Weight gain slowing and I don't know why.

[QueenAmongstMen]

DS is 12 weeks old and EBF.

He had a posterior tongue tie which was snipped at 9 days old.

Feeding was still problematic for a variety of reasons but he continued to gain weight well.

He has seen an Osteopath twice over the last month to address issues with his neck which has improved his feeding tremendously.

He is on Ranitidine for silent reflux and has been since he was about 5 weeks old.

Over the last month his weight gain has been quite rubbish and despite being born on the 91st percentile he is now below the 50th.

His drop over the centiles has only occurred over the last month or so and I don't understand why. He feeds 8-9 times a day, including twice over night, has lots of wet nappies and two dirty nappies a day, he feeds for good lengths of time and is settled after feeds, so why has his weight gain suddenly slowed?

He's been on weekly weights and every time I get him weighed I feel nothing but dread beforehand and misery afterwards.

Over the last week it feels like he's fed, fed and fed so was convinced he'd have a good weight today but he's only gained 80g in a week. I actually cried on my way home.

Every week that I go his weight gain has slowed even more.

Has anyone else been in this situation and everything has been fine?

I'm just confused and worst case scenario I'm worried that something is wrong with DS

This sort of thing happens....it doesn't sound as if there is any evidence of anything being actually wrong, though you're right to take note of it.

It doesn't appear there are any health concerns expressed by the HV, so that's good.

Easiest thing to do now is to ensure he gets more milk: feed him on both sides at least, at every feed. If you have been feeding one side only as a general routine, you need to start 'switch nursing', going from side to side and back again, every time he seems to slow down his sucking and swallowing.

8-9 times feeding in 24 hours is prob the lower end of normal, so it should be easy enough to increase the number of times he feeds - just feed him every time he twitches or squeaks :)

At a birthweight on the 91st centile, he may be simply reverting to a closer-to-the-average centile, but a week or two of pro-active feeding will not harm him in the least and will give him a chance to eat more, if that's what he needs.

The slowing of his weight is not 'sudden'....it's fairly gradual,as it has taken place over a month. This makes it less likely he is actually ill.

Good luck - talk it over with the HV and maybe a real life person eg breastfeeding counsellor.

Thanks tiktok,

I have been offering both breasts at every feed for the last 4 weeks but he has never taken the second one no matter how much I encourage him to.

It's funny you say that about 8-9 feeds in 24 hours being the lower end of normal because when he had to see the GP when he was a month old (for his reflux) she told me 6 breast feeds a day was more than sufficient for a 4 week old baby Crazy lady!

The HV today told me to pump to increase my supply as even though DS won't take a bottle me boosting my supply can only help matters.

I had no problems breast feeding my first son so all these issues with this baby are wearing me down.

Apart from the first 7 days of his life breast feeding has been nothing but stressful and if it's not one thing it's another. I'm just so deflated by it all.

Grrrr at the doctor’s crazy idea of normal bf!!

Expressing is not a bad notion in general but it is ‘milk into the baby’ that counts not milk in the bottle (which you say he won’t take). I expect she is thinking it will increase the available milk for him. This is true. But he has to be on the breast to get it :)

I do think feeding more often is likely to be the key. OTOH he may not need more milk - this weight pattern is right for him. A couple of weeks or more of getting MORE into him is worth it - though do check what you are going to do with the hv. I’m not medically qualified and I haven’t seen you anyway (I’m a BFC).