reposted from other thread (sorry)
My 5 week old dd lost weight this week. I am exclusively breast feeding now, but my HV has given us a week to try and sort things out before she thinks I should supplement with formula,
My dd was born weighing 7lb 9oz. I did introduce an evening bottle at 2 weeks as her weight was falling (7lb 3oz) and I wasn?t coping very well but she started to suffer terribly with colic so I went back to exclusive bf (she still gripes a little but is lots better in the evenings without the bottle) her weight which had crept up 7lb 15oz has now fallen by 2oz this week. We were feeding roughly every 3h during the day with a 5-6h gap at night. I was demand feeding and this is the schedule she settled into. Her poos had a green tinge when on formula, went yellow again when we swapped back to total bf but over the last couple of days are looking a browner shade of yellow. She also went a whole day without pooing. (Could have been due to running out of colief the day before) The poo was still soft when it finally came though. There have always been plenty of wet nappies.
Since I found out yesterday that her weight was not increasing I have tried to bring her feeds closer together and offer both breasts at each feed (wasn?t doing this before) I?ve only been trying this for 24h but it is really unsettling her to feed more often and she is no longer having what I consider to be good feeds. She falls asleep very quickly as if she isn?t really hungry. I keep waking her but she latches off a lot and the constant on and offing is making me very sore. It also makes the feeds take ages (up to an hour) which isn?t leaving her that long to digest the milk before I try again (and her tummy pains were back last night.)
I could really use some advice as to whether or not I should be trying to force her to feed, and how long I should hold out against the bottle if her weight doesn?t pick up. I know I caved in too easily the first time and don?t want to go to the other extreme this time but I hate to see her in pain and the formulas seems to be the main cause of the colic.