Advice on 7 week olds weight - Dr says she is underweight!

[BeaandMe]

DD was 3.4kg when born and 4.1kg at her 6 week check. The doctor said she is not gaining enough weight and I should supplement her with formula. I said that I didn't want to do this and so she has told me to increase my own food. I'm struggling with this and several people have told me that breastfed babies do not fit on the growth charts, that they are designed with formula feeding babies in mind. Does anyone know if this is the case? Any thoughts on this amount of weight gain? I hate the thought that she might not be getting enough nutrition from my milk!

Thanks for any replies

BeaandMe, the charts have been based on breastfed babies for some time now - whoever is telling you different is several years out of date :)

Looks to me your dd was born at the 25th centile and is on the 25th centile at 6 weeks. This does not indicate a problem. Are there other concerns?

Perhaps you can speak to your HV and ask why the doc is worried?

Increasing your own food intake will make zero difference to your baby's growth.

If it's thought (why?) your baby needs more calories, then simply bf her more often, and/or giving her at least two or three breasts per session would meet these needs.

There is no need to worry about the nutrition in your milk. This is always fine - whatever your diet :)

Sorry, OP, I have looked at charts again and your baby was born a tad under the 50th centile and is now on the 25th.

This still does not indicate underweight - you'd need to look at when she regained birthweight and her growth rate since then, and assess it that way. What was she at each weighing?

Thanks for the replies tiktok . She was 3.4 at birth, 3.2 at two weeks, 3.5 at 4 weeks and 4.1 at six weeks. If she is currently on the 25th percentile does this not mean she is underweight?

I tried to see my public health nurse (we are not in the UK) but she is off sick. So I will try again next week (she is only in the clinic one day a week).

Yes, that is what I thought about my own diet. That the nutrients would always go into the breastmilk. That if my diet was poor I would be the one to suffer from it, but not the baby as the milk would be prioritised as such by my body.

A militanty pro breastfeeding friend of mine had told me that about the charts . But also it was on the breastfeeding support website kellymom.com. Although that is an American site, also it said bf babies gain more weight than formula fed babies for the first few months, not less.

The charts in the US are different - what I said about the UK charts is correct :) You can find these charts on the web.

No, she is not 'underweight' - and the weights you have given here show a baby slow(ish) to get back to birthweight, but who is gaining consistently now. But speak to an HV and get an opinion based on more than just the 'raw' weight.

You need to discuss this with your HV or equivalent HCP who understands about bf, and who will not tell you rubbish about your own diet affecting your baby's growth. Or you could find another doctor who knows more :)

See my first post about increasing your baby's intake - would you do this?