my my newborn getting wrath of hv for only gaining a half ounce in 2 weeks

[imachicken]

had conflicting advice on offering one side or both breasts at a feed, DS3 is alert, good soggy nappies, now offering him both sides but he falls asleep after 5mins on breast, i have to mess him about to wake him but he still falls asleep, any tips ladies? we have til monday lunchtime to get him to gain a few ounces the dreaded hv coming back to weigh him and has threatened a top up with formula if he doesnt gain a couple of ounces over weekend... he is currently 6lbs 110z i could really use some advice girls thanx lol xxxx

what was his birthweight?
how old is he?

Get yourself to a rl bfc. Honestly. The sooner you get help in rl the more likely you'll sort it out without having to resort to top-ups.

Is he thriving in all other respects?
How many wet/dirty nappies in a day?
How often does he feed?
How alert is he when awake?
The whole picture is much more important than a snapshot of weight gain.
BTW they cannot force you to top-up if you feel he doesn't need it, and you can always choose to seek more advice from elsewhere, it just needs to be the right thing to do in your situation and without seeing your baby all we can do is advise.
I would personally reccommend that anyone who is advised to top-up and doesn't want to gets a referral to Paeds before they do anything.

he was 6lb 11oz, hv weighed him fri and he put on half an oz.. hes just over 2 weeks old, he had a little jaundice but that has cleared up now, he has been feeding every 2 hours in day but has gone 4-5 hours in the night on a couple of occasions.. Im jus about to express as hes fed for 5 min an fell asleep and same on ther breast...

6lb 11oz at birth?
Was this his first weigh in?
Babies lose weight when born, often upto 10% of their original weight, some even more (ds2 lost 15%) so if this is the first weigh-in she is really jumping the gun.

he provides me with a constant flow of wet dirty nappies, hes really alert when awake turning his head etc, he feeds like a demon between 5 and 11 at night constantly on me... he goes longer at night.. last night he went from midnight till 4.30am, and there i was sitting over crib waiting for him to wake up!! allthough i should feel lucky he goes longer at night, its not good for him really is it???

His cluster feeds between 5-11 are what allows him to go for 4.5 hours at night, if he is feeding well throughout the rest of the day, then it's possible the night feed won't be an issue, but it's the whole picture that is important not one feed.
First weigh-in?

He has put his birthweight back on in the timeframe. There seems to be nothing wrong! He can now start gaining above it.

It is also worth checking that the HV is weighing him correctly.

i.e. Naked on calibrated digital scales and that she is reading the weight correctly and plotting the correct weight on the right week on the chart.

Regarding number of sides, I would keep offering sides until baby refuses a side.

As a young baby normally my DD took 2 sides per feed but during growth spurts or illness she might take 3, 4 or more sides.

ok thats reassured me... the hv does seem a bit neurotic and i did point out to her he never lost any weight in the first week and she just kept going on about topping him up with formula if he doent start gaining on average an ounce a day.. there is no way i want him having formula.. ive also got a mother whos against me bf as well which doesnt help when shes giving it the old wifes tales about drying up an feeding in public how shamefull etc..

DS1 was formula fed and always gained weight very slowly. I was always worried, but his pediatrician said "he's gaining weight, we don't care how much the important thing is he's gaining".
First if they have reached or passed their birthweight at 2 weeks that's good and you're on the right track.
A good tool is to think that at 6 months they "should" double their birth weight and at 12 months triple their birth weight. As long as he keeps gaining don't worry about it. Think big picture and not this week or this month.

FWIW ds1 is now almost three eats everything in sight and is still super skinny, it's just the way he's built.

Well Kellymom suggests that depending on the baby a weight gain of between 4 and 7 ozs is fine.

It is unreasonable of your HV to expect your baby to gain the highest limit of expected weight gain (i.e. Ounce a day for 7 days equals 7 ozs.)

It doesn't sound like she has a lot of training in breastfeeding. Why not ask her why she wants such a high weekly weight increase

weekly gain of 4 to 7 ozs.

oh well heres hoping he gains at least 2oz over weekend.. its weird cos im really not 2 fussed like you say as long as hes gaining, my ds1 was 1lb 2oz when he was born an spent 6months in scubu, thats when i really had cause for concern!! Its just the threat of having to giv formula!! i so want to sucessfully bf this time.. thanks guys you are all so helpfull u know its much appreciated xx

Next time you speak to her make sure you're armed with some proper info, maybe give one of the bf helplines a call just so you can say you've spoken to the experts and he is actually gaining pretty well to have gone back to his birth weight, as he hasn't been weighed between birth and now there is no way to now how much weight he has gained.

FWIW, DS2 lost 15% of his birth weight, went down from 10lb 3oz to 8lb 15oz, by two weeks he had pretty much gained it back, so that's 1lb 4oz in 14days, more than 1oz a day, but she wouldn't have known that without weighing him between those dates iyswim, for all we know your DS could have lost just as much weight, and gained just as much.

You're doing great, btw and congratulations of the birth of your son

BF numbers are on my profile if you need them.

You are in good hands here, so I'm just going to say congratulations!

I was in the same boat as you, after refusing to give formula the HV effectively washed her hands of me and told me to deal with the GP (which I did - the most pro-bf one I could find). After a few weeks we were referred to Paeds, as a matter of protocol more than anything else. She checked my LO over and signed us off.

It was hard work, and a hard slog, but we persevered and she's turning a year next month and is still bf.

So good luck to you. And do search out the Mighty Oaks thread. Lots of stories and support to give you a boost.

here

hello

have hasd similar scares with all mine- including ds (almost vweeks)- this panicked me despite having more training than the HV!

your lo is doing fine, meeting all the targets- ok weight gain, lots of nappies., alert...

please don't let uneducated people (your hv) worry you.

you are doing very well indeed with the bf, right now you should be confratulating yourself and enjoying your beautiful new baby.

it may well help yu to hear that from a rl person, so consider talking to a counsellor (as vs says), it can be good just to hear someone say it.

Another thread to look at -- this is one of my favourites as it covers six months in the breastfeeding life of a new mother with an undermining HV and an unsupportive mother.

It's hard when you're a PFB, but those weekly weigh-ins cause so much grief.

Refuse to have him weighed for 2-3 weeks.

Do what you're doing, feed on demand. Make sure he's not too warm when feeding - strip him to his vest if necess.