breastfed 22 week old dropping centiles

[babypeach]

Hi
Struggling to understand why my little boy is dropping centiles!
He was born on 50th centile and matched it perfectly until 14 weeks despite severe tongue tie corrected at 9 weeks. He had blood in his nappy following his vaccinations for a few weeks along with diarrhea so when his weight gain slowed a bit I thought it was due to that. Over last 2/3 weeks that all settled and nappies are back to yellow no blood or mucus. So I expected his weight to have moved back up but it has got worse! Last two weeks he put on 40g which is almost nothing.and leaves him on 25th.
Found this weight out at a paed referral (for blood in stool) and he didn't seem massively concerned but said baby was quite tall (75th)

But I don't understand why if baby's nappies have returned to normal his weight is getting worse?

Since his weight started to drift down I've tried to offer him feeds as often as possible but he won't really be interested any more than ever 2.5 hours a day usually every 3 and at night he sleeps from around 7.30-12.00 then I wake him for a feed and maybe once more overnight if I can wake him then he'll wake at 5. He feeds about 5/10 minutes a side if that and I always offer both but he won't often take both breasts. I offer in between feeds too but he's just not interested.I do breast compressions also. I express when I can but have 5 year old dc so difficult in morning/afternoon and get very little out post feed anyway.

Nappies are yellow and he does around 6 wet nappies a day.

Otherwise he seems ok but worried that weight slow is so sudden ay 14 weeks and apparently worsening!

Any advice welcome!

"Found this weight out at a paed referral (for blood in stool) and he didn't seem massively concerned but said baby was quite tall (75th)"

I think I would focus on the fact that a paediatrician has had a look at him and wasn't concerned and that other than the number on the scales, you describe DS as being well.

How often are you weighing your DS? It sounds like it is very frequently and that might be contributing to your anxiety about this.

I've not had any of mine weighed after the 6 week check when EBF as they've all seemed well and weight on a scale is really only one factor to look at.

For my children, based on their clothes really, I've really noticed that they tend to put on weight for a bit and get a bit chunkier, then grow taller for a bit and get a bit skinnier without putting on weight, and go back and forth like this.

The centile lines on a chart are averages of a whole population of breast-fed babies and don't completely describe what YOUR baby or any other individual baby will do.

Countess-thanks for reply
I have been weighing fortnightly which I agree had caused concern more than anything! Hv and gp and now paed wanted weights re blood in nappy so ended up checking more than I would have otherwise.
The logical part of my brain knows that more than likely this is just how he is growing. I keep telling myself that if he needed more food he would just eat more often/longer? And I presume he must be growing if height is 75th? I guess it is just a rather illogical need to see steady weight gain for reassurance!

babypeach, I agree with Countess.

There's nothing inherently 'bad' or 'worsening' in your baby's pattern. It's within normal limits. You have offered him more opportunities to feed, and his feeding frequency is within normal limits, too. He's healthy, as confirmed by a paediatrician, and he is developing fine.

It does not sound to me as if you have anything to be concerned about. Length of babies is difficult to be accurate about anyway, so he might not even be 75th, so you could have this done again by the HV, and talk about your situation with her, for further reassurance and checking.

Thank you tiktok
I think I'll try and leave the weight for a bit and focus on the fact he's ok in himself

Thank you both for the reassurance😊

babypeach my baby did this too around this age. Dropped from 91st to 50th. I remember getting really stressed as he wouldn't feed any more than he wanted but saw lovely HV who reassured me was nothing at all to worry about. He's 8 months now and weaning has moved him back up to 75th. She said if baby is content, alert and healthy colour then not to worry.

Thanks kbro,
It's very true-I see the slow weight gain and think he therefore must need more but then as with your little one, he doesn't seem to want any more. I feel that if he was hungry he would ask for more feeds-as it us I have to encourage him!
Hopefully it will all sort itself out and glad things have settled for you

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