Breastfeeding poor weight gain

[PirateGirlEmilia]

I am exclusively breastfeeding my 4 week old girl and although she is getting plenty of wet and poo-ey nappies she is gaining very little weight (in the last two weeks she has gained 70 grams) and she is yet to reach her birth weight.
Shall i be doing something to increase my milk supply? I would really like her to gain more weight and I'm willing to do whatever needed.
Thanks

Have you spoken to a medical professional - doctor or health visitor about this?

I can remember worrying about the same thing but it was 3 yrs ago now. I can't remember what they told me. But, it soon sorted itself out.
He started to feed like a trooper after a slow start and then weight piled on.

Try not to worry - you are doing all you can. it may put your mind at ease if you spoke to someone who knows what they are talking about..
Congratulations by the way.

Unfortunately the HV has not been very helpful. She would like me to wait another week and then if she hasn't regained her birth weight to start thinking about supplementing with formula.

Everyone else just says some babies don't put on a lot of weight but i dont find that very helpful or comforting.

Pirate, this can be so worrying and undermining :(

Lots of threads about this on MN, so have a browse :)

The commonest reasons for v. slow weight gain:

i) baby is just 'made' that way
ii) baby needs more milk - this is not the same as 'increase supply' because that is only half the story....the baby needs to get more milk inside her

You can address ii) by increasing the frequency with which you feed . It's not that uncommon for babies like yours to be feeding about 6-8 times in 24 hours, and that should be doubled so there are frequent feeds, day and night. In addition, the baby should have at least both breasts each time (google 'switch nursing' as well). Breast compression (google) is also very useful.

If you give more details about how often and what happens when your baby feeds, it'll help.

You can also call a bf helpline for a chance to discuss what to do. Your baby's feeding should be observed, if poss, and any anomalies (like tongue tie) checked for.

Mostly though, simply ensuring your baby feeds lots is the basic 'fix' - this increases your supply and at the same time gets more milk into her.

What has your HV said?

Hope this helps.

X posted - I agree that is useless of the HV.

How does waiting put weight on?

And her only idea of how to put weight on is to supplement with formula....that is very, very poor support.

It is a dead giveaway - if 'supplement' is the only thing an HCP comes up with (with a healthy baby, I mean, not one desperate or ill), then they are showing clearly how little they know :(