75th to 2nd centile drop, advice please

[hairtwiddler]

typing with one hand here so excuse any mistakes...
ds is 10 weeks and was born on 75th centile full term - 8lb 6oz. He had a 10% drop in first week and took nearly 1month to regain birth weight. Didn't weigh for a month but went today and find he's only 9lb4oz on second centile.

He had a tongue tie which i took him to have cut at 7wks as i felt he was feeding constantly... haven't felt much difference after surgery.

He feeds constantly, hourly during the day apart from when sleeping in sling or in pram and at night every 1-2 hours after initial 3hr stretch 8-11ish. Seems to have a good latch, feeds happily.

He's a happy smiley baby between feeds, although difficult to settle. Rarely falls asleep at the breast apart from after hours of cluster feeding in the evenings. On the plus side - lots of wet and dirty nappies.

Any advice??? HV made an appointment with gp for later this pm to discuss what might be going wrong.
I just don't see what else I can do and may have to supplement with formula.

Oh, and to add to the mix, I have a sprained ankle and currently can't do very much at all!!

Meant to say, do the other bf counsellors out there think that was a good visit?

Sounds like a grand plan to me. Glad it went well.

A plan is always good! I am not a bf counsellor but that sounds like a good visit, especially as you sound less stressed. Re expressing - I was always rubbish but I did feel my 'let down' which sometimes happened even when DS wasn't feeding, and being able to 'catch' that was a very easy way to express 2-3oz or so - I always had the pump sterilised at the beinning of the day, and kept it in the fridge after that, ready to grab and express as soon as I felt a tingle.

re bottle- could be worth trying different type of teat/bottle? Some babies prefer silicone and others softer latex ones, I think, and there are lots of different shapes and sorts out there.

he has taken milk from medela bottle but if offer for nuk bottles still open will take you up on that. Will email..
Yes am much more relaxed.

Sounds like a v successful visit

Re expressing. when I first tried with Medela mini-electric I only got about 20ml in about half an hour but I persisted each day and ended up being able to get 3-4oz in 20mins. I started freezing any excess for future use which was great. I never felt my let down but found trying to forget I was expressing by watching mindless tv v helpful.

I'm really pleased they've given you a decent length of time before weighing. I was having to have DS weighed every 2-3 days at one point and it drove me potty!

Just a thank you to Skegness for sending the bottles. May have to go and add to the kindness of strangers thread in classics!
Tried skin to skin earlier... it was nice and he fed ok but not a great deal better. Lovely cuddle though.

You're very welcome.
Skin to skin sounds lovely. I think when you're worrying about weight etc it's really really important to focus on the bits of breast feeding that aren't about nutrition and recognise that this part of things can be going well. I did a lot of feeding my baby in the bath for that very reason!

An update to this thread. Have had little success with expressing either by hand or electric pump so have been giving two formula bottles per day at 9amish and 7pm. He is certainly more settled and sleeping better no doubt digesting the formula.
I'm still feeding loads, last night 2am, 3.30, 6, then 7:30. Bottle at 9 then a sleep, and will likely feed now on off all afternoon...

I'm a bit wobbly about it all, and worried he'll want to stop bf when he realises it's easier for him to get milk from a bottle. Have decided though that will feed him for as long as he wants to feed, whether that's a week or another ten months!

He's been a bit fussy on the breast, but then he always was and i'm trying not to read into it.
I just hope this all works and we don't need to take him in for tests etc.

More settled and sleeping better can only be good

Being wobbly is understandable but you've taken sensible actions and are being a great mum.

As for the regular feeding, unfortunately this isn't suprising. My DS was feeding regularly night and day for at least 3 months. To help things at night I ended up co-sleeping which really helped.

