Feeding Issues

[season]

I'm sorry to hear that you are struggling with feeding. It is a very common preemie issue althoogh the fact that she's on the chart is great. Many preemies have such growth issues they are under the chart. My ds in fact got as high as 25% for awhile as a baby buit leveld into the 5% (height and weight) by toddlerhood and that's where he seems to have settled. His doctor is not concerned as he is growing - just says that he's not going to be a big kid.

As for the age question - after awhile the adjsuted vs actual age does not matter as much. By pre-school age kids don't develop so week by week or month by month. Ds was 6 weeks early and for quite awhile it made a difference when looking at development vs his peers. Now he has friends that range in age form a few months older than him to a few months younger (or more) and the exact difference in age does not matter as much now.

SueAnn
dh Kwame
ds Ezekiel 1/2/02 (34wks due to pre-e)
dd Naomi 6/25/04 (38 1/2 wks PIH)

[alexp]

My girls were like this too...they were 12 lbs 8 oz and 12 lbs 4 oz at their 9 month appointment - and they weren't that small at birth, either - 3.11 and 3.1 . In our case, they were good eaters, although hindered by bad reflux, but even after that got under control they only grew about a pound a month no matter what we did.

In my case I think the weight worries were a little extreme becasue I was breastfeeding and so would blame myself for them not gaining faster. I still occasionally did counts of their wet and dirty diapers at like, 11 months old!

Enfacare lipil should have all the fat and everything she needs in it...I'll bet when Nancy was talking about adding fat to babyfood she was talking about say, stirring a little formula into the babyfood. I've heard of that. I know some pediatricians recommend adding stuff like butter and cream to babyfood for older babies, although ours never suggested it.

I'm over most of my weight worries now...they've been healthy and are on target developmentally, and they eat like a couple of truckers, so what else is there to do? The only time I get nervous now is when they are sick. They seem to lose very quickly over minor illnesses.

It sounds like Olivia is doing great and is just going to be long and slender. (which is not always a bad thing once you reach a certain age :)!)





Alex, mama to:
Parker - born 4/15/2001
Vivian & Lily - born 7/14/2003 at 32 weeks

[bhesseling]

Thank you so much everyone! Hearing others' stories really helps. One thing I've learned from this site is that Olivia is very similiar to other babies and that is very reassuring. My mom told me today that her neighbor's baby who was born full term in June (so he's the same age as Olivia's adjusted age) weighing 6 lbs somethings and only weighs 13 lbs now (which how much Olivia weighs). Stories like that as well as the stories and posts from this site have really calmed my worries over the last week or so. I don't worry about nearly as much anymore.

Thanks for your support everyone! And keep the stories coming :)

Beth Hesseling

[klutsyone01]

i send you love. my son is the opposite. being a preemie hasnt slowed him down at all. at 7 monthes adjusted hes 21 lbs and 29 inches. hes huge however you cut it. me however- i was a preemie for a different reason than my son. i was barely a 30 weeker 22 years ago. and i was always really small for my age. they held me back in kindegarted because they felt i was too small. (the other children used to carry me around and call me their dolly)

[marialynn242]

Im like opposite of you when James got out of the hospital he weighed 5 lbs and gained great every months it was like wow howd he get so big but now he just turned a year (9 months adj)and is 17 lbs and he just decided he didnt like formula its like pulling tooth and nail to get him to eat I wish it would end but a sippy cup is a good idea but james loses interest in the sippy real quick he will drink about an ounce and stop. Ive tried every bottle known to man kind lol and every formula! My doctor suggested a little mash potatoes in his bottle but I would ask your doctor because she is kind of young. But the mash potatoes did help him gain weight fast until he stopped eating the bottles! I dont know if its going to end but I sure do hope it does! I just keep saying 3 more months and were done with formula! YAY Good Luck