Extremly Underweight

[rawallay]

Dear Dr.,

My doughter is 7 months old and her weight is about 8.82 pounds. She weight 7 lbs at the time of birth. Our Doctor got her tests which were all normal. I personally observed that she gain 100 grams of weight each month. Though she is a PICKY eater, but, still a happy child. She has just started sitting now.

Kindly guid me please as the situation getting worst for me and I'm extremly worried about my baby.

Thanks

RAWALLAY

[Renee Radenberg]

If she is trying to feed herself with food then let her try. Suggest soft finger foods to help her feed herself, and try giving her the infant formula in a 'sippy cup' and see if she will drink more. Is the sippy cup does not increase the amount of infant formula daily, then recommend increasing the food she eats, 3 meals daily with snacks between meals.

[Renee Radenberg]

Both her weight and height are below the 3rd percentile for her age. If she is breast fed, suggest changing to or adding infant formula to her daily food. As a guideline for a 6-8 month old child should eat the following: Breast-milk or Formula (6-8oz) 3-5 feedings a day; Starch 2 feedings a day – Infant Cereal (2-4 Tbsp); and Fruits or Vegetables 1-2 feedings a day (3-4 Tbsp). Hoped this helped you.

[rawallay]

Thank you so much Dr. for your valuable inputs.

Regards,

RAWALLAY

[rawallay]

Thank you Dr. for your detailed response.

I would like to shear that my baby is drinking formula milk only, which too, in small quantities. She drinks milk 3-4 times during her sleep at night. Her total milk intake for whole 24 Hour is about 6-8oz, which is too low when compared with the intake suggested by you. However, when feeding solid food she tries to hold food with her hand, instead of allowing me to feed her, and started eating/playing it.

Please suggest the way to increase her milk intake, as to me it is the only cause of her slow growth.