Only 10%.
Posted on 04.12.07 to Clare, Personal by JoanLately, Clare’s clothes have been looking baggier than normal. It could be because the materials have stretched due to constant washing or she could have lost some weight. Wondering if it was the latter, I weighed her last night and realised that she’s lost 500g since the last time we weighed her. I wasn’t surprised because she doesn’t eat very much, but I can’t say that I accepted it well.
I got very angry at Clare first, then the anger turned to extreme sadness and I cried while putting her to sleep last night. For months now, Clare’s been reverse cycling. She eats minimally during the day and waits for me to come home from work for a large feed. At her age, she ought to be consuming about 500ml of milk plus solids per day. She takes about 10-20ml of milk at each feed, which works out to a maximum of 50ml per day when I am at work. I don’t know how much she takes when I breastfeed her, but I doubt she takes 450ml in her morning and night feeds combined.
So I took the day off to take her to the pediatrician today. I wanted to find out if this weight loss is normal and how long more I could go on with this reverse cycling before things really go wrong. At Adele‘s recommendation, we went to the pediatrician at Crown Centre.
Apart from the slightly long weight wait, we quite like the doctor. He’s very thorough. He played with Clare for a while, listened to our concerns without interrupting us, took down notes, weighed Clare, tested her senses and motor skills, measured her head’s circumference, measured her height and length of legs, and listened to her heart and lungs.
His diagnosis? Clare’s only at the 10th percentile of her growth for children her age. However, he’s not concerned because she’s still active and her body’s proportionate. She’s petite because she eats so little but has a high metabolic rate because of her activeness (and I think her bad temper and crying does contribute too). He told me to increase her solid feeds to three times a day (up from the current two) since she won’t want to take milk from the bottle so that she’s eating something, at least.
He also said that our home scales are not very accurate and she might not have lost that much weight. She weighed differently in his office today.
I’m somewhat relieved that we’ve gotten a professional opinion on the state of our tiny daughter, reassuring us that all’s well. However, I can’t stop wishing that the baby would just eat more. When I heard that she’s only at the 10th percentile of her growth, I wanted to cry (again!). She suddenly seemed so fragile.
The doctor was also concerned about how Clare would deal with me not being around next week, but well, he agreed with us that it might be a good opportunity for Clare to have to get used to the bottle. I really hope so.
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Comments ( 3 )
I totally understand how you feel! After my daughter took her 1st immunisation, I think her system went bonkers and she refuses to feed. Everytime I try to feed her, she will cry till her face turns purple. and this went on for 3 weeks! she lost weight, lost her chubby cheeks and I was so depressed! Things are getting better now as I think she is going through a 3rd month growth spurt.
Maybe you can try a different kind of teat for the bottle? will she be able to drink more? Or feed her more frequently? Hope she starts drinking more milk soon!
Michelle added these pithy words on
Apr 12 07 at
8:42 PM
*hug*
your pediatrician sounds like a really good doctor. What was her percentile weight at birth? In general, most doctors won’t be too concerned unless if there were drastic drops in weight. And Clare is also at an age when she is getting a lot more active and hence burning a lot more calories! and 10% isn’t neccessarily a bad thing. Some babies are just small. I would be more concerned if Clare was at 90% because then she is more likely to face a future that can include diabetes and heart disease. Your baby looks great from all the videos and pictures you’ve posted. Breathe. you are a great mom. your baby is fantastic. and your husband is awesome. *hug*
jasmine added these pithy words on
Apr 13 07 at
1:22 AM
I agree with Jasmine.
Meanwhile, you may ask your MIL – she taking care of Clare rite? -to try alternative methods to feed clare your EBM. Eg, from spoon or a small cup.
My nephew also behaves like Clare, drinks a lot only when the SIL returns from work. So my mom feed him using a spoon. Apparently he doesn’t kick up a fuss and starts taking more EBM.
Chloe added these pithy words on
Apr 13 07 at
11:53 AM
