Baby lost too much weight - epidural?

[samthewolf]

Hello, I've just been told my baby has lost too much weight - could it be that the epidural meant his birth weight was deceptively high due to increased fluid? Is there any evidence etc for this?

He was a much bigger baby than me and my partner so it does seem odd that he was so much bigger when he seems to be feeding well and has plenty of wet nappies.

Thanks in advance!

It's not the epidural, afaik, it's if you were on a drip, this can artificially increase the baby's weight before birth.

How much weight has he lost? How old? Wet nappies are a good sign, what about dirty ones?

Thanks for your reply!

I was also on a drip in my hand - not entirely sure what it was though?

He's 4 days old, weighed 7lb 12oz at birth and lost 12% birth weight

He hasn't had a dirty nappy in 24 hours now but am going to my midwife in the morning as heard conflicting advice - didn't realise this was quite as bad as it seems as some had told me it was normal for breastfed baby.

Getting very worried.

12% weight loss plus no poos is a bit concerning. Has your milk come in? How often are you feeding?

Lack of dirty nappies in a bfed baby is only normal after a few weeks, for a baby this young it is definitely something that needs monitoring along with the weight loss, it can be fine but it can also indicate an issue with milk transfer.

The midwife should watch a full feed and check the baby is latched on correctly. How often are you feeding? It should be 8-12 times in 24 hours but I would probably aim for every 2 hours (including overnight to start with - set an alarm!).

Try not to worry too much. My dd lost 20% in five days, she was 6lbs 7.5 and went down to 5lbs 9.5 (I was induced because she was allegedly pushing 10lbs - nope, she was long)

It was a feeding issue, we spent a night on the baby ward with a bf supporters - she put 8oz on overnight, then put on between 0.5 and 1lb every single week.

She's now 2.4 and 3-4yrs clothes fit with no growing room, she's 30lbs and bigger than her peers.

She was such a tiny little scrap to start with, then she looked like a skinned rabbit - and now she's huge.

12% isn't as bad as it sounds, losing some is absolutely normal and he will put it back on, he's just still very new.

Congratulations!

Hiya, congratulations on your baby. First I want to say try not to stress, at 10% weight loss the professionals have to start keeping an eye in you, but there is plenty of chance the weight will pile back on now as your milk has probably only just come in. Easier said than done but for now focus on feeding on demand. 4 days is very young to be sure of anything.

There is some stuff on artificially high birth weight / weight loss on the dr jack Newman website I think. As pp has said I think this can happen if you have been on a drip. Also from memory some babies placentas are better than others so babies can be born "bigger" and then lose a bit at the start but then join a new curve.

You may get pressure to top up. How you handle this is up to you. You can ask to be monitored a little longer to give baby a chance to gain... You can top up feed expressed milk or formula. Expressed milk (if you can) is ideal as it comes from you and there's less interference to the supply and demand.

Thanks all, turns out I just had a scaremongering midwife with regard to birthweight - thanks for your reassurances / stories!

On the poo front - I went in last night in a panic - obviously it's not ideal but they didn't seem overly concerned because he's having wet nappies - I had an appointment booked for today anyway so hopefully he will have one this morning - if not I will being it up again and take it from there.

Thanks again!

Sam your mw wasn't scaremongering. Babies should only drop up to 10% and should stop losing by day 5. They are expected to poo twice a day with the dark mec poo turning greeny then to chicken korma colour by day 5/6. Weight loss greater than 10%, no poo for 24 hours are two signs that your baby may well not be getting enough milk.

If babies continue yo loose weight they can become at risk of seizure and brain damage, some babies might be fine after getting to 20% loss but some may be damaged at much earlier. This is rare but your mw is accurate not scaremongering.

A drip can sometimes boost weight in some situations, the epidural not at all.

How frequently are you feeding, are you offering both sides each feed. More feeds, more sides= more milk in:) aim for 12 minimum per 24 hours.

He's since put on 3.5 oz so he's doing great and has more than made up for the lack of poos since

Fab:)

Great news Sam :-) as milk sometimes doesn't come in to day 5 the protocol can cause a lot of panic unnecessarily. It's there to spot potential problems so support can be offered and an eye can be kept... But isn't always treated that way by the hcps as you have discovered! I have several friends whose bf journey ended at or soon after this kind of thing. Glad you found the right support. Hope things are still going in the right direction.

Thanks jeggie, mine came in a day or two later than it 'should have' so I think that's definitely a factor - I really struggled the first couple of days so I think this had an effect too! He's being weighed again tomorrow so hopefully he's still doing well!