Recently I wrote a blog post about how at baby E's 6 month check-up, the pediatrician said he was in the 10th% in both height and weight. I also said that it was according to the CDC's growth chart, a chart that was created based on a small sample of US babies, who were primarily formula fed. I found some research that supported that (yup, lost it now. I'm sure you can google it though). So, I went and found the WHO Chart. The WHO (aka World Health Organization) chart is based on a big sample of babies from several different countries who were exclusively breastfed for at least the first 4 months, and then most were still breastfeeding at 12 months. In general, the charts are quite different up until about 24 months, but then are more similar.
So, as I said before, I was a little concerned about baby E's #s. Even though I knew he was healthy and growing and developing well, it was still a little worrisome to see it so low. Well, then I pulled up the WHO chart and guess what? That's right, he's just below the 50th% on both height and weight. HA! Take THAT, stupid CDC! My baby's perfect, just like I knew he was.
Today's lesson - Actually, it looks like the CDC is now recommending that pediatricians use the WHO chart. Here's a little bit more info about it (here). I think this is awesome because too often breastfeeding moms are told their babes are too small, and thus they must not be producing enough. Yup, it's not actually the baby, the momma, or the milk that's the problem. It's the stupid chart. The short of it, trust your instincts, trust your baby, trust your milk (or in our case, trust all those other awesome mommas' milk).
2 comments:
*sigh* while I was breastfeeding Boston he was in the 30th % and i was given some crap for that. When I stopped breastfeeding him he dropped and now he is consistently 3rd %, with some drops below the 1st %. My breastmilk was the best thing for him.
You went above and beyond to provide the best for little B! Be proud of what you acomplished!!!!!!
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