Anyone elses bf baby lost weight?

[blue22]

My DD is 9 weeks old, and is excl breastfed. We've had the usual ups and downs, and some weeks better than others, which seems to be fairly normal from reading these threads.
Her weight gain has never been huge - she weighed 8lb 14 at birth and gains between 3 - 6 oz per week. But last week, which i though had been a really 'good' feeding week - she lost 3 oz. I'm trying not to worry as she seems happy, has dirty nappies etc, I just wondered if this was normal and if it had happened to anyone else?
My health visitor said to supplement with formula if I was worried which I REALLY don't want to do having done the hard yards, and she seems happy with just breastmilk - just don't quite understand why she would have lost weight. Anyone got any ideas??

not had the experience but watching closely (lurking) as this happened to my dsis-in-law last week and she given the same advice (which she also doesnt want to take).

Bf babies weight gain can be nothing one week & then 6 oz the next. I wouldn't worry too much as long as she seems. You've said she is still having wet/dirty nappies etc so she is getting enough.

Bf on demand & I certainly wouldn't introduce formula. It can be worrying to get bf babies weighed weekly. I'd be inclined to go fortnightly or even monthly so as not to get freaked out by inconsistencies in weight gain.

Go with your instincts, if baby is alert & well just continue as you are & don't limit time at the breast.

Good luc, well done for seeing the rubbish bit through!

blue22 - good practice with a healthy baby is to weigh no more often than monthly after the baby has regained birthweight. More frequent weighing is misleading and has no clinical value - and one weighing result is imposs. to draw any conclusions from, as scales, operator error and simple normal variations affect the result. If she continued to lose weight it would be a diff. story.

Frequent feeding on at least both breasts each time inc feeding at night - that is the most efficient way of inc the intake of the baby

Formula would only be needed if the baby continued to lose and simple ways of inc intake did not work for some reason.

Hope this helps.

Don't make ANY big decisions based on one weigh-in. You would be stunned at how often errors happen on the basis of weights being written down incorrectly, scales not being calibrated.
Weekly weigh-ins aren't that valuable when something like 'did they just poo?' or 'how recently did they feed?' (i.e. a few oz here and there) can make all the difference between a 'good' week and bad one.

do you know what, why get her weighed. It's only health visitors that think it's important and they still haven't changed the growth charts to reflect bfing weight gain.
Trust your instincts - if she seems well she probably is.

The same thing happened to my ds at about the same time. Supplementing with formula wouldn't have solved anything. He is 9 months and eats like a horse but is still only 12lbs which is miles off the bottom of the chart. Its not only HVs who think weight is important. It can be a key indicator of an underlying health problem so please don't fall into the trap of thinking that because some HVs are zealous overweighers then it means there isn't a problem. Continue to feed as much as you can and keep an eye on her weight and try not to worry.

I was in a similarish position when my baby was 8 weeks old and I gave top-up feeds of formula with great results (I'm still mixed feeding at 20weeks). However, there are two key differences:
My baby was not happy, not sleeping well and spent a lot of time crying.
My baby had not regained birthweight and the concern was more the lack of consisten gain, rather than the 3oz loss (quite frankly, this is just one nappy load).
There is nothing wrong with using formula top-ups to help a mum to breastfeed for longer and/or to help nurture a baby, however, I don't think this is necessary in your situation.