Anyone else got a slow-gainer?

[misdee]

ds is now just shy of 12 weeks old. he was born weighing a teeny 6lb 15oz. i say teeny as my previous 3 babies have been 9lb-ers or v close to.

he had a tongue tie which was released 2 weeks ago.

his weight is steady, but not large amounts. last week he weighed 9lb 11oz, he has gone through two lines, yet his length remains steady on the 75th.

i want to 100% breastfeed him with no formula if possible, and am wondering if people have any extra tips of getting a little more milk into baby, to help his weight pick up.

as well as the tongue tie, he appears to have a lip tie, and a ridge of skin going fdown the front of his gums, and into the soft palate. this does rub when he is feeding, making me a little sore. his latch seems good, if a little weak. we think this is down to the late spot of tt and release.

we are feeding every 2 hours, no longer than 3 hrs, plus 2-3 feed overnigt.

i am getting some capsules soon (just waiting for them to arrive), to help boost supply.

we tend to nurse in a bioloical position when possible as i find this helps him keep latched on, but not ideal when out n about.

do you switch feed?

keep switching sides until he wants no more, so he might have each breast 5 times.

now that the tongue tie has been snipped you could do a babymoon. Go to bed with lots of skin to skin and feed at every squeak. Great for turbo boosting. Alternatively you could pump an hour after every feed, if you can't get time to babymoon.

Also go and get the latch checked and hopefully get a few tips for that.

FWIW I Had a natural slow gainer, took her 9 months to double her birth weight (although she started walking in that time which I think slowed things down even more). Also a drop (or gain) through two centiles is within normal variation. However since TT did get diagnosed hopefully things will improve. A good/average week for us was 3oz gain.

hth

we switch several times during a feed. and feeding takes around an hour each feed.

have been babymooning in the evenings once the big 4 are in bed. he is also in a sling a lot of the time for skin to skin cuddles.

We have an almost identical story. DD is 13 weeks. had TT divided at 11 weeks. Same top lip tie and ridge running down top gums. Has dropped 3 centiles and has gained on average 3 oz per week since birth. We have been referred to GP due to centile drops and have to see her again on wed when she is going to refer us to Paediatrician for FTT .

We are still ebf, approx 2 hrly although it was continuously prior to TT division and I'm taking fenugreek and pumping and often as possible. I actually think that DD has now found her centile (2nd) and will just continue along that. LC agrees and has said not to supplement yet as DD looks healthy and we have no other concerns. However, LC says that if DD starts to drop off 2nd centile then she will start me on Domperidone to increase supply.

DD's latch is ok, shallow and I'm always having to pull her bottom lip down. She doesn't open her mouth that wide which is another problem. I also try compressions.

Are you getting support from a LC or bf advisor-type bod?

Just wanted to let you know that you are not alone in weight related issues

Thank u cjmummy and sorry to hear u are having similar issues. Ds gets weighed this week and if no massive impprovment then we have to look at other reasons why. Hv and myself keen to give ds more time to pick up, but his weight just seems to be coasting along slowly. He has never lost weight or remained static which is a good thing. But worried we will also get referred for ftt

weigh in today

might need a amd afterwards

misdee! - did I miss you'd had a ds? Or has my menopausal brian lost that bit of info?

Anyways congrats but sorry you're worried about him. Hope the weighing today brings you some relief and releasing the tongue tie has done the trick. dd had the lip-tie thing but nothing was ever done about it (obviously it became a non-issue) - I don't think they're happy to snip it these days are they? Although her orthodontist said that was probably the cause of the big gep she had betwen her front teeth.

Have some and sympathy as I don't have any useful advice. x

yes we have a ds :) he is called steven and a super-smiley boy. he is utterly gorgeous. my boy

misdee - my calculations show him to have gone from the 9th centile to the 0.4th and it is perfectly sensible for the HVs to be keeping a close eye on this.

But the majority of babies in this situation are physiologically that way - this is the size they are 'meant' to be :) The fact he has always gained would tend to underline this.

