Expert: ruth kraft - 5/9/2011

Question
Greetings,

I took my daughter in for her 6-month check up today and was surprised to see that she has actually lost weight since her 4-month appt. which means that she has now dropped from the 14th percentile to the zeroth. However, in every other way she seems to be a happy, healthy baby who is meeting her milestones.

She is exclusively breastfed and eats 5 times a day to satiation. She sleeps through the night and takes good naps. I have never worried about my supply or her eating habits until now. Since the alternative reasons for the weight loss are quite grim, I am actually hoping that it's a feeding problem.

My plan is to start feeding her every two hours, pump more frequently and possibly supplement with expressed milk (though she's not a big fan of the bottle). Is there anything else I can do?

Thank you for your thoughts.

Answer
At 6 months old you can also introduce more solid foods now and see if that helps as well. If she is developmentally where she needs to be and thriving well, then I would not worry that much. Every baby grows at their own pace. I have had many clients with babies who do the same kind of thing. you can express milk and add it into things like bananas, barly cereal, but I suggest giving whole foods ( real food ) not processed foods out of jars.  You can try a sippy cup too at 6 months if she doesnt like the bottle.

I hope that helped!