Slow weight gain in bf baby :( what am I doing wrong??

[KnockedUpMell]

Dd is 10days today and is slow to put on weight. She was 3430 at birth, dropped to 3140 at day3, was 3180 at day 5, but is only 3220 today. She's feeding regularly, and peeing /pooing lots.
She was jaundiced, but that's clearing up too, and despite the slow weight gain, she seems to be outgrowing sleep suits fairly rapidly - dd no longer fits the ones that she fit into at birth.
Bf is going well (after a really horrible time with DS), and I can hear her gulping down milk. She takes both sides at each feed too. So why isn't she putting on weight??? The MW is coming back to check her in a few days, but I'm starting to wonder if there's anything different I should be doing... Should I express and top up??

[IDrankAllTheGravy]

It doesn't sound as if there's much else you can do tbh, she sounds as if she's a good feeder! A lot of babies lose weight to start with but will soon put it back on.
Try not to worry and wait and see what MW says x

[Alitoomanykids]

Congratulations on new dd. Please discuss with your midwife if you are concerned about her weight gain so that you can get a professional opinion but if you feel that she is healthy and settled then try not to worry... the charts are just a guideline really.. someone has to be at the bottom! You can always contact you HV anytime, or attend a drop in - you dont need to wait for your next routine appointment.

Just to reassure you my dd was breastfed, always appeared perfectly healthy, full of energy, normal nappies and gained weight very, very slowly. She is now a pocket sized two year old and runs around like a maniac most of the time. After her 6 week check up she never got passed the 0.2% and that was if she even made it on to the chart! She is perfectly healthy and just petite. Enjoy your little one and if she is nursing well, try not to worry.

[GalenasGhoulies]

I'd say it's still quite early... Don't panic yet! And no, don't express and top up if you want to EBF - your supply will probably get there. Remember, the first milk each side is less calorie-rich than the hind-milk. It may be that she isn't getting enough of the hind-milk, and so is filling up on the less calorie rich foremilk.

If you can get to a breast-feeding group they can give you advice too and check latch, etc.

But just keep going - you're doing fab!

[HauntingMyWay]

My DS was BF and was born on 50th centile. He dropped to the 25th and has stayed there (2next month).

Try to remember these things to help you keep perspective:

The charts don't allow for the different growth rates in BF of FF babies
Peeing and Pooing is a good indicator all is well
Keeping to the same centile line is what is important
You will know yourself if your baby is satisfied between feeds

It took my DS over 2 weeks to regain his birth weight.

[tiktok]

(Charts don't start until 2 weeks in, Ali - the UK versions have a notional line between 2 weeks and birthweight, but it's not data based).

OP - your baby is gaining weight, and not especially slowly, so not sure what the concern is here....she started to gain at day 5 (normal) and she has continued to gain. She has had jaundice - which always impacts on weight gain - but this is clearing up, so you'd expect her to pick up speed any day now :)

Doesn't sound that the midwives are very worried which is another good sign.

Just feed her ad lib, using both sides each time, day and night; embrace any cluster feeding that happens, and things should go well :)

[tiktok]

Haunting - same thing about charts to you :) The charts in use in the UK are based on bf babies' data but there is virtually no difference between bf and ff babies on the charts until 4-5 mths on....except that bf babies tend to gain more quickly than ff at first.

It is not important to keep to the same centile at all - really it isn't! That idea causes a lot of anxiety. Babies can deviate quite a lot and still be ok. Guidance in the UK is that only a sustained fall of two centile spaces or more demands a closer look.
But charts have nothing to say about a baby of 10 days like the OP's.

Galinas - there is no need to worry about a baby of this age, and this weight, 'filling up on foremilk' - that would only be a concern if we had a baby who was consistently and longer-term low weight, and where the baby was not removing milk effectively, or if the mother was deliberately restricting time at the breast. Too many worries around about fore/hindmilk, and too many myths - it's not the case that the 'first milk' is always lower in calories, either - a good explanation of how it works is here:

www.nancymohrbacher.com/blog/2010/6/27/worries-about-foremilk-and-hindmilk.html


Sorry to be breezing in and correcting stuff - but my passion in life is getting good bf out to women :)

[KnockedUpMell]

Thanks everyone. I just remember DS gaining weight quite quickly despite being much smaller at birth and was getting concerned that dd is asking so long to get back up to birth weight. Hadn't realised that jaundice can affect weight gain - she as been very yellow, and it's only in the past 24 /48h that it's started to clear, so maybe it's that. Will keep my fingers crossed for the next weigh in......

[GalenasGhoulies]

Thanks - I'm happy to be corrected. :)

[Loislane78]

OP - what everyone else has said really. My LO was a tad smaller than yours (7lb 2), and had quite bad jaundice - MW/HV weighed regularly and no concerns as feeding well, good nappies etc. At 10 wks she's now 11lb 7 so don't worry, they'll chubb up fairly quickly :)