prem baby, do i need to supplement?

[chibi]

my ds was born at 34+6 and is now 14 weeks old, 9 corrected for prem. he is exclusively bf.

He was gaining 6 oz a week, but has now been only gaining 4 or 4.5 ounces a week for the last 4 weeks.

This puts him close to the 2nd centile. I am worried that i do not have enough milk anymore.

is this normal, should I supplement? I want to do what is best.

This rate of weight gain is well within normal, chibi.

Has he dropped 2 or more centiles?

What do your healthcare people say?

He was born on the 25th but soon went between the 2nd and 9th.
He doesn't look skinny just small.
Only 1 hv was concerned all others + his gp are happy.
Fwiw his sister was on the 9th centile too.
Is this slow growth normal for a prem?

Despite all other signs of health being good i am afraid this is the start of him failing to thrive

Doesn't sound remotely like failure to thrive to me, chibi, but I'm not there!

The weight gain is within normal, the rate of weight gain is within normal, he is healthy, and while small, not worryingly small and not skinny.

Sounds to me you would benefit from having him checked over properly to restore your confidence ... and if you think he needs more milk, you already have the milk in your breasts! Can you feed him more often, give him more 'sides' at each feed (at least two, possibly three or four) ?

thanks tiktok, i am going to a bf clinic at my hospital tomorrow.

i don't know if i can feed him more - he feeds every 2 hours in the day, and then usually every 4 after 7 pm. i know i could feed him more at night but i also have a toddler and i need the sleep to be able to cope with the pair of them!

he gets as many 'sides' as he will take - always 2, sometimes more.

i am keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow.

thanks for your help.

Hope the clinic was able to put your mind at ease?

How active is your DS? my friend's baby has a low weight but is such a wriggly little thing you can see how she's burning the calories off!

My bf DD was born at 33+5 and on her due date was on the 9th centile. Just had a look in her red book, and her weight gain slowed significantly between 10-20weeks, but went up again when she went onto solids at 6months. At 40 weeks (adjusted) she was on the 91st centile

Try not to worry, if he wasn't getting enough milk from you I think he'd let you know!

Your doing wonderfully

I'm ebf my 8 month old 27 weeker and have been through much the same worries as you. We're lurking around the 0.4% but gaining consistantly ehich I think is more important than the amount they put on iykwim.

Ds's consultant said he wasn't worried unless he "went horizontal" ( meaning the lines on his chart ) and as yet we've avoided that, still small though but hey ho - good things in small packages etc. As long as your lo is following an upwards curve

I wouldn't worry about 'failing to thrive' if your lo is happy, pooing, weeing plenty and developing well then their thriving !