I exclusively breastfeed too and Claire has always been somewhat small as well. She has only been in the 10th percentile for weight (born in the 25th), but she has had a good growth curve. Her weight had me worried for months and I would keep the breast pump attached to me whenever I could to try to up my supply to keep her from dropping off the chart. Our doctor was always supportive and never suggested supplementing with formula except in the very beginning when she dropped almost a pound after birth and had a little trouble latching. But even then he gave us until the weekend to come back in for a weight check before we supplemented. I’m glad our doctor was so supportive of it because if I had all those suggestions flooding in I don’t know that I would have been as strong as you to hold my own. Even though we had a great supportive doctor these charts make me feel SO MUCH BETTER about where she is at. THANK YOU!

This is great to see. I stopped breastfeeding my youngest son after only a few weeks due to, among other things, taking the advice of doctors who told me to give him formula due to reflux/lactose intolerance issues. I regretted the decision and it has taken me a long time to forgive myself evev though he is a happy andhealthy little boy. Props to you for sticking it out!
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I’m sorry this happened. I didn’t breastfeed, but I don’t think that any woman should be judged for the decision she makes for her child. Not by random strangers and not by doctors, nurses and the medical community. I’m actually quite surprised and saddened that you didn’t find more support. But good for you, for sticking to your instincts and doing the right thing for Bella. Isn’t that what being a parent is really all about? A lot of gut instinct, some prayer and some figuring it out as we go.
Krista just wrote A very heavy book

Diana.. I’m so proud of you!!! You were my inspiration all through my pregnancy to breastfeed! And I loved knowing I could call or text you whenever I had questions or concern or pure frustration. There were several times I thought that putting kua on formula would have been SO much easier (newborn days). And it was definintly encouraged by several friends! I’m happy to say he is 8 months today and exclusively breastfed! he isn’t seeming to like to eat much else- babyfood, applesauce, etc.. But I think he’ll start to enjoy in soon! I hope! However… Its news to me that its common for breastfed babies to be smaller!!! He has always been a chunky little monkey!!!! 90% on weight chart lol!!! He’s starting to lean out now that he’s trying to walk all over!! He will walk around with his little push toy ALL day!! And I’m happy to say my doctor always praises me for breastfeeding and even gives me high fives! Its nice to have his support and I feel for you having to push through without that support! Your an amazing mother!

Twitter: hhhippiemommy

Wow! I’m so glad my Dr’s been using the chart for breastfed babies! My son has been just over the 50th percentile since he was born until now at 10 months. If they hadn’t been using the right chart, I might have been told the same thing! So glad that got sorted out. Breastmilk is truly the best – way to go!
Theresa just wrote Hardly a baby

Wow, that is eye opening. It makes alot of sense though when you think about it, why didn’t anyone bring this up before to you? Poor Bella, all traumatized And im loving the “flash a boob” part LOL

I completely support your decision to exclusively breastfeed, but I am going to throw this out there, just because I don’t think it is always the right decision, even if it IS what we want to do as mothers. And please don’t think I am defending what happened to you and Bella, because it is AWFUL that they used the wrong choice and doubted what you were working so hard to do.

But for some babies, especially reflux babies, specialized formula (like Neocate) can make a huge difference in their comfort level. Some cases of reflux can be caused by protein or other allergies, and it can be a lot of trial and error to find out what is actually causing the allergic reaction. Neocate is crazy expensive, but I know some doctors will recommend it in order to stop the reflux immediately, as opposed to the time it sometimes takes to find the trigger foods in a mother’s diet.

I almost didn’t write this, because I don’t want you to think I’m attacking your decision AT ALL. I think you are a fabulous mom and admire your dedication to BF and other ecofriendly choices. I just wanted to put that out there for other people that might find the information useful, at least as something to keep in mind when trying to figure out reflux issues.
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Love this. I think you’re amazing for breast feeding Bella. Next Wednesday I will have nursed Hudson for six months. Yay for boobs!

Well, I made the hard decision to stop breast feeding Abby at 7 months. We were having to supplement her with formula before she even went to day and I went back to work. (She did scream bloody murder at times when the boobs where empty…fun supply issues.) Anywho…from 7 months to 12 months, she was 100% on formula. And check it out, at her best she is at the 10% for weight, but under that for most of the time. So I think the whole formula equals weight gain is a bunch of bull shit. I mean I have to go with my kid as the example…right? At 13 months Abby weighed 18.75lbs. She’s tiny. That’s the way she was made. I wish people would just get off our cases about our kids weight. It’s like we are setting them up for a future of body image issues. (NOTE: I know for some kiddos, lack of gaining can be alarm for serious health concerns, but if after some are just petite…you know.)

