In need of help/advice again please

[broomformychin]

DD is 10 weeks old and was end until a few weeks ago when we started giving her the occasional bottle of formula to give me a break as I was getting very tired and stressed. Last 2 weeks she has become very difficult to feed, crying and fussing, falling on and off ect.
I spoke with hv and she said she thinks it's nipple confusion and I may have to switch to formula as she's not putting on as much weight as she should. So I've started trying to give moat of of her feeds with he bottle and she's now refusing that too! She's basically taking about half of what she's supposed to each day and I really don't know what to do! Has anyone else experienced this? Is there anything I can do? I'm really worried she isn't getting enough and that she won't grow/develop properly.

[broomformychin]

*not end ebf

[RitaMorgan]

Can you go back to bfing her?

What did the HV mean by "not putting on enough weight" - what centile was she on/has she dropped a centile?

[broomformychin]

She dropped down a centile. Hv said I may have to resign myself to giving her formula. At the minute I'm still expressing and mixing some bm with the formula so that she's still getting some.

[RitaMorgan]

Dropping a centile is absolutely fine and normal - was there anything wrong healthwise or was it just that she wasn't following a curve exactly?

It is only considered something to be checked out if a baby crosses 2 centile lines, and even then it is often no problem. Also, is that a centile down from her birth centile, or a centile down from when she found her line after birth?

I would seek a second opinion before stopping breastfeeding. Some HVs seem obsessed by weight, but those lines are just averages and not all babies will follow them. Formula just to make the baby gain weight faster (especially if she is refusing bottles) isn't necessarily your only option.

[broomformychin]

She's still way above the centime she was on at birth she's just stopped following a curve. I keep trying to bf her but she absolutely refuses and I'm worried about hurting her neck when I try and get her to latch on. I'm so confused.

[Mampig]

Which does she seem to prefer? Bm or formula? Also- could she be teething? Rita is right- you need more info before u decide what to do. Sorry - not much advice I'm afraid except it's hard to reverse if u stop bf and regret it

[RitaMorgan]

I would try cutting out all the bottles and just feeding her direct - if it is nipple confusion that shoudl help. Maybe try lots of no-pressure feeds, lots of skin to skin contact, take her to bed with you, in the bath, feed her in her sleep etc.

Have either of you had any anti-biotics recently? This can cause thrush which makes their mouths sore. Or any sign of early teething?

You could also try calling some BF helplines - NCT, LLL, and National Breastfeeding Helpline all have numbers.

[broomformychin]

She's difficult with both but at least with the bottles she's getting something. Today I've managed to feed her myself for 8 mins in total and she's had 15oz from a bottle (some formula some a mixture of bm and formula) looking in her red book it actually looks like she's dropped back onto the line she was on at birth? Is that bad? What happen's if she doesn't put on enough weight?

[RitaMorgan]

No, dropping a centile or two isn't bad unless there is some other problem - if she is content/alert etc she might just not be destined to be big. My ds was born on the 75th and was under the 25th by 4 months, but he's fine and no one was worried about him.

[broomformychin]

Well she seems hungry and tired a lot, she struggles to sleep during the day and I think it's because she's hungry. Were now trying to feed her before bed and She's back to screaming the house down