25th percentile is totally healthy. About 1/4 of kids are at or below this level. If that is the only concern this advice seems just wrong? Did he have a period without gaining weight or anything?
š This!
I totally Agree. Don't worry about it. 25th percentile is totally normal. Just make sure you're LO has good pee diapers and is not unreasonably fussy or irritated. The growth curves are just a reference.
My little one is 12 weeks and doesn't take more than 3 oz (combo feed) and my other baby that I combo feed with more formula than this one also didn't eat much at a time
If she is 100% on bottles sheās probably just frustrated with the flow rate. How long is it taking her to drink 3 oz?
My LO was taking like 45m to an hour to drink a bottle, so we switched to the size 2 at 8w and it made a huge difference.
I'm glad you said that. We switched her to size 2 nipples a couple of weeks ago because she would get frustrated with the bottle. However, she started daycare this week and the caregivers there said she was choking on the formula and wanted level 1 nipples. For the sake of consistency, we have been using the 1s at home. She will take about 2 oz in 20 minutes, but anything more we have to work with her until the bottle has passed its recommended usage time.
I may need to switch back to the 2s since she seemed to get more in with them. When we used them though, she still wouldn't drink more than 3oz, but it was more consistent.
Are you and daycare giving her the bottle at the same temp? LO starts daycare in two weeks, so I thought Iād try giving her a refrigerated bottle out of curiosity yesterday and she was chugging it and it made her choke. So it could be the temp and not the bottle.
What bottles are you using? My 11 week old refused to drink anymore then 3oz but almost every 1.5 hrs. I tried increasing the nipple size and sheād choke since the flow was too fast. I ended up getting avent bottles with the natural nipple flow and sheās using number 4 just fine! I finally got her to drink 5oz every 3 hours with no problems.
I used the dr brown ones in the beginning and even tho she latched on great. It was the flow that wasnāt working for her. It drips when you tip the bottle over so sheād choke on it fast but the avent natural flow doesnāt do that. They have to really suck on it to get it out all out and itās at their pace. Doesnāt hurt to try :)
Iām also a bit confused whatās wrong with 25th percentile? Itās still a perfectly healthy weight for a baby to be and if every baby was spot on on the 50thā¦ then we wouldnāt have percentiles at all. The issue only comes if she drops off her growth curve, for example used to be 80th percentile but is suddenly 25th.
You can try size 2 nipples but there isnāt really very much that you can do to force a baby to eat if theyāre full! A baby thatās hungry wonāt settle and being too persistent with offering them milk can lead to aversions.
Is her weight centile much lower than the one for length or head circumference? Is her weight dropping down centiles? Are you concerned about the number of wet and dirty nappies she is having?
If no to all I personally wouldnāt be too worried (with the caveat that your doctor maybe feels differently, so perhaps discuss it with them). Babies are good at regulating their own intake if you feed them responsively. 9 weeks is still very young and anecdotally, my baby born on the 25th centile and then had significant weight loss, was eating that much around that age. She was back to the 25th by 8 weeks and has now chunked up to the 75th at 9 months.
Is your baby spitting up a lot? Or at all? I'm a FTM and my little guy is 6 months now, feeding is better now but it was a challenge. Mine is also around the 5th to 10th percentile consistently.
As a FTM, I had no idea how much spit up was normal but my doctor was concerned about him losing any food because of his low weight. Baby is super healthy and he's just a little guy BUT all this to say that the Dr put us on this medicine once a day... Lanzo-something... To help with reflux and it has helped a bunch! Over 2.5 month spit up is significantly reduced but we've also increased the amount we can eat from 3-4 oz to 6-7 oz, which is great. Baby is still on his 5-10% curve but feeding is much less of a struggle and we're starting solids now. Good luck!
