HELP! 2 week old baby below birth weight and not gaining

[Jules125]

Hi, my baby girl (dd3) was born at 39 weeks on 12th November. She was 6lbs 14oz at birth, had dropped to 6lbs 2oz by day 4-5 and has regained only slightly (now about 6lb 5oz) and remained static at that to day 15 (today). I started off breastfeeding in hospital and when I realised she wasn't gaining expressed and topped up with expressed milk or formula (when i couldn't express enough). I am keeping a log of what she's getting and its between 500-600ml a day in a bottle (mostly around 500ml) plus some (probably very ineffective) breast feeds.

I had problems breast feeding my last DD who is now 2 (and still breast feeds sometime), and also problems with slow weight gain with her - but for her as soon as I expressed and bottle fed she regained rapidly. I expressed for her until she was about 3-4 months old (by the time she was 6 weeks I could express enough to ditch the formula) and then she started to breast feed well on her own.

All the internet sites suggest that 500-600ml should be more than enough milk for DD3 at her weight and age. And I'm sure she's getting it - plenty of wee and poo too. So why is she not putting on weight?

I'm getting quite worried about any medical conditions that might be causing this, but she is quite well (has been reviewed by paedeatricians already). All the expressing, feeding sterilising is starting to get me down too (I also have a toddler to think about). Probably takes 2 hours per feed in total to bf, bottle feed, then express (times 7 feeds daily) so no wonder I feel I can't sustain this.

Anyone else been through anyting like this? [sorry for long post]

Jules, what a difficult start for you :( It's good the paeds have concluded there is nothing underlying any of this, and I agree it's concerning.

What you are doing at the moment is, as you say, not sustainable. You don't say what specific help you have had, but if you feel confident in the midwives you could ask to see a midwife for help working out your next steps.

Can you give more details about why and when you started to give formula? Have you had any help in making the bf more effective? Has anyone discussed with you why breastfeeding seemed not to be working well?

I agree with you: the amount of milk she is having should be sufficient for her to gain. Are the scales being used accurate? Are you confident the person weighing is accurate? Have metric measurements been translated accurately into pounds and ounces?

Thanks for the reply. I started to give formula after a week when it was clear DD3 wasnt regaining quickly. I'd like to breastfeed but its not the most important thing to me (its the weight gain I'm worried about) and I'm pragmatic about some formula even if it means eventually giving up bf earlier than I'd ideally want. With my last DD I also found it helped get us through the first difficult weeks and when she got bigger she bf much better anyway.

I saw a lactation consultant with my last DD at 3 weeks old who recommended exclusive expressing for a while until that DD grew - which I did for a few months. She said this was unusual but for a variety of reasons she really didn't think I'd suceed at breastfeeding until DD2 was bigger. I'm therefore not surprised that I had problems again this time, and already know a lot about pumping. But DD2 had no problems putting on weight when bottle fed EBM!

Yes, unfortunately I am pretty sure all the conversions are accurate (DD3 is not gaining in kilos either!) and whilst small fluctuations might be measurement error / different scales (she's varied between 2840-2910 over the last week), she ought to be increasing more by now with the amount she is taking in.

jules haven't got Ny advice, but just wanted to offer my sympathy, it must be so distressing for you.

couple of things as i am going through this as well.
My son was born 6lb 13oz. day 5 6lb 6oz, day 12 5lb 13oz. We were then hospitilised. He was on 40ml a feed. Hospital said not enough 58min. For his birthweight he should be on 464ml which is the same as you should be on. This got us back up to 6lb 6oz on release 5 days later. Yet 5 more days after release he dropped to 6lb 4oz. Being reweighed tomorrow.

I can sympathise about all this as im a nervous wreck with every feed. Crying almost if he doesnt get to his 60ml feed requirement. :(

oh and my son was born on 4th Nov.

Yes, very sorry you have the same problem Alamaya.

I forced (almost literally) 70ml into my daughter at 4am this morning only to have her sick twice (and two crib and baby complete changes!) between 5-6am.

My DD is having well above the 464 ml requirement so just don't know why she isn't gaining.

I hope you get this sorted soon too.

shameless bump

Just bumping for the evening crowd.

Jules you certainly need some RL support but can you tell us what happens when feeding (breast) ie. does she latch on and suckle well, is it painful for you, does she fall asleep on the breast etc.

she latches on but pulls her head back after 1-2 minutes so just sucking nipple. and she falls asleep a lot too.

thanks

just to let you know we have had a 3oz gain :D and my miracle so far has been dr browns bottles. Not sure if he was getting gassed up before but hes burping loads and seems to get more milk in him xx

Hi

Just coming on to offer you a bit of support. My dd is nearly 6 weeks old and was born 6lb 14oz and dropped to 6lb 4oz. She has gained and lost twice and is still not back at her birth weight.

Keep going, you are doing an amazing job x