3 weeks old and losing weight

[Jojo12]

Hi, my ds was 8lb5 at birth, and my hv weighed him last week (when he was 2 weeks old) and he was 8lb14. I was so relieved as I'd had a few problems getting breastfeeding established - including panic attacks after my nipples bled which led to me using nipple shields (I'm still using them).

The hv came again this week, and ds had gone down to 8lb13. I know it's only an ounce, but I just feel devastated that everything I'm going through is not good enough and is putting him at risk. I'm feeding him every couple of hours during the day, every hour or so from 5.30pm, and twice during the night. He seems to feed well (can hear him swallowing big gulps etc) and usually feeds for 15-45 mins.

I've tried not using the shields for the last couple of feeds, but is there anything else I can do to increase the amount of milk I'm producing? My breasts never feel full any more, even in the morning, and expressing just seems to take forever, by which time he needs another feed.

Sorry to ramble, I'm just feeling a bit lost really! Thanks for reading.

[tiktok]

Jojo - it's horrible to feel things are going wrong....maybe they are not as bad as you think, though, especially if your baby is healthy and happy. A loss of an ounce is not putting your baby at risk.

First thing is to ask how accurately you felt he was weighed - were the scales digital, modern and was your baby naked? If you are confident the weight was accurate, then the next thing to think about is getting more breastmilk into him - and to work on ways of losing the shields as these are known to reduce milk supply ...it's good you have already tried to ditch them. The only way to be sure of making more milk is to increase the number of times milk is effectively removed from the breast, so that means feeding/expressing more often and more efficiently, if necessary. Simply feeding without the shields may be enough to make a difference, and fitting extra feeds in, offering three or four sides per feed is good too. If you have been only offering one side per feed, then this would be another easy thing to change - both sides at least at every feed will stim. the whole production line and get more milk into your baby

Honestly, this does not sound like a crisis to me, just something that needs a sensible response to turn round....hope this helps.

BTW, what are his poos like? If he is producing several large yellow ones each day, that's a good sign.

[Jojo12]

Thanks very much tiktok, just good to get a bit of reassurance! I think the scales were accurate, so will try to offer more than one side at every feed from now on. His poos are big and yellow (kinda like korma sauce!) so I think he's OK there.

Thanks again x

[Martha200]

Am not an expert, but sounds like you are doing really well JoJo.. twice now my HV has scared the pants off me commenting negatively on my BF babys weight (then she realised she plotted it all wrong anyway, looking fwd to this Fri to see if she can be dim for third time in a row) Anyway.. korma sauce type poo is all good and take tiktoks advice both sides really does help, shouldn't take too long for it to build up

[tiktok]

JoJo - were you told to only offer one side per feed, then?

If so, whoever told you did not understand about bf....