gutted history is repeating

[Splatt34]

I had a nightmare feeding DD2. Weight gain was awful and at 4 weeks I ended up on domperidone & a constant cycle of feeding, expressing, & topping up. It was physically & emotionally exhausting and at 6 weeks she had only gone from 7lb 11 to 8lb. Looking at photos now it is quite upsetting because she really doesn't look well. We added in formula top ups and she weighed 9lb 5 just 6 days later. She'd be starving bless her. did combination Fred til 13 weeks.

so DD2 is 13 days old and it all seemed to be so much better. She feeds for 20 minutes, takes herself off. Is calm and laid back otherwise. (Her sister feed for hours on end and never seemed satisfied. she fried, alto). plenty of wee & poo, no jaundice. Demand feeding every couple of hours. BUT she weighed 8lb 15 at birth, 8lb 4 at 5 days, and 8lb 3 yesterday on day 12. Was gutted. have been to feeding clinic twice because I am paranoid & latch odd great. I have to have her weighed again next week but I see combination feeding looming, which is fine TBH it is probably what we planned but thought not til 3ish months not weeks.

sorry to gone on. I clearly produce skimmed instead of full fat milk ;-)

oops nightmare feeding DD1 !!

Bumping, hoping someone knowledgeable can help.

All I will say is weigh is only one thing. If she's happy, peeing and pooing and satisfied. And if you think she's ok, then she's ok. Don't be forced into topping up if you don't want to.

I had a nightmare with dd and was bullied into top ups which killed my bfing alongside other complicated poorly diagnosed allergies!

I am still ebf my ds at 9 months, I have been stubborn and bloody minded about it!

Keep going to the support group, phone the NCT line. Believe in yourself, if you want to ebf you will be able to.

However, it's not the end of the world if you decide not to. But make it your decision. Not your HV's.

I will go and find some links for you.

kellymom

breastfeeding help lines

Good luck

I hope I've helped btw re reading your op.

Feeding for 20 minutes every couple of hours doesn't seem like a huge amount at 13 days, particularly if there are weight gain issues (not a problem if it were working for mum and baby, but clearly here it's not). Also, how many sides are you feeding her from at each feed? Given she's not putting on weight I'd be inclined to feed from side A, then when she comes off offer her side B, then when she comes off that offer her side A again for a bit and then if she can be persuaded get her to try side B once more. That helps to stimulate your supply and also gets a bit more into her at each feed.

i am trying to feed her longer and both sides but she falls asleep. I had been taking that as she was satisfied as her sister would just cry when she came off but clearly not. i am now trying to keep her awake. feel like I'm force feeding her which seems the complete opposite to baby led.

Splatt, you're right to be concerned and to seek good help.

Personally, I don't think you should leave it a further week without getting her weighed again. She should not be losing weight at this stage - what did the clinic advise about addressing the issue?

Feeding frequency is better for weight gain than length of time feeding - and switch nursing and breast compression when she falters is better than trying to keep her on for longer.

Can you increase night feeds? Some of your op I don't understand 'cos of autocorrect :) and I can't guess at 'she fried, alto' :)

The risk is that 'laid back ' babies which you say she is, just don't demand what they need, and they end up with insufficient energy to perk up and 'ask' for feeds, so you need to be proactive.

Hope this helps.

just want to say, similar things happened to me. i was devastated with dd2 when deciding to top up, i literally thought id never get over it. she's now at 13 wks, am still topping up but she's clearly healthy and im now at peace about it.
so whatever you decide, good luck and try to stay positive-it does get easier xx
ive been taking fenugreek suppliment which may or may not have helped but it certainly eased my guilt and worry, so you could give that a go.

tiktok - DD1 "cried alot"!!

bf clinic have twice told me her latch is fine, she's good colour, alert etc and That am doing well.

it was HV who weighed her yesterday. Think will go to bf clinic again tomorrow and see what they say.

I thought you had to get to hind milk for the good fatty stuff, surely switching sides constantly negates this?

No - this idea of 'having to get to the hindmilk' for fatty stuff is SO WRONG - excuse caps.

www.analyticalarmadillo.co.uk/2010/07/foremilkhindmilk-and-lot-of-confusion.html

and

thefunnyshapedwoman.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/foremilk-and-hindmilk-in-quest-of.html

are two blog posts that explain it well.

Switch nursing is very helpful to boost supply and intake. See here kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supply-worries/low-supply/

Perhaps the bf clinic were not aware she was losing weight still? It's impossible to be sure she is still losing weight - she could be plateauing, as a difference of an ounce on (presumably) different scales may not be accurate. So we just can't tell what's going on for certain, and the fact her latch is good and you are motivated and happy to feed often are all good signs.

Tiktok - thank you for those links, very interesting.

Well she is very awake tonight and cluster feeding like acdemon si we will see!

It sounds like you're both doing fine. It's still too early to be worrying about weight gain, especially as she's generally settled and healthy looking.

Problem is chocca, that may not be true.

It's absolutely not 'too early to worry about weight gain'....this baby appears to be losing weight. Now, everything might turn out just fine, the scales might be wrong, the baby may be plateauing and getting ready for a real burst of growth, the baby may be a slow starter...we can't be sure.

But early weight is an important part of any assessment of well-being. The fact a baby looks healthy is not much a of a guide, and a settled baby is not much of a guide, either.

I know. I noticed that she was weighed on day 5 and day 12 and that her weight was less on day 12 than on day 5. That doesn't necessarily mean that she has been losing weight though. We don't know what her weight would have been on days 9-10. She might have gained weight since then,
Also, OP has just said that she's feeding a lot tonight so that's encouraging.

I'd get her weighed again on Friday.

I know that settled babies sometimes don't thrive. I slept for hours and hours at night as a little baby and needed to be woken to be fed as I kept on losing weight. Not breastfed either.

Both my babies were very slow to gain weight too. The first one got top ups of formula after five weeks but the second one managed without formula and is now a very skinny, but energetic teenager. I was in hospital for a week after the birth during which time the nurses would take him away to be weighed and come back saying how he was doing fine. If they'd told me that he was losing weight, which he did for eleven days I'd have been in a panic.

I'm very hopeful from the OP's posts that her baby is beginning to put weight on.

chokka, babies should have stopped losing weight by day 5. Yes, the OP's baby could have continued to lose weight, and could now be gaining - but she does appear to be losing still. Not clear, you are right.

It could be all is well, but it makes sense to have the baby weighed again and to keep watching the situation, making sure the baby feeds a lot.

Oh yes - I completely agree about getting Splatt's baby weighed before a week was out. I haven't said not to bother . Like you I advised OP to weigh her baby again sooner than a week. I'm very hopeful that her baby will have put on weight, which will be reassuring.

Confidence/determination to EBF is often such an important factor in its success - the OP doesn't want her baby having formula and her baby seems healthy. It would be a shame to have nipple confusion or problems with her supply if it's not certain that her baby needs formula milk.

went to breast feeding clinic again today. Latch and suck seem fine but duration is probably too short so now have to try to wake her up to take more. They've also suggested try fenugreek and to give her a couple of ounces of formula at night for next few days.

Hubby thinks the last bit is very sensible, I think not feeding her will not help what appears to be poor supply from me. We'll see when she's weighed next week.