Worried about newborns weight gain

[ETsJourney]

Hello everyone,

My baby was born on 5 March after a healthy pregnancy of 40+5. She weight 3684 gram at birth and had an apgar of 9 and 10. After 1-2 days she lost a couple hundred grams and dropped to a weight of 3440. From 9 March she weighs, consistently, between 3450 and 3460.
She breastfeeds and poops and pees normally (frequency and color).
I am very worried about her lack of weight gain. She is my first.

I would appreciate any advice.

Are you feeding her every two hours from the start of the previous feed? So if she fed at 8 are you starting the next feed at 10?

I breastfed but DD was dropping weight as unbeknownst to me wasn't latching properly. I bottle fed and she gained, it was sad though not a lot of BF support at the time

Have any health professionals (midwives, HV, GP) expressed a concern? I think it's still very early days and that weighing her too regularly probably adds to an already very anxious time when you're getting to grips with caring for your new born.

If you have any concerns or questions about breast feeding you can contact breastfeeding helpline 24 hrs a day 0300 100 0212.

It can take 2-3 weeks for babies to regain their birth weight and breast fed babies tend to gain weight slower than formula fed.

If she is otherwise well, and no health professionals are concerned then I would try not to focus on it too much at this point.

I live in The Netherlands and here they told me to feed her every three hours or when she is hungry. She is however not asking for more often

This ^^

I've had two babies who had significant weight gain issues. My youngest especially took 3 weeks to get back to birth weight. When are you next seeing your MW or HV? This is a really tricky time for you in terms of your hormones and baby coming into the world. I would try and have a chat with one of your healthcare professionals about your concerns and how you are feeling.

As you are bf, you can also ask for details of any local bf drop ins and pop along to them to get checked by a professional in terms of latch / position etc. You could also look into seeing a private lactation consultant to put your mind at ease - https://lcgb.org/find-an-ibclc/

Ah, cross-post. Sorry, OP, my link won't be any use to you if you are not in the UK, but you could look for some local IBCLCs in your area.

In the UK I was told to wake to feed every 2 two hours until they regain their birth weight.

Additional information: since yesterday she asks to eat about every hour but then she only feeds for 5-10 minutes and she persistently rejects more even is she is awake.

Honestly do not sweat it

My first didn’t regain birth weight until 4 weeks post birth l. The midwives were a fucking nightmare, it was harassment. Her nappies were wet and she was alert and healthy looking
At one point they were weighing her every 2 days with different scales… it was a joke.
+800g
-500g
+900g
😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

she was 80-95th centile for height from birth to 3 yrs (she’s 3 now!)
and 70-90th for weight from about 3m

my DS was born on 60th dropped to 20th (again stressful) and then sort of tracked on that line and is 50th ish for height and 20-40th for weight

easy to say, hard to do but try not to get to het up

Thank you. How did you know your kids were healthy nonetheless?

You can work out the % of your baby’s weight loss (yours is around 6%) babies can lose up to 10% of their birth weight.

are they;
feeding 8-12 feeds in 24 hours
at least 6 wet nappies
2 stools size of a £2 coin
sucking and swallowing
colour pink (no jaundice)
waking for feeds
letting go of the breast spontaneously or went gently lifted?
calm and content between most feeds

answering yes to these questions usually identifies a well baby, weight should be on day 10!

good luck!

Thanks @Kidsaregrim I was just googling this and you beat me to it!

I had a baby who was very well but just not a fast grower - midwives covered this checklist every weigh-in, and weren't too concerned if everything else was fine on the list.

5-40 minutes is a feed.

longer than 40 minutes I would be worried about the latch and how hard they are working to fill themselves up.

under 5 is not an adequate feed for nutrition.

can you see milk transfer happening?

it really doesn’t sound like a problem now but no one can say for sure without having eyes on baby. Please see your healthcare provider, lots of new mums need a little reassurance in these early days

Wow glad I didn't get that advice as took 3-4 weeks for any of mine to regain birth weight. Would've got even less sleep than I did

I would check with midwife or doctor - it does sound a little early to tell and that if the checklist a PP shared is met then it probably is nothing. But my DC didn't gain weight for a month and at that point doctor was worried and they were given antibiotics for suspected infection (never confirmed) and all was well from then.

I don't think anything you said above is particularly concerning but I think the advice to attend a breastfeeding support group is excellent. They can check baby's latch to make sure they are feeding ok. Sometimes it's just great to be around other mums at a similar stage and share the challenges together.

Regarding the update you posted about the increased feeds, I think at this stage it's quite normal for them to go through phases. As their stomachs get bigger or they have a growth spurt they feed frequently to get milk supply up. I would recommend a comfortable chair, snacks nearby and a breastfeeding pillow to make you both comfortable.