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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

no weight gain in 4 wks.....

46 replies

ebbie22 · 24/04/2006 22:45

Thats it really,gotta get ds weighed again a wk weds but what will happen if still no gain????
Why could he of not gained?am wracking my brains trying to think.....

OP posts:
starlover · 24/04/2006 22:46

how old is he?

pupuce · 24/04/2006 22:48

yes how old is he ?
Breastfed?
How often?

Original poster
ebbie22 · 24/04/2006 22:50

17 wks,usually fully bf unless he has occasional bottle if i go out but it goes straight thr him....
I thought i was doing really well,as with dd i stopeed at 15 wks ish and was proud that with ds was still going strong,now i feel so crapSad..

OP posts:
Original poster
ebbie22 · 24/04/2006 22:51

still on demand but prob every 3-4 hours...

OP posts:
pupuce · 24/04/2006 22:51

Babies do plateau at around 14 weeks so that sounds normal. My own DS did not gain an OZ at 12 weeks to 15 weeks....Have his length checked - and if he has grown length wise it's fine !

foundintranslation · 24/04/2006 22:52

Try to feed every 2 hours.

Are you night feeding? Have you been giving any top-ups? is he healthy otherwise?

starlover · 24/04/2006 22:52

i was gonna say the same as pupuce! honest! but i wasn't sure if it was right, lol

I am sure my ds slowed down around then as well though.. I wouldn't worry too much if he seems ok in himself

pupuce · 24/04/2006 22:53

It's fine... I would not increase his feeds if he is happy with his food intake.
What's his centile now?

sazhig · 24/04/2006 22:54

How many wet & dirty nappies in day?

Has he been ill or teething lately or started moving around more? Both can slow weight gain.

& most imporantly - were you worried about your ds before you had him weighed? Is he alert & hitting his development targets ok?

lucykate · 24/04/2006 22:57

my hv had me really worried about my ds as he lost weight due to illness and antibiotics. spoke to a friend who is a paediatrician and her advice was, just don't get him weighed anymore!.

jamiesam · 24/04/2006 22:58

Is he still growing (length, head circumference)? Ds2 stopped putting weight on from around the time we started weaning (hmm, I always wondered if too early, though 5 1/2 months) and we were to and from the health visitor for sooo long. HV was never worried as long he was alert, healthy etc and other measurements were going up. We did get referral to paediatrician when he stopped growing (height) temporarily, but paediatrician wasn't worried as he'd put on a TINY amount of weight and was just so healthy looking... No reason ever given for his slow weight gain and to be honest he's still a rubbish eater at nearly 3 (sorry, this means all fruit and veg and no fat/carb/protein - there's always a new worry just around the corner..)

Original poster
ebbie22 · 24/04/2006 23:04

With have just come bk from usa,he is in the throws of teething,but other than a little grumpy,[as he is always so placd]then i dont think he looks at all under fed...
am horriefied that if he hasnt gained then docs will put him on fomula,which would be ok if we could find one that suited him....
he was on the 50th at 8 wks and is now on the 9th... he was 59 lenght and is now 64..his head was 38.5 and now is 40.1,these too have to be checked in 4 wks....

OP posts:
Original poster
ebbie22 · 24/04/2006 23:08

he never stays still[like his mum],and every nappy is either wet or dirty,at least 2 dirty a day...
I wasnt worried as he feeds really well,was just proud that i got past the 4 month stone,though now i feel a faliure as havent really gotton past the 4 month....
Just cant believe he hasnt gained...is well alert,happy,etc....

OP posts:
busybusybee · 24/04/2006 23:13

Ebbie22 - I had this problem with ds

Try to ignore unhelpful advice about bottlefeeding. Im sure your ds will grow when he wants to.
Ds plateaud and didnt grow for about 2 months, everybody told me to get him to feed more etc,
All he did was puke the extra up, because he didnt want it. My advice based on my experience is, if he looks happy and healthy then he is fine and will put on weight when he is goodnready

Good luck, HTH

Original poster
ebbie22 · 24/04/2006 23:23

thank u bbb,that has helped a little,though i am going to bed now,pls help me work out what to do....if ds over feds he too is sick,so i let him follow the led as much as i can without him sleaping on the job....nite all,will check tomorrow,thanks again xx

OP posts:
sazhig · 25/04/2006 01:45

Agree about ignoring the formula option - formula has less calories than bm & so will not help with weight gain. Bm is the best thing for him. Might be worth ringing one of the bf organisations like LLL to talk this over with them so they can suggest bf friendly options for you or reassure you if there is nothing to worry about.

