Baby gaining weight - sloooowwwllyy

[SerialReJoiner]

DS is 4 weeks tomorrow and has posterior tongue tie, which is affecting his feeding ability. He's got an appointment to get it released next week, but in the meantime I just feel frustrated and worried. He's only gained 3 oz in the past 7 days, while every guideline I can find recommend a minimum of 5 oz/week.

I'm just worried, and tired, and tired of feeling worried. I'm considering topping him up (with ebf, likely) to get more milk in his belly but maybe it isn't necessary. I don't know.

He was on the 90th centile at birth and has now dropped to 75th for the past 2 weigh-ins.Took 3 weeks to get back above birth weight. I've been doing breast compressions at every feed to help him get the fatty milk as his poos have been green due to not getting enough fat. They have become more yellow since doing this, but not consistently.

Has anyone else had a baby slow to gain weight? Tell me your experiences - and that everything turned out ok??!

Yes me. DD1 lost weight and hardly ever gained in the first few weeks and I had to mix feed.

Dd2 was painfully slow to gain. But she did gain and that is the important thing. She too had a tongue tie which took ages to get an appointment to correct. (Ok she was about six or seven weeks, but it felt like ages).

So in the meantime to make her gain a bit more I expressed as much as I could. With DD1 I had to do it after every single feed to get her off the formula. With DD2 I was less strict with myself, but tried to express after most feeds. I have never been able to get much milk when expressing, but after a few days I was getting 120mls a day which I got my DH to give her in a bottle. She started to gain weight little more quickly, though dropped from the 90th or something centipede to the 25th.!

I was a little worried, but my experienced health visitor and the bf clinic were content that she was gaining and was alert, weeing and pooing.

Once her tongue tie was shipped and I was less hormonal I stopped the expressing and avoided having her weighed for a few weeks (it was Christmas anyway so easier and DD2 so I felt a bit more confident).

She was in the small side for a while but after a few months was back up to I think the 75th or so line where she has remained since. At 15months you wouldn't know there was any issue.

As long as your son is gaining weight (not staying static) and seems happy etc then perhaps try to express some extra to feed him until the tongue ties is resolved. It will also help keep up your supply so it is there when he is able to drink it all better.

Dd2 did. Not cry or bleed at all when it was fixed- and her feeding was instantly better. Good luck. Sounds like you are doing really well.

DS1 was born on the 75th percentile. By 3 months he'd dropped to the 25th percentile - not for any particular reason, he was just a slow grower. I was stressed about it but he seemed fine in every other way so I carried on EBF. He's now 11 and healthy and active. Still skinny though!

Thanks both.

cookiefiend I appreciate you sharing your experience with a similarly TT baby. I am tipping more and more towards topping up now.

AllTheLight my DS may well be a lightweight too! But he was 9lbs 11oz when born so it feels odd to say that. :)

Me. My ds lost for the first 2 weeks and didn't get back to birth weight until 4!weeks. Then at 5 weeks he'd only put on 10g in 5 days we started supplementing with one formula bottle a day and I pumped and his Weight gain stabilised. At 13 weeks I dropped the formula and am still feeding now at 18.5 months. He's still smaller and slimmer than a lot of his peers but his dad is short so I'm not fussed