My baby has lost ten percent of his body weight and he's only 5 Days old

[whiteandyellowiris]

A breast feeding helper is coming tomorrow to help with attachment

They said if he loses 12 percent he will have to go into hospital

:(

And he is being re weighed in two days

Poor you. first of all, congratulations on your beautiful new baby...

I'm not an expert but if you can just feed and feed and feed. You are still not even at 3 days so your milk hasn't come in yet - maybe that will make a difference?

any worries, remeber you are still a patient of delivery suite for 28 days ( I think( so you can phone them day or night...) Both for you and for baby... xxx

First of all congratulations on your ds.
It's normal for babies to lose a lot of weight in first few days I hope your ds doesn't need to go into hospital and puts the weight on at home but if he does it will be the best place for him at that time.
When did your milk come in? Mine took a couple of days so my dd was getting nothing for first few days so wasn't surprised she lost weight.
Hope you're ok op

Same as other posters, it's perfectly normal for newborns to lose weight like this, but it's still scary for you.

If you can, just sit on the sofa with your top off and hold him close letting him nose around and feed as much as he wants.

My DS did the sand thing, lost 10% weight and one day he just 'got it' and went into a feeding frenzy and the weight piled back on.

Congratulations, enjoy him

My DH lost 15% in 5 days and we were admitted to SCBU but not in a scary way, they hooked him up to a drip. If you are admitted try not to panic, you will be there with your dc and they continue to encourage breastfeeding. We were there 1 night.

Now does your dc have any wet nappies, or is there a slightly powdery foundation looking stain in mostly dry nappies?

Has your milk come in? Mine hadn't but I didn't know, I know that sounds stupid but I genuinely didn't know what it felt like or that you would feel it. So my DS was getting nothing at all and was dehydrated.

We ended up topping up with bottles of formula for 1 month but it didn't effect beast feeding in anyway and I went on to successfully breast feed (for 2 years).

It's scary, you probably feel guilty (because I felt like this), but it's good they're keeping an eye.

Is it a problem with the feeding, or is baby not feeding enough?

If the latter, set an alarm for every two hours, day and night and feed every time. If he won't latch on, express and syringe feed.

I am dealing with a similar situation. My DD is five days today, but had an extra weight done at 3 days due to being SGA. She had lost 10.3% of her birth weight in that time, which was awful, but we knew she'd been having problems latching and so was already being given formula top ups, and EBM via a syringe. I started expressing with a pump that day, and she has been having this using a syringe, sippy spoon and most recently a Medela Calma teat. She was weighed again 24 hours later and had put on 70g, and is now only 7.3% below her birth weight. She will be having her five day weight today, so I'm hoping for another improvement. Once her weight seems stable I hope to go back to trying to BF, and we're still having lots of skin to skin time and holding her in different BF positions so she can look and feel around as she wishes. My MW has been really supportive which has helped, and LO is perfectly healthy despite this. Good luck!

Have they given you any other help yellow?

Have they observed a feed and checked how your nipples are after a feed?

Did you have IV fluids during labour as this can be passed on to the baby and 'inflate' their birth weight.

How do you feel things are going? Is he feeding frequently or a bit sleepy? When he's feeding does it feel ok, without any clicking, cheeks puffed out, more areola covered below the nipple than above?

I'm not asking for answers for all these questions btw, but it may give you some food for thought.

Finally keep baby skin to skin, ideally in a biological nurturing position (google) and offer the breast very often....you're looking at about 12-14 times in 24 hours, but possibly more. Don't forget to offer both sides too so that your supply is set up for now and the forthcoming months.

Great that you are getting some help with the attachment, Dr Jack Newman's site has some really good video clips you can watch too. .

Thanks for the response

Tithe breastfeeding lady came today

She was v nice and v helpful

Ds gets weighed again tomorrow
So I'm updating her tomorrow

So ATM the plan is to breast feed as often as possible
And express after feeds too
But we are having to give formula top ups when there is no breast milk pumped available
Just been pumping and only got 10 Mls
An ds took 50ml formula after a breast feed

I thought ds was doing ok
And he breast feeds then he goes all sleepy
But he's actually losing weight

Could she say why he's losing weight?
Any chance of a tongue tie?

