Newborn failing to gain weight

[Notquiteagandt]

Unsure if this is right place. But here goes.

Was induced last week at 37wks. Had horrific labour that ended in emergancy csection.

Baby at 5 day weigh had lost 12% body weight so on special measures and kept in hospital. Topped up with donor milk and expressing.

Baby was jaundiced and only came off billibed today.

I am bf. Everyone been saying how well baby feeds so thats a non issue.
Shes seen several lactation consultants said not issue with her feeding technique.

Expressing and at most 15ml but today dropped to 5ml a time.

I feel my boobs dont go big and hard, dont leak dont hurt etc so concluding I dont have good milk supply.

10 days in hospital now so my anixity is sky high. Which wont help.

My options for top up are donor milk which i wont have access to once discharged or formula. The hospital are really anti me using formula. But realisticaly I cant see what other options there are as cant stay here for ever.

She didnt get discharged due to no weight gain since weds. So here under peadiatrician until after weekend now.

Im a hormonal mess and been crying all day. Feel like im trying so hard but starving my child 😢

Any tips advise or anyone been in same position?

Just to add. No one seems to know why no weight gain. So its hard. Everyones saying to continue bf and my supply will increase eventually.

But what if it doesnt?

If youve read all this. Well done....

Oh it is hard hard work, and really emotional - I really feel for you.

Sometimes women can't express very much but can successfully directly breastfeed, so don't panic too much about the quantities.

How often are you expressing? It's really hard in be hospital environment to relax and get let downs, I find.

Ah bless you! I went through this with my first baby and it’s tough. Have they checked for tongue tie? Once that’s ruled out, I would just try to feed at every opportunity. Literally round the clock if needs be. It’s the way to increase your milk supply and get that full feeling - sometimes it takes a while.
I would stay where you are and keep topping up with donor milk while feeding from yourself at every opportunity.
And look, formula is not the devil. You may be able to top up for a few weeks and then go back to full breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding gets so much easier as their mouths get bigger and your milk supply increases. But for the first three months it feels like they literally live on you!
Keep asking the midwives etc for advice and try not to get too anxious - sleep deprivation does that to you.
Good luck

Awww I didn’t want to read and run. It sounds like youve had an awful time so firstly give yourself a break. Is this your first baby?

My newborn lost a fair amount too and I was bf but went to expressing due to lo being in nicu. I managed a week in hospital but then baby dropped again after discharge so the community midwife and health visitor kept us on monitoring.
It is NOT the end of the world if you use formula!! You should not feel pressured into bf if it is not right for you. A fed baby is best and I, like you, could not produce nearly enough milk even after baby was cluster feeding to get the supply up.
I switched to formula and have a happy and healthy baby.
Please also remember that when you are at the stage you are, you’re exhausted and recovering too so give yourself a break. Do what is right for you and live a happy life with baby; it goes too quick

Hi. Similar to what happened to us. Dd was a month early, wouldn’t latch so was cup fed for 1st week, lost 11% weight (was small to start with) and had jaundice which needed treatment. All I can say is that weight won’t pile back on overnight, it takes time. Take a deep breath and see what happens over the weekend. I’m trying to remember but I think they were happy to discharge us once her bilirubin levels were back down and they could see that she was feeding. Is she having wet and dirty nappies? That’s the best indicator of if she’s getting enough milk. Carrying on b/feeding is the best way to increase supply but if you feel happier mixed feeding once you get home I don’t see why that can’t be an option. It’s so so horrible when you’re stuck in hospital and just want to get home but you are in the best place. When I looked back I realised I was lucky to have spent that time with help on hand as it enabled me to establish b/feeding and I ebf even though at one point I thought it would never happen. Tips for pumping to top up, hold your baby whilst you’re pumping if poss or hold their blanket with their scent on near. That will help get more milk out. Im actually really impressed that your hospital offers donor milk.

At 8 weeks DS2 was still 10% under his birthweight - he’s now a strapping, healthy 9 year old. Totally normal & not an issue. Can you contact La Leche www.llli.org ? Or have a look at Dr Jack Newman - his breastfeeding advice is incredible www.breastfeedinginc.ca

As long as you have wet nappies & your baby is not in distress then trust your instincts - I’ve been where you are & you sound like you are doing an incredible job.

I'm really surprised Hospital are anti-formula - mine were really for it. They offered a bottle as his first feed as my milk didn't come in (induced)

It's so hard when you've just given birth but how do you feel about formula? You can combination feed which will still offer so many benefits?

The hospital are really anti me using formula

How do you feel about it?

Op I am so sorry for you and can identify so much with how badly you are being treated by the hospital.

You are right to be worried about a baby that has lost so much and isn’t regaining. You know something is going on. Yet the hospital is absolutely gas-lighting you and outright lying to you. Your baby is NOT feeding well if he isn’t gaining weight. It’s hideously irresponsible of them to tell you he is. And seriously WTF are they thinking, being “anti-formula”? I am outraged on your behalf. Being anti-formula in a situation like this runs a high risk of your baby coming to harm.

