Really worried. My BF baby has lost more than 10 percent of her birthweight and still losing.

[My3Girls]

DD3 is 11 days old and has lost over 10% of her birth weight and has been weighed again today and has lost a few more grams since Monday.

The Midwife said it is probably because she isn't getting the hindmilk as she feeds so often (every hour to hour and half)for around 10 to 15 mins before she falls fast asleep and slips off the breast or uses me as a dummy. I am still having a bit of bother with DD latching on although the midwife said it was fine but it kills!!.

She also has told me to feed her every 2.5 hours and even if she falls asleep keep her there whilst trying to wake her up, until at least 30 mins are up. (hoping this does something)

Has anyone elses baby lost weight like this before and has taken a while to put it back on??

I really really want to avoid putting her on formula. Breastfeeding was one of my big ambitions for most of my PG as I failed miserably with DD1&2. Obviously if I have to I will but am so desperate to get this sorted.

Any advice please.

Ps: DD has lots of pooey nappies during the day and wet ones.

LL the pain lasts for a while after yes but more achey than nippy IYSWIM and again when my breasts are filling up.

Sorry to sound thick but what is dream feeding? I have seen it mentioned so many times on here over the years but was always irrelevant to me until now. (never planned on having more babies hehe)

Your cousin is very lucky to have such support as yourself to keep her going as I am with MN thank heavens!!

Both midwife as HV have suggested the bf lying down, was planning on having ago tonight.

Prettybird your DS "pretending to suck" has made me chuckle LOL these babies are so very clever!

My3girls - I'm off to London for a couple of days working but good luck and I'll check the thread when I get back. Hope you get to see a councillor soon and DD starts piling on the ounces.

DD2 due back any minute and need to give her a good feed before I weigh in at Slimming World.

Awww thankyou Califrau Love those pompoms!!!

Will have a good read of your thread, after bathing little madam. Sorry you had to go through all of this too

Thanks for the link Lizs. I am going to call someone this evening & also try an arrange for someone to come and see me if possible.

Ok I'm off to feed and bath the baby. Thankyou all for your advice and reasurrance. You are all fantastic xx

my3girls...my dd is a week old and although she has been getting lots of milk and feeding very frequently, and I was told my latch was fine i was still getting lots of pain. she was also feeidng 15 mins, off for 15 mins, then on again off again for up to two hours at a time.

My community MW came to see me yesterday, after a bad night when I resorted to nipple shields for the pain. she made me adjust DDs position when she latches on by a miniscule amount and I'm now pain free (after the initial ouch anyway) and the cracked nipples have cleared up already. she also seems to be taking in more with each feed so the oin again off again thing has stopped as well. It would be worth trying some minor adjustments.

Do you have anything like a baby cafe nearby?
Or can you get to see a BF counsellor.

Good Luck and I hope you can keep going for as long as possible!

My3Girls, I'll find my thread from ds2 as well, as there's loads of good advice from tiktok and hunker on there.

Here it is

My3Girls, my DD lost 15% of her rather huge birthweight (apparently its more common in big babies, i seem to remember midwife saying) in three DAYS. I had no help from the hospital midwives at all and was sent home with a baby that wasnt feeding properly. She became jaundiced and dehydrated. I was lucky enough to be able to go to my local birthing centre where they were FANTASTIC, and my very strict german midwife (who was luuurvely!) was as determined as me that i was going to continue to BF, despite advice otherwise from my mother and MIL. I did have to put DD on formula for a few days, just to back up what i was giving to her, so i would breast feed and then give her some formula (it just got her over the initial slump). Then my milk came in AND HOW, i was getting DD ready for a feed and my DP, who was allowed to stay in birth centre with me (cant praise them enough) was laughing hysterically - my milk had come through, day 5 - in floods, it was literally pouring from me and pooling on the floor! I still had a few problems and i was advised to express my milk, i hired a contraption from the NCT, honestly i felt i was strapped to some sort of ancient torture rack, but i did this until i was able to BF completely. I was knackered, i was eitehr feeding or expressing. But in the end i managed to BF DD for 5 lovely months, i wanted to do more but i had gall stones and the fat free diet buggered my milk supply.

