Gaining more than 1 pound for a week, is that normal?

[elenmarkova]

Hi all,
I am so confused with weight gain for my baby. She was born premature (34 week) but had really good weight 6 pounds and 56 oz. For the first month she gained more than 2 pounds. For the last 2 weeks she gains a pound each week.
I am exclusively breastfeeding her, every 3 hours first breastfeeding and then give her express milk from a bottle (started at 30 mls the first week and now she can take even 80 mls).
After every feed she starts to push as trying to poo and she does that until she has poo and then she is relaxed again (but this can take up to 1-2 hours). She pushes really strong, her face becomes red, occasionally she cries as well.
So I told all this to HV and she looked horified, said 1 pound for a week gain is too much and to cut off milk, and maybe the reason for the pushing part is because I overfeed my baby.
If I don't feed her fully she will be unsettled, crying and will not sleep deeply, waking up every 10-15 mins.
I tried cutting off the milk since yesterday but really feel bad, as I keep her hungry.
At the same time her pushing does not stop, she is doing it not that often as obviously there is not much to get out but still pushes a lot.
Please share your thoughts and opinions. I am really confused and don't know what to do.

I am also giving her colief (for colic relief) , tried infacol as well, maybe this pushing is actually colics.

Thanks for reading and I will be grateful to read your opinions.

All the best!!!

The straining sounds exactly like my babies! And IMO nothing to worry about and not necessarily a sign of over-feeding! Even tho their poo is soft, it's their muscles that makes them strain, I think. Also, I was told that 1lb per week is "normal" but both my dcs were full-term. What you're saying sounds fairly normal to me - I'd get a 2nd opinion. A hungry baby won't be good for you or baby...

Ps. I don't think pushing is colic... It's just normal pooing. With colic she'd be screaming non-stop for hours and hours.

Sorry, also, I didn't think it was possible to over feed an ebf baby... I'm worried about the competence of your HV tbh...

I'm not sure about expressing and feeding from a bottle because I never did it. I do know that a baby can take a large feed from a bottle when they don't 'need' it because of the action of bottle feeding being different to breastfeeding but babies who are bf otherwise self regulate.

I exclusively bf to demand and dd put on more than 1lb a week for ages whilst catching up to where she actually wanted to be on the centiles (born on the 50th, actually belongs at the top as she's tall). She was fine, healthy and happy and there was no question over whether or not this was right for her.

As others have said, I don't know much about the bottle side of things, but ds (5 weeks) has put on around a pound a week since birth (apart from this week where I was concerned as he only put on 9oz). I was under the impression that you could not over feed a bf baby.

If your baby is gaining weight well then you don't need the bottle feed top ups. Let your baby decide when she has had enough at the breast as she knows her own appetite. I believe that half a pound a weeks is more of an average weight gain but they are all different and don't grow in straight lines anyway. Are you sure the crying is hunger related? perhaps she just wants to be close to you if you are putting her down to sleep all the time?
In my opinion 80mls is a massive top up for a baby of that size and age. My baby is 15 weeks and if he has a bottle feed because someone else is feeding him he has about 150 mls at the most for a full feed. I would say cut down on the expressing and let your baby regulate her own intake at the breast.

Thanks for all your messages.
To Trazzletoes, ShowOfHands, readyforno2,KatAndKit: Yes, I don't like the idea of keeping her hungry neither. As I am also giving her a bottle after I breastfeed her then it might be overfeeding. As I am not sure how much milk she takes from while breastfeeding to be on the safe side I started to top up with a bottle. If I express only it would be about 40 mls (1.45 ounce) from each breast. So when I breastfeed her she sucks for 10-15 mins and then she falls asleep so assuming she takes only this 40 mls I was afraid of her staying hungry that was the reason for starting giving bottlers. I started with 30 mls at the beginnign while still we were in the hospital (she had phototherapy there for a week so the doctors were very strict on this top up of 30 mls. When we came home I continued the routine , every 3 hours breastfeeding + 30 mls, very soon she was still hungry after the 30 mls so I increased to 40 , 50 and now 70 or 80mls.
Regarding the sounds what is worrying me is that she is not having deep sleep but very light sleep and the sounds wake her up and then she would cry a little bit. All this started when she was 3 weeks old, at the beginning she did not make any sounds while pooing.

