Can anyone help? I am giving breastfeeding one more week and if weight gain doesn't improve, switching to formula

[mumtocuddlebundle]

Ds2 now 9 weeks old

Born 8lb 5oz- 75th centile

Lost weight first week, bit within normal range.
Then gained 22oz in 19 days, feeding going really well, happy content baby.

But since then he hasnt been gaining well. Only a few ounces a week and this last week just 1.5 oz. In the last 5 weeks he has gained on average 3.5 oz a week.

So something's not right, but have no idea what's gone wrong.
Just saw health visitor and she said if things hadn't improved in next week they could start coming round to house to help and support. But i don't want this. I don't want a big stressful few months stressing over his weight gain. I have a toddler to look after too and I can't spend all my time speaking to people about it, feeding non stop etc,

I am always offering him to feed. Every time he wakes or every time he gets grumpy. He just isn't that interested in the day. Is more at night though. In the day he turns his head away etc. Although he does feed better lying down, so going to do this more if I get a chance. I can't see what else I can do. But I can't hav him constantly dropping down chart. He is now on 9th centile and I am worried he is starving,

So going to feed feed feed this week. Anyone got any other advice? Would be much appreciated.

Sorry for any bad spelling- typing on i-phone.

how is he in himself? Wet and dirty nappies etc? What was the birth like? Is hr fussing around the breast? Does he seem hungry? Have you had him checked for tt? Sorry for all the questions!

Usual guidance is not to weigh healthy babies more than once a month after they have reached birthweight. Is there any reason why you're weighing often, OP?

Are you confident the scales and the weighing are both accurate?

What does the HV mean about offering support in the house? How would that affect your baby's weight?

Usual ways to increase weight gain: feed more often, use both breasts at least once each session, try breast compression, increase night feeds by co-sleeping (following safe sleeping rules), switch nursing.

Has anyone observed a feed?

Sorry for all the questions but there's not a full picture here :)

Someone more experienced hopefully will come along but I didn't want your post unanswered.

Of course you can see how YOU go on each week if you feel unhappy. It's your choice to stop breastfeeding if you wish but there are other options to consider.

Firstly, Why is he being weighed weekly?
What weight is he now?
What percentile is he on now (has he dropped from 75th)?
Is he happy and content?
Have you seen a bf professional rather than HV?

You may have the option to top up with formula (rather than completely stopping bf).

Sorry I'm not much help, like I say, someone else may come along to help but the answers to the questions above will help us help you more

Wow! I was about to start an almost identical thread. My ds was also born at 8lb 5, gained well to start with but was weighed last week (10 weeks) and was 11lb 10, putting him on the 25th centile.

I also have a toddler and don't have time to feed any more often and if I do try then he tends to fuss and then throw up.

I wasnt too concerned as he is content and weeing and pooing well (I think) but yesterday I met some other breastfeeding mums with babies the same age and he looks thin compared to them. I've now lost all confidence and perspective.

I wish I knew if he was just meant to be slim or if I'm not feeding him well enough.

Firstly, well done for persevering - I know it is not easy (speaking as someone whose ebf ds2 was in hospital, diagnosed as failing to thrive at 6 weeks old).

There is good advice on here about breastfeeding, and there are some very wise women both on here and in real life who are breastfeeding counsellors, and who would offer help and advice and support, to help you with this.

I would just like to say that it isn't an either/or situation - you can either supplement with formula after feeds, or replace a couple of feeds with formula - I did the latter with ds3 (having ended up with ds2 fully formula fed - the hospital kept us in until I started giving him formula, and he started gaining weight, and the breastfeeding just tailed off after that). I used to feed ds3 myself all day, then his late night feed, and nighttime feed were formula - and that worked very well for us, and I was able to carry on breastfeeding for twice as long as I had managed with the other two.

Icecreamcastles, sorry you are stressing too. It's hard isn't it. It sounds like your baby is probably doing ok. 25tg centile doesn't sound too bad. My ds is on 9th now. It's hard to know if it's just genetics isn't it. My husband is very slim, so I do wonder if that's all it is.

But to answer everyone's questions.
Yes I think he is producing plenty wet nappys. Dirty nappys are less frequent, but plentiful when it does come.
He seems happy, although does get very tired and fight sleep a lot.

I think he is easily distracted from feeding, which is a problem with a toddler around. Ivthought he'd make up for it by feeding more at night which I don't mind. But that dose t seem to be working.