DONT GIVE UP is my message, you just keep feeding your DD and she will take what she needs. I did have to top up with formula in the end as my milk supply was affected by being ill and people told me i was mad to put myself through it (i discharged myself from hospital so i could go home to BF, doctors were horrified! but you know how it is with your baby, they come first).

I couldnt have done it without the support of my midwife though as i was convinced i had starved my poor wee bairn.

So my advice, FWIW, get a breast pump, if she feeds for a short time, express the rest of the milk and offer it later, or express some of the foremilk, not all, she needs it, and then offer her the breast.

GOOD luck with it and DONT give up. BUT, if it does get too much, dont beat yourself up, youve done your best and will continue to do your best for your little one. Go Girl

How are things now? Hope your dd is chubbing out nicely!

Well DD got weighed again today and has lost a further 50 grams

Midwife checked latch again which she said is fine. It has also stopped hurting as much. Anyway She has told me to express after each feed which I have done but the only problem now is that, when DD wants my breast again there is hardly any milk for her. I am all confused now and getting quite upset that my body isn't nurishing my baby and doing what its supposed to do.

Any advice on expressing in between 2 hourly feeds.

Thankyou LAM I wish I could get the support from these midwifes I have just tried calling the breastfeeding network but is shut until tomorrow.

Aghhh I thought I had it sorted now as over the past few days she has been feeding fairly well alot more than dd was earlier in the week. I was sure she would have put something on.

Oh I'm sorry you're discouraged. 50g isn't very much you know - it could just be a wee. How are the nappies now?

I did the whole 'expressing and 2 hourly feeds' - it does help a bit I think. I developed a bit of a routine which I'll outline for you.

Before a feed, I would express from ONE side, as much as I could muster (built up from 0.5oz initially to about 3oz), and a TINY bit of the other (the idea being that it would increase the calorific value of the milk in the breast that the baby would take, by making the breast a bit emptier). Then I would feed the baby off the side I'd only expressed a little off, then offer him the other side and then give the EBM. Then he would sleep, so I would wash and resterilise everything, ready for another feed. The 2 hourly feeds do help, and remember it's 2 hours from the beginning of one feed to the beginning of the next.

Keep posting! Hope things improve.

Thankyou Dinosaur. Its awful isn't it?? I wish I had the time to do a feedathon but am a single mum of now 3 DC and its crazy here.

How did you manage the top up Dinosaur. Did you have the issue of milk being sparse after expressing then putting you DS back on the breast??

Oh TS that makes so much sense!!!!!

I will start that tomorrow thankyou! The midwife confused me so much which I think has just added to this stress Grrr.

DD's nappies are still ok, although she has only done one poo today but still had wet nappies.

Thanks again

Its what I signed up for dinosaur LOL RE being a single mum. My mother is staying with me tonight bless her. Infact she suggested asking again on MN hehe.

I just can't wait for MW to weigh DD and say whoo hooo she has gained weight.

Just wanted to say that I am very very greatful for all of your support.

Not an expert but have fed a few

10% may sound a lot but it is only 10.5 oz, and 50g = 1.75oz, not a huge amount

I always understood babies are supposed to lose weight in the first week or so, mine all did. I assumed it was because the first fews days they only colustrum (was MY opinion not anyone who actually knows what they are talking about)

Try and find a counsillor to help you through this, they really do help and are passionate in wanting to help

My3girls, hi.

its pretty normal for breastfeed babies to lose10% in the the first week while the milk comes in and feeding gets established, but should start to increase after that. it sounds to me like you might benefit from seeing a breastfeeding counsellor or lactation consultant. no offence to MW or HVs, but it is not their specialty and they don't have the same kind of training that BCs or LCs have. IMO feeding more often is the best way to boost your milk supply and help LO to put on weight, so maybe try feeding as often as she wants at the moment. if there is pain when she is feeding, may be an ineffective latch and that is why she's having trouble getting enough to put on weight and wanting to feed all the time.

