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Active Nursing Moms
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Up front: I am not a womens, but I'm married to one.

The wife & I had a baby back at the end of January, and he is being breastfed. The trouble is his weight gain...or lack thereof. At birth, the boy weighed 5'15" and, as of tonight, tipped the scale at 7'6". He feeds regularly and to apparent satisfaction (no rooting indicators, etc. following feeding) and has some excess fat around his bum, but he is far shy of the recommended one ounce gain per day desired in newborns. All other development indicators are normal...we just have a very long & lean baby.

My wife & I are curious if this is typical for active, healthy people. She exercised throughout her pregnancy (swimming, mostly) and eats a rather healthy diet (we're both vegetarians). Workouts postpartum are extremely light (< 20 minutes on either an elliptical or indoor rowing machine at low intensity), and her calorie intake compensates for the ~500-calorie burn attributed to breastfeeding. Because the boy is approaching his next weigh-in (and first round of shots!) we find ourselves both apprehensive & discouraged about how things are progressing.

Drop a line back here or via PM with what you will.


#cureMS
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Re: Active Nursing Moms [off242] [ In reply to ]
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Up front: not a mom, not a doctor. But have opinions. ;)

Babies grow at different rates. IMHO, as long as the baby is happy, healthy, and developing typically in all other ways, no worries. I have a nephew who hit 24 lbs by 10 months and a friend's baby who is 26 lbs at 2 years. Both breastfed, both healthy and fine. The smaller baby's mom was told by the doctor to start feeding her whole milk and fatty things to beef her up a bit, because she was in one of the lowest percentiles. Mom doesn't feel comfortable with that diet and so she doesn't worry about it. Baby is still small, but walking, talking, smart and curious. Talk about it with your doctor though, hopefully you have a good one who is willing to discuss with you.


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"Alice laughed. `There's no use trying,' she said 'one can't believe impossible things.' `I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. `When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!'"
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Re: Active Nursing Moms [off242] [ In reply to ]
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Congrats on a healthy baby, and a wife that is nursing (it is no easy task!!!). Our lil' babe who receives mostly breast milk is also really long and lean. We had some initial issues with weight gain, it took about 2+ weeks for her to get back to her birth rate. But now she's happy, healthy and developing like crazy!!! I wouldn't worry about it unless your Dr. says otherwise.
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Re: Active Nursing Moms [off242] [ In reply to ]
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Hi - congrats on the new wee little one!! I am a mom of 2 little guys - one is 2 months shy of his 3rd birthday and the youngest one just turned 9 months old. Both have been on the 0% or 1% on the growth charts for weight. Yes, you read that right - 0-1%. My oldest was often less than 0, but they don't really track that... Both are healthy as can be. My favorite saying is that someone has to be the 0% that everyone else is judged against. Both were/are breastfed.

Best thing the docs and nurses at the clinic we go to said was this: As long as his growth curve is going up, and he's not regressing in weight gain - he's fine. Doesn't matter if he's in the 0% range or 99%. That really helped calm our fears.

With my oldest, we were freaked out for a long time - he's not gaining weight very fast, he's not getting enough milk, etc. At 5 months, we finally started to suppliment with formula. He gained one pound in about a week, then went right back to gaining just as slow as breastmilk only. By 10 months he had completely weaned himself as he preferred the bottle and I was spending way too much time pumping to only get 6 - 10 ounces a day, so at that time he was on formula only. When we started solids, he had a lot of avocado and egg yolks as they are high fat and a lot of full fat yogurt when he hit a year. He's still a skinny dude (about 28 pounds soaking wet), but he's taller than all the other kids his age and smart as a whip for not yet being 3.

My younest is pretty much on par with the older one as far as weight gain goes. I think his last appointment he was 1.74% for weight but 75% for length. He absolutely refuses to take a bottle though (we've tried more times than I can count), so no chance to supplement with him which I'm ok with as I really wanted to go a year with my oldest and supplementing definitely affected. We are chalking it up to genetics. My husband was the same when he was young, and my brother was too. My brothers kids are still lightweights and they are 6 and 8.

If he was lethargic, not peeing or pooping often enough, rooting all the time etc, that would cause me to worry, but your boy sounds a lot like mine. Feed on demand instead of on a schedule so he gets to eat whenever hungry.

As for you wife, take it easy on the exercise for now (like it sounds like she is doing) and make sure her supply is really well established. I still eat like a horse (probably more than 500 extra a day, but who's counting?) to make sure I am producing enough milk as I don't even want to come close to not producing enough for him.

From a mom who has 2 kids who never had a single fat roll - I totally understand your post! Hang in there, don't stress too much, and don't let the doctors freak you out! Talk to them about the curve of his growth chart, not just the numbers. Don't jump right into supplementing if there are other things you and your doctor want to try first - as it can have a negative impact on nursing. Some babies take to formula and nursing without any problems at all and some don't.

