Worried dad- 3 week old baby, no weight gain.

[AdamR]

Hello Everyone.
As a first post on here im sorry it has to be a 'help' but im hoping to be able to contribute more once we have her gaining weight.

Well, Chloe is now 3 weeks old.
when she was born she was 6lb 15oz, during the first week she lost 5oz which isnt all that bad especially since she had a tounge tie.

At 1 week old she had her tounge tie cut and between week 1 and 2 she put on her 5oz again (exclusivley on breast).

now at 3 weeks old she is still only 6lb 15oz.
she has around 3-5 really dirty nappies and same in wet ones.
She also feeds every 3-4 hours for about 40 minutes or so with a short gap for winding in the middle (again just on breast).
she also suffers from quite bad wind which is quite upseting for us at times.

Am i being ovely worried as she is my first baby. i thought she would have put on a few oz by now.
she seems a happy and content baby apart from the wind..

thanks for your help in advance.

Adam

Breasts continue to make milk constantly, so don't worry about them having time to fill up. It's normal for babies to feed for much longer than 20 minutes, my ds was feeding for up to an hour a time for the first month. Make sure she offers both sides at each feed too.

Try doing just one bottle at one particular time of day. So, for example an evening bottle. That way she can mix feed for now, and either go on like that or try getting back to full breast feeding later.

And do feel proud about how hard you are trying to get this to work. ANd do try everyone you can tomorrow.

Adam - the breasts don't need to rest/fill up after feeds, milk is being made all the time.

It really sounds like decent face to face support is needed to help them in terms of latch/positioning.

The fact she took lots of expressed milk and some formula from a bottle doesn't mean she was starving, it is very easy to glug milk from a bottle and harder work to breastfeed - in the same way that I am not especially thirsty right now but if you gave me a cup of tea I would still drink it

Can you try calling the National Breastfeeding Helpline tomorrow on 0300 100 0212 for further help, they may also be able to help you track down a proper BF Counsellor locally, it is most unusual for a BF supporter not be be someone who has BF their own child.

Do encourage her to keep expressing too, and have a google for 'switch feeding' - ie offer the first breast, wind if needed, then offer the second breast, then go back to first breast etc and repeat until baby doesn't want any more.

Agree with others about lots of skin to skin too.

local BF support groups, hope it is the right area for you

www.porthosp.nhs.uk/Maternity/Bf%20support%20f%20and%20g%20poster%20size%20nov%2010.pdf

GOSPORT, Hants: The Baby Cafe for breastfeeding and expectant mums meets in Gosport every Thursday from 1pm. to 3pm. Practical information, books, videos and refreshments available. For more details, contact Sue on 02392 501366.

C+P from the Assoc Breastfeeding Mothers Website

Googled and found this not sure if it's any use

The breasts do not need time to make more milk. Breasts don't ever run out of milk while a baby is feeding.

The best way to ensure a good milk supply is to keep feeding. If you start giving formula instead, that's when you will find that milk supply drops and breastfeeding is undermined.

Chloe has been on the breasts for up to 2 hours before now, most of her feeding times are about 1 hour long.

how long will breasts take before there is enough to satisfy her tummy though?

we also dont like bottle feeding her as we are worried she may get 'lazy'' and not accept the breast again.

Also it sounds sad but i cant thank you all enough for the help you have given us.
Shes a real cutie and its so hard to see her cry so hard / long for food.

a little picture of the critter in question...
sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1364.snc4/163637_10150125043167498_677007497_7741541_2175319_n.jpg

I will try and take the GF to a few of those groups. we are moving house this thursday so its all fun times at the moment here!

Adam PM me if you want my DS is nearly 7 weeks, I am BFing and happy to chat to you and your GF either by phone or meet for a coffee. I know who you mean with booby wobbies so understand where you are coming from! I am nearly 40 and an ex nurse so imagine how I felt, that is how she is with everyone and she has a heart of gold really.
Please get in touch and don't feel bad about the odd top up with ff - I had to over Xmas for 2 days as I has thrush, it's not the end of the world!!

Sorry should have said I am in Gosport too!

She's so cute! Chloe will sometimes feed for an hour at a time, that is, honestly, perfectly normal. My little boy does that too. When she's had enough she will take herself off the breast. If she's still awake give her a wind and offer the other breast. Infacol can sometimes take a few days to be effective but once it is it really helps, just be ready for explody nappies.

Getting feeding established is sometimes very difficult, it certainly was with my first son, but it can be done, so do tell her she's not alone. I had problems with his latch and sore nipples.