Just thought as well - has he been weighed on the same scales everytime - you'd be surprised how much of a difference you can get with different ones.

You said it yourself - you weren't worried - trust your instincts - look at the baby not the scales!

NotQuiteCockney · 25/04/2006 07:08

I'd talk to a bf organisation. Also, I wouldn't give him any formula at all - it going straight through him can't be good for his weight gain.

It doesn't sound that worrisome, truth be told. And the docs/hvs can't "put" your child on formula, it is up to you. Please make sure you see someone other than just an HV before making this sort of decision.

tiktok · 25/04/2006 08:41

ebbie - I agree that nothing you have said makes it appear your little boy is underweight. Scales, and operators, can be very unreliable....but even if they are accurate, four weeks with no gain in a healthy baby this age (as opposed to a newborn) is not a big deal. It's a sign to get hm weighed again (which is sensible - I don't agree that the response should be 'don't get him weighed') and to think of ways of getting more milk into him...not formula, but breastmilk. If he doesn't want extra feeds, then you can trust him to know what is right for him.

I suspect he won't say 'no' every time it's offered, though, and you can probably get an other feed or two into him in every 24-hour period.

Offering formula makes no sense at all. It actually has approx the same calories as breastmilk, but your baby would only gain weight on it if it was given to him as well as breastmilk....not instead of. If all your baby needs is more calories, you have them right there :)

ruthydd · 25/04/2006 09:31

There's another thread about the latest news from WHO about changing those crappy graphs. My ds1 & ds2 were on 50% at birth but down to 9th at around 3 months. I spoke to bf counsellors at La Leche and ABM (you can email them or phone) when my hv advised me "you don't have enough milk for a 5month old baby!". Advice I received from counsellors was that up until 3 months bf & ff charts are comparable but after that bf almost always fall behind. As others have said, you will know if he is gaining in other ways e.g. length, head circumference etc.

p.s. well done for bf thus far, and good luck with whatever you decide to do next !

busybusybee · 25/04/2006 20:00

Hi Ebbie

How did you and ds get on today?
Having though about this again I remembered that with ds, when I did give formula on occaisions all he did was puke most of it up just as he did with the bf - cos he didnt want it!!

BUT because i supplemented with formula out of ignorant desparation and pressure from an horrible HV, by the time ds was ready to be hungry again I had stopped bf altogether, which didnt really give us the choice of continuing to bf!!!

I hope today was a better day!

CorrieDale · 25/04/2006 20:28

Ebbie, I've been through this too. Weight gain was very slow from about 17 weeks. I upped the feeds big time - poor little mite couldn't move without being latched on! It helped but his gain remained slow. But he was bright and alert and hitting his milestones and at just before six months, I stopped getting him weighed.

kiskidee · 25/04/2006 20:32

Hi ebbie: not personal experience but this reminds me of a friend who was pressured to give up bf at 4 months because her dd was a v. slow weight gainer. she put her on formula and it made not a jot of difference to her weight. at 2 yrs old, she is still a slender girl.

happy, healthy, alert, meeting her developmental milestones will be better estimates of what is best for your baby.

Original poster
ebbie22 · 25/04/2006 22:18

Today i think has been a very bad day.....Ds latches on and then unlatches as let down doesnt come quick enough,am really stressed now,as today i dont think he has had hardly any milk although i am trying him every 2 hours,where he feeds for a couple of mins then screams.....burps then stops and is smiley again...But is he still hungry??

no dirty nappies but 5 soaking wet ones from 10am til 6pm?whats the norm??

OP posts:
Original poster
ebbie22 · 25/04/2006 22:20

i only gave fomulula if i had too,if out without him etc,but it was only once in a blue moon,how long do u leave it to see if a certain brand is ok with them?

OP posts:
morningpaper · 25/04/2006 22:21

aw ebbie it's tough

mine is ALWAYS impatient at a slow let down

I feel like an impotent man!

Sometimes I just leave my nipple in the air after she's tried to latch on - I usually have a let down a few minutes later and then I slap her back on again - she objects but then when she realises there is milk there, she is happy to feed

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