baby dropping through the centiles (sorry, long)

[JiminyCricket]

dd 11 weeks, born on 75th centile (breast fed babies chart) has put on weight consistently but gradually (bit slower recently), and has therefore now dropped to 2nd centile. I'm not panicking, but wondered if anyone had any thoughts or experiences?

She has recently had a cold and I've had a blocked duct (OK now), but feeding has been fairly consistent. She's a snacker, rarely feeding more than 10 mins, but frequently. Demand fed and usually not interested if offered more frequent feeds. She has one bottle of ebm a day, when I express I get about 2-3 oz in 10 mins.
She went through the night a couple of times week before last (7 pm to 6 am) and I wondered if this had put her weight gain back a bit as seemed a long time for her to go.
I've recently cut down on what I'm eating - should I not?
Do you think I should introduce a dream feed at 11 pm? (We were going to, as did with dd1, but dd2 seemed to get so upset when we got her up that we stopped).
Any thoughts or experiences appreciated?

[JiminyCricket]

oh and she's otherwise happy and healthy, awake plenty, smiling and googling, lots of wet nappies and dirty ones plenty too.

[Mojomummy]

Hi, I had a similar thing with my DD. She was born around the 50th centile, then sorted of slipped to the 25th centile.

As feeding has established now & she is only snacking, have you thought about spacing the feeds out ? I did this at 16 weeks with my daughter on advice from hv as I didbn't want to wean her until 6mths. We were very pleased when she started putting weight on & I was very pleased to stop the non-stop feeding ! The hv recomended that they are not always hungry & also if she is constantly have small 'snacks'she is likely to be getting just foremilk - watery & thirst quencing, rather than the fat gaining fill you up milk. We started with every 3 hours & then I pushed it to 4 hourly. This happened very easily & I found that it was me that was trying to get her to feed all the time !

My DD didn't go much on the dream feed either.

For your expressed milk, do you express in the morning ? if not this is the best time because the body is rested after your nights sleep.

What sort of food are you eating ? Cutting back can impact your milk, so make sure you are eating plenty of nutrious food.

HTH

[JiminyCricket]

thanks. bump?

[JiminyCricket]

Thanks MM, I've got more time to reply now..I've been trying to avoid the foremilk problem by continuing to feed from the same breast each feed if more frequent than two hourly. Today dd seems more restful and is having longer awake/sleep times between feeds and hence seems to be having longer feeds, so fingers crossed. I do express in the morning, mostly. I miss that 'punch drunk' look dd1 used to get after feeds - dd2 hardly ever does, I guess because she's always just snacking. Thanks for your support.

[moondog]

JC..sounds like you are doing fine to me...
Are you relaxing enogh at feed time? What I mean is sitting down for a good long while so that she can get as much as she needs?

Maybe even lying down?

I found that helped my rather distracted baby suck for longer and harder.

I don't think there is any evidence to suggest that the mother cutting back herself has an effect on supply,especially after 11 weeks,unless of course you are practically starving yourself!

I do think that 11 hours is way too long for a
babe of this age to go without food though. Maybe work on a very peaceful dream feed?

[freakyzebra]

If she's not waking up at night then she's probably not hungry.

It's very common for breastfed babies to plateau in weight around this age, given she's bright & happy in herself I'd ignore the charts & just look at the baby in front of me. Good luck...!

[Socci]

Message withdrawn

[PeachyClairBingoBabe]

Hi. All three of mine did this, two dramatically, one ending up with appointments at Paeds / etc.

I probably wouldn't cut back on what I was eating too much, but that doesn't mean you have to eat unhealthy stuff: fruit, veg, skim milk- all great.

With mine, the eventual cause decided upon by the professionals was simply genetics: Dh's family are all small, as is he.

I did give up BF with ds1, but with DS3 (the one referred to Paeds), I fed for 15 months and he is the only one to be climbing the centiles now- from 4th to 25th- quite a jump! DS1 gained quite rapidly on formula but ended up with a severe dairy intolerance. So not good. I did panic with him, but he had a birthweight of 5.5 lbs, and dropped a pound so I had little chance to think about it. I wouldn't give up BF if it happened again though.

Try to trust your instincts, if she seems OK she probably is, but ask a GP if you really are concerned.