This makes me so angry. The exact same thing happened to us, EXACT same thing, and I was pressured into formula, and now we only BF about half the time. I feel like i was gypped out of an EBF relationship with my 5 month old and I’m so upset about it.

Oh my god! I wish I would’ve read this two years ago! My daughter was born 5lbs 7oz, 20 inches. Then has stayed on her tiny course these last two years. I can’t count the number of times I left the doctor’s office about to cry because they convinced me she had a weight problem. They even brought up the whole “failure to thrive” topic when she was 14 months and 18lbs. She has been on her own curve her entire life. I breastfed her for a year, then didn’t start her on whole milk after because I have known allergies. She ate a healthier, more varied diet than any other kid I met, but the doctors kept telling me I had to put her on milk. So I finally did, and she plumped up. But she also developed acne, wouldn’t eat much, and got the worst diaper rash I have ever seen. It wouldn’t go away for anything. She even spent a week diaperless and it didn’t budge. So we stopped the milk and it cleared up in days. Why did she have to suffer before they would believe me? Many, many more weight check visits later and I’ve finally convinced her doctors that she is normal for her. Honestly, how many times do I have point to her and say “does she look like she isn’t thriving to you?” Every time I got “she looks perfectly healthy, but her weight and height are too low on the chart”. Ugh! Now I know better.

Hurray for you mama! I was given a little crap from my own family for choosing to (and still at 17 months) breastfeed my daughter. I was lucky to not have acid reflux issues and supportive doctors. There was one point at the the 1.5 month mark when I noticed she was looking thin so I consulted with my doula and went to see a local holistic doctor and midwife. She was VERY supportive, helped me with my milk supply, and never once mentioned formula. I am so very grateful to her for that.

P.S. I’m a brand new reader and I’m very much enjoying reading your blog!

I’d like to point out that no matter which chart is being used, the charts are average weights of normal babies. So if your baby is on the chart, he’s normal. Even if he’s at the 5th percentile. It seems like every parent is shooting for the 90th percentile, like it’s a grade, and we want to get an “A,” lol. But someone has to be at 5%, 10% etc. As long as your baby is on the chart, and following a curve (not dropping), it’s not fair to label him Failure To Thrive.

That´s *exactly* what happened for me and my babies… until I quit worrying. They all were breastfed, and I became a LLL and later an IBCLC. When the who growth standards came out, it was so nice to my to know what I already knew. That my kids were growing perfectly, and that all the worries, were not justified. BTDT. I became an expert in the WHO software, and wrote a special post about what you expose here, in spanish: http://cozybebe.blogspot.com/2011/12/crecimiento-normal-del-bebe-amamantado.html
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We went through that as well with a 34w preemie twin. She was 3.5lbs at birth – totally a peanut – but growing consistently on breastmilk once she was out of the NICU & totally at the breast. She was under 5% for ages and ages. FTT was never discussed with me. When she started walking, her growth curve dipped – I assumed it was because she was ON THE GO. We were referred to a pediatric GI specialist at the Children’s Hospital.

Bloodwork, urinalysis. The GI doc said he didn’t think he’d see us again. I continued seeing that ped, who gave us an Rx for duocal, which is a nasty powder you’re supposed to add to food, drinks, everything – extra calories for bulk. We were also recommended to fry up everything for her in butter, feed her ice cream at every meal, and not ever say no to treats like oreos, cookies, etc.

Are you still with me? Is your mind blown yet?

They’re almost 9 now, the twins. I got their medical records from that ped. office last year. Not only did it have FTT written ALL OVER IT – every single visit – but the GI specialist’s letter to the pediatrician talked about possibly eventually needing a feeding tube. You can imagine how awful it felt to read all this for the first time, years later. (I can only assume they saw she was healthy but wanted to cover their butts just in case?)

As it turns out…wrong chart! Not only that, but the dip in her growth curve was because the doctor CHARTED IT IMPROPERLY! When I went and did it on the correct chart, it didn’t move her into a huge percentile, but it brought her up over 5%.

What I learned from all that is never to be afraid to ask questions, never be afraid to ask for more detail, and always ask for a copy of their charts if you think something doesn’t seem right.

I was floored at my last Pedi appt for the 15/16 month checkup. it’s a teaching hospital and our regular pediatrician had a sudden family emergency and had to leave the office for about 1/2 hour. In the meantime, the intern/resident came to see us and the had to get a random doctor to come in for the second half as the supervising doctor since our pedi was out. I was shocked to find myself suddenly being interrogated nutrient by nutrient as to how my son was getting adequate nutrition ( we are vegan) when my son has always been quite healthy, “bright-eyes and bushy-tailed”, never gets sick, is developmentally on track and his bloodwork showed no anemia or any issues whatsoever. Then the resident goes on to tell me that they want me to make a special appt in two months because they are very concerned with the fact that he’s dropped percentiles in his weight gain.

