6 week old, appetite decreasing...

[MissRatty]

My LO is seven weeks old on Thursday coming, and we've noticed in the last two days that his appetite seems to be decreasing...we're having to wake him for feeds on occasion and rouse him during feeds. He's mixed fed, boob normally, but formula was used for top ups and he'll have the odd formula feed now and then.

His weight gain is slow, he has dropped centiles so we are worried about his eating in general! We had some latch issues corrected, but he's going longer between feeds, and even on the bottle isn't having as much in terms of quantity...

Anyone had similar or have any advice?

He's still got plenty of wet and pooey nappies, we're doing everything we can to try to keep him awake on the boob/bottle...but are worried as I mentioned earlier. X

When you say he's dropping centiles, how many has he dropped Ratty? Have you sought the support of a BFC?

Agree with JJJ - what are the details of his weight, OP?

Going longer between feeds can be normal.

Can't draw any conclusions from the amount he is taking from the bottle, either.

Has he been checked for a posterior tongue tie? Our DD gained weight slowly and dropped centiles and fell asleep eating. Turned out a TT that had got missed was the cause, becuase eating was so tiring for her.

He's been checked by four health professionals for tongue tie, as I was praying there would be a reason for the slow gain, but it was just the latch issues. I see a BFC at home and at the group I go to, but appetite decrease has only been this weekend so I haven't managed to see any of them about it yet...his centiles went down but noone seems bothered because his weight is increasing but just slower than expected. X

Ratty you really need to give more information. Everything you describe (taking less from bottle, spacing out feeds, dropping centiles) may be entirely normal- it all depends on the details. How many centiles has he dropped? Over what period? What is leading you to think his appetite has decreased? Babies naturally go longer between feeds as they get older- why is it causing you to worry?

He went from the 25th to the second from birth to now (although he did put on the initial lost weight after his birth very quickly).

He used to be fed every two hours...you could set your watch by him, and when he had ebm or ff via bottle, would take 3/4 oz. Now feeds vary between 2/3 hours, but sometimes we have to wake him, time at the boob is much shorter (no gradual "I'm getting used to this so I'm taking less time" type of thing) and he's only having maximum 2oz from bottles.

It has only been two days, so perhaps he's just not as hungry, and maybe I'm putting too much emphasis on those charts...

Ok, unless he was prem or has a health problem you haven't mentioned, going 2-3 hours between feeds is completely and utterly normal at six weeks- at that age my DS was doing a five hour night time stretch. Babies don't usually feed on precisely spaced schedules, and sometimes he'll get hungrier faster than others. If you're lucky he'll space his feeds out more at night and less in the day! It doesn't mean he's less hungry- he's just got a different pattern. And don't panic about the formula intake- he's mixed fed so he could well be taking in more breast milk (sensible boy to prefer it ) or it could be that you're simply waking him to feed him before he's properly hungry and if you wait till he asks, he'll go back to the larger amount.

I know the centile drop is alarming but it's within the range or normal. It could be that he was born bigger than he's 'supposed' to be and is now finding his normal line, or it could be that he's just had a slow couple of weeks and next week will eat like crazy and pile on the ounces.

Honestly, from what you've said he sounds fine . I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Prob still a good idea to keep an eye on his weight - birth centile is less informative than what he was at 10-14 days, though.

Thanks everyone. He's had two marathon feeds since I last posted, and is now back down to snacking. I'm probably being too stressed about what he's eating, and not focusing on waiting to get him weighed to properly see what's going on.

If only boobs had measuring marks so we knew what they were getting! I'll see how it goes at his weigh in tomorrow.

I hope the weigh in has been a reassurance.

It's difficult to know how much they are taking it really is as I always have worried about this with my daughter.

At the end of the day though unless they have other problems they tend to look for the boob or bottle when they are hungry.

The rule of thumb I used was if she wasn't awake within 4 hours during the day or 5 at night then I would wake her for a feed. It's only ever happened once so they obviously get enough food.

I hope your son is thriving today.