In hospital urgent advice needed!

[RachaelLaurenDaisyStone]

Hi, my baby is 10 weeks old breastfed only and we've been admitted to hospital for a few days observation as she has had a very slight weight loss since her immunisations 2 weeks ago (lots of dioreah) born 7lbs 6oz. Was gaining along her percentile and only lost 7%of birth weight. Went from 8lbs 15oz to 8lbs 10oz and has gone back up to 8lbs 12oz but they still have admitted us even though I protested. So anyway the advice I need desperately is that I feel I am being bullied into giving her formula, and they are forcing me to wake her up in the night for a feed. She feeds well in the day every 2-4 hours on both breasts and I have a very good supply I express every morning and get 6 oz in about 10-12 mins. But she has slept through the night since 4 days old. This has never effected her negatively before. I really feel the jabs are the reason she's lost the weight and is slow gaining. Can I refuse to wake her up in the night to the doctors? I'm now giving her a 150mls as well with both breasts at every feed I see think that will be helping her gain without waking her up and without giving her formula. Please can anyone give me advice on what my rights as a parent are?! It's not like she's underweight she's still in the 50th percentile!

Why isn't your H able to bring in food, fruit etc and spend time with his child? Hospital food by its very nature isn't brilliant especially for breastfeeding mothers. Your baby's weight gain is very low and I can understand why they want you to feed her at night.

Length of time feeding is not indicative of how much milk is consumed. Some babies feed much more efficiently than others.
Roses is right in that doctors rarely know much about breastfeeding.

I'm not necessarily advocating it at this point, but they can't stop you going home. The hospital would need to apply for a court order to keep you there.

I would ask for a lactation consultant and start asking very pointed questions about their feeding regime. It's not a bad idea to wake for feeds in the night and it will help your supply. 4 hourly feeding doesn't sound right though and I would expect to be feeding a small baby every 2 to 3 hours.

Just a thought but are you waking at night to express if you are not feeding your baby? Mums who exclusively express feed have to express during the night in the early months to ensure a good supply.

Rachael, are you on a children's ward or in a mother and baby unit. Why can't you go and buy some fruit and salads, etc?

Rachel- is there more to this story? A bf baby should be putting on about 5oz a week- maybe a bit more. Your little girl is only putting on 1.5 oz. Are you eating enough when your're at home? I honestly think you need to be feeding her in the night- she's going far too long without food. Her blood sugars must be haywire. She'll probably latch on without completely waking up- tickle her feet or gently blow on her face to encourage her if she drifts off again. You need to do whatever you can to get the weight going on so you can get home again asap. Then when you get home, spend a lazy day or two in bed letting her feed as much as she wants--lots of cuddles and skin to skin. That should get her back on track. It's pretty unusual to admit a baby for concerns about weight gain, so you need to take it seriously.

The comments about your fruit and veg worry me a little, as does the fact they are clearly doing your obv too, there is clearly more to the story.

Maybe try your best to eat what you are given to keep your strength and supply up.

(I say this as someone with a DD that has had constant feeding/weight battles but we have never been admitted so I suggest you take the hint and do what you can for your DC).

Should read "you feel they should be obv you too" etc

I'd listen to the doctors if I was you. They have not admitted her for no reason there is obviously something not right.

Try and be calm and think about your dc. That's a very small weight gain. Hope baby is ok

Thanks everyone à lactation consultant seems like a really good idea as since being here and the stress of it I can't keep up with the expressing. I've gone from getting 6oz on one side in 10-12 mins to getting barely 3 oz both sides after 40 mins 😢😢😢😢

Can I suggest that you stop expressing and just feed your baby?

I thought they should do my bloods / or at least some basic obs on me if they are going to just jump straight to formula. I suffer with anorexia but my hv said my calorie intake wouldn't effect her as the milk would take the calories it needs. I feed her for no longer than 30 mins a side or until I don't see/ feel milk anymore. She's normally a good feeder and will only fall asleep /slow down toward the end and always comes of 'milk drunk' I never cluster fed so I knew she was having an effective feed. Even after being here since Thursday she's only gained 26g 😩 Her blood test showed her thyroid is high but that inconclusive tell a second test on Monday x

Can you ask the doctors why they want a 4 hr feeding schedule, and to limit the time at the breast/expressing? I have a 17 week old who often feeds more frequently than 4 hourly, and for varying amounts of time.

