Regaining birth weight - should I be worried?

[DollyPopsOut]

My DD2 is now 12 days old and I am a little concerned about her weight. She was born at 3856g (I can't do g but I think 8lb 8oz) and dropped on day 4 to 3500g (on electronic scales). She did a massive poo about 5 mins after the weigh in though so may have been lighter.

On day 8 she was 3600g (on hanging scales with a nappy on)but today she was 3520g on the electronic ones again. She is feeding well, I can hear swallowing and see jaw moving etc and she is producing about 5-6 yellow mustard poo nappies a day. I am just worried that she is not gaining weight as fast as she should. She is still jaundiced and though better than she was, if she is still jaundiced on Monday we have to go back to Kings for a blood test.

Do I need to worry? and do I need to do anything extra? She feeds at least every 3 hours (often for 1/2hour or more), feeds a lot at night but is a bit coldy and snuffly. The MW suggested that I might top her up with some EBM to get maximum milk down her. I am a bit anxious with this as I was told with DD2 not to express until about 5 weeks so as not to send the supply haywire. Help!

Sorry for the disjointed post but I am so jiggered from anxiety and lack of sleep that I can't think straight. Many, many thanks in advance.

[Soapbox]

I think it sounds as if the calibration between the various scales that have been used might be out.

Does she seem contented and happy once she has had a feed? Has she got several wet nappies each day?

I would be more tempted to take to bed with her for a skin to skin feed fest than to top her up with EBM tbh. That shoudl do more for your supply than expressing at this stage

I would not think of this as a problem at all at this stage - provided you think she is feeding well, I would just keep doing what you are and enjoy her

[determination]

i would suggest you contact either one of these to get a bfing councellor out.. checking to ensure your latch is absolutely perfect will ensure that the milk is flowing as easy and fast as it should. The more fluids in the better the jaudice will get. Here are the numbers:
The Breastfeeding Network (BFN) - Supporter Line 0870 900 8787 - The service operates from 9.30am to 9.30pm every day of the year.
La Leche League Great Britain - 0845 120 2918
National Childbirth Trust - 0870 444 8708 - 9am to 6pm, seven days a week.
Association of Breastfeeding Mothers' - 0870 401 7711 - Open every day from 9.30am to 10.30pm

With regards to the jaundice, i would suggest laying your LOs cradle next to the window to allow her to get the natural daylight - this will help the jaundice. Also just bare in mind that exclusively BFed babies can naturally have jaundice for up to 3 months and sometimes more (states Dr Jack Newman).

check this link:



breastfeeding and jaundice

[neolara]

My 8lb 10 breast fed baby took three weeks to regain his birth weight. The HV got in a bit of a panic about this, but my lovely and very experienced midwife told me that larger babies often take longer to get back to their original weight and not to worry. And sure enough, at 3 months he is now an absolute porker. I'm not convinced by advice to supplement with formula. From what I understand about the mechanics of breast feeding, this would just decrease your supply in the long run which is the opposite of what you want to do. I think Soapbox's advice sounds excellent.

[Olihan]

I think you're doing fine. I know Tiktok will say the weight on the hanging scales with the nappy on does NOT count because it's too inaccurate. At the end of the day she is gaining weight, pooing, feeding regularly and she's only 12 days old. There's no law that says she MUST regain her birthweight by 10 days, some babies are just slow gainers. I gave up bf my ds1 and dd because they hadn't regained their bw at over 3 weeks and I thought I wasn't producing enough for them. With ds2 I'd found MN and was better informed so I perservered with the bf. It took him 6 weeks but he did get back to it eventually and has steadily put on about 6 oz a week since. Tiktok said it's called 'catch down' growth where the baby is bigger in utero than it's actually meant to be so it gains slowly until it finds its level. My ds2 was born on the 98th centile, dropped down and is now settled between the 25th and 50th.

I know just how stressful it is when they do gain slowly, but don't be pressured into doing anything you don't want to, you're doing great!

[Olihan]

determination - what about the oats?

[terramum]

I would personally try to feed more often before going to the faff of expressing. Maybe try every 2 hours or more often....jaundice can make babies artifically sleepy so some do need rousing to feed. Do you need to wake her to feed or is she stirring on her own? More bm will help with it though as its the bm that flushes it out through the bowel. The poo shows that she is getting good amounts of bm though. How many wet nappies is she doing?

Definately ignore the hanging scales weight....on its own it would have been innacurate so with a nappy on its completely useless.

[terramum]

Also forgot to ask if you are getting any pain with feeding (ie beyond the normal toe-curling initial latch ) - do you think the latch is ok?

[Malaleche]

Sounds fine to me. as others have said, if she's pooing and peeing plenty and seems happy then dont worry, and dont let anyone undermine your confidence...enjoy

[DollyPopsOut]

Thanks for all this girls - it's really helpful

I don't get a toe curling latch - I can tell once she's on correctly but it doesn't hurt. That said, I never had pain when BF DD1 so I think I may just be one of the lucky ones who doesn't get the pain at the beginning.

She's having probably 7 to 8 wet nappies a day. I change her nappy either before or mid feed to wake her up a bit as she is quite sleepy. She was very sleepy overnight and didn't feed much at all. I am afraid I was too knackered to keep waking her up so I am going to go for the feeding frenzy today. I will feed her every 2 hours in the day and see how we get on. She usually stirs for a feed about every 3 hours at the moment so I am just going to push that on a bit during daylight hours. I think the idea of a skin to skin fest sounds great. I have got her big sister (nearly 2) to contend with as well so the time to spemd one on one with DD2 is a bit limited. She's also very snuffly with a cold so that is making feeding a bit more challenging.

Thanks for all the replies - really appreciated. I let you know how we get on.

[determination]

Olihan,

I guess i should mention the fact that Oats really does increase milk supply! ;) I eat porridge every morning and night but, have to admit that i have also been taking Motherloves Special Blend tincture too... which tastes vile but seems to work. I guess i will be donating milk this time round too ;)

Honestly though... my LO gained 10oz in 8days last week! I practically drown her everytime she feeds!