This is what we have experienced. Hopefully others will chime in. If you have any questions, let me know! And again - congrats!

**********************
Harry: "I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this."
Loyd: "I was thinking the same thing. That John Denver's full of shit, man."
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Re: Active Nursing Moms [off242] [ In reply to ]
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I have a 8.5 month old son and he is also long and lean and still only in the 5%-25% percentile. But the doc says everything is in proportion so don't worry about it. He is still breastfed 3x per day, supplemented with formula, and on solids now. I'm short but curvy (not the fastest racer out there even in top form for Oly distance) so it's not just super skinny athletic folk who have babies who are slim. Good luck with next weigh in and shots!
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Re: Active Nursing Moms [RockyMtnChic] [ In reply to ]
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RockyMtnChic wrote:
This is what we have experienced. Hopefully others will chime in. If you have any questions, let me know! And again - congrats!

Thank you so much for the information of what you have experienced with your boys, RMC. We've an appointment tomorrow afternoon with a lactation consultant to help ease my wife's anxieties (some co-workers of hers, who also breastfed, told her today to quit acting like a scientist [which she is] and don't read so much into the data. This blog post (http://drjaygordon.com/...newborns/scales.html) was also a bit reassuring.

To the others who have posted, thank you, as well. We'll check back in as time marches on. And keep an eye out for Kai at the finish of Kona in 2040; he'll be wearing #1. ;)


#cureMS
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Re: Active Nursing Moms [off242] [ In reply to ]
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Total agree with the other posters that each baby is different.
I don't think being active has an affect on breastfeeding as long as you are taking in enough calories and water.

I was pretty active while breastfeeding and both my kids grew a lot.

The other thing to remember is that the percentile scales they use at the doctors are mainly based off formula fed babies, because they were made when the trend was to feed babies formula over breastmilk. Somewhere on the World Health Organization or La Leche League website they have the charts for breastfed babies. If I remember correctly the biggest difference was in the 1-6 month range. Formula fed babies gain much quicker in that timeframe.

If you feel the baby is doing fine he most likely is. If your wife needs support and reassurance I highly recommend findly a local La Leche League group. They get a bad rap for being "breastfeeding fanatics" but I've always found it's just a really supportive group of mom's who have chosen to breastfeed. I got a lot of support just from showing up to a couple LLL meetings in the early months of both kids.

Edited to add: 500 calories extra a day may not be enough. That's just an average number, if you think about the difference in how much milk a 5 lb baby eats vs a 20 lb baby there is no way it's just a set 500 calorie a day need for the mother.
Last edited by: mj: Mar 16, 12 9:00
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Re: Active Nursing Moms [off242] [ In reply to ]
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My baby, now 13 months, was also 5lbs 15oz at birth. He consistently is in the 10th percentile for weight and 70th for length. He looks normal, not at all underweight or low weight. Babies are just bigger these days. I had to switch him to formula at about 6 months and he still maintains his weight. He's a 20 pounder right now. And he's way more advanced developmentally than his chunky friends. The doctor says as long as he maintains his growth curve, then he's good-to-go! Don't worry.

As for shots, give him baby tylenol beforehand. Check online or with pharmacist for correct dosing as it differs between suspension and concentrated drops.

Enjoy parenthood!
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Re: Active Nursing Moms [A_Gal] [ In reply to ]
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A_Gal wrote:
As for shots, give him baby tylenol beforehand. Check online or with pharmacist for correct dosing as it differs between suspension and concentrated drops.

Is this for calming?


#cureMS
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Re: Active Nursing Moms [off242] [ In reply to ]
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Quite often they get a light fever or symptoms of illness afterward. I didn't know this the first time around and my son was miserable for days. Tylenol helps control these. My son usually takes about 2 days to get over the effects even with tylenol. Some babies are fine; others just get plain sick. I'm not sure what, if anything, has a calming effect that is safe for infants.
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Re: Active Nursing Moms [off242] [ In reply to ]
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Well it may be coincidence but my current baby, and my first, both fit this profile. My son is now 5 months old, and the Dr. is starting to be bothered by the fact that he's 50th percentile for length but 5th for weight. I'm breastfeeding and fairly active (not anywhere near where I was before becoming a Mom!). My daughter who is 4 had the same issues from about 3-6 months. Now she is above average in both height and weight, although she looks very trim and lean.

One thing that the nurse said that was a good reminder: "Someone has to be in the 5th percentile." We can't all be the average.

Seems a little crazy, with all the obesity issues in our country, to be so fixated on these low percentile numbers.


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Suffering on the the bike is always more fun than suffering on the run.
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Re: Active Nursing Moms [ride 'em] [ In reply to ]
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My pediatrician had a really good analogy....

Average nursing moms produce milk more like coffee cream - they eat a diet that's higher in fats, resulting in a more "plump" baby
My milk is like skim milk - my diet is low in fats, resulting in a leaner baby (who happens to also be tall)
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