Like others have said the breast can't run out of milk. Chloe's Mummy should feed on demand and not aim for a schedule. Breastfeeding on demand can be difficult but it's also an excuse to put her feet up and watch some crap like jeremy kyle educational, informative telly. You sound like you're being very supportive, so well done you. One little tip is to keep the drinks and biscuits coming as Mummy is feeding. Also make sure that Mum is eating proper meals too. Another tip I was given was to spend the whole day in bed having skin to skin contact and allowing baby to feed as and when they chose.

It will come right, it really honestly will, but I'm cross at the lack of local support you are getting. But once Chloe's Mum has got it sorted it's ace!

Last thing, make sure that Mummy knows to let the housework go to pot for now, just spend time with Chloe and enjoy these first few weeks together. Good luck!

She's so beautiful

Babies in their first couple of months can feed basically round the clock.
The more baby feeds, the more milk breasts produce. Giving her formula will make the supply go down.

While with DS breastfeeding was very easy, with DD it was a nightmare for first 4-5 weeks- she fed well, but my nipples were in agony. I literally had to curl my toes and hold on to the arm of the chair while she was latching on. I think it was because her latch wasn't great for the first week or so and then even it got better, my nipples had to heal.But after that fifth week it became a doddle, no pain at all.

So do not worry about baby going hungry, your GF should let her feed as much as she wants, no every 3-4 hours stuff, it doesn't work like that for newborns. Lots of Lansinoh and I bet in a couple of weeks at the most her nipples will heal and breastfeeding will not be painful at all.

Good luck

Just read you're moving house, good luck! We moved 2 weeks before DS2's due date. Let us know how you get on.

Oh, and I'm sure someone has already mentioned it, but babies often cluster feed in the late afternoon/evening i.e. they feed continously, with very short breaks- so the fact that Chloe was feeding for 2 hours is good, nothing to worry about. It's also a nature's way to make sure the supply is adequate to baby's needs- more sucking= enhanced milk production.

How's the latch now?

The more feeding the merrier. The best time to give a supplementary bottle of ebm would be in the late afternoon when supply is at its lowest.

It's very important to have a good feeding between 12 midnight and 2 am to keep supply up. The constant demand makes supply increase. That's why the 2-hour feeding cycle is so important.

The nappies will reassure you that all is well - if no wet or poopy nappy or far fewer than previously for a few days, start worrying, but otherwise, try to relax and try to be relaxed and reassuring around your wife.

Good luck with your move. Hope it's stress free.

*late in the faternoon - i.e. after a cluster feeding session if your wife needs a break or would like to eat her dinner.

The babys latch i think is the issue here really. I dont think she is getting on the breast properly then obviously this is leading to sore nipples.

Since the GF nipples are sore now shes finding it very difficult to BF as it hurts so much.
Even with a manual breast pump its becoming ever more difficult which isnt great.

Adam,

this lady is supposed to be fantastic if you can afford her. Will do house calls or phone if you cant get to her too. (shes in Twickenham right up the end of the M3) Have heard great things about her and apparently she will not ever give up until your gf in this case is happy.

(her ebooks are good too...)

Re cluster feeds in evening. My DD used to feed constantly for hours. So frustrating and worrying but perfectly normal

this happened to my son

i wasnt producing enough, eventually I had to stop (teething) he made up for lost time

When the latch isn't great that leads to not being able to 'operate' the nipple adequately for milk production.

Take a look at this article and this image showing the hand in letter C, squeezing the breast and allowing the nipple to be inserted far into the baby's mouth because it's not 'flopping about' at the time of insertion.

Is she allowing her nipples to air dry? It really helps. If she tries rubbing her nipples with a little breastmilk before drying that can help too.

FimbleFumbleFamble

Thanks for the reccomendation, Unfortunately I am the one one who works and Im not on the most amazing wage. so ontop of the mortgage, bills etc I dont think any other outgoings are really possibly without sending us in to trouble.

We are now up at 2am, with little one fighting and bashing around as the GF tries to get her on to the breast. I dont know why little one does this but she does get herself worked up in to a right old state sometimes, which makes her nearly impossible to latch / feed.

we have been doing the 'C' clasp on the breast before offering up to the little one. Still seems as though she's not sucking / latching properly.

Hang in there. Give your gf a hug. Have you tried La Leche League? There may be a branch near you. Peer support is fab.

I think the little one is on a food gorge and has made the underlying apparent problems worse causing the sudden turn with the BF 'lack' of succsess.

I will try giving LLL a call in the morning.

Unfortunately the little one has not had a good feed over the last hour or so and comes off the breast crying every 3-5 minutes.

Since she has been pretty much crying for the past hour the GF has decided to give her a bottle just to feed her. (im not sure on this as, yes the baby is crying.. but she has to learn how to feed properly)

Im at a complete loss now as it seems the GF has given up hope