Are my instincts right?

[Haribojoe]

DD1 (DC4), born at term plus a couple of days weighing 8lb 10oz.

Has steadily gained weight, even at her day 5 weigh in.

Is now nearly 8 weeks old, weighed her on Friday and HV expressed concern about her weight gain as had only gained 10oz in 2 weeks.

She is alert, content and growing out of her clothes. I feed her completely on demand, she does tend to sleep for 4-6 hours initially at night but then feeds almost hourly from around 4 o'clock.

My instinct is she is fine but the HV worries have shaken my confidence a bit, silly I know!

Any thoughts?

She sounds just perfect.
A weight gain of 4-8 oz at this stage is good, she sounds alert, happy.
Your HV sounds like an idiot, I would seek another HV.

Thanks Ms.

I was shocked that she thought it wasn't enough. She said baby should be gaining an ounce a day.

Feel like I'm being silly to let this shake my confidence but have had a hormonal and generally crummy week.

Ignore your hv. We had the same problem with ours despite ds growing out of clothes really quickly! Your dd sounds just fine :)

Thanks Silly

An ounce a day is unrealsitic.
At the top end of weight gain 8oz a week is considered fairly dramatic, and usually only achieved with formula.
Better to have a lithe lively baby.

Happy baby, wet nappies? Then smile and nod.

That weight gain sounds fine so I don't know what on earth your HV is talking about.

With my DD she DID gain 7-8 oz a week the first couple of months but I think it's because she was 6lb 9oz so on the smaller side.

And if I read correctly, this is your first DD after 3 DS? So congratulations! :)

She sounds fine :) the obsession with weight gain us ridiculous these days. Yes for some it can be an early sign of a problem but for many it just causes a parent to worry uneccessarily over perfectly healthy children and sometimes being told to give extra feeds the poor baby doesn't even want :( she sounds great enjoy your beautiful dd :)

Guidance is that healthy babies should not be weighed more often than monthly under six months and no more often than every two months after that.

The health visitor is quite wrong to think of an 'ounce a day' as being the norm - it might be for some babies, but most babies don't grow at that rate beyond the newborn period.

Can you explain to your HV that she has shaken your confidence (the opposite of what an HV should be doing) and ask for more information on her concerns about weight - like a text book, local or national guidance, academic paper?

Thank you everyone for your reassurance and support.

I knew my instinct was right but needed to hear if from others IYSWIM.

I really needed to hear encouraging words, it's been a bit of a hormonal week