How would I know if he has Tongue tie? The fact he gained weight well at the beginning tells me he is probably latching on ok.

What is switch feeding? I try to feed one side until he us no linger interested, then feed the other. Not entirely sure what breast compression is, but gas a Ho a couple if weeks ago and think it did help a bit, so perhaps will do this again.

Health visitor said to allow 2.5 -3 hours between feeds to make sure he is properly hungry and then takes a full feed including hind milk. But I thought lots of little feeds were better for weight gain? Also lots of little feeds is easier for me to do with toddler around, cos I just feed whenever there is a quiet moment.

Thanks very much for replys. Lovely for people to take the time to reply.

Thanks for the further info, OP.

Your health visitor is making a very common error - you are right, frequent feeding is best for weight gain and best for supply. It is frequency of effective feeding that drives supply. Leaving a baby until he is 'properly hungry' reduces milk supply and may also reduce the effectiveness of the feed (baby upset). She needs retraining, but in the mean time you could point her to this: kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/basics/milkproduction. It's accurate, though it emphasises 'emptying' the breasts which is not possible, really.

Switch nursing is deliberately switching sides throughout a feed, whenever the baby slows down a lot. You can google breast compression.

Also call any of the bf helplines.

Thanks. I get confused cos I offer feeds so often i am not sure which side to offer. I fed him at 1.00 for 15 mins. Left side. Then he has a sleep in the sling. Then woke at 2.30 and I offered him to feed. He fed for a few minutes right side. Do you know, next time I offer him should it be left side or right side? Right side, cos he didn't finish the feed properly?

Don't sweat the 'which breast should I use now?' thing, OP :)

Each breast needs using many, many times over 24 hours to maximise supply. There is no way of knowing if a baby 'finishes' the feed or not, and timing doesn;t help you work out what he has had.

Can I ask - were you advised to weigh your baby frequently or was this your choice?

DD was / is BF and slipped down the chart at every weigh in for 3 months
She started between 75th and 50th, and ended up almost at the 9th... she started to rise up the chart from 4m old and by 7m was almost back at 75th

she has never had formula, was / is extreamly healthy, and grew as nature intended with her virgin gut preserved until she started weaning

my "mummy instinct" told me she was fine.... and she was (/ is )

Mumto- I figured if I was going to offer more than one side per feed then it didn't really matter which side I started on- don't know if that's right. If ds has a long/good feed on one side and then falls asleep I'll offer the other side when he wakes up but that doesn't happen very often.

Nanny- could I just ask- did your dd look thin? Ds has a reasonable covering but I would be much happier if he could just chub up a bit!

she didnt look thin as such, no... she also was no way fat either at that time.

But my mummy instinct told me that she was fine and i went with it...

i told my HV "If i was a caveman I wouldnt be worrying about her so im not going to worry" and i didnt. Also told HV that "DD was not a cow, so therefor i didnt consider cow milk to be an appropriate food" (as i had SOOO much milk that i leaked at least a pint a day, which i collected in breast shells)

Had this twice - DC2 and DC3.

Both very big babies whose weight gain slowed right down. As they were both developing normally I persevered though I did worry and at times resorted to topping up with formula (looking back I don't think this was necessary). Both found there centiles (about 25th) and stayed on them. Just weren't destined to be the enormous children their birth weight suggested. Too much emphasis placed on weight gain by HV imo rather than using common sense.

Good luck OP. x

OP trading your original post you say he's gaining 3 1/2 oz a week. That's absolutely fine. Do follow tiktok's advice to improve the quality of the feeds but I can't see why that weight gain should in itself be of concern.

My 8 pound something romped through the weight gain early on, and then it tailed off. But I didn't bother going to get him weighed as I didn't feel like he was malnourished, he was just finding his way.

Breast compression helped. As did Kellymom (lifesaver!)

I echo previous posts about Kellymom, very very useful and sane advice.

Just to reassure you, not all babies are pudgy little things. I'm currently nursing twin boys and one is thin and angular and is slowly gaining weight, but is healthy, just like his older sister. The other twin is hugely pudgy and going up centiles practically every time I blink. But they're both getting the same supply as I'm tandem feeding. The moral is, don't look to their weight or whether they represent the cliche of a chubby baby - look at the poos/wees (which sound fine in your case) and whether the baby is responsive and active (again, which sounds great with you).

