We were a bit surprised at #2's latest well-check. It turns out he'd fallen from 50+ percentile weight/length at three months all the way into mid 20s at four months. They were concerned enough to bring us back for a five-month growth check-up that's not usually necessary.
Needless to say we didn't see this coming. Our elder son was a tank all the way through and beyond his first year and #2 doesn't look like a shrimp with typical big cheeks and a pudgy baby body. Of course at this age something like a timely full diaper can throw things off. Both my wife and I somewhat disbelieve the measurements, but still feel we need to try and do better.
I'm also feeling like this is on me, and I'm failing, since I've been primarily responsible during the timeframe where he's supposedly tumbling down the growth chart. My wife's back at work. I manage the two boys during the week and thought I'd things figured out. Well, I did until this well-check at least and am now feeling some pressure to maximize milk intake. During the day I'd been doing three bottles, usually during the 10am, 1pm and 4pm hours. They were usually 4-5 oz a piece. To increase this we thought we'd sneak another bottle into the day and altered the plan to be 9am, 1130am, 2pm and 430pm.
The first day doing this was a complete disaster. It was tough trying to work in all the bottles considering naps and then each time I warmed up milk, he'd either refuse it or only drink a couple ounces. Basically he wasn't ready to eat when it was offered to him, but would usually take a little and next time it'd again be too soon and the process repeated. At the end of that first day he'd consumed considerably less than any day previously. It was a one day trial with a ton of wasted milk and considerable frustration for me.
Now I'm trying to drop the plan, instead never making him wait and always having extra milk ready, within reason. This has in essence meant a reversion to the old feeding schedule but it's no longer something I'm trying to fit him into. If he decides to drink more than 4-5 oz at a time he can. Luckily we have abundant supply and it's okay to waste some with most bottles. This seems to be the only way I can figure to pump as much milk into him as he'll possibly take. And most days so far he's done at least one bigger (like 6oz) bottle.
It's really strange, and would otherwise be amusing, that our baby isn't overly interested in eating. He certainly wants to suck and his fingers are in his mouth non-stop. It's his soothing mechanism, as he won't do pacifiers, and it certainly helps him sleep and generally be an extremely happy baby. But then he's frequently more interested in his fingers than eating, whether it's from a bottle or straight from the tap. He also gets distracted by his brother, who always wants to be around. If #1 is nearby playing or talking #2 pretty regularly won't finish his bottle with his attention on his sibling. It's sweet, I think, and yet all this is incredibly annoying with the concern about his weight. So I constantly try to keep those fingers out of the way, have changed how I hold him and in some cases go up to the nursery to help him focus. #1 then usually comes looking for us of course. Oh well.
In the end I know our son will be fine. They probably messed up the numbers or something else fluky happened anyway. It's just hard to know how to make a baby eat if he doesn't want to. Maybe he still doesn't like bottles. Whatever it is, I'll keep doing my best and figuring things out along the way. Let's hope he doesn't fall any further.
No pressure Joe! Our doctor told us when ours were on the super low side... "50% isn't a target it's an average!"