Dropping centiles

[Padget]

I have a 13 week old EBF baby who is dropping centiles. At his 6 week check he was just under the 75th centile line and I weighed him last week to find he'd put on just 5oz in the 6 weeks since and is now on the 25th line.
He was going approx 8 hrs at night without a feed so I've now added it another feed in the middle. In the day he goes 2-3 hrs between feeds, but I don't think it's better for him to feed more regularly than that in case he just starts to 'snack'?
He's had one cold after another the last couple of weeks which has affected him as his nose is bunged up.
I don't think he has reflux as my eldest had that and she was very sicky, would scream if you laid her on her back and wouldn't tolerate the pram/bouncy seat/mat etc until she was on gaviscon (which meant I was mix feeding earlier than I wanted to). He has days where he can be sicky after feeds but most days just a small amount of possetting or nothing. He will happily play on his mat/swing and go in his pram etc. He was such a happy baby but now seems so upset a lot of the time.
I really want to carry on exclusively breast feeding him for a bit longer so I'm looking for any advice about how I can help him gain weight better and be happier.
Sorry for the long post, wanted to get as much info in as I could think of!

[ohnoitsagruffalo]

Hi, just wanted to bump for you as that sounds v stressful! Also wondered if he has been checked for tongue tie? My 2nd started out piling on the weight but then when she was about 3 weeks her feeding got very bad and we discovered at 6 weeks that she had a severe anterior tt, this had been missed by an ibclc so worth getting a second opinion if there are issues!

[JugglingMum17]

I had the same issue. I breastfed both my sons. DS1 is 20 months now and DS2 is 3 months.

DS2 dropped from 25th centile to in between the 2nd & 9th centile. Health Visitor came to my house a week after and told me to top up each feed which I said I would do with expressed breastmilk only.

I fed him more on the breast and also gave him the odd top up with expressed breastmilk and I also gave him the odd bottle of 4 or 5 oz of milk.

When the health Visitor came to weigh him he was on the 9th centile and she said she is happy with the baby's progress and said that some babies drop percentiles and follow a different percentile and as long as baby is putting on weight it is fine. DS2 has not lost weight but dropped percentile which is common.

I would maybe give him a feed very 4 hours at night and every 3/4 hours during the day. Or maybe express and top up his feeds like the health Visitor adviced me too.

I got him weighed a month after with health Visitor and he is following the 9th percentile and health Visitor said she is happy with his progress.

I am going to weigh DS2 every month just so I know he is gaining weight in black and white because you have the other cues such as wet and soiled nappies and also whether baby is content between feeds.

I did find that baby was a bit Whitney between feeds when he did drop percentiles but when health Visitor did say he has dropped centiles he was no longer whiney in between feeds

[JugglingMum17]

Also very important baby is latched on properly because it will make sure baby is getting enough milk ... if baby is not latched on properly it will be like baby is drinking out of a straw which has a kink.

People did say it could be tongue tie but it wasn't tongue tie because I have never had sore or cracked nipples or mastitis and it was not painful when breastfeeding and baby did open wide before latching on areola properly.

Also you mentioned baby possets milk so another sign baby is getting milk.

I would maybe make sure you feed baby every 3 hours during the day and every 4 hours at night for a couple of weeks and weigh baby and then you can take it from there

[Padget]

Thank you both for taking the time to reply. I think I need to give the extra feed a little time and see how he's gaining then.

Because he's had a cold, I've been feeding him more to help him feel better and I've also been drinking nursing tea - I certainly feel 'fuller' so hopefully my supply has upped too.

[BusyBee2017]

That's brilliant. I have never heard of nursing tea .. what does it have in it! Obviously fennel will be an ingredient.

If you are feeling fuller and you are expressing try and give him milk in a bottle to see roughly how much he drinks.

Let us know how he is getting on

[Padget]

Just thought I'd give a little update!

Weighed him on Thursday for the first time in 2 weeks and he'd gained about 9oz - which given he'd gained only 5oz in the previous 6 weeks I'm very pleased with! It means he's stayed following the 25th centile.

The nursing tea has fennel and fenugreek in it, and I've also started taking fenugreek supplements too.

He has seemed a bit happier the last few days so hopefully we're on the right track now

[ohnoitsagruffalo]

Oh that's great! Lovely that he seems happier too :)