You are doing brilliantly and congratulations on your newborn - it's a lot of work with more than one around!

I wouldn't pay much attention to the centiles and weight charts. They are based on formula fed babies, Not breast fed - Formula fed babies put weight on at a much faster rate than breastfed because of how different the milk is.

Weight gain is weight gain - As long as he isn't loosing weight, And he is bright, alert, sleeping for normal lengths of time and having bowel movements and wet nappies then i wouldn't worry too much.

I'm another advocate of the 'would I be worried if I was a cave woman?' DS is ebf and 12 weeks old - he has still not broken the 11lb mark, but he is perfectly healthy although slight, lots of wet/dirty nappies, 4oz weight gain every week so very consistent, hitting all milestones but is between the 2nd and 9th percentile. He was born on 50th. Luckily I have an excellent, well informed about bf health visitor who is at the moment just supportive and not panicing.

TheQueenOfDiamonds That's not true. The charts now in the red books are based on breastfed babies. It says so in the book.

I think the new charts are based on a combination of both, they are still slightly flawed though as my HV said that as long as a bf baby gains between 4oz and 8 oz a week then that's fine. However if you track a steady 4oz a week gain on the chart (like my DS) then they still fall through percentiles despite gaining and being healthy.

The charts are based on data from breastfed babies.

The baby's weight and position on the chart is only one aspect of health and well-being.

I still don't know why OP's baby has been weighed so frequently, or why the HVs are planning come round to the house....this is why I am cautious as there may be more details we don't know about.

Hope things get better for you, OP.

My HV said 9th percentile is fine if you look at the WHOLE family and their stature and weight etc.

My LO was BF for first month (we had latching issues from day 1, didn't help with complications at birth which meant for 48 hours I was BF in a VERY awkward position and had little help from some MWs) then put onto FF. He was 9th percentile at birth. Doctors were concerned (he wasn't growing - that is true) but went up to 25th and then 40th. He came back down to 25th following a tummy bug. HV said it's fine. Babies rarely follow any one percentile and will go up and down.

To put it another way, if all babies were the same or on or above 50th percentile, the charts wouldn't exist! For the charts to even exist, some babies have to be on the 9th percentile or even lower. It's the law of averages that make it work!

Thanks everyone for your reassurances. It has made me feel a bit better. I tried to breastfeed lots yesterday and he did have a few dirty nappys. So perhaps it's making a difference.
I was quite alarmed this morning when I noticed some ewcm when I went to the loo ( sorry if tmi). That means my body might be thinking about ovulating, which isn't a good sign. I suppose my gut feel is that something isn't right.
Maybe he's just not been feeding well after he caught a cold from his big brother. He does have a slightly hoarse sounding cough this morning, but otherwise seems well.

It's a bit of a long story why he ended up being weighed so often. I has him weighed by hv at 4 weeks. She said everything is fine. Perhaps come to clinic to weigh at 6 weeks, then at 8 week check. I couldn't make the 6 week one, so went at 7 weeks. Then he was weighed at his 8 week check. Hv said all is fine you don't need to keep coming in to weigh him. But when I got home I realised she hadn't plotted the chart right and things weren't quite so rosy. Also I was worried about his lack of feeding so qent in this week to weigh him. I didn't point out the error on the chart but I think she noticed it, when she tied to plot the next point. By the way- I have a scientific type degree, so I def know how to plot a chart.
I think that's when she realised he was actually dropping down chart and started to worry and suggest home visit.
Not sure exactly what the home visit would entail other than checking the latch. I am coping with being a mum, I don't think they are concerned about anything else. I also have plenty help from my mum and dh. So it really is just the feeding issue.

Anyway- thank to tiktok. I knew I'd get more up to date advice on mumsnet than I did from hv!

Thanks for the info, OP - you understood what I was thinking, that it was possible there were some serious problems with regard to emotional/mental well-being or similar that were prompting extra weighings/offers of visits, that were not solely related to feeding.

I have just done some calculations, and I think your/HV's assessment of where he is on the charts is incorrect. His birthweight was 3770g - that's the 50th not the 75th centile. By my workings out, he is now 4900. At 9 weeks this is a shade below 25th centile.

I agree that a drop from 75th to 9th is worth invesitgating - but a drop from 50th to just below 25th is well within normal.

Maybe my calculations are off - but do the maths yourself and see what you think.