal]

Before you freak out over the home scale, remember that if you are going to take them seriously, baby weights should always be done on a professional scale, on the same scale the baby was last weighed on, and in the nude. Otherwise there is just too much chance of the scale being off, even if you check it and you're sure it's fine. My home scale, which is a decent one, always puts me at 5 lbs lighter than the one at the doctor's office. With a little baby, 5 oz would be a lot, let alone a difference of a few pounds.

Another reason not to freak out is that head circumference is difficult to measure. You have to get the tape in just the right position.

The best reason not to be worried is that baby has continued to have good diaper output, and is now at the age where it is very normal for growth to slow down. Breastfed babies tend to gain weight fastest in early infancy, when they do nothing but eat and sleep. As they get closer to the middle of their first year and start devoting calories to motion (reaching, rolling, kicking, pre-crawling) instead of packing them on as fat, it's typical for weight gain to slow way down, and for baby to slip percentiles on the charts.

That being said, I think you're wise to be alert to the possibility that baby has paused somewhat in his growth. The first thing I would do would be to stop letting baby self-soothe at night. 4-5 month old babies often feed several times overnight, and they can take in quite a lot of calories that way. When you suspect a growth issue, the first thing you want to do is to bump up baby's nursing frequency. Don't worry about the green poops: they can indicate an issue but are not in and of themselves a health problem. The second thing I would do would be to stop by the clinic for a weight check. If your baby really hasn't grown in a month, you want to know about it.

[@llli*maddieb]

Edit: I agree with mommal about the self soothing, and also on the measuring and scale issue. Make sure weight checks are done CORRECTLY on the SAME pediatrician or health office scale each time.

I understand why you are worried. Here is what I think-

Your baby being 3rd percentile is not a worry, some healthy babies have to be in the 3rd percentile or lower, that is how growth charts work. Nor is it unusual how often your baby eats. The feedings are short, but if baby appears satisfied after that short a feeding, that would also be normal for this age, as babies become more efficient a the breast. (However, if baby can be encouraged to nurse longer or more often, that certainly would not hurt.) Poops and pees also sound normal.

What is concerning is the lack of growth, particularly the lack of growth in head circ. What about milestones, is that all normal?

I would suggest you discuss this with your pediatrician. I would also suggest you be very clear about how frequently your baby nurses & what the output is, as this suggests to me the issue is not that baby is not getting enough, or at least that is not the entire issue.

When there are weight gain issues, it is almost always the case that formula supplementation is suggested. If this is needed, fine. But is it needed? Often the answer is no. Breastmilk is far healthier overall than formula and the same if not better in terms of calories and fat. So slow growth issues, if about feeding at all, would likely be related to the amount baby gets overall, not some issue of your milk not being rich enough. There are other reasons for slow weight gain besides baby not getting enough, medical issues, and delay in figuring out if that is part of the issue is not good. Your doctor may need to run tests to see if there is a medical issue.


So I would also suggest you see a Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) to have breastfeeding assessed, and if it appears baby is not getting enough milk at the breast they should ber able to help you with that.

Also just FYI overuse of pacifiers have been linked to less overall feeding and thus slow weight gain, and some think swaddling can also cause this issue. It does sound like you baby nurses quite often so this is just an FYI.

Could you have low supply? See this article: http://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supp...es/low-supply/

[@llli*hillaryccl]

I'll be taking him to the clinic, our appointment is on August 7th.
Meanwhile, I'm checking on low supply and feeding him every time that he wakes at night, when he lies down for a nap in the day, and when he wakes from a nap.
With the increased feeding, he's showing breast preference and gets distracted easily while feeding. He'll suck, look away, suck, look away, suck, look away... Yet when I lay him down to sleep, he'll protest, crying and screaming.

Is this normal?

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

Yes, totally normal He wants to be with you.

[@llli*hillaryccl]

He has become really discontented. He's nursing for only 4 - 5 minutes at most now, and during the feed, he keeps unlatching and turning away. And each time he does that, he'll cry.
His sleeping habits are worse too, he's napping for only 30 - 45 minutes at most, and at night, he's waking to feed every hour. I hope he's all right.
For such a young baby, adequate sleep is important too, isn't it?

[@llli*mommal]

Adequate sleep is important, but remember that babies naturally have short sleep cycles and require help transitioning from wakefulness to sleep. A baby can wake 8 times a night and still get plenty of sleep, albeit in short increments.

The behavior you're seeing sounds a lot like what babies exhibit when teething or dealing with something that pains them, like an ear infection. Has baby been checked for the latter? I am sure that he's teething- at 5 months pretty much all babies are, even though the teeth may not surface for another few months.

[@llli*lovemygirlso1]

Could you have an OALD? I didn't read all the other replies so they may have already asked this...But this could definitely explain everything that's going on.