Breastfeeding and weight gain

[Livingmydream25]

Hey!!
My LG (12 +4 weeks) was born 6lbs 12oz. She dropped a lot of weight over her first 3 days but was back to birthweight by day 10. We recieved a lot of support in the early weeks due to poor latch and high palet but then all seemed great. She was consistently bouncing between the 9th and 25th percentile line but when she was 7 weeks she dropped below the 9th percentile line. She's still gaining weight just slowly. When she was last weighed at 10 +6 weeks she weighed 9lbs 10.5oz.

She feeds every two hours in the day and then every 3-4 at night. I can hear her gulping and swallowing then she'll suckle softly for a while before either gulping again or coming off the breast. Occasionally she can be fussy at the breast but once she has had some comfort or a nap she'll feed again.

I worry that I'm not producing enough for her. When I pump (usually for 15 minutes after feeding her, I get around 10mls per breast).

I've started offering her both breasts when she feeds again (I was told I didn't need to do this anymore when she was around 4 weeks old) but is there anything else I can do that can encourage more substantial weight gain?

Do I need to increase my supply? If so how do I do that?

Always offer multiple breasts (LRLRLR). I don't know who told you only to offer one. It is the best way to ensure you keep your supply up and empty both uniformly. You can switch between them quickly, just as soon as it feels empty ish

I think offering both breasts is probably the best solution to give your supply a boost and see if you can get a bit more in. Some babies are just slow gainers - my first DC only gained 3-4 oz a week until he was about 4 months old, then, suddenly just as everyone else’s babies had slowed down with the weight gain, he did a random 6 week stretch of half a lb a week!

And yes I’d agree that telling you to only offer one breast a feed was not well informed.

Ps don't worry about pumping, many women never produce much by pumping. It's no indication of how much you're feeding her.

Just keep switching breasts while feeding. I'd say 6-8 sides per feed until she gains enough weight to make you feel reassured

I was always told to switch breasts.

My little one bounced between 9 and 25, dropped below 9 and is now back up at 25 - she's now 5+ months but it used to really really get to me and I was doing everything to increase supply but actually I think that's just how she grows... She is little compared to lots of other babies her age but hitting milestones etc. Generally they're happy if they don't cross two centile lines.

I know this doesn't help with increasing supply but hopefully offers some reassurance xx

My daughter was fussy on the breast in the first few weeks it was the odd feed but my 10 weeks it was all day time feeds but she fed better when calmer overnight. It was due to severe silent reflux and food allergies. She was following the 9th percentile nicely so I was told this is good weight gain she's just a 9th percentile baby. Once we got her on the right reflux medication and removed dairy and soya from my diet she moved up to the 35th percentile! After getting her in a better place these feeding issues became an early sign I'd eaten something she was allergic too.