weight loss help

[habhann]

My ds was born at 35 weeks, now 14 weeks. I am ebf , although he has reflux after feeds. Ds weight has been dropping and after weight check today he is on the 9th centile . I have tried Gaviscon but he got constipated. Went to lactation consultant who advised re latch as it is shallow. I have made an appt with go for Friday but am worried that she will tell me to add a bottle and really don't want to. I am also worried that I will be told by family that I should. Have bottle fed from the start..mother in law thinks he should have bottles and does not support bf..my dh is fully supportive...just so p##d off...and feeling a bit down about it all..any advice

habhann, can you clarify? Is your baby losing weight, or is he on a lower centile than before? What has been his weight history?

Also - you say the LC might say to 'add a bottle' and then you say you have bottle fed from the start, and then that your MIL thinks he should have bottles....confused :)

(Tiktok- I think there might be a rogue full stop between 'should' and 'have' - I don't think the OP is currently bottle feeding).

OP- I don't have any advice, but you will get useful suggestions from Tiktok and others here. I'm glad your DH is being supportive even if other family members are not of bfing.

Thanks redkites, yes there were some typos in my thread. Tiktok to clarify my as is exclusively breastfed but is losing weight. He is 14 weeks and weigh 5.1 kgs (early baby at 35 weeks) he has reflux and I have a fast let down.. He just threw up after spending 40 mins feeding him

Thanks for clarifying!

It's concerning he is losing weight - it is always serious when babies lose weight.

What is his weight history? How long has he been losing weight?

What has been done to address this so far?

Got some good feedback this am from lactation consultant..i am petite and my dh is also slim so as could be taking after us . I am going to gp tomorrow but I feel confident that I have enough milk supply but will find out about reflux

habhann, hope it goes well.

No matter how petite and slim you are, it's concerning if your baby is actually losing weight. You may have a good milk supply but if it's not getting into the baby sufficiently well, that needs to be fixed :)

Losing weight is serious, but putting on weight slowly will also lead to drop on centile charts? What centile was he born on?

advice would be to stick with the professionals - they are very unlikely to tell you to switch to formula unless it is absolutely the right thing due to all the targets they have to try and encourage bf. That's a rough start for you with the ds being a little early and the weight issues - if it were me, i'd make a bit of a pest of myself at the dr/hv until the situation started to improve and you felt more confident - they are supposed to be there to support people in exactly these situations, it's what they are paid for. Ignore family unless they are being supportive, they aren't the professionals, they are there for emotional back-up, some of them just don't get that!

Key would be to know what centile he was on once he started to gain after birth....a baby born at 35 weeks would likely be very much smaller at birth than a term baby, so birth centile not so relevant. You'd be wanting a baby to do some catch up growth as well though that can take a while.

It's still not clear if this baby has a problem or not - but if he has consistently lost weight (as opposed to gaining slowly, or a tiny loss over one week or something that could be explained by a difference in scales) the doctor will almost certainly be concerned.

Indeed tiktok- I haven't any experience of pre term babies so what you said makes more sense.
I have been in this situation, so I know how worrying it is.

Thanks everyone, I guess ds is gaining weight slowly rather than losing weight.ds was 6lbs 11oz at birth

Isn't that quite big for 35weeks? He might be moving towards a centile more suitable for him. I.e. my friends DD started off 91st centile (she had gestational diabetes) but is now on 50th and following that line, which is prob where she should have been anyway. The important thing is following a line upwards I.e. staying on 9th centile now at least, and not dropping down another line. Hope you get some good advice from lactation consultant.

Hope the GP helps, habhann. Please don't take this the 'wrong way' but you have to share accurate information with the GP and whoever else you ask - you say three times your baby is losing weight (in the heading, in your OP and again when I asked directly 'is he really losing weight?'), and yet now you say no, he's gaining slowly, not losing. BIG difference :)

Make sure you get it right when you speak to the GP. GP will also need the weight history (ie what his weights were since birth) and what you have done so far to address the weight concern, so good idea to take the weight records with you.

I know. Ds was on the 25th centile line but gaining weight slowly and is now plotted on 9th centile line as per who growth chart taking into account pre term babies..head and length measurement are on the 50th centile line. Have gp appointment later this pm

My dd was 5.11 at 36 weeks, sounds like he was big! Did you out of interest have a lot of fluids in labour?
Is he 9th centile adjusted? It makes a huge difference! My dd would be on the 0.2nd not adjusted.

Thanks for reply. Ds was adjusted - 4 weeks . Its hard to get your head around these charts

Just back from gp. The plan is to continue with ebf and to monitor weight . I feel relieved..if weight drops below 9th centile then gp will refer to specialist..