She said he doesn't have tongue tie

And that per paths he was losing weight in the first few days in hospital al but perpahs he's turned a corner and is now gaining

As he wasn't weighed on day three by the midwife
So we don't have that information to use

I don't think it is uncommon for babies to have lost 10% or close to it by day 5. Some babies will already be gaining by then, but for some Mums their milk may have only just come in. DD and newborn DS had both lost close to 10% of their body weight by day 5. DS also had urates in his nappies repeatedly. However, with both my milk only came in on day 4/5 and my gut feeling (helped by the fact I'm a peer supporter, although always less easy to see things clearly when it's your own baby) was that both were ok.

Luckily the midwife who came to see me at the start with DS was one who runs some of the BF support groups and wasn't at all worried, just said we'd keep an eye on things. By day 8 DS had regained 150g. He's two weeks old today and hasn't been weighed since, but has had to go into the next size of sleepsuits and is fine.. It had been a similar story with DD, although I wasn't as confident then and started worrying between weighing on day 5 and day 7.

Good luck with the weighing today. I hope it goes well and you can get back to EBF if that's what you want.

Hello white

Massive hugs to you. I have been through this and it is horrible. My DS was a poor feeder and was found to have lost 20% of his birth weight by day 6. He wasn't latching on properly and didn't have the energy to feed, so my milk didn't come in and we were in a vicious circle.

We were rushed into hospital when the community MW weighed him and spent about 28 hours there. It was horrible as they wouldn't readmit us to the maternity ward/SCBU and instead sent us to the paed ward full of sick toddlers. Urgh.

Anyway, we got through it and back to exclusive breastfeeding. What we did and it worked really well (although it was the hardest week of my life) was:

• Feed at least every 3 hours (even if it meant waking him up)
• Start by giving both breasts
• Then give all available EBM
• Then give formula until he won't take any more
• Then express ready for next feed
• By which time it is pretty much time to start over again....

Don't worry that you only get 10mls when pumping, I was exactly the same. You are exhausted and your milk hasn't really got going. Just give him what you have got and top up with the formula. I was lucky enough to be given 500ml of donated EBM by a lovely friend so we used that instead of the formula for a while which was great - you could ask the hospital if they have any spare? But really don't worry about having to give formula top ups, you can get back to exclusive breast feeding again - we did and then I fed him until he was 15 months.

Best best best of luck with the weigh in today. xxxx

How did things go today whiteandyellow?

It's quite normal, especially for bt larger babies until your supply catches up. Feeding on demand will help. topping up with formula won't help your supply get established.

They didn't use to review unless 15% had been lost but made it 10 quite recently. Try not to panic x

Like cottoncandy, my DS lost 20% by day 7 and was re-admitted. I managed to get back to maternity after one night in Paeds and a lovely MW stayed with me until I cracked getting the latch right.
I cried as he was given formula via an NG tube but managed to EBF and fed him for over a year. He's taller than me now!
Don't worry, you'll get there.

Thanks very much for your advice and support

Well ds got weighed and he had gained 60 grams in two days

It's still an 8percent weight loss from his birth weight but they said as he's gaining now it doesn't matter

I still feel the same still want to breast feed but I'm not going to get myself stressed out about it because I just want to enjoy this special time

So we have been advised to continue doing what we are doing and he will be rechecked on mon

Great news!
You're quite right not to get stressed out by it, well done.

Well done! Hope things keep going in the right direction.

That's fab!
Well done :)

Great news that lo is gaining! My dd lost 9.5% of her birthweight and it took her over 3 weeks to regain but was never told to ff. Bf babies often take a little longer to regain so as long as it is going up don't worry. The MW worried that my lo hadn't put on enough but when they came back 2 days later to weigh her she had put on 4 times the amount they wanted her to. Sometimes babies put on weight very suddenly. If you want to bf please don't be pressurised by the midwifes or hv.

Also please don't listen to others on your other post that say that bf babies don't sleep well. DD has slept through the night for a minimum of 8 hours, but usually 10, from 5 weeks and she is ebf.

You are so right to not stress out and to enjoy this time with your baby.

Thanks so much for all your cheering us on xxx

Tis apreciated

fantastic news that he is gaining! well done!

And you can get back to BFing again even if you continue with the FF top ups for a bit. Do what works for you.