help, i think 7wk old ds weight gain has dropped off bottom of chart

[titferbrains]

i know i shdn't have but weighed on kitchen scale and he appears to be only about 3.2 kg in his clothes. am feeding on demand, he seems to eat to fullness, has peeriods of alertness, co-sleeps and bfs lots at night. he feeds a lot in evenings. loads of wet/dirty nappies.

this is 2nd dc and just haven't made it to weigh ins for last 3 wks, disorganised etc.

what are best steps if his weight is verylow? really don't want to ff if i can avoid it.

The kitchen scales! Oh bless you - that's a recipe for disaster. They're not accurate. And even the scales at the hospital will probably show a different weight from those at the HV.

What was his weight at birth? Does he look thin, or like he's lost weight?

Ring the HV in the morning and see if you can arrange a home visit to get him weighed.

And congratulations on DC2.

The kitchen scales are not designed for weighing babies and won't be accurate, so please stop worrying.
Do you have any other reason to think that he's losing weight (nappies not fitting etc).

Otherwise, if he's feeding lots, happy and alert, and has plenty of wet/dirty nappies then he's probably thriving and you're doing a great job.

PS My DD 3 is 11 weeks and hasn't been weighed since her 6-week check, so don't feel guilty, you are definitely not alone in finding it hard to get to weigh ins. Good idea baroness: get the HV to come to you (wish I'd though of that).

will go to get weighed tmw

had loads of feeding probs w dd so have focussed on bfing ds, and he seems v well, very alert responsive smiling, some calm periods, only really cries if hungry, put down or tired. never seems to be crying in hunger or frustration when at breast except when boobs get full and hard to latchon.

i don't get how he can produce so many wet/dirty nappies and not gain more??
makes my brain melt!

he's lying in my arms looking around the room after a feed.

3.2 wd be a gain of 2-300 gm since weighed at 4 wks

3.2 kg

I've just googled for you, and a BF baby should gain between 100 - 200 grams per week. (depending on which website you use!) Which means that a gain of 300 grams in the last 3 weeks would in fact be 100 grams per week, which is normal. The charts are based on FF babies and are forever causing distress to BF mothers whose babies are gaining weight too quickly or too slowly, depending on when they get weighed.

That said, I bet he's put on more anyway, and your scales were way out. Have you ever tried weighing a suitcase on the bathroom scales? Two different people weighing the same suitcase will get two different readings, sometimes even a few kilos different, just because the scales aren't designed for suitcases.

Go to bed and stop worrying! Get him weighed properly, but make sure you come back and tell us the results.

Aaaaaghhhhhh....kitchen scales!!!

Fine for flour.

No good for babies :)

Babies should be weighed on digital scales, designed for the process, naked, by someone trained in interpreting the result.

Anything else is simply inaccurate and clinically useless. I'd go so far as to say actually dangerous because it means mothers become anxious based on rubbish info :(

If you need him to be weighed (why? Guidance is not to weigh more often than monthly once the baby has regained birthweight) then obv as others have said, go to the clinic :) Tell the HV you are lacking in confidence - if she's good and helpful she'll support you.

Baroness - the charts are not based on ff babies and have never been based on ff babies. They used to be based on data which did not differentiate between bf and ff. For the past few years the charts have been based on data which comes from bf babies only.

Oh, sorry. I stand corrected.

I 'learnt' that here, so can I just blame the whole of mumsnet, for that one.

Incidentally, my kitchen scales aren't even good for flour. If I give them a good whack they go back a few ounces so I always whack them when measuring the cherries.

Occasionally, a mumsnet poster says this myth about the charts, you are right! But usually, I or someone else jumps on and corrects it :)

Actually, it's explained where the data comes from in the parent-held child record book, I think.

I will now become a jumping-on-er then.

Very frustrated about this.

He was at 2.8kg at 4 wks, now at nearly 8 wks he is 3.12kg. I haw no cause for concern except that he's had a cold which meant he was quite honky and mucussy at night but he was able to feed and did not vomit etc.

Cold was last week.

Hv is concerned, asked me to ficus on getting a good deep latch which I will do.

But he was a small baby to start and my dd was always on bottom of growth char in 1st 6 months. So he not expecting him to get really chubby. But he is right off the growth chart, so don't know if I shd be concerned or not. He is skinny but otherwise well. Other babies seem to drop from 75th to 50th percentile and that's ok, but as my ds started at the bottom, any drop off in the growth curve looks worrying.

I was on fenugreek for a bit then stopped. Shd I go back on it??

Any advice on positive steps to take?

If your HV thinks he could do with more milk - which is why she is suggesting to pay attention to the effectiveness of his attachment - then the easiest way is simply to feed more. 'Demand' feeding might not be enough at the moment - perhaps you can fit in more feeds, more 'cluster' feeds, more switch nursing, more breast compression?

Chances are he is fine, of course, and taking in the milk he is 'programmed' to need :) Most small/slow growing babies are fine, inc the ones who fall off the charts.

But some could do with more calories and more freq. feeding is the best way to ensure these.