From the sounds of things, I'm sure he is doing well and will show those scales a thing or two at the next weigh in
Make sure you take care of yourself too

HT just found this while googling, I'm in im a similar position, my ds has dropped from the 91st to below the 2nd. I'm back and forth about formula (he's 17 weeks) but have started giving a top-up in the evening, I do think that if you keep bf'ing you could eventually replace the 9am bottle with breakfast...

thanks essence...i'm trying but sprained ankle not recovered yet and desperate to get outside for a walk. Borrowed a baby swing from a pal which keeps him asleep for a bit!
Hellsbells, poor you! Such a worry, isn't it? Have you any reason to believe your baby isn't latching well? 17weeks is brilliant, well done and don't beat yourself up about the formula. (much easier said than done, I know!)

Am already co-sleepng essence, using one of those snuggle nest things. It has helped but I love and miss sleep sooooo much!

HT, I've been going to a bf group, and no-one seems to be able to find a problem with his latch- however I'm taking him to see a cranial osteopath, she's noticed the plates at the back of his head are squished- and this can effect feeding- might be worth a try?

Thanks... i'm not too keen on osteopathy to be honest. been adjusted myself and hated it. Have looked and can't find any clear evidence for or against.

I was pretty sceptical tbh, however he's been 3 times, and he's definately much calmer, the first week he put on 8oz, but he hasn't gained since- so think that might be a fluke, however I literally couldn't put him down before as he would SCREAM if I even tried to go to the loo, whereas now I can put him down on his mat/bumbo etc for quite long periods of time- still doesn't sleep at night though, stays up all evening, gets into bed with me, feeds every 1-2 hrs.. little monster!!

The other thing I've found really soothes him is my close baby carrier as he loves being tummy to tummy and can fall asleep in it and then be transferred to a high speed swinging chair without waking!!

oh and as for mixed feeding, I started with my daughter at 2 weeks, after she lost about 15% of her birthweight, yet still bf her until she was 10 months, so it is possible to do both, you just have to make sure you feed him yourself as much as possible, I eventually reduced the formula and increased the boob- she's now 2 and as tall as a 4 yr old- so early weight gain doesn't mean much long term..

i have a wilkinet and a maya wrap tie and ds loves to sleep in those. Can just about manage them now with crutch due to dodgy ankle! I also mixed fed my daughter til 10months (for different reasons, pnd related). Hope things work out similarly this time eh?

Quick update for anyone who remembers my tale of woe!
Now combination feeding ds, who has taken to it well and is much more settled. Took him to be weighed this morning and he's climbed back up to the 9th centile having put on 20oz in the last two weeks. Am very very relieved.
It's been a rough fortnight, with lots of tears and worry, and the slow realisation that I'm ok with gradually letting go of breastfeeding if that's what works out for us. At the moment we're seeing whether we can find some kind of equilibrium between breast and bottle. If we can, great... if not, he's had nearly three months and I can stop without breaking my heart. I feel that I did all I could and I'm proud of that.
Thanks for all the support I had on this thread.

DS1 was on the 75th centile at birth for weight, but dropped to the 9th centile for his weight by 17 weeks, even though he would feed constantly.

he had a silent reflux and has such problems with wind that his nappies used to look like curdled milk,

however he has stayed at the 9th centile since and is just a skinny minnie. He is now 3yo his trousers fall off him even though he still eats like a horse

hairtwiddler glad to hear things are getting better. I was lurking earlier on your thread as my ds3 was slipping down the centiles too despite feeding constantly. I've been mixed feeding for 4 weeks now and his weight is now following the 25th (down from 91st but was well under the 25th for a while) and maybe even going back up a bit.

Just wanted to say that after a month I now feel we've reached that kind of equilibrium you mentioned - with 2 bottles and 5 -6 bfs a day ds3 is gaining weight again and I am comfortable that we can go on like this for the long term.

just wanted to add that if you still wanted to try expressing, and can't blame you if you don't, that I found it much easier to express while feeding from the other side. I never got more than an ounce when expressing on my own. However if I expressed while feeding I could often fill an 8oz bottle without even noticing. It's a bit fiddly at first but you soon get the hang of it - I used to do it during the night time feeds when I didn't feel so foolish and like a cow attached to a milking machine. I could almost do it in my sleep - although I did soak myself a couple of times when i had inserted teh valve upside down!