Small baby

[Flowerpowerr1]

Hi all, I’m a first time mum and need some advice.
I’m breastfeeding my DS also expressing every now and then he is 7 weeks old born 10 days early, he was small when he was born.
He’s been on the 9th percentile since he was born and the HV weighed him yesterday and he had just dropped below the 9th :( she seemed a bit concerned.
He weighs only 4.100kg and is gaining weight really slow
He’s really skinny everybody always says how small he is and it breaks my heart.
I try to feed him for as long as I can but he only stays on for 10 mins or so then falls asleep I feel as if he might not be getting enough, I’ve also tried to introduce formula to mix feed but he doesn’t like it at all and will barley drink it.
I think he prefers drinking expressed milk from a bottle as it’s less work for him but I can only pump so much as it’s so time consuming!

Has your HV given advice/recommendations? Has she/he said they're concerned to you? Is there a plan/extra weighings or anything?
The thing about centiles is that some babies are smaller and if he's generally been tracking his line one weigh might not be too much of a worry. It's hard to know though. I got upset when people commented on my baby's size too. I've now come to the conclusion that she's just wee and that's ok. It took a while to get there though.

Mine gained slowly and dropped centiles from 75th to between 2 and 9th, which was a bit of a worry, and the extent of the support I got was "feed a bit more". Helpful, no...

Do you know about breast compressions? Can help get more milk into a sleepy baby. Effectively you do what you would if you were hand expressing when baby is feeding, starting at the beginning of a mouthful and ending at the swallow.
What do you do when he falls asleep? Would you consider waking him up/ unlatching and relatching him when he goes to sleep? Switch nursing (popping baby on other breast when he falls asleep or loses interest) can be useful too but get real life advice about that because 10 mins is quite a short feed (though he might be an efficient wee feeder).

Hi thanks for you reply, my HV was confused really wasn’t sure why he wasn’t gaining weight as he should she just told me to try to maybe supplement some formula and then go for a weigh-in in a weeks time.
We’ve kind of got him to like one of the formula brands before he wouldn’t take it at all because he doesn’t like the taste I also express as well because I’ve come to the conclusion that he prefers a bottle hence why he always fusses on my breast and feeds for a very short time.
It’s harder to get him to latch onto me when he’s sleepy but I find it easier to force a bottle in his mouth and he does take it slowly.

DD was really small too, only a week early but on 2nd centile for weight but higher (can't remember exactly now) for height. Breastfed exclusively & fell asleep on the boob a lot too.

I just kept feeding her as much as she wanted & she jumped up to the 9th when we started weaning.

She's now evened out more but has always been longer/taller for her weight.

I personally wouldn't push formula if he doesn't like it. As long as he's happy/content, sleeps a bit he's fine.

I would perhaps look at tongue tie? If he's struggling to latch he might find it hard work to feed for very long and sometimes they tire out quickly. It sounds like you're doing a fantastic job, and if you're happy to continue feeding and expressing you should! If you need support, the NCT has a feeding helpline and they're might even be a breastfeeding support helper near you? They can sometimes help to get to the bottom of issues with weight gain. You're doing amazingly though, so well done!! It's rough those first few weeks.

If you want to keep breastfeeding I'd ditch the bottles, he'll fuss on the boob because it's harder work than bottles & he'll get lazy. Then he doesn't latch/fusses so you give more bottles & it's a vicious circle.

Breast milk is supply & demand so the more bottles you give the less milk you'll produce.

I used nipple shields for months because DD wouldn't latch at first, they mimic bottles so might be worth trying.

Yes, any breastfeeding groups nearby? Mine was a godsend.

Did you see a breastfeeding support worker? Your HV should be able to tell you if there is one.

La leche league might also have support workers/volunteers nearby.

Also look at the milk meg (I think it is) online for advice.

The breastfeeding group I volunteered with has a Facebook page I can send you the link you if you want? They have a phone number & you can message for advice

Sounds like my little one, we used to keep her awake during feeds so that she would carry on, we used to take her baby fro off so she got a little cold, put a cold flannel on her foot, all tactics for keeping her awake, I also had to wake her every 3 hours to feed x