Today I took Sawyer for his 4 month check-up. It bugs me a little that it was so late in the month. He’s nearly 5 months old but there was nothing I could do. We got there a little early and waited for a few minutes in the waiting room. Sawyer has really taken to his Sophie Giraffe and as he sat there and chewed on his toy, it squeaked and squeaked and squeaked.
I nearly laughed out loud, it was so funny! We finally were called back for the check-up.
He weighed in at 14 lbs 10 oz | 15%ile
And he measured 27 in. | 85-90%ile
His weight concerns the doctor because it dropped significantly on the growth chart. He was sitting at around the 50th percentile two months ago and now he’s dropped to 15%. The “s” word was mentioned….supplement. I feel that I’ve been producing enough and my sweet boy is thriving, has plenty of wet/dirty diapers, and doesn’t act hungry after nursing. However I don’t know how much he’s taking in each day so that will be my first step is to determine how much I’m producing. I may have to start topping him off with formula after I nurse him. I really did not want to start this yet because I want to be the one to provide him with the “food” he needs. One thing is for certain, I’m going to start making an effort to increase my milk production by eating more oatmeal, drinking an occasional beer (worked for a friend), and drinking some Mother’s Milk tea. Oh and trying not to stress out about it. I can’t help but think that maybe the flu played a small part. I’ll be going back in a month and we will see if there’s been any improvement.
Don’t stress about his weight percentile on the growth charts. Those charts were created so they would have some standard by which to determine when a child was not thriving, but they are wildly inaccurate in my opinion. My youngest son was born with 2 heart defects and was only 18.5 inches and barely 6 lbs at birth. He has never hardly even registered on the height and weight charts! But he is healthy and strong and continually growing. He’s just little and it doesn’t help that his dad was too, until he was around 16. I’ve had doctors that were concerned and others that weren’t. You know your baby. Trust your instincts as his mom. If he is in need of supplementing, you will be the first to know, not your doctor because of what some silly chart said. You’re a great mom!