Ebf newborn putting on weight very slowly. Help/advice please!

[confusedofengland]

Ds3 is 10 days old today, born by elcs in case that's relevant. I am exclusively breastfeeding him. We had our 10 day check up today & he was found to have put on only 30g since day 5. He was born at 3675g, went down to 3540g by day 5 and is now 3570g. He did do a fair-sized poo right before he was weighed.

He is generally a happy baby, tends to feed every 2-3 hours for 15-20 mins at a time, usually one breast only. At night he will go 3-4 hours between feeds, then takes both breasts for about 30 mins total. He cluster feeds in the evenings for an hour or more. His nappies are mustard yellow, about 5 dirty ones per day plus a couple more wet ones. He tends to be awake in the morning for a couple of hours, sleep most of the afternoon then sporadically awake in the evenings. There was a mention of slight jaundice on day 5, just when his nose was pressed, but mW says he's now pink.

I feel feel like my milk has come in, when he feeds from one breast I feel the other responding iyswim. I ebf both other dses for 3-4 months.

MW said she is not unduly concerned as he is gaining, albeit slowly, and his nappies are a good colour plus he is alert. She said that, just like adults, babies gain weight at different rates. Dh also finds it very difficult to put on any weight (6'3", 10 stone max), so I wonder if ds3 is like Daddy.

Is there anything I can do to help Ds gain more quickly? Any foods I should eat/avoid? This has upset me a little, I feel like I'm failing my baby although am still rather hormonal ATM!

Am also posting this in chat for more traffic

[tiktok]

confused, sorry you are feeling low about this :(

What is it that makes you disregard the midwife's assessment that your baby is fine and simply showing a normal, individual variation....that he is healthy, his weight is going in the right direction, and you are feeding well? The midwife has seen you and your baby, she sounds supportive and well-informed.

Why are you lacking in confidence? I think this is the problem, not the feeding per se - though I do think you could feed more oftenn.

There is no food you can eat or avoid that changes breastfeeding effectiveness (though there are anecdotal stories about oats). More important - far more important - is the effectiveness and frequency of your feeding.

You can prob increase the frequency of your feeding. 2-3 hrly is not very fequuent for a baby of this age, even if he does do cluster feeding as well at other times. You need to aim to offer at least both breasts each time and consider 'switch nursing' (google it) to enable greater intake.

Hope this helps :)

[confusedofengland]

Thank you tiktok for responding so quickly. I'm afraid I am one of nature's worriers plus I am still reeling a little from a trickier-than-expected birth (lost lots of blood, long time in theatre, longer stay in hospital than expected. Also finding physical recovery a lot longer than previous 2 EMCS, sitting & resting lots which makes me feel like I'm being lazy & not doing enough). I am feeling a bit hormonal, too!

I am feeding him every time he wakes. Do you think it necessary to wake him to feed? I will try to make sure he has both breasts each time, sometimes when he is offered he is not interested, but I will persist.

Thank you for your advice & reassurance

[QuietNinjaTardis]

Dd put weight on quite slowly and I got a bit worried too even though she was happy and content, ate until she came off herself add had plenty of wet/dirty nappies. I always woke her to feed after 3 hours or when she wanted if sooner. She put on more weight over the next couple of weeks after I got some good advice from tiktok and is definitely chunking out now. I still think she's just gonna be a tinier person than most as she's still not huge.

[tiktok]

confused, no need to persist if he doesn't want more....seriously, just offer :)

If you have him close to you as much as you can he will prob 'ask' for more feeds.

[pickles184]

My DD was the same, as far as I was concerned she was happy, regular dirty and wet nappies and putting on weight/growing, albeit slowly. As far as I have been told breastfed babies often put weight on slower than ff, nothing wrong with either providing happy and healthy. I don't think waking to feed is necessary unless dropping weight though?

For what it's worth I found porridge had made a real difference to milk supply.
DD is now 15 months and still a bit smaller than average, but a healthy happy little girl with normal height to weight ratio.

[confusedofengland]

Have been offering both breasts today even when he has seemed full on one & come off it himself. He has mostly taken it & had a few minutes of sleepy sucking, so that's encouraging.

Trying not to stress as I'm sure that won't help, thanks to other posters for offering similar stories, that is reassuring. I already eat porridge for breakfast as I love the taste, but have made ds1, age 5, promise to help me make flapjacks - any excuse

Thanks again for all the reassurances

[HighlanderMam]

Sounds to me like you are doing great, I think you're right, you're a bit of a worrier.

Keep going, you're doing just fine.

[meerschweinchen]

Sounds to me like you're both doing really well. I know it's hard not to worry, as I got myself in a real state over weight. It was like weightwatchers in reverse. I was so desperate for him to have gained weight! In the end, I decided to imagine I didn't know how much my baby weighed. Then asked myself the question, would I be worried, or did I feel the baby was feeding well, happy and content? I think if you can answer 'yes' to the second question, then you really don't need to be too worried. Also your son was a good weight to start with. That helps, in that he can afford to put weight on slowly, iyswim. Would be different if he was teeny tiny to start with. Oh, and congratulations! Enjoy those baby snuggles

[NotQuiteCockney]

It sounds like he's doing fine.

Weighings seem really precise, accurate and meaningful, but there are many reasons to doubt them.

Unless you always weigh on the same digital scale (not the same model - the same exact scale) then there may be some variation.

As you say yourself, he did a big poo before weighing. This obviously makes a difference.

And last of all, he may well have gained more than you think - his weight may have gone down a bit more after day 5, before starting to go up, iyswim.

[confusedofengland]

Thank you all. He is a very contented baby, only really cries for food or having his nappy changed! Have been offering both breasts every time he's awake today & I feel like he's taken a lot. For some reason he seems to feed for longer & more efficiently at night, so I make the most of those times.

Will probably see mw again tomorrow, so that we can be discharged as his cord is now off. She will probably weigh him again so we'll see what's what then.

[BadPenny]

Confused, don't feel bad for worrying... Midwives can say crazy things and it's much better to keep asking for assurance, explanations etc.

I didn't worry - MWs said all was fine, baby was alert and content, blood tests normal etc. though lost 10%. But actually all was not fine, we were eventually readmitted and I had to relactate in the end and supplement with formula for 12 months. I should have worried! Early help might have made a difference but now it is (years) too late.

[confusedofengland]

Well, the feeding seems to be going really well, with ds taking both breasts about 60% of the time ( I offer every time). Nappies still yellow & copious, ds still happy.

But, I have noticed that his tongue is white, all except the tip. It looks smooth, but I haven't been able to rub it to see if it comes off, which if advice I've read to see if it's thrush. Mw coming tomorrow so I'll ask her then.

[tiktok]

Sounds good.

Doesn't sound like thrush. Most babies' tongues are like this some of the time at least.

[confusedofengland]

Just a quick update - ds has gained 310g since Sunday

[tiktok]

:) sounds absolutely fine, then :)

[confusedofengland]

Indeed. Thanks for your advice & support