[JiminyCricket]

Thanks folks, am taking it a bit easier today (easy to say when dd1 is at nursery!) and not too worried, though I'd like to see a bit of a tummy on her! Must say my new HV was very good - don't usually bother to see them when I get her weighed, but she more or less said what you guys are - don't bother to get her weighed too often, keep going as you are, keep yourself healthy and if it keeps plateuing then have a check up with a paed just for reassurance - and she copied me the centiles for BF babies and plotted dd on it. DD certainly doesn't seem hungry (bit of a contrast as dd1 used to feed for an hour and still eats mountains - when her friends are over for lunch she's always the last at the table, still munching!) Socci and PC, its good to hear from others its happened to, and how it worked out int he end.

[Mojomummy]

I took Dd to a paedatrition yesterday ( about being constipated)

She was weighed, I already knew her height, & she is on the 75th centile for weight & 91st for height. Tall & slim

If she looks fine, she probably is & in fact, it's not good for babies to gain weight as quickly as they used to think. As long as she is gaining some weight each week.

I would say 11 hours is a long time to go, but if she has a REALLY good feed as soon as she wakes up, she should be ok ?

[KiwiKate]

My friend was hounded for 2 years by the health system here in NZ about her baby who was on the 2nd centile of weight for her group. She was exclusively bf until 6months, and then fed on fresh fish (they live by the ocean), fresh veges out the garden, and a good mix of meat and chicken.

After 2 years they changed paeds, and the new chap said he had NEVER seen a child with a healthier diet. He was also astounded that she had been given such a hard time especially as the child had met, and often exceeded, all the developmental "milestones"

The child's mother is slim and tall, and so is she. But the mother nearly had a nervous breakdown because she was made to feel like an incompetent mother who is starving her child. Her second baby is due soon and she is going to follow her instincts with this one, rather than be hounded by the medical profession.

[rant over]

[MamaG]

I breastfed my DD and had a really positive experience, so when DS was born I was really looking forward to it.

He too dropped down the centiles (quite alarmingly) and my HV told me to mix breast with formula milk, when that didnt work she told me to just give formula. Then when that didnt work she said wean him early. Then when that didnt work we went to the paed.

Everything is fine with him, he's just little but I wish to god I'd not listened to that health visitor. I must admit I felt bullied into giving up breastfeeding and if i was in that position again, I wouldnt hesitate to ask for a second opinion.

(bitter? me?)

[Mojomummy]

It's a reall shame the HV are properly educated over these things - I too had pressure to wean early & when I asked why, because exactly how was bulking her up with rice going to make her put on weight, I got a shrug of shoulders.

Jiminycricket - if the going gets tough, come back to this thread !

[JiminyCricket]

horrible for you mamaG - I gave dd1 formula top ups on advice from midwives, and although I managed to stop them in the end, I think it was bad advice (its a long story, but I think she did need the initial formula we were advised to give her in hosital when she wasn't feeding, but after that I think they should have supported exclusive bfeeding a bit better). Thanks MM. She's feeding well, dh and my mates are being really supportive because they can all see she's a happy baby. I feel oK about it and really want to carry on feeding her, but I hate how thin she looks sometimes sure she will plump up soon though.

[Gobbledispook]

Ds1 was born on just over the 50th centile. Although he put on weight, like your dd he gradually dropped and dropped till he got to the 9th centile....and there he stayed, at least for as long as I had him weighed! He's 4.5 now and is certainly not the smallest in his class - he's fit, in proportion, very physically able, bright...totally fine.

He was a nightmare feeder - breastfed for the first month and it was hell on earth - he was on constantly but not sure how much he was getting. Switched to formula and he took 2-3 oz at a time - he never got to taking 7 or 8oz bottles like all my friends' babies.

If I were you I wouldn't worry - she will 'find' her own ideal weight and feed as much as she needs to - all babies are different.

[Gobbledispook]

These charts plus the naff advice I always got from HV and the unnecessary worry they caused, are the reason I barely got ds2 or ds3 weighed. I couldn't tell you what centile they are on. Ds3 is 14 months now and he's not been weighed since he was about 2 weeks old (norty mummy!) - I can see he is perfectly fit and healthy, eats like a horse and toddling round happily with his brothers.

Pah to all that HV rubbish I say - go with your instincts.