Difficult start- slow weight gain

[Alittlebitrestless]

I have a six month dc. Weight gain has been slow since about week 10. He has fallen off several curves. He is happy, alert and very active. He sleeps well at night, waking to be fed and then resettling quickly. I would not think there is a problem without looking at the charts. HV is now talking about a paed referral and I am happy for this to take place incase there is something we have missed.

At the back of my mind, I am fretting about my bf experience. I had a large bleed following the birth, was severely anaemic and had to be given blood. Bfing felt like a battle, I found the first weeks so tricky but with great support I perservered with demand feeding and thought it was going ok. I am now worrying that due to that difficult start the right things did not happen in those early weeks my dc's demand has now outstripped my supply. What signs would I be looking for if this was the case? The thing is he does not seem like a hungry baby. I know it sounds daft but am worrying he has got used to living on less calories than he needs .

Was so pleased I had managed to feed him for this long but am now feeling a bit rubbish about things. Does anyone have any experience/ advice to share?

TIA

Alittlebitrestless, sad to read your confidence is a bit low

I think it's reasonable to see a paed if the HV thinks there may be an underlying issue - and at least you will prob be able to rule anything out.

New charts were officially launched yesterday and it may be your son's weight rate looks different on them - round about 5-6 mths is when the new charts differ from the standard ones. You can ask your HV about this.

I am not sure about babies getting used to 'living on less calories than they need' - I think this can sometimes happen with laid back babies, or else babies who are kept to a rigid schedule and who tolerate it, and it's not normally something terribly unhealthy or dangerous, just a reflection of the way humans can adapt and still be healthy If you have been feeding responsively, then the rigid schedule thing would not apply to you.

Have you been worried that your supply was somehow calibrated downwards in the early days? And so you have never been able to make lots of milk because of that? This can sometimes happen, but the sign of this usually happens a lot sooner than 6 mths. My experience is that women can still address this, and can address supply issues at any time, simply by feeding more often, using both breasts (at least) each time.

Chances are, your baby is normal, healthy and physiologically smaller than others - even babies whose weight slows and falls down the charts are mostly fine. But a paed check would confirm this

Thank you, Tik Tok!

HV talk of a referral is based on the chart alone. At least I assume this is the case as she did not ask about his behaviour or even how and when he is fed (apart from asking me if I have introduced solids). However I know that on weight gain alone he meets the criteria for a referral so I think that would be reasonable and hopefully reassuring.

He was a big baby at birth and we are small parents so I wonder if that has something to do with it.

My milk did not come in for days at the beginning and it was very stressful. He was given a few syringes of formula in hospital as he became very sleepy but once home I felt that my supply built up nicely. (I still remember how proud I was of that glugging milk sound!).It is good to know that even if something had happened to affect the supply, there are still things I could do to improve the situation.

Thanks again

Many local areas have a protocol that suggests referral when babies 'fall down' 2 centiles. It causes anxiety, unfortunately, but referals are prob justified, because in a v. small no. of cases there is something that needs addressing. The majority of babies whose weight is like this are fine. No reason to think your baby will not be in the majority, as you don't say anything else that would be worrying

www.rcpch.ac.uk/Research/UK-WHO-Growth-Charts charts here, Leonie.

Leonie, hope developmental checks go well.

tiktok, if you are still reading, just to say I always use both breasts at each feed but in the last few days have been much more diligent at swapping over when sucking slows down to barely nothing or in the daytime when interest is lost. If necessary I then go back to the first breast again etc until he stops drinking completely. Is this the right kind of thing? Thank you!

alittlebitrestless - what you're doing is fine. Mostly, mothers don't need to pay much attention to this, but if there is a question mark about weight gain, it can be something to think about.