Having said that, feeding every 2-3 hours is not hugely often - culturally, it sounds often, but in fact, it isn't, not really. There might be scope for you to try offering little snackettes more often than this - just to see if he will take them. Not every feed has to be a huge production number of biological nurturing and side-swapping, lasting an hour....they can be swifter than this :)

Thanks tioktok. He feeds more frequently at times, but trying to make sure he doesn't go more than 3hours iyswim. I tend to follow his lead of how long to feed and he is slow. He has gone feom the 25th percentile at 2 eweeks old to judt below the 2nd percentil line.

This morning he is on his 4th feed. When he comes off he tends to not want to be put down and then nuzzles in again for more milk.
The main concerns seems to be the big difference in his
height/weight ratio.
He is very long, and sppears to be taking after dh. Hopefully not in everything.
Today is the last day to see improvement or he wll be referred too see why.

Thanks tioktok. He feeds more frequently at times, but trying to make sure he doesn't go more than 3hours iyswim. I tend to follow his lead of how long to feed and he is slow. He has gone feom the 25th percentile at 2 eweeks old to judt below the 2nd percentil line.

This morning he is on his 4th feed. When he comes off he tends to not want to be put down and then nuzzles in again for more milk.
The main concerns seems to be the big difference in his
height/weight ratio.
He is very long, and sppears to be taking after dh. Hopefully not in everything.
Today is the last day to see improvement or he wll be referred too see why.

Just got him weighed. 1.5oz gain. Now closer to the 0.4th percentile line. Still above it though.

bump

Are the clinic happy with him, then?

That is, again, a gain, so clearly not panic stations :)

We had weeks like that (some worse)

You might find it better for peace of mind to see a pead

No, not happy with his weight at the clinic. Appointment next week to disbuss next move. So one more weeks grace.

Just unsure of what to do.

Just carry on, feed at every squeak.

See more BF people (LLL or other groups) for confidence and see if they have any advice

Ring one of the BF helplines and speak to someone in RL

I know it's hard, but when DD was young I judged her. Apart from the knowing exactly what her weight was, she was otherwise fine. I therefore put it to the back of the mind for the most part and just got on with the week. It's so easy to obsess about it.

I agree that seeing a paed can be helpful - they can confirm there is no underlying reason for the slow weight gain (and there usually is not :) ) and in my experience, they usually tell mothers the baby is fine and to continue bf.

So it's not a bad thing to see one.

think i'll ask for that referral. with dh past heart issues, and the multitude of allergies that my girls have, i would like to rule every posssibility out.

In the circumstances you'd have to be made of stone to not worry about him misdee.

He's a cracker bTW

dh is made of stone then as he is insisting that ds is fine and i should chill out.

cant ignore it though, can we?

Feeling down today. At his rate of gains he will drop off the charts in 2-3weeks time.

:( :(

misdee - does it help to look at it this way?

Seeing the paed will

• confirm he is healthy and just a bit small at the moment, because that is the way he is. There are 'outliers' in all the data on infant growth - babies whose growth rate is off the charts, up and down. They are often left out the final presentation of data (ie the charts) because they skew the results. But they do exist!

or

• discover something that is preventing him from growing as he should. In rare cases, this can happen - the baby looks healthy and develops well, but something is going on that means his intake (of milk) is being used up in maintaining himself rather than growing. This is unusual, and even more unusual in a baby who's got to 12 weeks, and I dont really know enough about the medical side anyway, so I can't really say more, but the paed would check him out anyway

No one can make you give formula if you prefer not to give formula, and while formula certainly has a place when a baby is being made unhappy or ill or weak with bf that's not working, it does not sound as if any of that applies to your ds.

If the paed is nice, and often they are, in my experience, you can discuss all this and share your strong preference for excl bf and you should find support - unless there really is something up.

I had a slow gainer too He was 50th centile born but by a few weeks old settled on the 2nd centile His length was always 2 centiles higher. He followed the 2nd centile with a few wobbles ie gained 3oz one week and the only 1 oz next. I got completely obsessed. BTW EBF until 6months once he started weaning he moved up to the 9th centile. He's nearly 3 now still tall and slim just like his dad.

It was a worry but my health visitor always reassured me that he was a happy alert playful baby who was meeting his milestones and that he was fine. She was right.

It is so easy to get hooked up on the charts try to remember to look at him and not them.

Not saying not to get him checked as well it'll hopefully put your mind at ease. Remember the charts are a guideline to what most babies do not a rule book on what all babies have to do.

Thinking about you