Comments on: On Breastfeeding and Growth Charts

By: Toddlers and Weight Gain | A Mother in Israel

Toddlers and Weight Gain | A Mother in Israel — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:17:23 +0000

[...] the child really underweight? As Ingathered learned, older growth charts are based on bottle-fed babies. Breastfed babies are expected to gain 2.5 times their birth weight by a year, not triple like some [...]

By: Leah

Leah — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 19:14:08 +0000

Good point Keren. In the 13 years since the birth of my eldest daughter, they’ve changed the feeding guidelines at least 3 times. It seems, every time I bring a new baby to the clinic, they pull a new bunny out of the hat.

By: keren

keren — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:39:30 +0000

The problem is also that Isreali baby health clinics advocate a diet that is likely to make a baby lose weight, and then encourage them to stop nrusing.
From the age of 6 months they tell you to cut feeds and add the sorts of foods that you and I would eat when we are on a diet, fruit and veg, carrot, courgettes, apples and oranges! who wouldn’t lose weight, when eating this instead of Mother’s milk!

By: Leah

Leah — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:02:55 +0000

Jo, Congrats on your baby. i have never even heard of 1996 charts, though some of my kids were born before 2000 and were probably plotted on these.

By: Leah

Leah — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:01:12 +0000

Rainy, Thank you for stopping by and for your warm wishes. I remember reading somewhere that nowadays health professionals need to read two articles EACH DAY to stay updated. That is a tall order. Still, they must follow the trends. Otherwise, what’s the purpose of research.

By: Leah

Leah — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:58:28 +0000

@MIL – Thank you for your comments. As always, you have troves of experience in this. I didn’t know the percentile kids reach by the end of their first years, sticks around for life. Interesting.

By: Jo

Jo — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:18:09 +0000

See you’d think the new charts would have made it into the child health records by now. My 4 wk old is being weighed against the 1996 charts, where as even my 2 yr old was plotted on a breatsfed babies chart. Ridiculous if you ask me!

By: Tweets that mention On Breastfeeding and Growth Charts « Ingathered -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention On Breastfeeding and Growth Charts « Ingathered -- Topsy.com — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:50:16 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Leah Aharoni and Leah Aharoni, Wendy W. Wendy W said: For Moms ~ On Breastfeeding and Growth Charts « Ingathered: UK adopts new growth charts based on brea.. http://bit.ly/8eiSYX [...]

By: Rainy

Rainy — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:02:04 +0000

Somewhat new reader/lurker here, found you via a kosher carnival I think… I just wanted to say, it is totally possible for a health professional to be unaware of new research or guidelines, especially if they aren’t keeping up on journal articles or if the licensing board that governs them doesn’t require CEUs. Or possibly the dietitian in question went to school a long time ago? Guidelines change all the time, but it isn’t unusual for someone who has been practicing for a long time, coming from an “old school” mindset (in any healthcare field) to be somewhat resistant to new guidelines and ideas that are at odds with what they were taught.

It is NEVER a bad thing to get a second (or third) opinion and do some research. Especially when the advice seems so totally counterintuitive – I’m gobsmacked that someone told you to wean your baby and put her on formula and a 4 hour feeding schedule for FTT, especially if she has known allergies. Breastfed babies, as you have discovered, have their own growth charts. Seems like you are covering all your bases by keeping an eye on it with your healthcare professionals, doing your research and continuing to nourish your child in the way you feel is best.

Chiming in with an opinion here because I’m a student nurse/lactation consultant and so this post caught my attention. I wish you guys well, good luck with all this, and good health.

By: mother in israel

mother in israel — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:58:30 +0000

The answer to your question is yes.

I also wanted to mention that it’s normal for children to drop or gain in percentile between 6 and 12 months. In the early months, they follow the percentile of their birth weight more or less. After 6 months they switch to the percentile they are more likely to be as adults, i.e. their genetic predisposition is more significant. It happened to my daughter, born at almost 4kg. and dropped off the charts. She was under observation until a couple of years ago, she caught up in height at puberty (just like her mother).