tandem feeding - baby not gaining weight

[greensnail]

I am tandem feeding my 5 week old and 18month old DDs. All seemed to be going really well initially, but at 3 weeks DD2 stopped pooing frequently and changed to every 2 days, then went for 6 days without a poo, currently no poo or 7 days.

She was seen by HV and GP, as she seemed fine, weeing plenty, putting on weight, and poos were normal when she does go they weren't worried.

HV came today (to see how jaundice was - still jaundiced last week but that's now gone) and DD2 hasn't gained any weight since she was last weighed 6 days ago. She's also seemed a lot more unsettled than normal since saturday night, and last night I ended up taking her to OOH GP as she seemed unwell and had a temp of 38.1. Temp had resolved by the time GP saw her so he checked her over but thought there was nothing to worry about.

HV is coming back on friday, and I'm worried that if problems not resolving then its going to be the tandem feeding that gets the blame. DD2 feeds every 2-3 hours during the day and 3-4hrly overnight. Generally her latch seems good - I've never had any pain feeding her although she seems to be having more trouble getting latched on properly today and its taking a few attempts to get her on and staying on. DD1 feeds little and often at the moment - approx a minute at a time about 6 times a day.

Would be really grateful for any suggestions on how to help DD2, am feeling quite worried about her. DD1 always gained masses of weight so am feeling a little out of ny depth here.

Sounds like she had a bug and didn't gain any weight for a week - what's wrong with that?

I'm just getting concerned that the lack of poo, plus lack of weight gain are indicating a problem with feeding. If it is just the fact she's had a bug then I suppose that's ok. Just worried it might be something more.

There is a lot left over on breastmilk sometimes. DS didn't poo a lot - we gave him lactulose in the end because he was getting constipated. I tandem fed for umm 16 months, and experienced a very similar situation, you just need to keep on, unless weight gain continues to stall.

Try having some soft fruit yourself, it seems to help them go.

I mean not a lot left over obv.

I don't know if this might apply to you, but I found oversupply was a problem when I was tandem feeding, and felt that the new baby was having problems getting through the foremilk. He also had problems with extreme letdown - probably also due to oversupply.

I chose to put the new baby on the breast my toddler had just used, to ensure he got the at least some hind milk and could start the feed without being sprayed with milk, and then I'd put him on the fuller breast afterwards. It seemed to help sort things out.

The other thing to check is thrush - when DS2 had thrush at 2 weeks the first thing that went was his poos. He stopped pooing, and then a few days later I noticed white deposits. I never felt any pain, but it affected his ability to latch enough to cause problems.

Hopefully as WMMC says, it's just a little bug and she'll be back on track directly.

were the same scales used for each weigh in?

sometimes there can be big variations

Thanks, think I just need to stop panicking about her. She's just such a different baby to DD1 that I seem to find lots of things to worry about.

The second one is always different - I wasn't expecting it but DD was - in retrospect - so much easier to feed (though she did like to feed for hours and DS is a ten minuter).

But you managed not to kill the first one - you'll be fine

I might try that thanks theyoungvisitor. I had been putting the baby on the one the toddler hasn't had first to try and make sure she was getting enough foremilk as I'd been advised to give her water to get her pooing which I wasn't keen on doing. Will try swopping this around.

I think they were the same scales - same HV brought them!

Oversupply was sometimes a problem in the early days for me too greensnail, so I'd echo theyoungvisitor's advice re which breast to use .

Thanks CSWS, will try to remember which one to offer to which child. Think oversupply seems to mainly be a problem overnight, when I'm just feeding DD2 as DD1 is asleep. Anyone got any good tips for this, or is it just a case of waiting for supply to settle down overnight? DD2 is latching on, then pulling off and waiting for the flow to die down a bit before trying again, which is effective but messy for my bedding!

Think the main problem was a bug though, she seems much happier today, but poor DH has gone down with it and is hanging around the house feeling sorry for himself today.

my ds2 didn't gain weight for 2 weeks at a similar age and i panicked, but he had a terrible cold/chest infection so i think was using lots of energy fighting off that and not growing. after that he was fine. perhaps your dd has a similar thing?

I had problems overnight too - I don't think there is too much you can do, other than wait for your body to regulate it.

I bought a supply of those toddler bedwetting sheets and used them under my regular sheet to save the mattress, which helped. And a folded towel when it was particularly explosive!

oh, and I meant to add, I think the oversupply was worst around 4-6 weeks. After that my body seemed to kind of catch up - or maybe the baby caught up! Either way it got better

Thanks, that's reassuring. Things do seem to be settling down a bit now. Have my fingers crossed for the weigh-in tomorrow!