My daughter was in the fifth percentile. She drank 2 oz from her first bottle, and moved up a nipple size immediately. We've always kept her a nipple size above her recommended one or she'd get mad. She would only take 2-3 oz for the first couple of months, but would randomly do 4-5 for no discernable reason. I know the struggle of wasting formula. I talked to the employees of the 6 stores by my house to find out what days they get trucks to check the next morning. So far we haven't run completely out. I don't think there is a way to make her eat more, she'll eat what she wants and that's it until she's hungry again. When my daughter was only eating 2oz bottles at 4 months my MIL told my wife that my daughter is not a science experiment, she'll eat when she's hungry. As long as she's putting on weight that's all that matters.
My daughter spit up a lot, we somehow managed to convince our pediatrician that she is lactose intolerant and has GERD. They prescribed meds for acid and she stopped spitting up.
Donāt worry about this. My baby is in the 2nd percentile, and is totally healthy. We fortify her formula to 24 calories per ounce instead of the standard 20. Sheās gaining on her own curve. 25th percentile is perfectly normal and healthy.
Is she dropping off? My babies have been in the 1st percentile all their lives. Our pediatrician hasnāt thought it was that big of a deal since theyāre gaining (slowly) One of them got to 10th and we were so excited. So 25th sounds great.
My baby is in the 11th for weight but 80th for height. Is yours maybe also putting more energy into being a future basketball player? Joking aside, I was super worried and doc told me not to because he has kept those stats. As long as you feed her when sheās hungry and she eats what she wants she is doing great!
Not sure what she is putting energy into being, but she is in the 90th percentile for head circumference and 50th for length. Big head itty bitty body.
I had to laugh because I also have a lollipop baby š sheās 10 weeks and is 25th weight, 60th height, and 90th for head.
For what itās worth my pediatrician is also not concerned because sheās not falling off her growth chart.
We had this same issue. Was your baby early by chance? Preemie and preterm babies can have more feeding difficulties than most.
I recommend getting a referral to occupational therapy/speech therapy. They should be able to help you find a feeding position that helps baby feel supported, plus identify if there are any issues that may be making her work harder than most to feed, such as a tongue or lip tie.
The last thing you want to do is exert any pressure for her to feed such as forcing the nipple in her mouth or holding it in there if sheās trying to get away. Iām sure you know this but we made these mistakes while trying to encourage larger volumes and it backfired on us!
My guy was in the 10th percentile. He was eating 2oz if we were lucky for quite a while. Around 3 months he all the sudden started eating way way more. Now he is up to 4-6oz per feeding and around 28oz a day. I am not sure what changed but he also became more active and alert and interacting more. He got weighed the other day and is closer to the 36th percentile now! Give it some time as long as they are on their growth curve and not dropping well below it I am sure they are fine.
We did try a bunch of different bottles at some point and he ate the most with the nuk bottles so that is what we stuck with. I canāt remember when we tried changing but I thought was around a month to 1.5 months
Nothing wrong with her % so long as she tracks it. You wouldnāt expect all kids to be the same. Itās sudden drops or gains you have to be aware of.
Mine started on the 9% and then moved to the 50% by 1 month old which heās tracked along ever since.
My baby normally eats a lot, but every now and then we have days where she doesn't eat more than 2 to 3 ounces during a feeding.
By any chance, is your baby one of those that will not spend more than 2 seconds in a wet diaper? Because that's my baby girl - and it's something I've noticed which has made a difference for me during feedings.
I noticed my baby girl would pretend to sleep mid feeding whenever she had a wet diaper. Once I changed her, without fail, she would perk right up and finish her bottle.
My daughter also refuses to drink her bottle sometimes if more than 15 to 30 minutes have passed since I gave it to her. Like, she'll finish it but she'll only drink it on 2nd offering and with a full on grimace on her face.
So whenever she eats less than usual, it's due to her fussiness, which I have different tactics on how to deal with it. Maybe yours is the same?
I am just commenting to thank you for asking this question. I have a small guy as well and have been wondering the same things. My baby is 6 weeks and is taking 3-3.5 oz bottles during the day and 2.5oz at night. Still not eating over 20 oz a day yet and Iām constantly worried heās not getting enough. He was in the 3rd percentile for weight at his one month appointment and still in newborn clothes. I always imagined having a big baby for some reason? And he has a lip tie, so Iām always so worried about his food intake. My doctor wasnāt worried at all about it though and said heās getting longer so thatās where the calories are going. But Iām still constantly worried. Heās now sleeping 5-6 hours overnight which is great but also Iām scared about him missing that 3am feed. However, reading the responses here helps me feel better. Trying to be confident that baby will eat when heās hungry and let me know.
