Twins weight concerns

[bridgetjones1]

My twin girls were born at 33+6 weighing 3lb 8oz & 4lb 10oz

The smaller twin has always struggled to put weight on. When born she was on the 9th centipede but is now 19 weeks old and only just over 10lbs. She is now on the 4th centile for weight.

She is on Neocate for a suspected CMPA and is actually drinking really well now taking 4oz on a regular basis. She is meeting her milestones, smiles but doesn’t giggle yet, and can just about roll over onto her tummy. Her head control is good and she has strong neck muscles.

The dieticians are still concerned about her being on the 4th centile and would ideally like to see her back up at the 9th centile.

I have quite bad anxiety when it comes to both girls feeding (a result of being on NICU for 3 weeks - I associate the amount of milk taken with the girls being well and tend to stress if they don’t take their “full feed”)

My question is did any of your multiples start off low centiles and what was the turnaround point? Was it when you started weaning?

Should I just try not to worry, she sleeps well, has plenty of wet nappies and seems to be doing well, she just still looks the size of a newborn 😬

Hi - I don't actually have twins (yet - due anytime soon, I am 33+5!) but I read your post and thought I'd reply as while I know it's not the same, I worried with my DS about his weight the whole time when he was wee.
I know it's different as he was bigger, so I understand your anxiety is less irrational than mine was (he was 50th percentile when born) but I think that as long as she is feeding well and thriving, with wet nappies etc then don't worry too much about percentiles. My DS went from being 50th when born to consistently 25th for weight (75th for length/height) and never for back to 50th again and as I was mostly breast feeding I was paranoid about it as I thought he wasn't getting enough milk. Looking back though he was healthy, happy, and developing well and I think he was just settled into where he was always meant to be weight wise. The HV didn't worry that much about it, I think if they drop 2 lines they want to keep an eye, but otherwise if your little girl is happy in herself I'd try not to worry. X

My older daughter and my twins all started off as low birthweight - had complications in my first pregnancy and she was born at 1.67kg, and remained on the 0.4 centile for a few months after she was born. I vaguely remember weaning was also hard at first, but probably no more than many children and she soon gained weight. Now she eats like a horse, will try anything in sight!

My twins were 1.66kg and 1.48kg. The smaller one was also on the 0.4 centile for a month or two, but now one twin is 22nd centile and one is 7th centile. I'm not nearly as worried this time around - I get anxious quite easily and I think I wasted too much time worrying about my eldest instead of enjoying her babyhood. If anything, I think I was so keen to push more milk on her all the time that I wonder if that's contributed to her having a big appetite now.

I know it's easier said than done, but I do think it's best to try and relax, and then your babies are more likely to relax too. This phase passes so quickly, and sometimes it's just a few grams that separates a good centile from a more worrying one. I hope all goes well!

I know exactly how you feel. I agonised over every ounce.
My twins were born at 29 weeks weighing 1lb 8 and 3lb 4.
The smaller twin dropped way below the 0.4th centile and remained there for a long time. I remember making a cake to celebrate him reaching the 0.4th at about 18 months old.
He steadily climbed from there and now, aged 12, he is on the 50th for weight and height. It just took a while!