No weight gain for 2 weeks... (13 week old)

[Sarahlou8]

Hi, I could really do with some advice to put my mind at rest?

I've just come back from the clinic and my 13 week old DD has gained no weight at all since our last visit two weeks ago, dropping to just above 25th centile on her chart - a noticeable dip.

She's EBF, is content after feeds, but has recently begun waking in the night for feeds having previously slept through.

She had a bit of an upset tum yesterday which HV said could be it, but really, by this much?

Should I be worried? Has this happened to any of you?

This doesn't sound worrisome to me.

Is she growing and changing?

Are there other reasons for concern?

(Weighing babies every two weeks isn't really necessary ...)

If she's waking in the night for milk, she may just be gearing up for a growth spurt. 13 weeks is pretty early to be sleeping through, and weighing every 2 weeks is going to lead to there being plateaus in her weight. Is there a reason to be weighing her that often? Are there other concerns about her health?

Also bear in mind that with a child that small, even something like having a full nappy and a large feed just before weighing, or being empty plus having had a large poo, can make enough oz differences (plus the variations in scales/weighing techniques etc) to make her chart look odd from time to time.

Weighing healthy babies every two weeks is not only unnecessary but bad practice :(

This pattern is well within normal Sarahlou.

It is insignificant in a healthy baby.

If she needs to gain faster than this, she is sorting it out herself, by asking for more breastfeeds .

Hi thanks for your replies.

Mij - I've been REALLY lucky, she's slept through, 9pm - 7pm consistently since 7ish weeks, so it seems odd that for the past 4 nights she's woken at 2ish, then 6ish. I'm worrying that maybe she's hungry and not getting enough in the day.

She hasn't been weighed every two weeks, just 2 weeks since last time, and to be honest, at this early stage the visit to the clinic is as much for me to meet other Mums - they just happen to weigh her.

She's content, happy and changing daily and my HV stressed she was unconcerned, she'd like to see her next Tuesday just to check again and hopefully put my mind at rest.

Sarahlou - maybe you're right and she does need more milk than she's getting in the day. She's sorting this one out very well, by waking up and ensuring she gets more at night :)

This is exactly what you'd expect with a baby who sleeps through at an early age - daytime feeds become less than she needs, so she gets more by waking at night, and stimulates the bf production more at the same time.

There is nothing wrong with this at all.

It settles down in time :)

I've had loads of weight problems with my dd even in hospital at one point over it. But just to say it could all change fast, my baby suddenly changed her pattern of eating about 12-14 wks for about a week or so and fed every 3 hours (previously 4) and put on a whopping 32 oz in 2.5 weeks after being at the 15th centile she went to the 50th (had dropped earlier from 75th to 9th so this was welcome) try to go with the flow. Dont worry - I always do but try not to :)

Thank you Tiktok - that makes sense to me. I was worried she was starting to get into bad habits waking in the night as many people say not to feed a baby in the hours that she's previously slept through.

I am feeding her quite happily in the night, I don't mind so I will go with whatever she needs. She's still really good in that she settles straight away afterwards.

You'd think by baby number three I'd stop worrying wouldn't you?!!

Loads of babies sleep through for a while, then start waking again! Mine slept 8 hours a night from 8-16 weeks, then he had a phase of waking/feeding loads, now he feeds once or twice at night.

Hi, thanks for your replies and support already - however I'm still in a flap.

Another unsettled night, and DD is now producing green spinach like foul smelling poo. I've just been reading another thread on this a bit further down and it's worried me.

Obviously still worrying about the weight issue, I've fed DD more often last night, overnight and this morning - she cluster fed last night and this morning I've offered before she's asked and she hasn't refused it.

What's going through my mind is...

Is this diarrhoea - hence the frequent feeds?
Is it happening because her feeds are now so close together (as mentioned on other thread?)

If I try and space them out again, it's not going to resolve my milk supply or her weight if it's happening because she's hungry.

I'm so confused by all this.
Everyone keeps telling me that as long as she's happy and gaining weight then its nothing to worry about - but she isn't gaining weight

:( Sorry you're so worried, Sarahlou.

Your baby was weighed yesterday. She is feeding more than she used to feed. You will prob find that when she is weighed again her weight reverts to its previous pattern.

The green poo is not significant.

Obviously if you think she is poorly, you can speak to your doc or HV but she doesn't sound poorly.

really 2 weeks is nothing. We had this and her weight gain slowed down even more after 6 months, but she's fine.

Youre both right and today I've decided to just go with it, feed her normally and try not to worry. If I hadn't gone to the clinic yesterday I would be none the wiser. She's perfectly happy, alert, and a right 'chunky monkey' to me.
Still on green poo today but only one so far, not ten!