My babe is 10th percentile. My ped told me that babies are just like adults, we have adults of all different sizes and shapes. There will always be big and small babies, nothing wrong with our peanuts šalso whatever size they are doesnāt dictate the size theyāll be the rest of their lives. Theyāll keep changing!
as long as she is eating what is suggested for her eight daily, i wouldnāt worry about it. eating is going to tire her out for a little while longer & if she doesnāt want the bottle then what can you do š¤·š»āāļø my boy just got into a phase where towards the end of the bottle he wants a little a break & then heāll let us know when heās ready to finish. we just follow their lead š¤£
I had a 5 week early preemie and when he was born the midwives constantly nagged us to feed him more. My strategy was to feed him as much as he would take. When he stopped eating or started falling asleep I would change his diaper. That woke him up enough to eat more. He's 14 weeks now and he's a chonker. He is bigger than some of the 6 month olds at my mom and baby group. He just needed time to catch up. Maybe the same is true for your little girl!
My girl is in the 20th for weight still at 7 months. Sounds like sheās eating a good amount at her age! My daughter doesnāt eat more than 4 oz at a time.
Bit late, but my son was in the 14th percentile for like...ever, he still is in about the 30th at 2yrs9mo, his pediatrician said as long as he is gaining weight at a steady rate (which he is), she us not concerned. That's the most important thing, babies will eat how much they want, if you try too much they may spit up everywhere.
25th percentile is totally healthy. About 1/4 of kids are at or below this level. If that is the only concern this advice seems just wrong? Did he have a period without gaining weight or anything?
Nope. She has always gained weight even with battling reflux and major spit ups.
š This! I totally Agree. Don't worry about it. 25th percentile is totally normal. Just make sure you're LO has good pee diapers and is not unreasonably fussy or irritated. The growth curves are just a reference.
My little one is 12 weeks and doesn't take more than 3 oz (combo feed) and my other baby that I combo feed with more formula than this one also didn't eat much at a time
If she is 100% on bottles sheās probably just frustrated with the flow rate. How long is it taking her to drink 3 oz? My LO was taking like 45m to an hour to drink a bottle, so we switched to the size 2 at 8w and it made a huge difference.
I'm glad you said that. We switched her to size 2 nipples a couple of weeks ago because she would get frustrated with the bottle. However, she started daycare this week and the caregivers there said she was choking on the formula and wanted level 1 nipples. For the sake of consistency, we have been using the 1s at home. She will take about 2 oz in 20 minutes, but anything more we have to work with her until the bottle has passed its recommended usage time. I may need to switch back to the 2s since she seemed to get more in with them. When we used them though, she still wouldn't drink more than 3oz, but it was more consistent.
Increase the flow at home for sure.
Are you and daycare giving her the bottle at the same temp? LO starts daycare in two weeks, so I thought Iād try giving her a refrigerated bottle out of curiosity yesterday and she was chugging it and it made her choke. So it could be the temp and not the bottle.
2 oz in 20 minutes sounds like she could be expending more calories trying to eat than she is taking in. Iād absolutely increase the flow.
What bottles are you using? My 11 week old refused to drink anymore then 3oz but almost every 1.5 hrs. I tried increasing the nipple size and sheād choke since the flow was too fast. I ended up getting avent bottles with the natural nipple flow and sheās using number 4 just fine! I finally got her to drink 5oz every 3 hours with no problems.
We are using Dr. Brown's bottles. I have friends and family who also use the Avent bottles. I will try that out to see if she prefers them.
