Is it really usual for a (big) baby to have regaine birthweight by two weeks old?

[1978andallthat]

Dd was poorly and bad sucker and didn't regain birthweight, even with formula top ups, until 6 weeks which I acknowledge was a worry and not normal. She was nearly 9lbs though.

Ds nearly 10lbs and now two weeks old. Also lost lots and having formula top ups since a week old. Still not at birthweight yet. I said to
midwife I thought this was normal for big babies and she said it really isn't and not to worry because his weight going in right direction now but that all babies should have regained birth weight by two weeks old.

Is this really the case for such big babies?

Ds is

Both my ds's were big 10lb and 11lb. Neither lost any of their birth weight so I would say your midwife is right.

Afraid I have to agree with your midwife. Don't know about supplementary feeding etc, but DS was gaining by two weeks .

I've had three, my biggest didn't gain quickly but he didn't lose much either - he started at 8 12. both tinies have put on weight by a week old (6 9 and 7 1)

How is he feeding? Are you feeding on demand? I'm on day 12 with ds3 and feel like I have fed him almost constantly from day 1. I'm lucky he has a good latch etc.

Is there anything you feel might need help from someone - latch, etc?

Hi. He fed constantly for first week with good latch and lots of milk from me it seemed compared to dd anyhow but still lost lots so started top ups. Born at 4.5kg, went down to 3.85kg. Now 2 weeks old and back up to 4.2kg today (was 4kg on Friday).

I think I make hungry babies an not enough milk despite breastfeeding as much as possible.

Dd lost nearly 20% before starting top ups. She had suspected infection and I had operation to remove placenta immediately post birth so I assigned we were both under par hence the problems. This time all seemed fine though so not sure why it is happening.

It sounds as if he is gaining well now and catching up to where he was. I don't think I would be too worried, going by what you say

Yes now he's gaining am not worried. Just wondering why rather than worrying really. As in why don't I make enough milk and why are my babies hungry or prone to weight loss.

My DD (born 6lb 11oz) didn't regain her birth weight for 4 weeks. She was BF and no one ever suggested top ups. Once my milk came in she gained fine.

How often are you BF? How much formula in a day?

Are you sure he has a good latch- eg no soreness for you and no slipping off/ clicking from him?

Def good latch as can compare to dd who wasn't and also he comes off very milky if I have to take him off for a moment for any reason.

Bf every feed - so every 3-4 hours, then bottle after each and he'll take between 60ml-100ml though sometimes not. So probably has five bottles a day. Breast is on demand do sometimes for 90mins or so sometimes less. But only offer bottle after long breastfeed.

dd weighed 2 oz more than her birth weight at 10 days old so it is entirely possible.

Ok I reckon you seriously need to increase frequency of BFs - for most tiny babies 8-12 times in a day is the minimum. 3-4 hourly is very probably not often enough to establish a secure milk supply, especially when quite a large amt of formula is being given too.

It is a shame that your HV has not given you simple advice like this.

Do you have a BF cafe near you?

Yes it is usual. But... if mum is given a lot of fluids during labour that can make baby's birth weight artificially high. That might be a reason for some apparently large babies losing more weight than expected after birth, and consequently taking longer to regain birth weight.

I was going to say, yes 90 minutes on and off sounds like a cluster feed but every 3-4 hours sounds very infrequent - mine will sleep for maximum about 2 hours, between needing a feed.

But if you're topping up then maybe that's why it's less?

I wonder if it was just a case of being panicked into topping up when you didn't really need to and now your body is making less milk iyswim.

It is so easy to get pushed into thinking you're not doing well enough, when you are on the right track...nearly happened with ds1 when I was too ill to feed him in the hospital (he'd fed at birth - just I was ill later in the day, no one picked him up to help me feed him so he went back to sleep)
and then they said he has to feed by a certain time of we'll give him a bottle, but Oh you can't have him next to you

and I kept him in the bed with me against their advice and sure enough he fed. It makes me so cross.

Every 3-4 hours does sound like feeds are unusually spread-out for a 2-week old - at that point I think all of mine (two big babies and one small-to-average baby) have been feeding every 3-4 hours overnight but every 2 hours (or more frequently) in the day.

Try not to panic too much, but defo yes to increasing frequency of feeds and seeking proper breastfeeding support). For what it's worth my 9lb5 baby took 6bloody weeks to regain birth weight after a 14% loss. (Was tube fed and lots of other problems) she was closely monitored (and tongue tie only diagnosed at 7weeks-argh!)
Second baby lost nearly 10% and took 5weeks to regain (she was EBF and tongue tied but her top ups were EBM not formula when we could as she generally refused a bottle!) second time they were less worried as she was such a well baby and they thought I just have slow gainers as had history of first to go on.
Good luck!

1stbaby =born at 6 13, lost 10oz, regained by 2.5 wks

2nd baby = born at 8 11, lost 10oz, also regained by 2.5wks

Yep to hospitals being too quick to ff babies (they told me they wanted to feed my baby because her cry sounded hungry?... It was her crying while i had to go to the toilet...). Formula top ups can seriously effect your bm supply, especially during those first two weeks when both you and baby are learning to feed and establishing a feed regime with baby is 'ordering' food at a rate they need. Perhaps you should get some advise from le leche league? They may have an advisor in your area even.

Thanks all but I am not unhappy topping up - works for us and for first week he had mammoth feeds and was never satisfied at all so clearly needed something extra, but also I was going to introduce mix feeds from about 6 weeks anyway so that dh and my mum can feed him when necessary (I hate expressing). Also his trajectory was starting to resemble my daughter's who was topped up on paediatrician advice and I do genuinely think paediatricians give advice to save lives not to undermine breastfeeding. I just wondered about the weight gain thing as am surprised, given he has so much formula as well, that not birth weight yet and wondered how normal.

You might want this thread moving to the Breast & Bottle section

The fluids in labour thing is interesting I think. I have had 2 Big Babies - 11lb 5 and 10lb 7. The first was a full labour them emcs- she was bf and took ages to get back to birthweight (def over 2 weeks) but was going in the right direction after the initial loss and I don't remember any anxiety from mw etc.

The second was a lovely quick elcs and she never lost any weight at all. She was also bf.

My friend who had quite a medicalised delivery told me that her mw had suggested that fluids given in labour ( plus being very swollen etc etc) can bloat the baby so that the bw appears higher than the baby's true weight.

No idea if this is true or not, but dd1 looked blown up like a balloon when she arrived when you look at the pictures and, after a day or so, she just settled into looking like herself so I wouldn't be surprised if there was something in it?

Both totally normal sized now!

Has he been checked for tongue tie too? Really sorry but can't answer your birth weight question, I can understand you querying it though, especially given the formula too.

Yes no tongue tie. Taking loads of milk every feed and still a big bottle.

All of mine (round average sized babies) were over birthweight by 10 days. The MW always said that I produced gold top milk though

I've certainly never heard that big babies aren't back to birthweight at 2 weeks. I though it was more often the low birthweights that struggled to regain their weight.

1978, huge variation in how quickly babies regain lost weight....but it's unusual to take more than 2 weeks (not necessarily a problem, as long as everything else is ok) and big babies are no faster/slower than small babies.

I hear you're fine about the formula, but you need to be aware that your baby's taking a large amount - 400 ml or more in 24 hours for a 4 kg baby by my rough calculations is about half of what he would need if fully ff, so not much room for breastmilk. 3-4 hourly feeds unusually few for a bf baby of this age, and prob not sufficient for most mothers to build up and sustain supply.

Just so's you know :)