Advice please - Exclusively breast fed 16 week old daughter with slow weight gain

[SpaceHopperHayls]

My daughter was 6lb5 when she was born, and was 9lb7 when she was weighed this morning. It has been an uphill struggle with her eight gain - some weeks she gains 6/7 oz, but some weeks, including this past one, it is more like 1 oz. The HV has offered no help other than to suggest that I top her up with formula, which I do not want to do. I find her quite patronising, and have come to dread having my little girl weighed because I can't stand the pitying way she looks at me. Today, when I was trying to explain that my daughter is quite busy and active when she is awake, and only has two short naps in the day, but sleeps well at night, her reaction was a horrified, 'she sleeps for 12 hours?', as though it is my fault that she is still small. I explained that obviously I wake her up to feed in that time, but felt as though I could not go on to ask her is the fact that she is so active in the day might explain the slow weight gain because of the way she spoke to me.

Up until now I have been happy that my daughter is happy - she feeds from both breasts for up to 30 mins each at each feed, and is feeding 7 times in 24 hours. She has long periods when she is awake, happy, and alert, and has never had any issues with latching on. My MIL is a breastfeeding counsellor, and seems happy with her. Now, however, the doctor has said that he is going to refer her to a paediatrician 'just in case' there is a problem, and I am starting to worry that there may be something I have missed. She creates 6 or 7 wet nappies everyday, and around one poo a day. She is quite sicky, but I have been giving her gaviscon before each feed, which seems to be helping.

I feel as though the joy I should be feeling at having a happy baby who is learning new things every day is being compromised by people who seem to be actively encouraging me to worry. Can anyone offer any advice on her weight please?

hi! in a rush but will post back later, but in the meantime please search for a thread about tiny acorns in this forum - lots and lots of people in similar situations and some great advice and support

here

Space - if you are at all concerned about her growth, then it is easy enough to offer her more breastfeeds. She may or may not be interested.

It is sad your HV is so useless - making you worried and having nothing to offer you by way of addressing the worry except to give formula.

You are under no compulsion to get your baby weighed or to see the HV.

How horrible to take away the joy like this

"as though it is my fault that she is still small"

No, it's entirely to your credit that she is growing (albeit more slowly than others but we are all different) and is happy and seems healthy. I would give the weigh-in a miss for a couple of weeks and see how you feel after that.

Small but healthy babies are lovely, enjoy her

Please try not to worry too much. My dd was 7lb 6oz at birth and dropped down to the lowest percentile on the chart. She never actually lost any weight, but she was sooooo slow in gaining any.
My hv made me paranoid. She insisted on weighing her every week and at one point it was twice a week. My dd either hadn't put any weight on at all or perhaps half an ounce. She would invariably do an enormous poo straight afterwards.... so that was the half an ounce gone!!!! She also advised me to "top her up" with formula. I DIDN'T DO IT!
She would refer me to the gp, who would prod the baby and announce "seems alright to me".
After a whole year of tooing and froing back and forth to the gp and the hv, it was decided that she was "just one of those really light babies"!! I could have screamed.
Needless to say, when baby no 2 arrived, I NEVER visited the hv, and used my own judgement.
If your baby is alert, feeding regularly, wetting plenty of nappies etc, then you've got little to worry about. It certainly sounds as low you're doing all the right things. My dd fed for hours and hours, but was just slow at gaining weight.
She is 12 years old now and has only just reached 5 stone. Much less than many of her peers, but this is just how she is made. She is slim and willowy and petite - gorgeous!
Hope this helps.
Enjoy your beautiful baby.

I agree with girlandboy, also the weight charts that you get in the red book are based on bottle fed babies, i think if you go on the WHO web site they have charts for breast fed babies.

There is a very similar thread running at the moment about slow weight gain and breastfeeding, look here.

Let them refer you to the paeds, chances are they will just give DS a look over and say he's fine. HV's are sometimes required to refer you because of slow weight gain and it could be so in this case.

As tiktok has said if you think baby needs more food, just offer the breast more often! Breastmilk is the best thing for the baby to thrive on, and if you top-up with formula it could decrease the breast milk intake if baby is already taking as much as it wants because it will come to expect the bottle of formula and temper it's breast milk intake accordingly.

Most of all try not to worry, especially if MiL is a BFC, at least you know you have help on hand.

The charts are not based on bottlefed babies, however they are based on a mix of breast/bottle/mixed fed babies so are a re pure average of any feeding type this will not account for the lower or higher end of the spectrum.

Thanks very much everyone. Until today, I have been grumbling that it seems that everyone else seems more worried about her that I am, and that surely it is my place as her mother to be neurotic if there is a need for anyone to be, but something started to nag at me today that maybe I should be worried.

Reading your comments, and looking at the small acorns thread has helped to set my mind at rest for now. Hopefully the referral to the paediatrician should confirm that she is healthy and happy, and I'll be glad I held my nerve and resisted giving formula. As soon as I have spoken to the paediatrician, I am going to discuss with the HV exactly why her first reaction to a slow week is to suggest formula, rather than offering BF advice.

Good for you. You stick to your guns! All the best