NCT Breastfeeding Line 0870 444 8708 if you give them a call, they could put you in touch with a BF counsellor in your area.

Just seen me being quoted as saying feeding often means babies get more hindmilk and that I compare it to a hot tap - you are confusing me with kellymom who rightly compare feeding often to a hot tap and who explain this means the baby gets more creamy milk, and why. It's their analogy!

There is nothing wrong with feeding often, as long as the baby is transferring milk effectively. The less-full the breast when the baby starts feeding, the creamier the milk. That's how it works (see kellymom for more details).

My3girls, you are right to be concerned about this, and your baby at 14 days should not be continuing to lose weight at all....but the signs are good that you have taken action on this. But do call one of the helplines today.

SOrry tiktok, that was me. I think you showed me the link though, and I remember your (I think it was yours(!)) story about women in one of the African countries who fed every 15 minutes for about a minute or 2 minutes a go. Sorry if I put wrong information on!

How's it going today My3Girls? Hope things are going well. My mw, particularly with ds1 used to bring a box of tissues along with the scales, and none of mine were discharged to the HV till over 3 weeks, because they didn't gain weight for a while. With dd and ds2 I managed to exclusively bf them for 6 months after a rocky start (ds1 was mixed, but still bfed him till 13 months), so it can work out. Have confidence in your own body!

Something I think helps is not trying to do too much - not because resting 'helps' make the milk per se, but because if you are rushing around (as I did with both dd and ds2), trying to look after your older children, you're not going to be able to respond to your baby immediately she cries, and also to allow her to finish a feed if she's going to take an hour. Do you have anyone to help you at busy times? Picking children up from playschool/school? Bedtimes? Could your mum or someone come and stay for a few days so you can really devote yourself to feeding?

My dd2 was 4 weeks premature and lost 13% of her birthweight - over a period of 12 days. The paed constantly advised me to top up using formula and i refused as i clearly had LOADS of milk and was able to express loads.

During feeds dd2 would suck half heartly for about 5 - 10 minutes then fall aslepp still latched on and i would then do breast compression to get the milk to flow into her mouth.. i could hear her swallow. She would swallow with me doing the compressions for about a further 10 minutes then come off completely zonked. I could feel my breast get much softer but i was still able to express approx 4oz afterwards.

My3Girls,
You are doing a fantastic job, just hang in there and keep feeding on demand, try breast compressions too to get more milk into her. Also please call one of the help lines and get someone to watch a feed from start to end to ensure your latch is at its best and that everything looks right
Here are the numbers:

The Breastfeeding Network (BFN) - Supporter Line 0870 900 8787 - The service operates from 9.30am to 9.30pm every day of the year.

La Leche League Great Britain - 0845 120 2918

National Childbirth Trust - 0870 444 8708 - 9am to 6pm, seven days a week.

Association of Breastfeeding Mothers' - 0870 401 7711 - Open every day from 9.30am to 10.30pm

Hi everyone

The feeding is still a bit pearshaped but I think DD and myself have thrush?? She keeps coming off although the latch is fine and gets really fussy. DDs lip and tongue have wee white flecks all over and also she has possetted curdy vomit a number of times today. I did also mention that I had burning shooting sensations in my breast throughout the feed. Now its like the feeling you get with something thzts infected Sore and tickly IYSWIM.

Lastnight I tried the expressing before a feed and it all got a bit much as I only made a dribble of milk. So gave up and my mother gave her a few oz formula through the night and that filled her up a fair bit. I am going to continue with the night feed of formula just until she gets the weight back on. I was fairly emotional about it this morning but my mother (bless her) reminded me that both DD1 & DD2 survived on formula exclusivly and they are fine. I just wish my body would do what it was designed to do I know the milks there as this morning it flooded DD, I just want her to get it all.

Thankyou so much everyone for being here xx