Slow weight gain

[TheBerry]

My breastfed 7-week-old isn't gaining weight fast enough according to this graph.

I am beside myself with anxiety.

The health visitor hasn't expressed major concerns yet, but she's coming to weigh him again tomorrow. If he continues on this trajectory he'll be down to the 25th centile soon.

I offer him the boob whenever he seems hungry, and sometimes even when he doesn't seem hungry. I've no idea how much he's getting, though. His latch is bad because he struggles with letdown, but I still seem to have a fast letdown even though I've taken steps to reduce my supply a bit. Even after 15 minutes of on-off feeding, I still get a spray if I squeeze my boob - but I definitely don't have too much milk overall, it just comes out as a spray for some reason.

What do other people's weight gain graphs look like?

So sorry that you're feeling anxious @TheBerry

Kellymom has a very good article called How might I increase my baby's weight gain?

Do you think that you've got a fast let down? If you do, have a read of this on forceful letdown.

I'd be tempted to rule out the possibility of Tongue Tie too to see if that's affecting weight gain.

Essentially though, any weight gain is good and they don't all stay on the centile that they're born on. Often a baby will drift up or down to a new centile and settle there.

If you do want some information and support, it's definitely worth ringing one of the BFing Helplines. Do you have the numbers?

And are there any BFing Support Groups near to you? They can often be invaluable

Hi @TheBerry - we're moving your thread over to our Infant Feeding topic as we think that's the best place for it.

@PritiPatelsMaker thank you, yes we just found out he has a tongue tie. We're getting it sorted tomorrow hopefully. I hope we can get his latch good again afterwards, because it's so shallow at the moment and he's really in the habit of feeding like that now as he's 7 weeks old.

I did make it to a breastfeeding group today, and had a total meltdown. The lady there was very helpful and kind though. She showed me the technique to improve his latch and said it will take some practice after the tongue tie is cut. I'm very anxious about that, and about him losing weight in the meantime. I do have fast letdown, I think, so that makes it harder for him. It's all very well forcing his mouth open onto the boob, but if he starts choking on milk it's not going to work.

I can see myself resorting to formula eventually. I'm just so worried about my poor little boy. He gives me such beautiful smiles sometimes, and he just wants to be a happy little boy, but I can't even feed him properly and that makes him upset sometimes.

Over the last couple of days the weight gain has really stagnated as you can see.

but I can't even feed him properly and that makes him upset sometimes

Sounds very much like it's the Tongue Tie and nothing to do with you, or your milk.

Has anyone suggested trying to express a little and Cup Feedingg*?

Oh and I hope the division goes really well today

@PritiPatelsMaker thank you, the consultant reckoned he didn't need the division in the end! And she's not worried about his weight at the moment. We're going to try to do a few top up feeds, and hopefully he'll feed better once his cold has gone.

@theberry- did you get this resolved?
Your story is so similar to mine and I'm hoping you eventually figured out how to increase weight gain?

@Usedtobechilled same as mine too.

I didn’t have this problem with DS1 but had it with DS2 and now DD1.

With DS2 I couldn’t never resolve it. Had his TT done, tried every position, to improve his latch but ultimately I ended up combinfeeding and then formula feeding.

DD1 is 7 weeks and I’m having the same issue, slow weight gain unless I top her up. On and off the breast, frustrated with both slow and fast flow, rubbish latch not improved with tongue tie release. Miserable time.

I'm wondering if biologically it's just not meant to be for some of us, my wee one has a recessed jaw which some websites say make feeding harder. Then compared to some woman, I seem to have really small nipples which is a new discovery for me (thought they were normal sized) 😂 wonferkng if thats why he slips off sometimes and I'm wondering if those 2 combined was always going to make it harder for us to feed never mind DS1 having a TT and arriving by c section.
I'm spending the weekend both breastfeeding and topping up with expressed milk, HV is coming on Tuesday and if he hasn't piled on the pounds it's combi feeding with formula for us. I can't bear his weight to drop anymore percentiles and I physically can't do more than I already am.

I do wonder if baby personality comes
into it too! I had problems with my first one but he always gained weight because although he was struggling to feed he just settled in for an hour until he was full. My other two are struggling in the same way but are furious about it and coming off screaming instead of waiting for another let down of milk.

I hear you on reaching your limit with feeding, pumping and topping up. It’s exhausting and relentless.

Keeping my fingers crossed that your little one piles on some weight.

my DD had her TT done last a Monday and I get her weighed on Wednesday. She’s not had a top up since the TT division so I’ll see how that goes, if she’s not gained properly I’ll also move to mixed feeding. The stress of wondering if they are getting enough is too much!

@Usedtobechilled he’s 18 weeks old now and from I guess around 12 weeks he has more or less settled around the 25th centile for weight.

I’m thinking (hoping) that’s just where he’s meant to be? DP and I are both slim, so maybe he’ll just never be a very heavy person 🤷🏻‍♀️

It is still hard to get him to feed tbh - he seems to lose concentration after a couple of minutes and just comes off the boob and starts looking around the room. He just never seems that hungry! I can only get him to feed for a longer stretch if he’s sleepy. At any rate, no matter what I do he doesn’t ever get much over the 25th centile now.

Is your LO still dropping centiles? What centile are they at now?

My LO is currently on the 25th having started on the 75th but if he doesn't have a big increase this week he'll drop to the 9th if he gains the same as previous weeks. He usually feeds well, every 2/3 hours so I'm at a loss as to why his gain has been so slow. These last few days however I've been expressing and trying to give him extra but there's only so much a baby can physically consume which is why I'm thinking theres maybe more calories in formula so this may help him for a bit even though I'm reluctant to do it.

I think you might be right, I think my LO is too lazy to wait on a 2nd let down and thinks he's "done" after the first. I think bottle feeding at times might have something to do with it because the milk comes easy then and he doesnt have to work for it so I've maybe caused part of the issue myself.

@Usedtobechilled I feel like that too. But try not to blame yourself for giving a bottle, if they aren’t gaining weight it’s the right thing to do (be it expressed BM or formula). I used a supplemental nursing system with DS2 to avoid bottle preference and he even got a preference for the easier flow from the SNS!