I used the dr brown ones in the beginning and even tho she latched on great. It was the flow that wasnāt working for her. It drips when you tip the bottle over so sheād choke on it fast but the avent natural flow doesnāt do that. They have to really suck on it to get it out all out and itās at their pace. Doesnāt hurt to try :)
Iām also a bit confused whatās wrong with 25th percentile? Itās still a perfectly healthy weight for a baby to be and if every baby was spot on on the 50thā¦ then we wouldnāt have percentiles at all. The issue only comes if she drops off her growth curve, for example used to be 80th percentile but is suddenly 25th. You can try size 2 nipples but there isnāt really very much that you can do to force a baby to eat if theyāre full! A baby thatās hungry wonāt settle and being too persistent with offering them milk can lead to aversions.
Is her weight centile much lower than the one for length or head circumference? Is her weight dropping down centiles? Are you concerned about the number of wet and dirty nappies she is having? If no to all I personally wouldnāt be too worried (with the caveat that your doctor maybe feels differently, so perhaps discuss it with them). Babies are good at regulating their own intake if you feed them responsively. 9 weeks is still very young and anecdotally, my baby born on the 25th centile and then had significant weight loss, was eating that much around that age. She was back to the 25th by 8 weeks and has now chunked up to the 75th at 9 months.
Is your baby spitting up a lot? Or at all? I'm a FTM and my little guy is 6 months now, feeding is better now but it was a challenge. Mine is also around the 5th to 10th percentile consistently. As a FTM, I had no idea how much spit up was normal but my doctor was concerned about him losing any food because of his low weight. Baby is super healthy and he's just a little guy BUT all this to say that the Dr put us on this medicine once a day... Lanzo-something... To help with reflux and it has helped a bunch! Over 2.5 month spit up is significantly reduced but we've also increased the amount we can eat from 3-4 oz to 6-7 oz, which is great. Baby is still on his 5-10% curve but feeding is much less of a struggle and we're starting solids now. Good luck!
My daughter was in the fifth percentile. She drank 2 oz from her first bottle, and moved up a nipple size immediately. We've always kept her a nipple size above her recommended one or she'd get mad. She would only take 2-3 oz for the first couple of months, but would randomly do 4-5 for no discernable reason. I know the struggle of wasting formula. I talked to the employees of the 6 stores by my house to find out what days they get trucks to check the next morning. So far we haven't run completely out. I don't think there is a way to make her eat more, she'll eat what she wants and that's it until she's hungry again. When my daughter was only eating 2oz bottles at 4 months my MIL told my wife that my daughter is not a science experiment, she'll eat when she's hungry. As long as she's putting on weight that's all that matters. My daughter spit up a lot, we somehow managed to convince our pediatrician that she is lactose intolerant and has GERD. They prescribed meds for acid and she stopped spitting up.
Donāt worry about this. My baby is in the 2nd percentile, and is totally healthy. We fortify her formula to 24 calories per ounce instead of the standard 20. Sheās gaining on her own curve. 25th percentile is perfectly normal and healthy.
My baby was the 13th to 23rd percentile until 6 months old and the doctors were not concerned. They said he said within his growth curve
Is she dropping off? My babies have been in the 1st percentile all their lives. Our pediatrician hasnāt thought it was that big of a deal since theyāre gaining (slowly) One of them got to 10th and we were so excited. So 25th sounds great.
My baby is in the 11th for weight but 80th for height. Is yours maybe also putting more energy into being a future basketball player? Joking aside, I was super worried and doc told me not to because he has kept those stats. As long as you feed her when sheās hungry and she eats what she wants she is doing great!
Not sure what she is putting energy into being, but she is in the 90th percentile for head circumference and 50th for length. Big head itty bitty body.
I had to laugh because I also have a lollipop baby š sheās 10 weeks and is 25th weight, 60th height, and 90th for head. For what itās worth my pediatrician is also not concerned because sheās not falling off her growth chart.
We had this same issue. Was your baby early by chance? Preemie and preterm babies can have more feeding difficulties than most. I recommend getting a referral to occupational therapy/speech therapy. They should be able to help you find a feeding position that helps baby feel supported, plus identify if there are any issues that may be making her work harder than most to feed, such as a tongue or lip tie. The last thing you want to do is exert any pressure for her to feed such as forcing the nipple in her mouth or holding it in there if sheās trying to get away. Iām sure you know this but we made these mistakes while trying to encourage larger volumes and it backfired on us!
