Taken with our cell phone camera. John was thrilled to abscond with the pediatrician's stethoscope.
Today John had his 12-month well-baby check-up. Chris won the weight wager. The new stats are:
Height: 30.0 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 21 lbs 15 oz (33rd percentile)
Weight/Length: 53rd percentile
Head circumference: 48.0 cm (87th percentile)
Now that John is no longer gagging on solids, the pediatrician was not at all concerned about John's slow pace at eating foods. She said he looks great and to continue offering him solids throughout the day and allow him to proceed at his own pace.
We had his hemoglobin (blood iron stores) checked. Doctors like to see a 12-month-old with a level of at least 11.0 and John's was 10.9. Rather than focus on the one-tenth of a point that John is low, we were quite tickled to see such a high number. According to mainstream teaching, John was at high risk of low iron because he was born three weeks early (babies compile their prenatal iron stores in the last four weeks of gestation), his mother from whom he gets milk is a vegetarian (doesn't get iron from meat sources), and John hasn't been eating iron-rich foods for the last six months. Yet the test results proved that the iron in breast milk is more bioavailable by far than iron from other sources, just as God designed! We will try encouraging John to eat iron-rich solids in particular and we'll consider offering him a liquid multivitamin, but we're not overly concerned at this point.
On another topic, you may be interested to learn that today is Forefather's Day.
Where are all these hugely fat babies that John is only in the 33rd percentile? LOL. I haven't met many! My kids aren't even on the charts.
ReplyDeleteSomeone told me that a huge (over 90) percentage of US babies are formula fed and that is why the charts are so skewed. Being with LLL do you have any similar statistics? I didn't realize the percentage was sooo high.
Sarah: Seriously, I have no idea who these fat babies are! You know Chris laughs at me for worrying as he points to John's thick thighs and stomach rolls.
ReplyDeleteNursing statistics are *very* hard to calculate because groups who have collected such information have not used consistent definitions. Most nursing mothers in America also use bottles and also use formula, yet they are counted as "breastfeeding." In digging around, I was able to find one source saying that in 2003 only 14.2% of all babies were exclusively breastfed when they were 6 months old and that only 17.2% of babies at 12 months old were nursing at all. Not even close to the WHO or AAP recommendations.
http://www.kellymom.com/writings/bf-numbers.html
We had Emma's iron checked around 9 1/2 months, when she was still nursing something like 12 times a day, and she was at a 10.8. Doc said not to be concerned, because at their age, they are still working on developing new tissues and have a higher iron requirement than "normal."
ReplyDeleteEmma too is in the "lower" half of the charts. And again, doc said there's really nothing to worry about...she's so active that it's no wonder she so "skinny" (thunder thighs and all!).
But as you know, calculating her stats may be a little different than John's since I only breastfed for 12 months, and she's been really good on solids for a number of months now.
I've gotten to the point where I just ignore these charts. If Emma was showing signs of failure to thrive, I'd be concern, but that's just not the case.
Janeane: I forget who at our get-together kept commenting on how petite Emma is, but she sure doesn't strike me as small! Neither does John for that matter. I know I should ignore the charts. Really, on appointments when we're not doing vaccinations, there's no point in my going to the well-baby checks, but I'm a first-time mother and I kind of like them. :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the well-baby visits too. Our pediatrician is a lot of fun to talk to.
ReplyDeleteOh, one more thing...at one point we tried to offer Emma a liquid multi-vitamin (Poly-Vi-Sol and various alternatives), but they are so repulsive (in smell and in taste), that more would end up on her than in her. If you do get John on one successfully, let me know which one you use.
Janeane: I have heard consistently from mothers who tried liquid vitamins with iron that they were vile, repulsive, revolting, and other such descriptors. Yet when I expressed that concern to the pediatrician, she said that her kids used to "beg" for the vitamins. I really like my ped, but I don't know what she was talking about!
ReplyDeleteFloradix has a great liquid iron supplement (from whole foods) and I like the taste of it. Not sure if they have a kids version too. I took it my last trimester w/Christina.
ReplyDeleteMy friend has one of the huge babies, weighing 36 lbs at 21 months. Breastfed. (in comparison my 4.5 yr old is 38 lbs. LOL)
ReplyDeleteKatherine,
ReplyDeleteThere are some excellent food sources for iron, you really do not need to give him those vitamins. Of course I'm a parent who rarely takes her children to the doctor's office. I have to be majorly stumped to set foot in the office. Do you eat eggs or are you vegan? Eggs can supply many of those nutrients, including iron. You are doing great with John, keep up the good work. He is a lucky boy to have such a devoted mama.
Lily: Yes, I'm an ovo-lacto vegetarian, so I do eat eggs. My iron has always tested great (as has my dad's: he is a veggie, plus he gets his iron tested every two weeks when he donates platelets). I think John's will probably get even better in the next few months as he starts eating more foods. He's eating more every day! Have you ever had a very delayed eater?
ReplyDelete