Baby dropped 4 centiles over the last 8 weeks.

[thelostartofkeepingsecrets]

I’m so upset. My baby is 16 weeks old this week and was born above the 91st centile and on Wednesday was just below the 25th for his weight.

When he was 8 weeks old he dropped below the 50th centile at which point he triggered the local “faltering growth” (god, it sounds so awful) policy, which is based on NICE guidance. I’ve taken him to be weighed 5 times since 8 weeks and each time raised my concern about his weight gain tailing off and each time I’ve been reassured it’s normal. Not one person listened to me until I drove halfway across the city to access yet more breastfeeding support and thankfully got a health visitor who was shit hot and looked at all his weights and told me about this policy. I think all the other health care professionals I’ve seen dismissed me as an overly anxious mum. I saw the GP that afternoon and we’ve now been referred to paediatrics.

I feel so upset that this should have been picked up 8 weeks ago - we could have put a feeding plan in place, got the paediatric referral in at the appropriate time and maybe my poor baby wouldn’t have spent half his life with faltering growth.

I’m breastfeeding him, I‘ve never found it easy, for me that magic “it’ll get easy at 6-8 weeks” never came but I’ve carried on because of the breast is best message. I’ve given absolutely everything I’ve got and I’m so sad it’s just not good enough. I’m now expressing and topping him up with 90mls twice a day as per the plan I’ve been given but I’ve totally lost all confidence in breastfeeding. I feel so lost and don’t know what to do, coupled with being awake since 1.30 I’m feeling pretty shit this morning.

I don’t really know what I want from this post but it’s helped to write it down and get it off my chest.

Many things could cause this. Were you induced? Are you and your baby’s dad tall / heavy? My baby was born on the 75th centile but I was induced by drip which can increase their birth weight (I’m told). He has since dropped steadily to now being on the 9th at 5 years old. Me and his dad are small. But best to check the reasons. As you are doing.

Sorry to hear that you are having such a difficult start, has anyone pointed you in the direction of Kellymom? You might find [] https://kellymom.com/health/growth/weight-gain_increase/ their article on increasing baby's weight gain]] useful

Has he been checked for tongue tie? My son's didn't show up until about 4 months old when he stopped putting weight on. We switched to mixed feeding and you can see from his 4 and 5 month pictures (yes first time mum got 30000000 already haha) that he really needed it.

Fed is best not breast!

It can be normal so I dont think anyone is at fault here. Babies are frequently born at a different weight centile than the one they naturally end up at. If there is a problem with feeding then hopefully the feeding plan will right it but 25th centile is perfectly normal and healthy, and if your baby was hungry he would have let you know!

Thanks for taking the time to reply

We’re both quite tall, we’re not small builds and we were both big babies. I had an elective section.

I’ve been on Kellymom and am hiring a hospital grade double pump today. I’ve been to breastfeeding support most weeks and seen a very good lactation consultant. Everybody I’ve seen have said my positioning and attachment and supply are fine and he’s been assessed in tongue tie clinic.

I just don’t know where to go from here, I just want him to be happy and healthy. I’ll try pumping over the weekend and try and get him to take the EBM in a bottle. Hopefully it will make a difference.

My ds (who is now 15) was considered a 'failure to thrive' baby. He took 12 weeks to regain his birth weight. He was born on the 50th centile and by 11 months had dropped off the chart completely for weight. I only breastfed for 8 weeks but the change to bottle didn't really make any difference. My health visitor was quite relaxed about it all and it was only suggested at nearly a year old that he should be referred to the paediatrician.

We did see the paediatrician a few times but there never seemed to be a reason for his poor weight gain and growth. Ds did sleep through the night from his second night though, so I'm not sure if it was because he never fed at night. By 2 he seemed to be gaining weight and growing better.

He's now 6ft but is still incredibly skinny!

Keep going, those early days can seem really tough especially if they are not following the normal path. Hopefully now you have a referral they can make sure nothing else is going on.

Obvious, but are you eating enough calories and drinking enough?

And how are his length percentiles?

Yes yes to looking after yourself - plenty of food and drinks. Try to sleep / rest (ha!).

Nobody’s measured his length or head circumference since birth, I guess the paed will as part of his assessment.

I eat a lot because I feel really hungry since breastfeeding began but I am losing weight but quite slowly. I could drink more so I’m making a conscious effort to do that. I’d be so happy if that were the answer!

I’m completely doubting myself now - he’s woken at 2340, 0200 and 0330. I’ve put him to the breast each time and some breast compressions but I don’t think I can hear him swallowing much. It’s so hard to be rational when you’re this tired! Thanks for your suggestions and sharing your experiences. I’ll pump in the morning and keep an eye on his nappies and I’ll give him formula it needs be.

Hey op. It's completely normal for a baby to wake that often (or more so) and want to comfort suck back to sleep. I gave our 5 month old a 6oz bottle at midnight, he still woke at 2am and comfort sucked/fed a little back to sleep (he's combi-fed). Your baby is developing all the time and his sleep patterns will continue to change (probably get worse before they get better) so please don't use that to judge if he is getting enough milk.

A c-section can result in the baby being bigger than they "should" be at birth as they have excess fluid I believe, so his true weight may not have been so heavy. The 25th centile is really not a problem! If there was something seriously wrong with his weight gain then your paed referral would have been sooner and more urgent. Please try to relax.

I also ebf and my little boy dropped from 98th (9lb 9) to 25th over the course of 4 months and has continued to stay on 25th centile since then (now 10 months). It is common for high centile babies to drop multiple lines before they settle on a line. It was never highlighted as a concern, he was exceeding milestones and nappy output fine. If you are worried like others have said, get checked for tongue tie by qualified lactation consultant and keep feeding on demand.

I’ve woken up feeling a lot more positive after reading your experiences - thank you so much! Onwards and upwards. These hospital-grade double pumps are real beasts!

Absolutely do what you feel is best - you’ll know if baby doesn’t look to be thriving.

However; just to add my own experience; my baby’s weight faltered; he was in hospital for a lot of the first 2 weeks; but I so so wanted to breast feed. We struggled on for 8 weeks; and whilst he didn’t lose weight and gained a little each week; it wasn’t great and he was a bit unhappy.

I went to breast feeding support groups, pumped in between feeds, phoned the breastfeeding helpline; took fenugreek (I think that’s what it was called) - all the advice from the breast feeding experts was that everyone had enough supply and keep persevering.

When I chose to mix feed at 10 weeks; he was a different child. I wished I’d given myself a break and not piled on so much pressure to breastfeed.

But everyone’s experience is different; good luck!