Breastfed baby weight, HV worried... should i be?

[enidlowrij]

My baby is fed every 2 hours around the clock, i have more than enough milk but today he was weighed and he had dropped from 91st percwntile to 65 which was disheartening since i feed him with what feels like is just constant , but i wasnt at all worried because he looks so healthy and did put on a little amount of weight ( 1lb and a half in about 6 to 7 weeks.) His height and head is still high in the 90s though. Hes 14 weeks and stretches out his 3 to 6 clothes(length not width). But hv still said that i need another check next week and may need to go on gaviscon because he does throw up after feeds, but he far from throws up the whole feed and doesnt throw up at all during nights i dont feel this needs medicial intervention at all and dont feel like he nees more frequant check ups either to check on his weight. And i mean theres only so much i can do i cant force him to eat more than every 2 hours that would be insane. And i did say he is breastfed so wouldnt he be gaining slower but she didnt really reply. Basically shes just making me anxious and worried even though i feel dead strong that hes perfectly healthy its still playing on my mind alot and would like to hear if any other breastfed babies experienced same thing? Nothing at all has changed in his feedings since birth same exact pattern of every 2 hours so i dont really undertand also why he would stop gaining weight?

[Blueberrysandgrapes76]

Go to a breastfeeding drop in group to get some proper help but to me I’d guess you need to try block feeding for a bit - if you have oversupply you can sometimes just end up feeding the thinner first milk all the time and the baby never get to the back fatter bit. So when you feed start on the side you fed at last time and don’t switch until you are sure that side is empty

[Ceebs85]

Are you feeding every 2hrs rather than feeding on demand? He needs to be eating when he wants for as long as he wants x

[Blueberrysandgrapes76]

yes to the feeding on demand but make sure he’s taking full feeds each time rather than just snacking

[Ploppie4]

Feed on demand rather then every two hours. Your baby knows how much he needs. Breast fed babies do drop more sometimes. Also babies tend to find a new percentile which is more natural to them in the months after birth. All mine dropped. One went from the 25th to the 0.4th and has been on that line for 12 years. Perfectly healthy slim coordinated bright child who eats anything.

[Ploppie4]

Also my gp always said to factually study a baby by simply looking at it. Does it look happy? Does it seem content? Does it move like it should?

[enidlowrij]

On demand eveey 2 hours -.- at 5 to 6 pm he will go 3 to 4 hours but then back to the 2 hours. Thats the only time hell go longer unless im very luck and get 3 hours here and there.

[enidlowrij]

My let down was super bad in the begining to the point hed choke on it and it would squirt all over his face and i just had to hand express because it hurt. Now its calmed down and he gets frustrated now that it isnt super fast so when it comes to the hind milk he gets super frustrated because it not spurting out and hell pull of a billion times so i must admit i do give in and just put him on my other boob. So that probably has something to do with it. Do you think it would do good if i just pump the last bits and then feed it to him? Because he jusg pulls off every 2 to 5 seconds and at that point hes not super hungry so he could wait 5 mins for me to pump the hind milk... does that sound like a goodish idea?? None of my 3 sisters breastfed and my mum was told to switch boob after 10 mins so im cinda alone on this and brestfeeding group itsnt for another 2 weeks, we dont have weekly ones here... but also he is very happy, hes always talking and smiling at me, kicks a ton and started to roll last week and understood the rattle all in one day at 14 weeks exact so hes reaching all his milestones. Watches everyone hes super alert wont sleep during day because hes too busy. Have to take him for an hour walk to get him to sleep during the day and that nap lasts no more than 30 mins. So he gets tons of play time.

[enidlowrij]

@Ploppie4 @Blueberriesandgrapes76 @Ceebs85

[Tfoot75]

I think the hind milk thing might be a myth. He sounds fine so I wouldn't worry, the health visitor wants to weigh him again next week to check he's not continuing to drop down centiles - if he is then there might be a problem that needs solving (and surely you'd want it looking into?) but the first drop on its own probably isn't anything to worry about. Mine both dropped from 75th to 50th over the first few months despite being long and having large head circumferences.

[InDubiousBattle]

Have you tried calling one of the bf helplines? I don't think that a drop in centile lines is in and of itself a problem, just as you hv says, along with the vomiting it might need a bit more investigating. I would expect for his feeding pattern to have changed somewhat between birth and 14 weeks, at this along get my dd was still feeding every 2 hours (but short efficient feeds)during the day but having a solid block at night. I wouldn't be too worried but keep your hv appointment, try the bf drop in and maybe give nct or LLL a call.

[Changerofname987654321]

If they think baby has reflux and need medication I would push for rantitadine not gaviscon as gaviscon is a nightmare for breast feeding.

[Blueberrysandgrapes76]

Hind milk isn’t a myth - look at the difference in the colour/wateryness of the milk you pump at the start when you have full boobs and the milk at the end or after a feed to the pp who said it was a myth

Yes op you could try pumping a bit after one side but tbh I’d keep putting him back on that side until a new let down came. Start the feed on the one you finished on

[enidlowrij]

Thank you. Its just so hard when hes unlatching constantly along with the every two hours and burping him its just a long process esspecially when i know by the end of it i have like just over an hour to sleep till the next round. Im not too worried about the sleeping pattern as i know a lot of mums on the local breastfeeding group on facebook are struggling with the the same thing some even at a year and a half * praying that will not be me* but for the length of time its always been short for him because it would literally squirt out with just the slightest touch so he didnt even have to do much i remember in the first weeks i could hand express 50 ml in 5 minutes. And yes i really do not want gaviscon my sister son ended up more sick than he was to begin with because of constipation granted he was bottle fed so that did add to the constipation. I just dont want his body depending on anything hes not in pain so id like his body to figure it out on itself and not rely on medication. Hopefully he doesnt drop any weight, he didnt drop any weight this time it was very little gain like a pound in 7 weeks. Which is shit but better than loss. I think what ill do is whilst im waiting for a call from HV and her visit is to pump hind milk and see if that makes any difference and if he gains then ill know that the hind milk was what was stopping him from gaining weight. Worth a try.

[Blueberrysandgrapes76]

Other thing you could do is pump a bit before you feed to take some of the excess foremilk off