Baby weight, am I unnecessarily concerned?

[OrangeSoda2021]

DD head & height 98th percentile, she's currently 46th weight. We're combi feeding due to low supply. Trying to shove formula down her every time she wakes after offering breast first, she's not drinking enough somewhere between 30-60ml formula and anywhere between 5-10 min breastfeeding sessions.

Please no suggestions of removing formula or have I tried X to up supply.... Yes I've tried EVERYTHING. GP won't prescribe Domperidone.

How old is she OP?

8wks +2

Sometimes she won't take the breast at all

Is she settled and happy? You can normally tell that by 8 weeks. Also, does she have lots of wet and dirty nappies?

If yes, I wouldn’t necessarily be concerned - she is still on the 48th centile which is bang on average. I know they like babies to follow the curve they started on but none of mine have, two of mine practically fell off the bottom of the chart and one almost went off the top and they are all healthy kids now!

Are you under a feeding plan at all? This should be through your infant feeding team and they should know whether the weight pattern is a concern.

I would strongly suggest seeing a lactation consultant as well if you can afford to.

She looks as if she is gaining weight. Some babies just don't drink as much milk as others.

Have you spoken to your health visitor?

Both my babies dropped centiles as they gained very slowly. Eldest 2 centiles and youngest 3 over a relatively short period of time. He was actually referred to a paediatrician but he had bad reflux.

Eldest took over a year to double her birth weight.

Both of them were always healthy though.

I would definitely suggest talking to your HV about your concerns. I know how stressed out I was with Eldest especially.

Baby's nappies are what they should be and she seems fine and alert.

HV suggested giving up Breastfeeding but I simply just can't. But I have considerably upped formula or am trying to but she's just not taking enough.

She's more sleepy.

She still has chubby ish cheeks and fat rolls on legs. But I'm worried not for much longer if this trend goes on.

I don't want her development to be affected.

She's not under any feeding plan.

I remember these worries well! If your baby is not latching/breast feeding for long you could try hand expressing a bit before you latch the baby; this should mean that they get more of the higher fat 'hindmilk'during their feed rather than the more watery 'foremilk'.

Not all babies are chubby and they are just as cute.

Was she big when she was born? Mine were and I think that played a part in their slower weight gain. Now my eldest is tall and skinny. 91st for height and pretty low for weight (under 25 centil I would imagine) but she is healthy.

She started 91st centile for weight and by time she was 1 was on 25th centile which is really where she should be.

I moved to formula as I was worried about weight gain. It never actually made a difference. Her weight gain didn't increase.

@Wakeupin2022 thanks. How is she now? Is she pretty average in school? X

One of the tallest in her class and very slim. She is still a picky eater and tends to have many smaller meals and way too much rubbish.

But very very healthy.

@Wakeupin2022 thanks what about academically? Xx

She is doing very well at school. We have absolutely no concerns about anything.

@Wakeupin2022 oh that's wonderful to hear ❤️

Mmm. Has gone down quite a few centiles, though that seems to be slowing. If she doesn't hold on a line soon I'd expect a referral for a paediatric opinion. Don't suppose by any chance you had gestational diabetes? Because in that situation it's normal for a baby born bigger than they should have been to show catch down growth in the first few months, heading for their natural centile.

My midwife said in our area they don't log centiles until about 8 weeks as weight before that is only really an indication of how effective your placenta was. Yes of ours babies need to gain at a steady pace but she said centiles alone aren't overly helpful

@nocoolnamesleft no GD at the blood glucose test, nothing picked up on the pee sticks afterwards but I may well have done, my diet in the third trimester was good but bad for extra snacks and sweet things.

@Findahouse21 what County is that? X

Was she overdue, cs delivery and did you have a drip during labour?
My two both dropped centipede promptly after birth. There was a cause with dd but ds was just finding his level
Both mine were on feeding plans and the amounts of formula your baby is taking is the same as I had to give. The plan I was on was bf whenever but at least every 3 hours and top up after a 3 hourly feed.
Mine didn’t get chunky until 12-16 weeks. In fact dd still looked starved at 12 weeks!

@mayblossominapril overdue by 1 week, waters broken, hormone drip, IV drip, EMCS.

Thinking about it, the first half of pregnancy she was bang on the middle growth line after the ultrasound scans but afterwards increased quickly.... Could well have had gestational diabetes but not picked up by the tests. I ate well but too well with far too many extras..... And sugary extras....

Overdue, drip and emcs all increases the babies birth weight artificially and then they lose it afterwards. DS lost it quickly which resulted in admission to the children’s ward, others it tails off slowly. If your baby is still gaining weight even if it’s more slowly I don’t think they’ll worry.
Both DH and I family grow good sized babies but everyone is fairly small

I didn’t have GD nor and I didn’t measure big during pregnancy. Once they found their level both children have stuck to it.
Probably best to try and get a referral to someone who knows more than the HV or GP so you can have a proper feeding plan if needed and some decent advice on mixed feeding

Is she still 98% percentile for height?

Head circumference isn’t really relevant. My dd is on 98th percentile for head circumference but 2nd percentile for height (tiny girl) and 16th for weight, and has pretty much stuck to these curves since she turned 2 (and is now 7).

What is important is that if she is on the 98th percentile for height then your baby really shouldn’t be “average weight”. Weight and height aren’t independent. If my dd was 46th percentile for weight she’d be obese given her tiny height, and similarly a child who is one of the very tallest for their age should be more than average weight, not less. So yes, I would be concerned. Having said that, double check her length. I had a nurse measure dd incorrectly as a baby because they didn’t realise the tape they were using started at 10cm and not zero!

@DownSideUpped you've got my point exactly. I'll measure her myself later and again when she's weighed next.
Although she's average weight but 98th height she's not skinny, looks in perfect proportion has leg fat rolls x

The GP wasn't concerned when she did her check

@DownSideUpped thank you so much... Just measured her myself and she's just above average for height.... I'll need lodging a complaint about this HV as its caused me humongous anxiety and upset thinking and panicking she's severely underweight!!!!