Low supply again? Would fenugreek help? close to giving up :(

[stillinpjs]

Hi I've been on here a few time recently so i'm sorry for sounding like a constant winge.

So bit of back ground.
DS was ebf for 4 weeks before mw/hv persuaded me to give formular top ups as he was under the 9th %ile. Did this and milk supply practically vanished. Continued to comfort feed him though up until the birth of DD 6 weeks ago.
DD born 7lbs 10oz (so bang on 50th percentile) Lost 8 oz and it took 3 weeks for her to regain. At 6 weeks she is now just 8lbs 6oz so is on the 9th %ile. I'm trying not to panic but finding it very hard.

I feed her on demand. Recently it has been 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 7pm-11pm cluster feeds take over then about 3 time in the night. I have also tried expressing but struggle to get more than 2 oz a day.

I can really see how I could feed her more without formular.
Got some fenugreek tablets today but not convinced. Any experiences of it? does it work? how many do you need to take? Or is there anything else i could try?
Really don't want to fail again.

stillinpjs - :(

What's wrong with being on the 9th centile?

9 per cent of babies are on that one or below it - it's a perfectly lovely centile :) :)

Yes, your baby has come to there from 50th, but unless she is otherwise unhealthy or giving cause for concern, there is no reason to assume she is not feeding well.

Having said that.....she isn't feeding very often for a baby of 6 weeks, and most babies of her age will feed more often than this (even with the cluster feeding).

So....if it's thought her intake needs to increase, she can:

i) feed more often - if you are going to add formula, then you would squeeze that in, so why not squeeze more bfs in ? :)

ii) switch nursing - at least two if not three or four breasts per session, switching when your baby's sucking dwindles and slows

iii) breast compression (google it)

If you do all of that your production (and the baby's intake) will increase more effectively than fenugreek can do.

Of course she may be just normal and healthy, the way her brother was (probably) and not in need of anything more :)

Thanks tiktok
I feel like i'm feeding her all the time! She takes about 20 mins on each side and will do 2 or 3 breasts per session at the moment. I will try to fit more in. She fusses/ fights a lot with the boob in the evening/ during the night and i'm not sure how much she's getting during some of these feeds.

If she fusses and fights, she may be trying to tell you 'stop! I have had enough, thank you!'

As I say, her weight and growth may be fine and perfectly physiological for her.

Who's been saying it isn't?

At the moment its just the - 'not quite the gain we would hope for' type comments from hv. Just waiting for it to turn into 'give her formular'
< need to learn to ignore hv>

It's not just the weight that needs to be look at though. Is she producing lots of wet nappies. Is she healthy, ie awake and alert some of the time cueing for regualer feeds. Weight gain is only one asspect of a healthy baby.

Some baby's are born bigger then they are meant to be. Birth weight seems to be more of a indication of how well the pregancy was then how big your baby will end up.