Weight dropping, and don't know where to turn

[cinnamonbun23]

Hi everyone,

Am at the end of my tether, and really looking for some advice. I have ebf my 9 week old dd, and until recently things have been going fine, but we seem to have hit a bad patch. I took her to be weighed today again, and she's dropped to below the 0.4th centile. HV was less than helpful saying it could be low milk supply but giving no real help.

I'm really upset, as I feel as though I'm basically doing nothing for her, and feel that I've totally let her down. In my last post, I said that I'd seen the GP who effectively said to put her on formula, and wasn't in the slightest bit supportive. I've since seen a bf support worker who suggested I put her on colosynth granules (which have made no difference to her in terms of wind)

Does anyone have any words of advice? I feel so terribly alone, and even my oh has said he thinks it's time to put her on formula, or combination feed. I did end up doing that with ds (now 3) and as soon as formula was introduced, my supply dwindled to nothing.

I am in no way saying that ff is bad, just that I feel I failed last time, and really wanted to succeed this time round. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Have you been on to the Kellymom website? There's lots of useful stuff about how to deal with potential low supply and slow weight gain.

It's very poor of the HV to discuss the slow weight gain without giving you any actions to take, or refer you on to another health care professional. No wonder you feel upset. Could you go back and insist on either being given specific advice about breastfeeding or being referred on to someone who can?

Sorry you're going through this without any support.
What centile was she on before? Has she actually dropped weight or has it slowed down?
How are the feeds? Do you offer both breasts at each feed? How often does she feed?

I hope that someone more qualified will come by, but when you say weight dropping, is the baby losing weight or gaining slowly? It might be an idea to post the weights on here. Also how often are you feeding? Are you feeding both sides each time, and have you had baby checked for tongue tie?

You need to speak to someone qualified, if you can't dind it within the NHS then call La Leche League or the NCT.

There are many reasons for poor weight gain, are your nipples comfortable? Poor llatch and positioning could be the culprit,tongue tie is a possibility, athough relatively uncommon.

Feeding and seeping patterns need to be ooked at- night feeds in particular, times beteen feeds, even dummy use can cause problems.

GPs and HVs are often poorly trained. This weight problem can be turned around and most likely without the use of formula.

The key is finding someone knowledgabe enough to help you which may take a few phone calls- but good help does exist.

Good luck.

Thanks so much for the replies. She was 2.8kg at birth, dropped to 2.6kg at 5 days old. Then she went up to 2.7kg, then to 2.8kg and now she's 3.2kg.

Her feeding is really all over the place. She's up at around 5-6am, feeds for 40 mins on each side, and then she's settled. I'll put her down to sleep and within anywhere from 20-50 minutes later, she's awake again and looking for more. This goes on all day, and she will only settle when I take my ds to nursery in the car or she's pushed in the buggy.

I went to the GP last week looking for any help possible, and he was dismissive, sent me off to another HV who wasn't very helpful and mentioned reflux but said I had to see what the bf support worker said.

BF support worker came out on Saturday morning, and watched her latch on, which she said was perfect (big mouth, good swallowing etc) When she was in, she watched as dd did the usual thing of feeding for ages, and then coming off and still being fussy. She thought she might have colic, so suggested giving her colosynth granules which have done nothing for her at all. I'm not due to see her again until Thursday. I've basically had to give her a ff tonight as I feel so completely helpless and, in a way, cruel that she's crying for a feed.

No one has mentioned tongue tie, they all seem to want to blame it on colic etc. The bf support worker suggested 'distraction', as in let her feed for 40 mins, any longer and she's not actually feeding. Then if she won't settle, take her out in the car for 2 hours before feeding again. This is pretty impossible with a three year old in tow who doesn't want to be sat in a car for hours at a time.

Thanks again for reading, and replying. I really feel ever so alone, and feel as though nearly everyone is saying I'm being silly not just giving her bottles from here on in.

Hi
Her weight is still going up though so that's good. Is she happy and content and getting all the milk she asks for? Is so then she is fine.
What you can do is feed her much more, little and often to build up your supply. Doesn't have to be long feeds but her stimulating your nipples more often will increase your milk. Try not to worry about charts and people telling you to put her on formula.

What about a dummy...

Maybe her feeding for long periods is her actually trying to build up your supply. I spent days sitting down feeding my babies for the first few months. It is quite normal for them to be at the breast for 45 mins too. I breastfed both mine for three and a half years each.

Colocynth granules are woo, but they won't harm your baby. I can't think why the bf support worker imagined they would help, though, even if she believes woo remedies work.

Things sound hard for you, cinnamon :( :(

It will help to talk to someone, and I'd suggest one of the bf helplines.

It's hard to say what's happening. I think the weight thing is a concern. Need to talk to someone about helping your baby get more breastmilk and yes to check out tt.

All is not lost by any means. But proper help is the next step.

(Don't think a dummy could help, btw)

How long between 2.8Kg and 3.2Kg?

Just spoken to a lovely lady on the La Leche helpline who suggested doing more night feeds, as dd likes to have a last feed at 10pm ish, and not another until 3am or so. So it sounds like she's going for too long overnight and then making up for it during the day, but to such a degree that I'm not really getting a chance to replenish. Now that I've been told this, it seems totally obvious and I feel silly for not working that one out, but I'm blaming my baby-fuddled brain!

LL lady also said that she has gained weight, albeit not great amounts every week, but it is a gain and not a loss. She said that she might just be finding her feet really, and gaining slowly. I've also got a sling on order from Amazon which should be here tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes too.

So, at least I don't now feel totally helpless tonight. I'm going to give the feeding more during the night a go (sounds like a total no brainer really) as well as trying the sling during the day.

Once again, thank you all so much for your words of advice, and for giving me a push in the right direction (and the courage to continue!)

That's brilliant- LLL are fantastic.

Thanks so much Deep for suggesting them. I really have gained some brilliant advice, and will give it a go!

Do try the group meetings if you have one locally. X

cinnamon I'm having exactly the same problem so believe me, you're not alone. DD is 4 months now and still hasn't reached 11lbs. She had brilliant weight gain up til 9lb 7oz then it stopped going up as quickly. She's actually dropped 2 percentiles now :(

I can suggest the advice I've been given: make sure you eat a drink plenty, lots of snacks. Try to express as often as you can, the pink ladies can loan you one if you haven't got a pump. Fenugreek is great for supply and fennel is good for let down. In my case my milk doesn't appear so rich as it used to be so thats my next try.

I have to say though, the HVs are obsessed with charts, and a far too quick to suggest FF. my LG is lean but not skinny, and shes a reasonably happy baby. She cries because she don't wanna sleep (too curious) and is easily bored.

Have you tried cluster feeding in a dark room? See if someone can take your DS for the day, slump in front of the TV and feed as often as DD will take it. My DD kinda forced that on my in the first few weeks and her weight was great then.