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Infant feeding

Slow Weight Gain in High Birth Weight baby

8 replies

amaliesmor · 21/10/2009 07:08

Sorry I know there have been tonnes of questions about slow weight gain but as Tik Tok has said elswhere all cases are different and I am in a place with no NCT or BF cafes etc...
My baby girl is now four months old and has been exclusively breastfed from day one. She was born at 4.120kg (am sorry am in a place which is all metric but that's about 9lbs 1 or 2 I think) and only dropped to 3.965kg which isn't a lot and regained her birth weight within ten days and gained well for the first two or three weeks. she then seemed to fall in to a pattern of gaining exactly 100 grams a week. I was actually quite pleased with this because DD1 remained static for six weeks and then started gaining minimal amounts until around week 18 when she started gaining normally. I had all sort of traumas with DD1 so I was thinking the steady weight gain was okay in DD2. But now the Midwife is saying that I could always give her some formula top ups etc...so that "she starts ticking all the boxes". She is otherwise one of the most alert happy little things that you can imagine. She started rolling at 12 weeks and hasn't stopped trying to get going since. She poos at 6.30am each morning and sometimes might do a second poo later in the day. I am feeding her as much as she wants and she has unrestricted access to my boobs at night too to see if that makes a difference. She isn't all that fussed with feeding and seems to refuse if I offer her more often than two - three hours. She is also incredibly interested in everythinng other than my boobs - the curtains in my bedroom never seem to lose there fascination!! We also had two days this week where she really only fed at night and virtaully fed for about two minutes during the day.

I have tried expressing after a feed and cupping it/bottling it/ syringing it to her after the next but that just gets spat out. She seems very in control of what she takes in basically!

My question is really If I successfully managed to produce enough milk for DD1 (eventually) could it really be the case that I cannot produce enough to get this one growing a little more? Am I being pig headed about this?

The only other thing I can think of is that she possets quite a bit and expecially in the morning. She rarely wants to feed until she's been up about an hour and a half. She has no other symptoms of reflux however as she isn't a cry baby and doesn't seem in pain ever.

I have checked my latch and I have quite strong letdown sensations - when she stays on long enough like in the evenings before bed I can feel several. She is swallowing etc...

I now have to go to the paediatrician and I know he is going to tell me to bring in the formula - I just think that will make her posset more and I don't think there is a lack of milk and I don't want her to stop with exclusive BM until she is much older (fed DD1 til she was 13 months). But if my DD2 looks and acts so healthy what is the benefit of her being fatter per se?

I am a skinny long thing who has never put on a bean of weight - even during pregancy I literally put on 8 kilos at most. Could it be genetic that my girls are just skinny malinkies?

Any thoughts gratefully received and sorry about the long email just have no one to talk to out in the desert here.

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 21/10/2009 07:12

How old is she? And is she still gaining 100gm/week?

She sounds perfectly lovely. She doesn't, to my "ear", sound unhealthy at all. She's active, interested in things around her, and pooing lots. I think maybe she's just meant to be fairly thin.

If you weren't making enough milk for her, then she would be feeding lots, and unhappy. She would happily accept milk from a bottle/cup/syringe. (And anyway, mums tend to have more supply with each baby, anyway, so your supply may well be absolutely fine.)

CMOTdibbler · 21/10/2009 07:15

It sounds like DD2 is healthy and happy - she's gaining consistently after all. And if you and her sister are slim, then its totally possible that that is the way she is meant to be.

You could try feeding in the day in a darkened room as she's so inquisitive, or perhaps in a sling so that she has less opportunity to peer.

My DS possetted a lot - my HV described it as he'd drink and drink and then vom up the milk that was excess to requirements. Which was totally true !

When you see the paed, if he recommends formula you could ask him to explain to you exactly what the benefit to dd would be

boyraiser · 21/10/2009 07:24

Not much time, but some thoughts:
(1) Babies who posset can do better on BM than formula, as BM is digested more quickly so they have a chance to absorb some of the nutrients before spitting it back out.
see www.kellymom.com for more details and tips such as keeping her more upright during feeds.

(2) Your baby sounds alert, produces daily poos, and is happy. No alarm bells sounding there.

(3) When your MW talks about "ticking all the boxes" ask yourself who wrote those boxes. For years BFing mums have beaten themselves up because their babies haven't had weightgain profiles that matched those of FF babies. Your baby's weight gain may ultimately be healthier of that of a child on FF.

(4) If you are still concerned, I would think of strategies to try and maximise your BM production and your child's access to it - e.g. offering breasts more frequently during the day, offering the "third side" (i.e. left, right, then left breast at one feed, then right, left, and right side at next), feeding in a quiet room to minimise her distractions, making sure you are getting maximum rest (and even possibly asking a friend or family member to help out with your firstborn so that you can go back to bed for a couple of days of chocolate & telly supported skin-to-skin cuddling and feeding).

All the best.

ProfessorLaytonIsMyZombieSlave · 21/10/2009 08:37

She sounds absolutely fine and as though she's following a pretty normal catch-down growth pattern. And there's absolutely no indication in anything you've said that your supply is low. There's no intrinsic benefit in ticking boxes other than making the people who wrote the forms feel better.

amaliesmor · 21/10/2009 12:50

Thanks to you all for replying - it is so helpful to hear others evaluation of the situation. Forgot to say that she is doing really well on the growth in length and head circumference - she just has these ridiculously long legs and arms!
We've just had another day of her just absolutely turning away from me after a few slurps. She has then sat up and posseted so I have brought forward the paed appoinment to this afternoon. I am sure things are going to work out and I am heartened by the catch down growth pattern thing Professor - had not heard of that before but have read up on it now!
Will not be swayed to ff on the basis of the weight gain alone.

Thanks again guys I really appreciate your pearls of wisdom and will let you know how I get on.

OP posts:
GreenMonkies · 21/10/2009 12:54

She sounds fine to me, tell your HV to stop using weight charts based on ff babies and use the new bf ones instead, she'll probably tick all the boxes that way! Any weight gain and one or two poos a day sounds like she's doing fine! Keep up the good work!!

tiktok · 21/10/2009 16:43

Where are you, amaliesmor? If it's the UK, I'd suggest you have a good long discussion and ask your healthcare people exactly what they are worried about and then if you end up with no good answers, you can contact the relevant managers and complain.

There's not a thing in your post that suggests anything but a healthy, thriving, normally growing baby. There is no need, from what you write here, to change the way you are bf, still less to add formula.

Why do you think the paed will tell you to use formula?

amaliesmor · 21/10/2009 19:33

Tik Tok I am in the Middle East - not that I had much better experience in the UK with DD1 where the health visitor sat me down and told me that my baby was skinny and really I had to do something about it! I think this is why the panic set in so easily this time around.

I thought the Paed would suggest formula because the midwife automatically questioned my milk supply on each and every occasion and I know she had consulted with him on it in between my visits to her.

However, I have been to the Paediatrician now who, like everyone on here, felt there was no need to change course as she was happy and healthy. He thinks she has been refusing feeds because of teething and mild reflux so am dealing with the teething first and doing the feeding upright thing to see how that works.

Thanks so much guys - this thread really helped me see the wood for the trees x

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