This is the thing KatandKit I would not know if she gains weight if I only breastfeed her as up to now all the time I am topping up with a bottle. If I only breastfeed her she will take not more than 40 -50 mls from the breast which is not enough ...
I tried since yesterday only breastfeeding her, made 2 top ups of 60 mls ... she falls asleep very quickly on the breast.
I am not sure if crying is related to hunger, what she does when hungry is opening her mouth and sucking , that's how I understand if she is hungry.
Apart from the crying while pooing (and she does it almost 70 % of the time , she starts and then 1-2 hours later she pooes) she is happy and calm.
I am trying to arrange an appointment with peditrician, gp is a little bit useless as they say all is normal for everything.
This is my first baby and she was premie and I am so worried about her.

Thanks for reading and writing once again.

All The best!!!

She will be able to get more milk from you than you can express IYSWIM. Just because you only express 40ml doesnt mean that's all she gets. If she falls asleep feeding, you can wake her up by gradually taking off layers of clothes/ changing her nappy... She'll almost certainly get enough milk from you directly of you let her. It is tough going.

You have no idea how much they take from your breast. And your breasts constantly make milk so it's not a limited amount in there which they drain and then it runs out. They make more as the baby feeds.

Some women can't express a single drop and yet feed the baby directly with no problems at all.

I think you need some good rl help with bfing and a website like kellymom will help you understand a bit more about how bfing works too. Have you a local bf cafe or the number of a local counsellor?

The nct also have breast feeding counsellors you can call. You don't need to be a member to use them.

as well a some good support I think another thing you need to know is that a baby this young wouldn't normally go 3 hours between feeds.

I think you probably don't need the top ups, but talking this through with a breastfeeding counciler first would be a good idea.

You make milk as baby feeds if she seems hungry you just stick them back on the breast. No need to complicate, thing with expressing and bottles. You know how much they are getting by what comes out the other end, so Lots of wet nappies. And over time that baby is gaining weight.

I disagree, mine went for 3 hours between feeds from a couple of weeks old. Each baby is different though.

Easiest thing to do is: baby cries? Offer her milk from the boob. If she's hungry, she'll feed. No probs.

Trazzletoes (hoping I've spelt this right) had hit the nail on the head.
It seems like a lot of hassle all this expressing and bottle feeding, sterilising etc. but I've always said I'm too lazy to bottle feed.
I would cut out the bottles if I were you, you may find it will take a bit of getting used to for both of you but will cut out a lot of 'faffing' once you get the hang of it. You will never know how much your baby takes at the breast but as long as there is weight gain/wet and dirty nappies that's all that matters.

Just an update, second day I am only breastfeeding, she is feeding every hour, hour and a half. The grunting sounds and the pushing continues though. It almost does not stop, she is doing it all the time. She did some pooeing through the night which was very liquidy.
Has anyone experience these weird sounds to be all the time, I am not talking about pushing while pooeing but making the pushing non stop, it's obvious she is trying to push but nothing at the end.
I have tried putting a warm bottle under her bump and that was a short relief.
Please share your thoughts.

All the best!!!

How long is she at the breast for when you're feeding?
At the beginning of a feed the milk released is thirst quenching rather than filling, as the feed continues it changes to the more filling calorific milk.
You might benefit from putting her back on the same side as opposed to changing sides.
Ds is a noisy grunty eater, you might just have one of these! As for the poo, runny is good. Don't know much about the pushing you describe but maybe it's frustration, It's much easier to feed from a bottle than the breast.
I'm sure everything will work itself out, although probably not the answer you were hoping for.

Not sure about non-stop pushing, but quite often mine would strain and nothing would happen... Sorry about the constant feeding, but that's often the way it goes. Hopefully she is just having a growth spurt, or is just increasing your milk supply and will give you a bit more time between feeds soon.

Ready - don't worry, you spelt it fine! And tbh I've gone through my whole life with my name misspelt anyway so water off a duck's back. Is my own fault for picking a silly nn!

I think you sound like you're doing a brilliant job, and that your baby is thriving.

For what it's worth, my baby (8 weeks and the size of a truck, to be honest) has always made loads of grunty noises, bless her. She sounds like a baby warthog and there are times I am convinced she has pooed when she hasn't. She's just a noisy thing.

Mine is also gaining a pound or more a week on breastmilk alone and the docs, MWs and HVs that have met her are delighted as she's a good advert for bfing.

I don't think your HV can tell her arse from her elbow is giving you great advice and agree that it doesn't sounds at all like colic.

I wouldn't put her back on the same side as if you're wanting to cut out the bottles, you need to stimulate supply as much as possible and the best way to do this is to switch feed.