Newborn on formula not gaining weight

[greggscreamslice]

Does anyone have any experience of a newborn solely on formula not gaining weight. This is totally new to me as our first baby followed a centile from the start.
Basically our son was born 2 weeks ago and lost 4% of body weight but has not regained anything in 2 weeks.
He is formula fed bar one bottle of expressed milk per day. He's a really sleepy baby and kind of grazes throughout the day and night, 1 or 2 Oz every hour. I wrote down his milk intake yesterday and he fed 14 times in 24 hours and had around 26oz all together. He falls asleep after 1 or 2oz and I've tried stripping him off, opening a window, changing his nappy first, bright lights, lots of noise, wiping his face with a flannel but he still falls asleep after an Oz or 2 and then refuses point blank to drink anymore, gags and throws up if you try to get him to drink more.
Changed to the next size teat so he's drinking 2oz within 10 mins as this used to take him about 20 mins.
I really want to get his weight up as being threatened with having to go back to hospital if he doesn't gain.
He's fed on demand... Any ideas?!
Thank you.

Bumping for the evening crowd!x

It sounds like you might need to see a paediatrician. There are loads of reasons a baby might not gain weight. It sounds like her intake is fine, 26oz a day would have most babies gaining weight. Are you under the midwife or health visitor? Could you call them tomorrow and ask about a referral?

His not her (sorry!!)

How is the bay sleeping? If not enough maybe he's expending more engery than the average newborn. Does he vomit a lot after feeds? If not then maybe worth seeing a doctor. Has he stayed the same or lost weight? Does he look skinny to you?

His legs look skinny to me. We are under a midwife and if he doesn't gain this week then we are being referred. It's just all very concerning to me
I'm wondering if it could be silent reflux or something. He only manages 1-2oz per feed before he refuses anymore.
Can't physically force milk into him so not sure what else I can do.
Just makes you feel like a crap mum when they're not growing as they should.
Tried a different bottle tonight but was even worse, he only managed 1oz and lots of it spilled out of his mouth as its a different shaped teat.

In addition, he's not particularly sick, maybe an Oz or 2 a day comes back up if that, and he's sleeping most of the day (awake for 2 hours between 8am-6pm) but is awake around 3 hours during the night so only awake 5 hours out of 24.

Hi OP,

I was going to suggest silent reflux. What you describe is how DS2 was. Very skinny and sleepy and refused more than 1 oz at a time. But his quickly turned into real reflux, screaming agony and dangerous weight loss, so get it checked out asap and be prepared to be really bolshy if they try to dismiss you as a neurotic first time mother. he will need meds if it is reflux, but once on them, with luck, the weight gain will start.

Thank you giraffe. We are back tomorrow so will push to get this sorted out.
He's our second and our first had normal reflux (projectile vomiting bottles numerous times a day) but she always gained weight well. It's such a worry. I'm dreading going tomorrow as he wont have gained in 3 days if he hasn't gained in the last 2 weeks I'm sure of it. They're making me wake him every 2 hours in the night to feed him but he doesn't want it if he doesn't want it if you get what I mean.

If it is silent reflux then he might have trouble swallowing. Write everything down every day.
I did this from the word go and have a sheet and have 4 columns: time, ml, nappies and meds and write absolutely everything on it.

Start doing this so you will have information to bring if you are referred, and also if he is put on medication like Zantac then you can keep track of it on your log.
I think 26oz is a lot, but if hes not getting hungry then he wont take bigger feeds. Its so hard isn't it!

Good luck anyway.

Yep I'm writing everything down. I've noticed he coughs a little bit and his breath smells a bit sour yogurty which can be a sign can't it? Also he gags quite a bit and I find that he'll gasp sometimes, almost as if it is reflux coming back up and burning?x

It might be reflux, but considering he isn't throwing up much and is having more than enough milk to grow I wouldn't jump into demanding medication for reflux, I'd be more concerned that he was properly examined and other reasons for him needing more calories were explored such as not absorbing enough milk (maybe an allergy) or another underlying health condition.

Hopefully it's just a case of him being a bit slow to start with weight gain and he'll pick up quickly.

Yeah wondering if it's silent reflux rather than reflux...
He's very hiccupy too which can be a sign but I'm no expert!
He's just done 4oz in 30 mins which is v v rare for him. He's super fussy as well and only drinks milk when it's almost on the verge of being too hot so constantly heating up half drank bottles for him so he'll have a bit more. Oh well will see what happens tomorrow.

All sound like classic signs of silent reflux to me, don't be fobbed off, we had four weeks of back and forth to the docs before we finally got ranitidine for dd2, Gaviscon did jack as she wasn't vomiting a massive amount and she's breast-fed which made it a right pain to administer, plus constipated her. All the best OP xx

Thank you everyone! Will see what today brings!x

If your first child had reflux, I guess you know all the tricks: feed them propped almost upright; wind them sat up on your knee, not over your shoulder, keep them upright for naps and for at least 30 mins after each feed (poor DS2 used to spend most of the night in a car seat as he couldn't bear to lie down)
These days afaik, there are special anti-reflux formulas. Not sure what they're called or whether they're prescription only but worth a try.