It just seems odd to me that if the doctors are trying to get your baby to gain weight, that they're suggesting such a long time between feeds. I'd be feeding 2 to 3 hourly and switch feeding as much as possible. I'd really want to know exactly what they're trying to do.

Ok, having read your last few posts there is clearly a lot more here than simply advice needed re breastfeeding. I suspect the doctors are concerned about your health and your ability to feed your baby so she gains properly.
Have you any idea how many calories a day you were eating before admission?

I know why they're saying it firvhgr same reason i never cluster fed, they want her to have an effective feed so rather than going on all the time getting the 10 feeds a day and to have a full feed rather than a drip drip sort of thing. Believe me I'm questioning everything. I'm getting such conflicting things to do. Some dr are saying they don't know why we are admitted some are saying she's never been the right weight. I was just listening to my baby's cues and everything about her told me she's happy 😢

Rachel-she's supposed to gain about 5oz every week at this stage. She's only gained an average of 1.5oz a week since birth. You really really must do something about this. Either try feeding her much more yourself or give her formula. The doctors are obviously very worried about her.

I had problems with this. Health visitor telling me I had to wake my baby up to feed every three hours. I did this for three weeks, weight gain was slow but I had to wake her every time to feed. I found it so stressful, kept thinking something was wrong. Finally she put on enough weight and I didn't wake her to feed. She has slept through every night since about 4 weeks old and is now a healthy 18 month old. Turns out I just had a baby that liked sleeping. Trust your judgement. Good luck op.

I think it would help to get a meeting with the paediatrician and the infant feeding specialist from the post-natal ward. If baby is feeding well then she should be gaining more weight. IME there are some babies who are very sleepy because they are not getting enough nutrition. This means that they take small feeds because that is all they have the energy for. I suspect this is why you have been admitted. How is your baby in-between feeds? Does she have periods where she is awake and alert? If I were you, I would be eating lots of food (not fruit and veg). Porridge is good for lactating mums. Then I would be feeding baby every 2 hours with at least 2 overnight feeds until she is back on track with her weight.

"Trust your judgement. Good luck op."

Please don't on this occasion, OP. Our judgement can be very wrong. And this is a baby gaining about a fifth of what she should be gaining every week. She could well be too weak and tired to be feeding effectively because she isn't getting enough food. Please treat this as seriously as the medics are- either feed her yourself a lot more or give her some formula. And that is the first time I have ever said that.

I work in a children's hospital and several of our dietitians are also bf advisors. They might be easier to get hold of than a lactation consultant and are usually more sensible than the docs with regards to timings and top-ups.

I'm sorry I didn't realise how slow the weight gain was when compared to 'normal'. I didn't read the full post properly and had read the baby was at the 50th centile. Really sorry for giving misinformed advice.

That's the thing not all the doctors are worried. And I've said I'll of course do anything if it's needed but formula as a last resort for me they're not even looking at basic things like the way she feeds etc. We haven't even had her 6 week check. Friday the gp rang to say I had an appointment and the hospital doc said I had to go to it and to leave her here. As if I was going on a 45 min bus journey each way to do to a doctors when I'm in a hospital full of them, leaving my baby here. They have no restrictions on visitors she doesn't even have a hospital band on! And I'm supposed to be here to breast feed her! So I put my foot down and wouldn't go after a 15 min argument. Finally got through to the gp and it was an appointment my hv had made for her! It's just awful here I dint trust anything they're doing!

If you've got your figures right and she is only 8lb 12 at 10 weeks after being born at 7lb 6, then whoever is saying she's never been the right weight is probably right.

You do need to be feeding her through the night to try and help her catch up. It's possible that sleeping through from 4 days is a symptom of whatever is wrong rather then something she would naturally be doing.

Bertrand Russel i was feeding her more than this at home! And giving her top ups of 150mls. I'm now feeding her less frequently for less time and less top up under the drs advice. I've been waking her up when they told me to and she's still not gaining. I will trust my own judgement rather than theirs as I am yet to have a dr that says the same as the last!!!!

Rachel- do you agree she isn't gaining weight as she should?

Why hasn't she had the six week check? Did they ask you about that when you went for the jabs?
I can see you're finding it hard to trust the doctors. What size clothes is your dd wearing?