Extended breastfeeding mothers?

Are your toddlers in the lower weight percentiles for their age? There is still so much emphasis on weight and weight gain in babies and toddlers. Too much, I believe, as some babies/toddlers who are "chubby" are also lacking in vitamins and minerals such as iron (usually from drinking too much cow's milk). My son's weight is something I worry about non-stop and I wish I could just relax. He turned two early this month and is in the 10th percentile for weight. Around the 50-75th percentile for height. I recently had him weighed by the child health nurse and brought up my concerns. I also told her how some "helpful" family members have suggested I stop breastfeeding him so that he eats more food. This is a woman who has been a child health nurse for 20+ years and is used to seeing formula fed babies/toddlers, not breastfed. When my son was a baby, she also worried about how much weight he was gaining etc and she caused me a lot of stress by expressing her concers when his weight gain slowed down at three months, and then again at 9 months. So I was very surprised by her recent opinion. She told me the weight/growth charts are still biased toward formula fed babies. That most breastfed babies do not follow the "curve". That most two years old are overfed and she is sick to death of seeing overweight toddlers. That most parents over-feed their toddlers, especially with junk food. That she supports me raising my son vegetarian (remember she is "old school") and that my son is very healthy and a great weight. She told me to continue breastfeeding him and ignore my family memebers. Just feed my son when he wants food, don't push it and don't worry if he turns down food. So, I was wondering if my son is the exception of if other mothers of breastfed toddles also worry about their child's weight and I wanted to know what weight percentile your toddlers are in?

If there was no such thing as percentile charts etc I'd be a happy, relaxed mother. My son is extremley energetic and seems incredibly healthy. I hate how there is such emphasis on weight. Until my son is 5, I am supposed to have him weighed regularly and his weight charted in the govt health book.
Funnily enough, my son loves to be weighed & measured though. He loves any attention from older ladies (like the nurse).

I have no idea.

My 19.5mo is a terrified, shrieking, sobbing mess in the doctor's office. Her doctor is a relaxed older guy who doesn't force sobbing toddlers on scales. Only rarely do we get a weight, and we haven't had one for some months now.

He once had a resident following him around, and explained why he wasn't worried about my daughter's weight, pointing to various signs of robust good health (er, this included the carrying on)...

If there were no such things as scales and centile charts -- would you worry, does he have any outwards signs of ill health? If the answer is no, you should probably stop worrying.

My daughter is also breastfed and vegetarian. She self-fed from six months, I offer a good variety of healthy food at regular intervals without too much comment, and pay no attention when she ignores a meal.

Dr Jack Newman's book has an excellent section on breastfeeding, weight gain, and pediatricians' foolishness re. ditto...


edit: I did imply some insult towards pediatricians. ;-)

good job DYOT, i couldnt have said it better myself (and bonus points for not insulting anyone in your answer!!)

my 15 month old is breastfed and in the 5th percentile, im not the least bit concerned

My 14 month old was in the 25-50% (quite a range?) for weight at her 12 month appointment. I think she was 20 lbs. There has never been any concern over her weight.

I found my kids and other breastfed kids are chubbier because of fat content in mothers milk

My son is 27 months old and still nurses 2-3 times a day. He weighs 37 pounds and is 37 1/2 in. tall, which puts him OVER the 95th percentile (for height and weight). He weighed 10lbs. 3oz. when he was born though, so he will never be little! lol
He is actually smaller than both his brothers were at this age. They only nursed til they were 10 months old.
He isn't a picky eater by any means, but he doesn't eat very much at all. If I'd let him nurse all day long, he would! lol
Not sure if this was helpful or not...

My son was in the 10 percentile for weight, his Dr suggested adding real butter, flaxseed oil and/or olive oil to his food to pack in some more fat and calories in his diet. Hope this helps!

My daughter is 18 months, still breastfeeding(exclusively for the first 13 months), she has always been in at least the 50th percentile for weight but I still add flaxseed oil at that age healthy fat is very important for their growing brain:) Good luck!

http://www.flaxseed-oil.net/

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/flaxs...

your breastmilk has all the nutrients in it that your child needs. when a child eats more solids your breastmilk will actually become thicker and more concentrated just like in colostrum. I would agree with that nurse. You need to breastfeed your child as long as you both desire to. I have been nursing my daughter for over 2 years. She never once had formula. also according to the APA a woman should breastfeed a child for at least 3 years. So you continue nursing your child. My daughter is chubby and she always has been she was 8lbs 8 ounces when she was born. She is now 32 lbs and she is 36 1/2 inches long.