My 8.5 month not gaining weight

[@llli*midwestmama2010]

I'm pretty sure my baby has not gained any weight in a month. She was gaining like an ounce a week, but now I don't think she's even gaining that. She is still so hard to nurse and will only eat a little banana baby food every once in a while.

She *did* get 6 teeth in a week this last month, and is working on her cuspids now.

But my question is this: what will they say to me at the pedi's office?

She will only take a little bit of milk from a sippy. She won't take a bottle. I'm so scared they will tell me to put her on formula, but even then, I don't know how I would get it into her!

I'm worried about her iron too. She's a pretty fussy baby, but she's also prolly always a little hungry.

Has anyone ever had a baby like this that just refuses to eat or nurse for months and months?? I've kept her growing up until this month. I'm sure I could make it sound like she hasn't nursed as much because of her teeth.

My supply is good. I always pump when she just completely refuses to nurse. During the day, I don't go more than 4 hours without pumping or nursing. And at night, I nurse her every 2-3 hours, sometimes 4, if I turn my alarm off in my sleep and don't wake up until she wakes me up.

I am still nursing her like 7 or 8 times a day, but they're not always full feedings, meaning, my breast doesn't always feel completely empty when she's done. It is less heavy, but just not that really soft nearly floppy empty feeling. Her diapers are wet but not great.

The good things:

She's not dehydrated. She's a slobberbox. She is pulling up on everything and beginning to cruise in the last few days. She's hitting milestones. She poops at least once a day and it's usually a blowout.

[@llli*auderey]

you've done an amazing job so far! i just wanted to chime in to say that DS and i had basically zero nursing problems (knock on wood) and i'm pretty sure he didn't gain any weight between 6 and 9 months. in fact, i'm pretty sure his numbers actually went DOWN, but everything else was measured wrong at 9 months, so who knows really. and he was clearly healthy, hitting milestones, etc, and his doc (family practice) didn't bat an eye. one reason i really like her.

this is just to say - breastfed babies that have no nursing problems and are patently doing great might well not gain any or much weight over this period, so don't use that as your one metric, and don't let your pedi use that as the one metric either

[@llli*mommal]

What is said at the pediatrician's office is going to depend a lot on the pediatrician in question. If they look at the baby's demeanor and development first and the chart second, and are familiar with the weight gain patterns of breastfed babies, they'll probably be fine with your baby's progress. Because breastfed babies typically level out in weight gain around the middle of the first year, putting increasing amounts of calories into motion instead of packing them on as fat.

If your LO is still nursing7-8 times a day, that doesn't sound like she's refusing to nurse.

[@llli*midwestmama2010]

If your LO is still nursing7-8 times a day, that doesn't sound like she's refusing to nurse.

Yes, but half of those are in her sleep at night. I'm starting to think she has an oral aversion because she won't even open up her mouth for a spoon. She tightens up her lips.

[@llli*mommal]

My first kid never took anything from a spoon. I did baby-led solids with her because there was no other option!

[@llli*alphawoman]

Yes, but half of those are in her sleep at night. I'm starting to think she has an oral aversion because she won't even open up her mouth for a spoon. She tightens up her lips.

You mentioned that your LO is starting to cruise: this is an exciting change in perspective, enough so to distract from eating during the daytime. Your LO is smart and packing in the nutrition when stimuli are at their lowest. From Carlos Gonzales' book "My Child Won't Eat!", it's not uncommon for healthy children to reverse-cycle their feedings or increase breastmilk as a share of total food intake as they approach the one-year mark.

Also, 8 month olds are notoriously independent and seem to get on a do-it-myself feeding kick. Avoiding the spoon is par for the course and likely a sign of saiety and/or a request for self-feeding.

ETA: also from Gonzales' book-- between 6 and 12 months, growth trends are benchmarked at 2 month increments to allow for growth spurts, illness, distracted eating, etc.

[@llli*alphawoman]

My first kid never took anything from a spoon. I did baby-led solids with her because there was no other option!

Ditto. The spoon only comes into play now for self-feeding!