1 yr old not gaining weight

[mamado]

My one year old is 17 lbs and only gained 1 lb from her 9 month check up and the dr is sending us to a nutrion specialist. The dr is mainly concerned that her percentile is going down in the weight category.

My girl is eating high calorie foods and loves to eat, she drinks 24 oz of milk a day so I feel like she is getting enough food. I started doubling her portions yesterday and we will see how she does.

But I just wonder, is she just meant to be small? She is half Vietnamese so how does genetics play into this? The dr responses have been positive and encouraging and I am not too worried but I am curious if anyone has had similar experiences?

[raining_kisses]

:welcome to GCM. :typehi

Gaining a pound in three months at that age sounds great. Lot's of babies gain steadily their first 6 months or so, then it levels off when they start learning to crawl/walk. Did she get any taller? What about her head? Is she meeting milestones? Those are all factors in determining if their is a problem or not.

I think genetics plays a huge roll. My little one is a skinny little guy, but he has my husbands body type(I am petite as well). You know something crazy, my little one has only gained about 2 lbs in the last year, but he just keeps getting taller and taller. Last years clothes still fit around his waist, but they sure don't in length! :giggle

You know your baby best. What does your mama gut say? :hug

[Staceyshoe]

I've heard before that our growth charts don't fit well with Asian babies. (My best friend is Chinese and mentioned this to me a few years ago. You can probably research and find out how valid this is.) If you feel she's healthy, I wouldn't be very concerned. If you feel she should be gaining more, an easy place to start is with allergy testing. It's non-invasive, and you get quick results. Lack of weight gain is a common problem with food allergies. My cousin's baby had problems gaining until he was diagnosed. My own son had multiple severe food allergies (needed an epi pen for 5 different foods), but the pediatrician didn't think he had allergies because his weight gain was fine. Obviously, I pushed for the testing and am very thankful that I did. I think drs are so used to seeing babies with allergies who don't gain weight that she didn't think my son could have food allergies since he was gaining well.

[Pragmatist]

My dd was 16# 12oz. at a year. She is also Asian (1/2 Indian). Unless I saw other reasons to be concerned, I wouldn't do anything different. She is gaining weight. I really wouldn't care where she is at based on a growth chart of mostly formula fed babies from Ohio (or wherever it was.)

[beansmama]

My general feeling is if they are mentally capable, physically capable, meeting other milestones, are not gaunt or sickly, then don't worry.