Been Bugging me - also in ages board

flirtycuddle wrote: I posted this in the May-august board but didn't knwo if I'd get many responses.

Ok my ds was born on July 12 weighing 7lbs 13oz and 21.5" long. At his 4 month appointment on Nov 13 he weighed in at 17lbs 8oz and 25.5". The doctor looked at me like I was doing something wrong at first. I simply told him that Will is eating close to 50oz a day so I started ceral so he wouldn't eat as much. The doctor said that was the perfect thing to do. Ok so I thought everything was fine but then he says if his weight gain doesn't slow down they have will have to do some testing and put him a restricted diet. Who in the world puts a 6 month old on a diet? So what that between 3 months and 1 week old to 4 months he gained 2 whole pounds. He also grew an inch so doesn't his height help the weight some? I am trying to find a new doc cuz this one just made me mad when he said he wanted to talk about a restricted diet if he gains more then a pound in the next 2 months. Am I wrong in thinking this doctor is a quack? Both my df's mom and my mom say this doctor is just trying to get more money for unnessicary testing.

mom2my2cuties replied: If you feel the doctor is doing something wrong - get a second opinion. But honestly, it sounds like your son is eating WAY too much. 50oz is A LOT of forumla for an infant. And if the change doesn't help - then there is probably something genetic or metabolic going on that needs to be treated and tested for is all the doctor was trying to say to you. Doesn't sound at all like unnecessary testing.

flirtycuddle replied: I knew 50oz was WAY to much and I didn't really think he was eating that much till I sat down and wrote down everything he was eating. At that point I put him on ceral and he dropped to about 36oz a day. Now though he is starting to get back up there in what he is eating even with ceral at least once if not 2x a day. He is already eating 8oz per bottle and sometimes its every 3 hours or less. He did say something about malabsorbiton issues. I would do the testing just to make sure but everyone around me is saying he is nuts and Will is fine. That's what made me start questioning his reasoning.

Calimama replied: I've heard of doctors doing food restrictions for babies, it helps prevent child obesity I'm sure. 50 oz is a lot of food for a baby, I'd do the testing. Good luck.

mom2my2cuties replied: Don't take what I said wrong - I didn't mean to sound rude - Just remember when you are dealing with a doctor, not only did they go to school for 10+ years, they see this all the time Rarely will you come across something they haven't seen/heard...So I bet he knows more than the fiancee or the Fiancee's mom or most anyone else This kind of testing is pretty routine...Just stinks because it's blood work.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: The malabsorption thing kind of throws me. If your son wasn't absorbing his food, he wouldn't be putting on the weight he is. But then again, I'm not a doctor.

flirtycuddle replied: That's what I thought to when he said that so I think I understood him wrong really. Then again my dd is 23 months and only 24lbs 31" and he thinks she is way to small for her age and at 2 if she's not bigger he wants to run tests on her to. They both go for their check ups in Jan so I will know more then.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: Logan is a bit over 2 now and at his 2 year check up he was a whopping 31 inches long and an astounding 22 pounds. He's not even on the growth charts, he falls at the equivalent of the first percentile for weight. But our ped isn't concerned. So long as Logan maintains the first percent, he's fine. He says Logan's just meant to be small. Neither myself nor Aaron are very big. So, Logan probably is destined to be on the small side. I wouldn't worry too much. Sounds like your ped is just being cautious.

skinkybaby replied:
Better to be safe than sorry.

CantWait replied: Sounds like your doctor is doing all the right things. I thought that 24 oz was about the right amount of formula. What about adding vegetables or fruit to his diet? It's got the calories, but not the fat that I'm sure the formula does.

By all means though, if you're not comfortable, for sure get a second opinion.

flirtycuddle replied: We have started veggies and ceral both. He gets a jar of veggies and some ceral once a day on top of his 32-36oz of formula.
The reason he is concerned about my dd is she was in the 10th% then at a yr 5% and it just keeps dropping. Me and my df are bigger so they don't think it is just her meant to be small. No one in our families are small really.

CantWait replied:
Both my kids have always been low on the weight side of the charts. It's not the greatest indication of them being unhealhy so don't put to much emphasis on that, and of course, with each child characteristics are bound to be different as you're obviously seeing.

MichaelsMommy replied: I guess I'm old school.. I would never put a baby on a diet - there is plenty of time for that later if needed. I think your doing the right thing with the cereal and that should slow down the formula intake and even things out. I wouldn't dare dream of letting a 6mo old go hungry just because they were a lb or 2 above where they should be.

eta - a test for issues is fine - if nothing is found there is no reason for a diet imo.

mckayleesmom replied: Well...I have to be honest....both my babies were huge formula and milk lovers.....they would live off of it if I let them as younger babies. I know just recalling in my head that both my kids ate 45 oz of formula a day, but neither was on the big side at all either. Neither of them would take cereal, but they ate baby food as well as some table food that we ate. We tried supplementing water and other things in the middle to lower the amount of milk intake and they wouldn't have it at the time. As they got older I would water it down because they were drinking so much...

I don't know what I would do if they would have told me to cut back when they were babies or put them on a diet. I probably would have gotten a second opinion and to be honest...I probably wouldn't have put them on a diet as an infant. Once they get to toddler age...they burn most of their baby fat off anyways.


If it makes you feel any better.....My sister is tiny and her husband is husky but not fat...Both their kids were huge infants...They were big gerber babies. When Peyton was 3 months...he weighed more then my 22lb 2 year old. My nephew still has most of his baby chunkyness but he is disabled, so he can't work it off...His big sister who was actually bigger then him in infancy is now a beanpole. My sisters family is very healthy....my sister is a physical fitness trainer and they eat right, excersise and all that jazz.

flirtycuddle replied: The doctor told me that at 50oz of formula it can cause problems for their kidneys so that is why I started the ceral to back him off the formula. He's eating about 36oz on average instead with ceral and veggies also. I have tried water and he just looks at me like yea right. Also though he is on Nutramigen for alleriges or intolerances and that stuff is so freaking thin. I can see why he eats more with it cuz it doesnt look like more then water when mixed. My insurance just changed again so I won't even be going back to that same doctor for his 6 month check but I will bring up to the new pedi I am working on finding what he said about testing and see what his opinion is.

mckayleesmom replied: I have never heard of it causing kidney problems, but Im not a doctor....Have you tried watering down his actual formula? If you but 2 ounces of water in each feeding, that will bring him down to 40 oz a day.....That is a start and you can try it and see if it works....It worked sometimes for mine.