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

[pookamoo]

saggy is absolutely right of course!
Good luck with everything!

[Sars2]

I'm sorry you guys are having such a struggle with breast feeding. Circumstances can make it hard to produce sometimes and it can be difficult to know how much your baby is getting. I had a traumatic labour and as a result did not produce enough, I didn't know this and my little one lost 20% body weight as a result. He is on formula full time now but i went through a stage of feeling like an inadequate mother because everyone pushes for breast feeding and noone really lets you know what to do if you can't. My midwife suggested trying him on the breast and topping up with formula if need be but unfortunately my milk dried up totally. It is actually more common than you realise so please don't feel bad if you have to use formula - my little one is now 3 weeks old and putting on weight steadily now which is the most important thing and i'm fretting less and enjoying my time more with him since we made that decision :)

[AdamR]

Well
I will give a quick update as i am at work (only place i have internet).

Amy is still BF but she just isnt producing enough for Chloe.
She will feed for around 1 hour and then have around 3oz of formula.
If we just feed her formula she will eat anywhere between 4-6oz in one go!

Its not great though as the GF now has mastitas (spelling) so shes rather unwell currently.

On other news Chloe has now put on just under 2lb in a week so is now 8lb 6oz! (fat girl!). she is more awake and is feeding rather too often (around every 90 minutes) so we are having to use BF and formula.

And last, im sorry i havent got back to the many PM's / offers for meeting up. We have been so busy with moving, trying to get the house sorted and the fact im now back at work.

I will try and do another update this evening :)

Adam

[BlackSwan]

Adam - mixed feeding is great if it works for your GF. You know what, even if she ends up entirely on formula, it's totally fine.

The breast is best message is a positive one, but it can be quite upsetting if breast feeding is nigh on impossible for whatever reason. We all want to give our babies the best possible start though we are unfair on ourselves when we take this to mean our babies are getting second best when breast feeding doesn't work out. Breast feeding supporters can be so vocal in saying exclusive breast feeding can work for everyone - it just doesn't. Formula fed babies thrive and are healthy happy little people too!

It's not the be all and end all. Why do you think you see shelves and shelves of formula at the chemist? Not because women can't be bothered to breast feed - but because for many, it's not workable.

[gourd]

I wanted to say that the more frequently you feed baby (not the amount, the frequency) the more milk Mummy will produce. The less frequently (i.e. if you feed with formula, which is effectively replacing a breast feed with a bottle filled with formula) the less milk she will produce. If Mummy wants to increase milk production she needs to feed and/or express more often, not less. Mixed feeding (using breast and formula milk) can work, but if you want to do that it's better to introduce it later on, once Mum's milk supply is well established. I'd suggest borrowing an electric breast pump from your local NHS PCT (ask your health visitor or baby clinic about that) if you haven't already. Electric pumps are much easier to use than manual and she'll probably be able to express a higher quantity of milk with an electric pump. Use the pump at every feed on one breast whilst baby feeds on other (the baby feeding on one will stimulate milk supply for expressing from the other). The more often you use the pump the more milk you'll be able to produce and collect/store.

I had bruised nipples to start with but it did get better. I used a borrowed electric pump on the most sore nipple, whilst feeding baby on the sightly better one till one nipple had healed, then swapped over till the other one had healed. My local NCT BF-ing advisor did come out to our house and was really helpful. The helpline was also very good. Different feeding positions can help. I found lying on my back made my breasts seem flatter, and not as round in shape as when I sat upright, which enabled my baby to get more of the breast in her mouth - she was lying on her tummy across my chest.

[gourd]

Also wanted to say that I almost gave up BF-ing a few times in the early weeks, but I'm glad I didn't. The NCT advice got me through. Mastitis was something I avoided thank goodness but she may still be able to express enough to keep the supply up and continue bf-ing afterwards. I also thought I wasn't producing enough, but very very few women have real problems with that as long as baby is feeding frequently enough. It turned out that my baby cried whilst feeding due to stomach ache or wind, not because my breast was empty.

In the long run, happy parents equals a happy baby so Mum should do whatever she thinks will make her and baby happy. My previously formula-fed, but now 5 year old niece is the tallest (and brightest) child in her class at school and is a happy child who knows she is very much loved by her parents - and that's what counts!

[StefanieKevin]

weve had the same problem. our DS lost 10 percent after a weekthen he put a bit on but then has plateaud. mummy is feeding him every 2 hrs during the day and cluster feeding in the evening then every 3 to 4 hrs at night. we have tried everything but dont think baby can get enough from breast at the moment. my wife is trying everything to increase her qtys be expressing both hand and pump. feeding often. nipple shields and im feeding her lots with good levels of protein fats carbs etc. we are going to continue doing breast but have had to resort to a bit of a top up with formula tonight to help.
are we doing everything possible or can we do more. please can you give me your opinions and thoughts.
thanks
kev

[Momo36]

Have you tried Medela breast shields? My nipples just could not take breastfeeding and my little girl was born under and needed to feed every 2 hours day and night for the first 7 weeks. People told me not to use them but I stuck with it and they saved my breastfeeding. Let me add that I had used every help under the sun and still hurt so much. Anyway, I managed to feed with them for 7 moths and my girl put on weight beautifully. I found Medela ones really working for me as they are good quality. Good luck! PS. You can get milk supply back by doing some pumping as well - I did that and it worked.

[skybluepearl]

mine lost lots of weight and only gained it back at a month old. also found her own natural weight which was slightly lower on the percentile chart. now aged 2 my kid is very bright and still healthy. still small but perfectly formed.

[theDudesmummy]

Hi Adam, it's lovely that you are being so involved and supportive of your partner.

I just wanted to say that I was dead set on breast feeding only and was absolutely determined not to use formula (and was really scared that using formula would be the beginning of the end of breast feeding).

But I had huge problems getting enough milk into my little one from breast feeding only, had low milk supply despite doing everything right and even going onto medication to increase the supply (Domperidone). Baby was just not putting on weight at all, and he could not afford that as he was a tiny one to begin with (only 4lb). So I went onto mixed feeding, feeding him as much as I could from the breast but also using a high calorie milk (Infatrini) for formula feeds a couple of times a day.

It worked for us, and despite using formula as well I was able to continue breast feeding him to 15 months (and also despite going back to full time work at 3 months). So, if you guys have to go for the mixed feeding, it can still work if you manage it carefully.

[c00kiemonster]

Adam, my daughter is 4 weeks old and has also been breastfeeding ( I'm her dad btw). She dropped from 6lbs 5oz to 5lbs 11oz and four weeks later is only up to 7lbs 8oz. She's healthy though and the health visitors are happy with her. Breastfeeding is tough, tough, tough and my wife has been a total star - stuck with it through a lot of trials. We're also thinking of going to breastfeeding support classes for a bit of moral support. No way is bfing as straightforward or natural as people make out. To be honest you sound just like me - worried about everything and uncertain about everything. It's a total adventure.