Micro mouse

[norsegirl]

Had our 9-month pediatrician's check up today and little mouse is very little indeed. For weight and height she's dropped down to the 4th percentile. The pediatrician commented that we'd keep an eye on it, that I should be feeding her more foods with fats (drizzle olive oil on her veggies, feed her avocado, butter her bread etc) and that she'd be worried if she dropped into the 3rd percentile or lower. What difference does that single percentage make? Also I'm wondering if I should be worried at all. We aren't all going to be perfectly average, and my family and Jason's both run small, so it's not like this is an entirely unexpected result. Also, she's proportionate, and it's not like she's looking slim. I'd be more worried about a baby that was 75th percentile for height but 25th for weight for example, even though both of those are within the more "normal" range.

She's still getting most of her daily calories from breast milk, but this is making me doubt that decision. Am I stunting her growth by not offering her more food?

On the flip side, her head has gone from 10th percentile last time to 30th percentile. There's a little part of me that's wondering if all this measuring isn't just a little bit subjective. By which I mean that other than the weight, two people could measure the same baby bit and come up with different answers depending on how baby stretched her legs or bent her head down or how the string around the head went over certain bumps.

I'm torn between wanting her to flourish and offering her more food and wanting to continue my laid-back parenting. Feeding food is a bit of a pain in the butt compared to breast milk, so I just tend not to do it as much. There's also conflicting info that I've read that implies that up to a year most of the calories are supposed to come from milk and eating is just to get practice with the act of eating. Is that really true or am I starving her?

Aaargh, this parenting thing is difficult.

Comments

[hel_ana]

There's also conflicting info that I've read that implies that up to a year most of the calories are supposed to come from milk and eating is just to get practice with the act of eating. Is that really true or am I starving her?

That's what I've read, too. Then I got read the riot act at my 6 month appointment, because she "needs cereal, because she needs more iron, calcium, and carbohydrates". So we're compromising between the baby-led weaning (which freaked my doctor right the fuck out) and the traditional approach. Which means that I still gave her a strip of my beef last night, but we also give her baby oatmeal.

[belgar.livejournal.com]

Don't be pressured into feeding too early, Breast milk is best for them, and if they are doing well on just breast milk they are fine. Don't worry about measurements too much. Feeding is important if they are not thriving on only milk. As long as they are gaining and growing and have energy I WOULD NOT WORRY. The one down side with only breast milk is they may be low on iron ( it depends on what your nutrition is like. With all of our kids they were breast fed of at least a year. Food was introduced earlier (9 months ?? ) but it was just to play with and get used to. And the cereal was first made with breast milk.

[hel_ana]

Merritt's not on breast milk. She's been on formula since the catastrophic failure of breastfeeding at about 12-13 weeks.

She's thriving, so I'm not worried at all.. she's in the 75th percentile for height and the 40th for weight, and she's super healthy and happy. And she really *wants* food. She's very fond of her cereal, she likes banana, she's tried avocado and likes that.. she also likes pork ribs, which was the thing that made my doctor almost swallow her tongue.

[ethnowoman.livejournal.com]

I don't know how often you are giving her solid food, but the brochure we got from the pediatrician recommends 2-3 meals a day at nine months. At nine months they are pretty capable of eating, it's not practice anymore (that was 4-6 months). Yes, it's messy (I strip Bug naked to feed her) but it sounds like your breast milk might be making the decision for you, it's possible that it's either not as nutrient-rich as it used to be or that miss Mouse just needs more (fats, iron) than she is getting. Like you I don't think that a "fourth percentile" number is necessarily bad but I would be worried if she had dropped, implying that something had changed. If she is not getting all the nutrients she needs now she may have a hard time being physically healthy in later years, that's what would worry me.

[ethnowoman.livejournal.com]

BTW although I fed Bug on breast milk until 8 months I am not a fan of accepting that "breast is best" unconditionally. It is NOT best in all situations. I know people whose babies would have starved to death on their breast milk because the mothers' milk was very watery. There is s reason that pediatricians weigh babies. I'm just asking you not to buy into the "breast is best" propoganda. I totally agree that it is better for your babies in MOST situations but I also feel like people (mostly nurses, in my corner of the world) have gone overboard about it and stopped considering it on its own merits.

[eliskimo.livejournal.com]

I'm of two minds about this. First I understand the use of percentile growth charts to ensure that infants are thriving and growing. However, when you base such charts on a population as diverse as that of the United States, you are going to have quite a range of sizes, it seems to me. As you mention, you and Jason are smaller than average.

However, we're all aware how rampant obesity is in the US. I'd be a little concerned about when that starts and if the charts take that into account. Your child may be perfectly healthy, but comparing her to a child who is already starting down the road towards obesity is going to make her look even smaller than her parentage predisposed her. Like Belgar and Ethnowoman said, as long as she's growing and not losing weight (or plateauing for a long stretch of time), and she's reaching reasonable developmental milestones (rolling, crawling, grasping, babbling, etc.) I don't think I'd be too concerned.

I too firmly believe breast is best. That is not the same thing as saying breast need be exclusive or that breast is best forever. At around nine months, eating food is not just practice for the mouth, it's practice for the hands as well, and part of social development. This is the age where they are developing the pincher grip and working on hand-eye coordination. Learning to feed themselves is part this. Banana slices, for instance, help develop both, and foster the child's growing sense of independence.

I started giving Alexander a little weak cereal around Christmas (6 months). He has been sitting at the table with us since before Easter. Mealtime is family time and he is part of the family. I also introduced a cup (I found a plain shot glass with a relatively heavy bottom which fits his hands well) and a spoon back then. At first he just played with them, but I've been noticing this past week or so he's gotten pretty good at wielding them. I still breastfeed - I'd say at this point (he's 10 months, 1 week) at least half his calories come from breastmilk - but also let him eat. As another mother-friend I know puts it, "I pick what she [her child is a girl] eats, but let her decided how much she wants to eat." He's getting old enough now that I feel comfortable giving him things (mostly vegetables) off my plate if he shows an interest in them.

Maria Montesorri made this interesting comment which has stuck with me:

The mother who feeds her child without making the least effort to teach him how to hold the spoon for himself and try to find his mouth with it ... offends the fundamental human dignity of her child; she treats the child as if he or she were a doll when instead this is a human being confided by nature to her care.

[duir-sidhe.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, as long as she is healthy and happy.

Funny thing, Morgana is undersized in the body and over sized in the head too ! May be you folks and Em and I just make tiny babies with GIANT brains :-p

I think that Morgana was getting cereal and fruit/veg feedings at 9 months, but was still mostly breast feeding. Now (1.5 years) she has weaned herself and eats like a champ.

hmm... did em mail you about the kinderwick meeting ?

[eve-the-just.livejournal.com]

Yup, got the message about kinderwick. Sounds like an interesting project they're undertaking.

I'm just trying to get us all clothed for Pennsic. It's been so long since we've been that Jason's wardrobe is junk, mine isn't breast-feeding friendly, and G's is non-existent. Daunting to make all that garb with a baby demanding attention all day. Then I'm also trying to figure out what to do for a bed for G. We've got a period tent, so no floor. Need to raise her up like we are but not sure exactly how. Am toying with the idea of trying to make a cart with one side that folds down so it becomes crib sized. What did you guys do with M last year for sleeping?

Any good tips for camping with babies? Did you do cloth or sposies at Pennsic? I love my cloth but I can't think of how I might handle it in camp without wasting my vacation at the laundromat.