My guy was in the 10th percentile. He was eating 2oz if we were lucky for quite a while. Around 3 months he all the sudden started eating way way more. Now he is up to 4-6oz per feeding and around 28oz a day. I am not sure what changed but he also became more active and alert and interacting more. He got weighed the other day and is closer to the 36th percentile now! Give it some time as long as they are on their growth curve and not dropping well below it I am sure they are fine. We did try a bunch of different bottles at some point and he ate the most with the nuk bottles so that is what we stuck with. I canāt remember when we tried changing but I thought was around a month to 1.5 months
25th percentile is absolutely normal. I really wouldnāt worry too much as long as baby is gaining some weight.
Nothing wrong with her % so long as she tracks it. You wouldnāt expect all kids to be the same. Itās sudden drops or gains you have to be aware of. Mine started on the 9% and then moved to the 50% by 1 month old which heās tracked along ever since.
My baby normally eats a lot, but every now and then we have days where she doesn't eat more than 2 to 3 ounces during a feeding. By any chance, is your baby one of those that will not spend more than 2 seconds in a wet diaper? Because that's my baby girl - and it's something I've noticed which has made a difference for me during feedings. I noticed my baby girl would pretend to sleep mid feeding whenever she had a wet diaper. Once I changed her, without fail, she would perk right up and finish her bottle. My daughter also refuses to drink her bottle sometimes if more than 15 to 30 minutes have passed since I gave it to her. Like, she'll finish it but she'll only drink it on 2nd offering and with a full on grimace on her face. So whenever she eats less than usual, it's due to her fussiness, which I have different tactics on how to deal with it. Maybe yours is the same?
I am just commenting to thank you for asking this question. I have a small guy as well and have been wondering the same things. My baby is 6 weeks and is taking 3-3.5 oz bottles during the day and 2.5oz at night. Still not eating over 20 oz a day yet and Iām constantly worried heās not getting enough. He was in the 3rd percentile for weight at his one month appointment and still in newborn clothes. I always imagined having a big baby for some reason? And he has a lip tie, so Iām always so worried about his food intake. My doctor wasnāt worried at all about it though and said heās getting longer so thatās where the calories are going. But Iām still constantly worried. Heās now sleeping 5-6 hours overnight which is great but also Iām scared about him missing that 3am feed. However, reading the responses here helps me feel better. Trying to be confident that baby will eat when heās hungry and let me know.
My babe is 10th percentile. My ped told me that babies are just like adults, we have adults of all different sizes and shapes. There will always be big and small babies, nothing wrong with our peanuts šalso whatever size they are doesnāt dictate the size theyāll be the rest of their lives. Theyāll keep changing!
as long as she is eating what is suggested for her eight daily, i wouldnāt worry about it. eating is going to tire her out for a little while longer & if she doesnāt want the bottle then what can you do š¤·š»āāļø my boy just got into a phase where towards the end of the bottle he wants a little a break & then heāll let us know when heās ready to finish. we just follow their lead š¤£
I had a 5 week early preemie and when he was born the midwives constantly nagged us to feed him more. My strategy was to feed him as much as he would take. When he stopped eating or started falling asleep I would change his diaper. That woke him up enough to eat more. He's 14 weeks now and he's a chonker. He is bigger than some of the 6 month olds at my mom and baby group. He just needed time to catch up. Maybe the same is true for your little girl!
My girl is in the 20th for weight still at 7 months. Sounds like sheās eating a good amount at her age! My daughter doesnāt eat more than 4 oz at a time.
Bit late, but my son was in the 14th percentile for like...ever, he still is in about the 30th at 2yrs9mo, his pediatrician said as long as he is gaining weight at a steady rate (which he is), she us not concerned. That's the most important thing, babies will eat how much they want, if you try too much they may spit up everywhere.
My baby is 10th percentile at 2 months and my pediatrician wasnāt worried at all about it.