EBF and too small for 3 months?

[Aliglobetrek]

Hi I am EBF and I (personally) think DS is feeding well. He generally feeds 8+ times a day. He even sleeps through some nights. He is 12 weeks though and only weighs 10lb 4oz although he is a long baby. He was 7lb 9 at birth but lost 10% in first couple of weeks. It took 3 weeks to get back to birth weight. The HV now wants to refer us to a paediatrician as she says his weight is low and he seems to be at the 1 percentile on the growth graph.
Its been suggested that he might have tongue tie and I'm being referred for that too but he keeps sticking his tongue out and I don't have any pain when feeding. He does just seem to like feeding a lot though and likes to be fed to sleep.
I just wondered whether EBF babies tend to be lighter than FF babies?
I had generally been feeling fine about the feeding etc but comments re his weight are starting to stress me out and I'm starting to dread getting him weighed at the group I go to (BF support group). I've been getting him weighed weekly due to him having lost quite a lot shortly after birth.

Any advice or comments would be appreciated. Thanks :)

Hi my dd is 13 weeks & is over 9lb (bit hazy about her actual weight as hasn't been weighed for the last week due to her being ill). She was only 4 lb 3 when born though so around 9lb is pretty good. I was under the impression that ebf babies tend to be slightly lighter than ff ones but don't know if that's an accepted opinion or not. If he's feeding 8+ times then that seems ok but are you sure he's latched properly & is actually getting enough milk? How are his nappies - plenty of pooey/wet ones? Also you say he sleeps a lot at night? Mine generally goes bet 2-3 hrs day & night bet feeds, but I know that some ebf babies do go for longer. Maybe worth waking him at night to get a couple more feeds in? I'm no expert though so hopefully there'll be someone with a bit more knowledge to advise you shortly.

Good luck!

I had the hv scaring me about ds1 about the same sort of thing. To be honest, take the paediatrician appointment up asap! It was brilliant to be able to say, "Actually the CONSULTANT PAEDIATRICIAN agrees he is developing fine so I'm not going to do the ridiculous things you are suggesting or be scared by you any more!"

You know they don't know your child as well as you do, but they can seriously undermine your confidence, so having someone properly qualified reassure you (as opposed to a nursery nurse who spouted nonsense advice and kept putting the darn dots on the wrong place on the graphs anyway) is definitely worth it.

My favourite phrase from the paediatrician was, "He's following his curve of destiny" (on the graphs). He started on the 50th centiles and fell to the 2nd over 5mo and now tracks the 9th-ish.

Actually things like lots of dirty nappies don't apply at this age, well I hope so anyway as my dd would happily go 12 days and 2 weeks isn't unusual.

If you are concerned about his weight I'd try feeding him more often, even if its just for a short while. I'd also get your latch checked and Lo checked for tongue tie too but not by the HV, I'd get it done by a BFC. Is there a local la Leche league near to you, they could do these for you.

When you say that Lo is weighed, is that at the bfing support group? A baby at this age doesn't need to be weighed very often,I think it's about one a month.

And likeGentleness my HV kept plotting DDs weight in the wrong place so bless you are really confident in the scales and the person weighing her I wouldn't worry too much.

Hi apple. I hate this obsession with weight as an indicator of how well you are doing...it only serves to stress new mums out IMO.

I remember with ds1 not cutting his tiny baby nails before weigh ins as every ounce counted. Ridiculous. The curves are based on FF babies growth progression and not EBF growth.

Also, someone has got to be on the 2nd percentile.....same as someone has to be on the 98th....

I have just had ds2 and am already losing my patience with HCPs when the conversation goes like this.

HCP: how is he feeding?
Me: great. No concerns, really pleased with feeding actually.
HCP: well let's weigh him and find out.

Aaaaaaggh. But I just told you it was fine!

Rant over. I guess I just wanted to say that it is stressful and you know your baby. Don't let this knock your confidence. X

Re curves apparently the ones now in the red books are based on BF feeding. According to my HV anyway.

Ah, gingerbread so they are, DS1 is quite a bit older, so I am guessing it has changed!