Red book growth charts-BF or FF?

[Ferino]

Hi all,

Do any of you know whether the red book charts are based on BF or FF babies?

DD is almost 6 weeks (born at 38 wks). She started off just under the 25th percentile but has now dropped to under the 2nd percentile. She is feeding and weeing/pooing well, gaining weight (albeit slowly) and otherwise seems to be thriving, other than what we think are wind pains. She is EBF.

I'm just looking for some reassurance on the charts, really. HV isn't too concerned yet but I think will be if we don't start climbing the charts soon. We've agreed that I shouldn't supplement with formula unless there's 'good reason', which I took to mean weight loss.

Thanks in advance!

They used to be based on babies with undifferentiated feeding (i.e. some BF, others FF) although in the nature of things the overwhelming majority of those would have been FF. Unless your HV was using up old stock they should now be based on BF babies.

From my understanding the charts are based on an averages. So there is no separate charts for formula/breastfeed babies.

Keep talking to your HV if you have a good one. It does sound like you have a healthy baby girl. If she isn't losing weight which is different to not staying on the same percentiles and you are happy to continue to breastfeed do so.
If you feel like the HV isn't knowledgeable/doesn't have your or your daughters best interests at heart see if you can talk to a different one.

Sorry ferino. HerdOfTinyElephants is correct. The charts are based on breastfeeding. God i'm an arse. I was trying to be helpful and have just muddy the waters. to make up for my crapness i have found a lovely FAQ on on the the charts
sorry again

Thanks for the responses. The info on the charts is v good haz, much appreciated!
I think I'll keep going as things are and weigh her again in 2 weeks to see if things are improving. I've taken the HV advice on board to try to get her to feed more efficiently and it seems to be working as we're getting longer gaps between feeds since yesterday. Hopefully that's a sign she's more satisfied after eating.

What sort of gaps are you getting?

If you can, keep offering, keep getting milk into her. She'll probably hit a growth spurt around now anyway so you may find yourself permanently attached for a week or so - but that will pass :)

What help were you given to feed more efficiently?

I had been getting about 2 h during the day but after yesterday it has definitely stretched out and is now 3-4 hours. We got a 5 hour stretch last night too, though that was after expressed milk from the bottle followed by the breast to make sure she'd had her fill before we put her down.

The HV gave me the usual advice that I'd already been trying, eg tickling her chin if she seems to have fallen asleep, changing her or washing her face between changing sides to perk her up a bit etc. and keep her eating. The other thing she said was to try massaging my breast during the feed, presumably to keep the flow coming. It means I have to hunch over more than I'd like to get it to work and avoid smothering her (!) but it does seem to be offset by shorter feeds.

I guess I'll see over the next few days if it keeps along those lines.
I'm also going to try to express whatever milk is left in me when she has finished a feed so that I can have a stock of supply. Does that kind of thing help encourage my own supply, or does that happen more by pumping between feeds? I haven't really got my head around the science of supply & demand or sorted out when to pump yet!

I should clarify - those times are start of feed to start of feed, not the gaps. The feeds vary from 20 mins to 40+.