The very important context to that is that my son used to be in the 95th percentile while we were exclusively BF’ing cause apparently I only make heavy cream . At 5 months my son looked like the Michelin man and wa in the 99th percentile for weight-for-length. Had my son continued to carry that much weight it would have been very unhealthy for him! So yes, now he is in the 25th percentile for weight as a toddler but he is also in the 30th percentile for height, still has a high weight-for length, and still has no visible wrists and fat creases in his forearms. The idea that he was somehow “underweight” was completely laughable and made no sense once you took his length into consideration as well as the known medical fact that growth in the first 6 months is highly dependent on nutrition but growth after that point is largely controlled by genetics.

I emailed our regular pediatrician afterward and she apologized and agreed that Adam is just now settling into a growth pattern related to his genetics and since length and weight has shifted in tandem, there was nothing to worry about. I was a small child for my age until puberty (now above average height) and it seems likely that my son will do the same though he was a big infant. It’s like doctors today have no common sense.

just came across your blog. you really hit a spot with me. in a good way.
thank you.

Hi, congrats first of all!! I though you might be interested to know “Artificially fed infants consume 30,000 more calories than breastfed infants by 8 months of age” (equivalent to 120 Mars bars – 4 a week). Student Study Guide for Breastfeeding and Human Lactation KG Auerbach, J Riordan – 1993. So it is no wonder that our babies tend to be smaller.
Good luck! Thanks for you posts.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. You’ve armed me with the power of information for my second baby (I’m 15 weeks pregnant). I breastfed my son (now 3 1/2) for two years. He latched on like a champ at the hospital, but my milk took 5 days to come in (c-section) and the nurses said he had to pee in 24 hours or they would have to do invasive tests. Of course now that I think about it….I’m sure I could have challenged that. We gave him a little formula to get his plumbing going and it worked…until the next 24 hours rolled around and he hadn’t pee’d again. So we did that one more time before we took him home. Fortunately that never interfered with his nursing. He’s always been a slender baby and child. My pediatrician was aware that breast fed babies tend to be smaller, but still recommended we start solid foods at 4 months. I think we started 2 weeks later. I was cracking up at the lady above that said she only makes heavy cream. I do believe your body makes what your baby needs, but also think genetics can drive a lot of it. I’ve always been slender and so has my husband. Be were both skinny kids as well. I also have my neighbor’s example – she has three kids (all breastfed) and two were chunky babies and one was a slender baby. So you just never know! I breast fed my son for over two years and I’m planning to do the same with my second. I plan to keep an open mind concerning any issues we encounter, but this gives me much more to discuss with the doctors, nurses and pediatricians!

I could echo everything you experienced here with Bella. Our little one was always under the 5th percentile and we went through more testing that one can fathom. She is two now, super healthy and spunky but just little. Thanks for this great article and chart.

Thank you for sharing! I am sorry that you went through all of that.

I had the opposite experience. My daughter was born 10 lbs, 3 oz so she had a good head start on the growth charts. She’s EBF and is just over 18 lbs at 4 months, she’s a big girl, and it’s all from mama She looks like a FF baby! I’m so proud to see how she’s grown and that I’ve helped her do it. I’ve never heard of the WHO chart either, but I was expecting her growth to slow down because I read many things stating that EBF babies were on the smaller side, or that they would keep up with FF babies in their growth patterns until about 4 months and then they would lean out, turning into what they call “banana babies”. I don’t know if my little girl will turn into a banana baby, but we’re happy with the plump little plum we have. I’m glad to hear it all worked out for you, and you stuck to your guns, that takes a lot. I know I’ve felt the pressure of others pushing formula on me, but I just tell them “Look at her, she clearly is doing just fine” and that’s that.

I’m over here from Cecily’s page.

I can’t apparently leave comments on the recent sad post. I want to send you a virtual hug. Our society takes for granted the conception/gestation/birth process, until things go wrong, and we realize how delicate everyone is. Then, we go back to pretending these things don’t actually exist. I’m glad you at least have Cecily and others go go to who have similar pains. I suspect, from reading Cecily’s blog for nearly 6 years, that these pains are quite common and yet untold.

Don’t be afraid to tell your blog readers when you are experiencing this pain- now, or over the next 80 years. Because, being able to talk about will help others see that it’s ok and normal to always keep your sons alive in your heart.

I think I would rather be a fetus that didn’t survive but was loved so deeply than a human baby who was not greeted into the world with love. You have given your sons love, and this makes them valuable people. Wrap yourself in the love of others who are here to give you support.

Love,
Donna