Help newborn not gaining weight

[smokedgarlic]

Dd is 2 weeks old and feeding frequently pooing weeing etc pretty contented but despite initially gaining weight within the expected parameters by day 5 she then dropped 60g this has not increased despite my best efforts. I feed on demand or at least feed every two hours and am keeping her awake and feeding every three hours through the night . Midwife suggested pumping to get supply up but didn't give an opinion whether we should give her the expressed milk as a top up. Really didn't want to supplement with formula although have done this with previous DC for identical reasons. 10 mins after every feed so going to try that . To be honest I am now tired and feeling anxious about her

Would really welcome any help. Not an evangelical pro bfer but I feel really disappointed in myself this is my last baby andI love feeding her .

Please don't feel disappointed in yourself, I'm sure you've been doing your best to make the feeding work. Do listen to your health care professionals if they have any immediate concern for your daughter's health.
It may be that short term top ups with expressed milk or formula are necessary, but that can be alongside ways to improve the breastfeeding if you want to continue in the longer term.

I struggled with slow weight gain in mine, and the following are tips from my experience plus two links that I found very helpful and are from respectable sources.

• This might sound odd but when you feed are you certain she's swallowing? There's a good description of proper swallowing on the first link below. It took me ages to work out that most of the time mine was 'feeding' he was actually just faffing about and not swallowing. Once I realised I could hear little noises every time he swallowed I tried to make sure he kept on swallowing for as long as I could every feed by eg jiggling him about, breast compressions (these are discussed on the first link below, very easy and really made a difference for us, think mine wasn't an effective swallower).

• Swapping from side to side every 10-15 minutes helped keep mine awake and swallowing (antenatal session had got me very confused about this)

www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8:breast-compression&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

kellymom.com/health/growth/weight-gain_increase/

Good luck - maybe phone one of the breastfeeding helplines for more specific advice - the lady I spoke to on one of them was really helpful and pointed me in the direction of all of the above.
Numbers below:
www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/breastfeeding-help-support.aspx

Thank you Imeg . I have started to express after feeding and to offer her the expressed milk. Did you express after each feed. My dd seems to be cluster feeding a lot ... I think I can manage to express three times a day realistically is that going to be sufficient ?

I really think you need some specific real life advice as I am really not an expert - the above were all general tips and things that worked for me, but you need advice tailored to your situation from a breastfeeding expert (which many midwives and health visitors are not, definitely in my area anyway). I would really encourage you to call one of the breastfeeding helplines on the NHS link above and talk through your situation in detail - they are open 7 days a week. I can't remember which one I called but the lady I spoke to really helped me to sort out all the confusing advice I'd got from various people, and the advice they gave me really made an enormous difference and made breastfeeding work for me so that I could continue. I didn't do much expressing personally because I found it so much hassle and I really struggled to fit it in on top of the feeding as mine fed all day because he was so inefficient. However mine always did gain some weight, it was just much slower than he should have done, so it wasn't urgent to get more milk into him. He also regained his birth weight reasonably quickly (probably because we gave him some formula top ups in the early weeks). I'm afraid I can't tell you whether three times a day is enough because it will depend a lot on how much you get out at a time (I struggled at the beginning to get much out at all - it worked better if I was relaxed eg watching TV) and how urgently you need your daughter to gain weight- this is something you need advice on from your midwife or someone more expert than me.
I really hope things improve for you :)

Hi, OP. Sorry not understanding your situation. Are you saying your baby is 60g below birthweight still? And has not gained anything since day 5?

Hi tiktok yes that's right she has not put any weight on since day 5 . She is feeding on demand / woken to feed after 2 hours/3 hours in night. She produces copious poo and wee . Does not seem distressed or lethergic but when weighed on day 14 we had no increase . Tried to give her expressed milk after a feed via a sterilised syringe but she rejected it . We have another midwife appt on Monday . Next step ebf in a bottle or formula top ups ?

Hi smokedgarlic. I had exactly the same problem with my second. Do not throw in the towel yet! Has she lost any weight since the initial loss? Have you had her checked for tongue tie or lip tie? My ds did eventually gain after the third week but I had done a combination of things so not sure which helped. Firstly I watched videos to see how to make sure he was swallowing. Secondly I dressed him warmer, I read that some babies are colder and lose weight from that so I put a cardigan over his baby grow, put a hat on while at home. I did make sure to check that he wasn't too warm too! Thirdly I made breastfeeding cookies, to increase my supply (just google and you will find some recipes) these helped a lot I think. Also just keep feeding on demand, your supply will increase from that too. I did continue to feed him for 18 months so keep at it. Maybe ring someone from le leche league? I find them much more informative than gps. Hth

Arghhh the hv advised me to strip her to feed her so she hasn't been particularly warm . Thanks will google lactation cookies .

Hv told me to strip feed her... Maybe this is the cause of some of the loss if she isn't keeping warm enough....sigh

Oh and def no tongue tie or lip tie and no loss since initial loss but no gain or no gain over the 20g increment of the scale used to weigh her .

Good you are having another assessment on Monday. I wonder if the scales are correct, and if there has been an error in transcribing or converting the weights?

They have been measuring in kg and not doing a conversion. It has been a different midwife measuring each time but the weighing surface was the same . I am feeding on demand and paying great attention to her latch and ensuring she is actually drinking not falling asleep etc. she has been cluster feeding a lot of the day today (12 times maybe more) so have not actually managed to express as each time I thought about it she wanted to feed . She rejected the expressed milk I offered her this am and to be honest if she needs top ups I am not sure what I will do . I feel so tired and anxious about her and I have other young children to care for too.

If she hasn't lost since her initial loss then try not to worry. Just keep feeding on demand, up your supply, don't worry about the expressing if she's cluster feeding. Try to relax, it will happen.