slow weight gain-help please.

[thegingerone]

dd is 5 weeks old and i'm at the end of my tether regarding her slow weight gain.

she was 3.8kg at birth. she lost loads (more than 10%) this is normal for my babies. ds1 and ds2 lost more each than her. unfortunately they put it back on a bit quicker. she's currently 3.54 kg with a weight gsin of an average of 10g a day whatever i do! she appears to have slowed even further between last two weigh ins.(but there is a query about whether scales were tared properly)

i'm currently taking domperidone
feeding three hourly
expressing after (most) feeds not night ones
topping up (most) feeds
we've replaced one feed with ebm (120ml) but i'm planning to replace an evening cluster feed from now on rather than a proper scheduled one
i've started fenugreek. any ideas of dose, anyone?
we're doing skin to skin in evening and a massage after bath.
i eat well. i'm smaller during and after this pg than i was during/after other pg but still bigger than non pg and in no way trying to diet or anything like that.

any ideas of causes of slow weight gain and any suggestions for improving it?

most of the above are recent things i've either started or restarted(we had weaned ourselves off the expressing/topping up cycle)

thank you in advance

Is she healthy and developing well, ginger?

I can understand the concern; important to get the scales right, so maybe ensure this next time and complain if this does not happen !

Main thing I would say is that 3 hourly is not usually sufficient for babies of this age. You could try to double the times she comes to the breast, and also make sure you do 'switch feeding' so each breast is used at least twice each time.

Hope this helps.

How are things, ginger?

hi thanks for replying.sorry i posted then disappeared. she's put on a mere 30g in five days with a combination of topping up with ebm and a full ebm feed (which i didn't feel worked as i was expressing while dh fed and felt demand/ supply wasn't working) i spent most of this week just responding to her not clock watching and the ebm feed is an extra one after the cluster feed frenzy every evening. i would rather response to her and feed all the time than this three hourly/express/bottle business. hv is a star and will hopefully support me whatever i do. ginger baby is healthy but i've become a paranoid mess and everytime she crys i presume i'm starving her. as if a six week old has no other reason to cry i'm planning to weigh her on tues. we've got our 6week check tmw so i mught even sneak into the baby room to weigh her myself. (i don't think they do that as part of the check)

Aw I can empathis with you Ginger - my dd lost over 10% when she was born and I think it took about 8 weeks or more to regain her birth weight. I demand fed and in the first 7 weeks sometimes she would feed for 3 or 4 hours non-stop. If baby seems to be happy generally and responding/developing and not losing weight try not to worry too much. I was told by my infant feeding coordinator to feed on one side then wind a put straight onto other side when she comes off the first breast, then back to the first one. And breast compressions to stimulate let down reflex.
Hope this makes sense.

Hi, a similar thing happened with my ds and it transpired that he had a posterior tongue tie and a high palate. We are just coming out of thre whole situation after he has had it divided, he regained his birhweight at 7 weeks.
He is now 8 weeks old and I am desperate to break the cycle of supplementing, but too afraid that he will lose weight again.
P.S my ds ws putting on a mere 50 grams a week, and then lost 200g rapidly resulting in hospital admission for observation, the TT was finally diagnosed by a lactation consultant.....not even the consultant paediatrician spotted it.

Mumble if you want to stop supplimenting then try talking to a BF couciler they can give you support and a plan on stopping. And of couse make sure the latch is now good.

feel really rude that i hardly ever visit my own thread! don't get a chance to MN at mo!

Still growing VERY slowly here. Power pumping today. Stress is reducing my supply. Planning to find a cave and hide in it for a week or two with just baby,my fenugreek and a large supply of chocolate (And no scales!)