5 days postpartum - baby dropped 11% of birth weight need advice.

[noaddedsugarx]

So I gave birth 5 days ago to a beautiful baby boy weighing 7lb 4. I initially wanted to breastfeed but it didn’t work out which I am gutted and already feel super guilty about. I feel like i’m failing him. I am now giving him formula. He was having the ready to feeds in the hospital (SMA) so we have the powder and ready made in the house.

He’s currently taking around 1.5oz-2.5oz per feed every 3-4 hours but I am massively concerned as he is being sick almost every feed so don’t know how much he is actually getting.. He was quite mucusy when he was born so they put it down to that but the volume of milk he seems to be bringing up is more as time goes on. He’s on mam bottles with the slowest flow teats. We burp him between feeds, sit upright etc. nothing seems to be stopping him bringing it back up.

The midwife weighed him today with it being day 5 and he’s lost 11% of his birth weight which is a big amount for a formula fed baby. I’m absolutely worried sick. She said to switch to 3 hourly feeds and set alarms which I am going to do as he is also quite sleepy. He is having regular wet and dirty nappies and not jaundiced so no concerns there.

has anyone been in this situation and has any advice? what should I do if he brings his entire feed up mid feed? Offer more after a break?

it’s getting to the point I’m dreading feeding him because of him being sick and the worry he’s not getting enough. Could there be something underlying causing this?

my daughter was never sick so this is a completely new experience.

Does he have any other issues tongue tie ? How are his nappies looking ? Any skin problems?

Try pace feeding and also keeping up upright for around 30 minutes after he’s finished feeding
My youngest son dropped around the same percentage as yours , turned out he had a cows milk allergy and was reacting to the formula (family history of it ) .and also reflux. We switched formulas and did 3 hourly feeding x

congratulations on your beautiful boy x

PP has given a few pointers to get checked out. Firstly I hope your baby is okay.
Secondly, at only 5 days post partum if you are very upset about breastfeeding not working out it is still very early days and not too late to get it on track.
I don’t know how early allergies or intolerances can be detected but maybe a different formula could help rule in/out.
Also congratulations!

Congratulations on the baby! Could I ask, for how many days did you try BFing and how many days has he been on formula for? You mention he is sleepy, do you mean he would sleep through if you didn't wake him, or does he just generally seem to be not thriving? You will have good instincts for this, so trust them if you think he isn't and trust them if you think he is. It's great news he is giving you lots of dirty and wet nappies so well done there and his initial birthweight was healthy too.

How are you, did you have a c-section? I ask because vaginal birth usually gives the lungs a bit of a clearout, did she listen to his lungs at all? Best case scenario it's down to the mucus and it will resolve in time. As others say, tongue tie or allergies are possibilities that could be investigated too. I do understand that every hour can feel like a whole day in these early stages it's so hard when there are no definate answers.

I had a sicky baby who would vomit every feed and all I would say is that it seems they have brought up a lot, but in reality milk splashed everywhere looks a lot more in volume than it was in reality. It didn't distress her at all. I thought she was bringing up the whole feed but actually it was a tablespoon or two (of course this is a newborn's volume so it's completely understandable you are worried). I figured eventually that it was better to measure output rather than input (because I wasn't able to accurately get a handle on input) and see how content and alert she was were better indicators of health.

I am sorry you are dreading feeding, you poor thing, it's such early days I can understand why you are stressed. It's a definite possibility that there is some underlying cause. For tonight, I would feed every 3 hours as planned. If he brings up a feed, give him a little time and follow his cues if he wants to suck (which he probably will). I would definitely go with comfort feeding over not feeding him for tonight and accept that it's going to get messy and explore others sensible suggestions tomorrow.

Is there a local weigh in clinic you could attend tomorrow to check his weight again, get a recommendation for someone to look at his mouth/listen to his lungs and get some advice on bottles? Sadly all these possible problems like tongue tie, teat size, milk type take time to figure out, so I would go with feeding over everything tonight. But obviously trust your instincts if you think he's floppy, unalert or crying really weakly or looks blue you know you need to get to a hospital.

Lots of good questions and answers above , it's all such a worry, I only have my experience as I tried to exclusively breast feed 1st time mum was encouraged to continue said it was all good and turned out no milk came in . Lost similar amount to your little one
next came bottle - so ate like a trouper but would throw it back up and gurgle acid like a pro ! Poor kid - would go 7 days between pops ( had terrible wind )

so how we kept it in him we would hold him upright for about a hour and half after each feed . sometimes more and eventually less.
we used infracol ( or goo as we liked to call it - when allowed ) and gripe water .
now this means you basically change feed hold change feed hold - so you have to take the night in shifts - even though husband was at work he would come home
and give me 4-5 hours sleep so I could then cope with the rest of the night and day. - and that's how he put on weight .

wasnt brave enough to change milk and in hindsight I wish we had given it a go - maybe there is a someone else that could suggest a different milk - but our little one did have to get blood tested and nearly had to stay in hospital with that sort of weight loss to make sure there is nothing underlying - has your midwife suggested a trip to hospital
yet ? X