Baby feeding constantly but not gaining weight

[Katnisnevergreen]

Baby is 5 weeks old and as the title says.

Deeds at most every 2-3 hours but more like every 1.5 hours. Feeds for a king time per feed but I think it’s not always ‘active’ feeding

I’ve had some anxiety so been having baby weighed every week and has been slow to regain birth weight then put on and last week lost weight rather than gaining.

I’ve seen bf health visitor as well as bf counsellor at baht cafes etc who all say latch looks fine but I am stressing over the lack of progress made.

Any advice?

[Katnisnevergreen]

All of this is basically making me feel like a failure as I’m not providing for my baby properly. Also, long frequent night feeds mean I’m exhausted all day and baby doesn’t really sleep during the day so it’s all getting a bit much for me.

I gave a formula top us last night but baby was still hungry.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Has the baby actually lost weight Katnis or not gained?

It’s really good that you’ve sought help already. Has anyone observed a whole feed?

It’s also good that they say your latch is good. Is baby actively swallowing during a good portion of the feed?

If the latch is good, has baby been checked for Tongue Tie too preferably by someone who specialises in tt?

I’d call one of the BFing Helplines this morning too. If LO is losing weight you need support straightaway. Have you got the numbers?

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

How might I improve my baby’s weight gain might help too

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Hi in, just reread your last post and have seen that the baby isn’t actively feeding the whole time. Have you tried Breast Compressions? If not, I’d try these when the baby stops swallowing.

When baby was weighed last week, was it by the same person, with the same scales at the same time of day and were the scales placed on a hard surface and not on carpet? All of these things can really affect the result

[Katnisnevergreen]

Thank you all for replying. The health visitor weighed her at the clinic so no idea if they were the same scales but were on a table so a flat hard surface.

Hv wasn’t overly worried and said it was just one of those things but obviously I am worried as it’s my PFB. I’m going to have her weighed again this week and we have our 6 week check coming up so will talk to gp then.

She’s alert and bright when awake and having lots of wet nappies every day with a dirty one every fe days so I don’t think it’s dehydration or anythibg

[Katnisnevergreen]

I’m just very disheartening and is adding to my new mumanxirty

[Chickchickadee555]

Hi,
How much weight did LO lose this week? Are you offering both boobs every feed? Have you had any breastfeeding support - has anyone watched you feeding and checked the latch etc?

[BabyMoonPie]

This was me and DD. She fed all the time, slept very little and lost weight. I had midwife / HV and breastfeeding peer supporter help but it was hard. She was being weighed every week without much change and all of a sudden started putting loads of weight on. Have you tried expressing and feeding the expressed milk? Feeding stimulates milk production for the next day so giving formula instead of breastfeeding may reduce your milk. New baby exhaustion is horrific - I've been there... but I survived and you will too! It sounds like you're doing a great job, believe in yourself

[RandomMess]

What was the birth weight centile?

Some babies need to catchdown as in drop to a lower centile as they are naturally small or average babies that were born bigger if that makes sense. The opposite also happens when small babies rapidly go upwards through the centiles.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

If the HV isn't worried, I'd try to relax OP. Have at least a couple of days not doing much if you can. Relax, put your feet up, feed baby and catch up on your favourite TV shows. If you've got a DH get him to bring you ice snacks and drinks and do things like nappy changes and bath time

Try the breast compressions too and let us know how you get on

[Katnisnevergreen]

Thanks all. Baby lost 50gm which isn’t loads but quite a bit when she’s been slow to gain each week.

Baby was on 50th centile when born which then worked out to 25th from 2 weeks (I didn’t really understand this) and now has dropped into 9th.

I’ve been trying the breast compression and this is making her feed more actively and gave her another formula too uo tonight. To clarify, I am feeding her on both breasts before this, then offering the bottle when she is ‘full’ and she is drinking 2oz so clearly still hungry.

I’m going to get weighed again this week and speak tothe HV again. I’m losing track of the amount of people I have seen, all of whom have given me slightly different advice!!

[Katnisnevergreen]

I’m also entirly feeding on demand and not letting her go more than 2 hours without a feed, waking her if necessary for this.

[Chickchickadee555]

OP, the 50g loss is troubling and does indicate you need support (especially coupled with infrequent dirty nappies) and it's a worry that the HV wasn't concerned. Babies shouldn't be losing weight at this stage, they should be piling it on.
When LO has had both breasts and still hungry, can you feed on the first breast again? Are you expressing between feeds? It would be a good idea to start this so you can give ebm as a top up and increase supply.
Have you seen a private lactation consultant? An ibclc would be able to help you - it might be as simple as making some slight adjustments to the latch.
Finally, as LO has dropped at least 2 centiles since birth, you really should have been referred by your HV according to the NICE guidelines so it's definitely worth raising this with her.

[RandomMess]

I'm sure the anxiety is not helping!! Are you managing to eat and rest well?

I don't think you are being unreasonable to be concerned. It could turn out 9th centile is "right" for your DC but the fact baby will take 2oz post BF indicates your milk production isn't keeping up with demand.

If you top up after every feed your milk production won't match what baby needs and hence you can end up on the cycle that means you end up giving up BF but for some mix feeding works well. Remember a fed and happy baby is the most important thing! It could be as simple as baby doesn't have an efficient latch.

I hope you get the professional help you need

[Katnisnevergreen]

@BabyMoonPie is your baby suddenly picked up? Do you mind me asking a bit more detail? How old was your little one and how was their weight?

[BabyMoonPie]

@katnisnevergreen - this may be long! Happy to help if I can. DD was 3400g born. Dropped to 3080g on day 5 so sent to gp for check up (all ok). Went up and down over the next few days. At 4 weeks she was 3.6kg then at 5 weeks she was 3.95kg! That was the turning point and she kept putting on about 250g a week. Breastfeeding was hard for both of us and I think she took a while to learn! Her early days were tough but she started to sleep better about 9 weeks. She just turned 2 so we've had many ups and downs in that time!

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Which day did you say you are getting LO weighed?

[Katnisnevergreen]

So I had a breastfeeding counsellor come out over the weekend who said my latch went very good (despite a myriad of others saying it was)! And showed me a new technique. Baby seems to be feeding better like this and is more settled and satisfied after. She’s not demanding more food 19 mins late for example.
I could get weighed on weds but I’m going to wait til Friday to hopefully see a bigger gain.
I’m making the most of the BF support groups, one tomorrow and one on weds

Fingers crossed it’s all going in the right direction

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Are you getting anymore poops Katniss? (And did you ever imagine you’d be this obsessed with somebody else’s poop?)

[Katnisnevergreen]

JiltedJohnsJulie we had 2 last night!! Whoohoo hopefuly things are picking up

[BabyMoonPie]

Woo hoo!!! Go you and baby! 😀

[RandomMess]

Such great news a millimetre in adjusting latch position can make all the difference!

[Katnisnevergreen]

Also, it looks like baby might have a tongue tie which was spotted today explaining why feeding has been hard.

[Amara123]

Just to add some support, the constant feeding is likely to be cluster feeding, it's how the baby tells your body to make more milk. It's entirely normal at this stage.
Also the suckle reflex in babies this age mean that they will always drink a bottle of formula if given it, often breastfeeding mums take it to mean that they don't have enough milk but it's just a reflex.
Check out the kellymom website for breastfeeding advice and info, it's great! Lots of articles on there about supply etc.

[RandomMess]

My first had tongue tie and although she still got plenty of milk it was at the expense of me being in agony!