10 week old not gaining 'enough' weight

[jonesy3108]

In 8 days my baby has only gained 1 ounce in weight and has, from 6 weeks, gradually moved from above the 50th centile to below it in terms of weight.

He weighed 9lb 1.5oz at birth and is now, at 10 weeks, only 11lb 1oz.

He is, quite, simply, not a very hungry baby. He rarely takes more than 4 or 5 ozs at a feed. He is solely forumla fed and goes through the night from a 10.30pm feed to 6 or 7am. I have tried encouraging him to take more formula during his feeds but he inevitably vomits up a huge amount if I do this.

My HV says I should move him to a hungrier baby formula but surely this will fill him up even more and make him less interested in feeding? As it is I have to 'remind' him to feed and if I fed on demand I doubt he'd ever cry for it.

I am reluctant to move to this formula unless any mums out there have had the same problem and think it works. I wonder whether moving up to a 3 month teat might help - if he is anything like my last son he could well be a bit on the lazy side and just getting worn out from so much sucking.

Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.

Ignore your HV, hungrier baby milks have different levels of a certain type of protein and take longer to digest than first baby milks.

So, you are right that this will reduce the number of feeds that he has.

I hate those weight charts, babies are individuals and will not grow at the same rate or put on a set amount of weight each week.

As long as he is healthy, alert and sleeping well, that is the main thing.

The centile charts are based on averages, so it goes without saying that some babies will put on more weight, others will put on less.
It is common for babies to go up or down on their centile chart, my dd1 was on the 91st when she was born, went up to the 99th and then fell to the 75th where she remained.

thanks flappy that's pretty much what i thought. my first was a big baby who raced up the charts, my second who stayed at the lower end of the charts and i guess this one is the same. as you say, he is alert, happy and sleeping well and, according, to my mother in law, exactly the way his dad was as a baby. i am sure this is a much better indication that he is ok than a chart and HV who doesn't know our 'genetics'!

Agree with flappy- ignore your HV! No idea why she suggested the hungry baby milk, it has the same amount of calories as the 'normal' milk and will fill him up quicker!

Dropping a centile or two is fine, you don't need to worry. And fwiw, my daughter is 12 weeks and put on very little from 8-10+ weeks, but has been eating solidly the last few days so I'm expecting a big growth this time! He will put on weight in bursts so weighing him every week is counterproductive really as some weeks he'll put on triple what he will do in others, but over a month or so it evens out.

Try not to worry but if you think he is getting tired during the feeds, the next teat up might be worth a try, you can always revert back if it's too fast flowing for him.

You're right AFAIK -- hungry baby formula is designed for (surprise!) hungry babies to encourage them to go longer between feeds. So suggesting it for a non-hungry baby who is not taking in a huge amount of milk anyway seems odd on the part of your HV. I think trying the 3 month teat sounds like a good idea.

thanks guys i know it does pay to trust your own instincts but that's definitely easier when you've got other mums agreeing with you

some HV's are really silly, my first got me completely paranoid about dd1's weight so faithfully trudged up to clinic every week for the 1st 8 months of her life (only pfb thing that I did)

By the time dd2 arrived, had moved to a completely different area and when she was 2 weeks old, Hv there told me that they didn't need to see her again as she was absolutely fine and I knew where they were if I had any problems or worries.

meant to revise that but hit post instead of preview, wanted to add that they told me not to bring her to the baby clinic but would weigh her at the same time they were doing her immunisations.

You could be describing my ds! He's 19 months old now and still has to be reminded to eat! Follow your instinct. If he is alert, happy, energetic ets as you say then it's probably just the way he is. Ds never ever took more than 5oz per bottle and still won't.

He has been difficult to wean as he'll try most things but not eat a large amount of anything. We ended up being referred to the dietician and she prescribed high calorie formula so that is an option in the future if things don't improve and you are worried about his weight. Interestingly, ds gained weight quite well till he was about 8 weeks old then it slowed right down, apparently this is the age where they begin to be able to regulate their own appetite ie: how much they want to take in.

Your HV's suggestion of hungry baby milk is ridiculous! Does she not know what it is?!

I'm sure it'll all work out ok, not all babies are the same.