Your treatment and care have been really negligent. Who have you been dealing with? Can you ask to speak about your (very sincere and correct) concerns to the consultant pediatrician? Am I right in guessing you’ve had these messages from Lactation consultants and midwives? I am so upset to think the vague “breast is best” message is becoming some sort of irrefutable belief, despite the evidence that right now, for you and your baby, breast is clearly not enough.

In my experience, the advice to continue BF and supply will catch up simply does not work for me. It may well work for many other women, but it hasn’t for me, despite enormous efforts on baby 1 and less efforts on baby 2. Mixed deeding was the only way I could ever breastfeed

In any case, there may well be success in increasing your supply on the future and over time. But your baby can’t possibly wait it out underfed, while that happens. You need to supplement as much as is required to get your baby thriving and growing. That can be screened donor milk if available to you but it can also be the absolutely excellent formula that we are so lucky to have access to. I am horrified that anyone would make you think twice about giving a hungry baby formula. Ask to speak to the paeditrician in charge of your baby’s care. Don’t be fobbed off with those who have failed you already. Get a mixed feeding plan in place and supplement generously.

Then when your baby is gaining and thriving and home with you, if you still want to think about exclusive breastfeeding, you can work on the various methods to increase your supply. But it’s horribly unethical for your medical team to have left your baby in this situation. They have lied to you. They can be almost certain why your baby isn’t not gaining weight. It’s because she isn’t getting enough milk. At this age, on my second, once I started the level of supplementing needed, he was gaining between about 1.5 ounces and 2 ounces per day. I would love this for you. Please reject anyone who has given you such terrible advice to date and insist on speaking to someone who will put your baby’s best interests first, above any pro-breadth ideology. If I were you, I’d ring the call bell now and demand a decent supplement of (donor or formula) milk the next time the baby feeds and every single time after that. If it helps, I was offering about two ounces per feed at this age after BF, sometimes he’d take a lot, sometimes hardly any or even none. But you can’t over feed a tiny baby, they will stop drinking or to spit it back up if they take too much. So supplementing is easy - after a BF if they are not satisfied, offer as much milk as they will take. You don’t mention specific weight gain figures but unless your baby has gained in the past day and is having multiple heavy wet Nappies and several bowel movements, I’d suggest this can’t wait til morning. Start asking somebody right now.

You can look up the “Fed is Best” movement if you’d like some more perspective on this.

I’d also strongly suggest making a formal complaint in due course.

Congratulations on your beautiful baby. Congratulations on being such a great mother that you know there is a problem and you know you need to fight for your baby in the face of such gaslighting. Best wishes.

Thanks ladies.

Shes been checkednfor tounge tie. But theres a slight one there but baby can roll tounge up down side to side so theybwouldnt clip it. Baring in mind that wouldnof been an easy way to make £300 so believe them. Hospital lactation consultabt said the same too.

Im not anti formula but have a cows milk allergy myself so scared to give it to my baby. Silly I know. Just scared of making her ill.

Im expressint everyb3 hours if I can. Baby is massively cluster feedinf though so hard to find the time too.

Baby is constantly cluster feeding so I have probally had about 8 hours broken sleep across the week. No exageration.

Baby has fed on my breast today 14 times. With 4 messy nappies and 5 wet ones. So shes clearly getting something in her.

Just why not gaining weight.

You poor thing. I had this with my last baby. Altho she wasn’t jaundiced, we were in hospital as she lost a lot of weight and I was so ultra stressed. I just fed her as much as possible, when she wasn’t feeding I was expressing and forcing her to drink that.
Also keep well hydrated.

This time round I’ve been eating boobix breastfeeding cookies, which are meant to help increase breast milk. Think it’s working.

But if you feel you want to move to formula tell them so.

I was in pieces and kept crying when my newborn and I were back in hospital because of baby’s weight.
She’s very well now and a happy strapping nearly 2year old!

And cross post with some others but just to say there’s is some well-intentioned but frankly dangerous advice above. Number of wet nappies alone is not an adequate reassurance, it is only when this is connected with clear weight gain that you are say there is no problem. An 8-week old still seriously under birth weight should be a medical emergency, not a comforting tale for a baby at risk; the poster in question is incredibly lucky her child emerged health from this but that experience does not show that absence of weight gain is not a big deal. Your baby being distressed or upset is also not an indicator - a jaundiced baby will be very sleepy and placid, a starving baby may be too exhausted to express distress.

As for them being anti formula. I mean in the sense they are keen for me to use donor milk and try up my supply.

The midwife is the only one who has suggested formula. The consultants peads are the ones trying to encorage bf more.

I have had fantastic treatment. The feeding team have been amaizing. In looking after.me and my mental well being. Tkaing baby so I could sleep. Getting me a nicer room and food.

I really couldnt say a word against them. Worth their weight in gold.

The consultants have all said even though shes maintained for 2 days. They arent too worried as shes not lost.

I had a lot of fluid in labour so they also think could of given a false birth weight reading to account for such a loss.

@sycamore54321

When was she last weighed and when is she due to be weighed again?

It does sound that she's getting milk if she's got lots of dirty nappies and wet ones. Have the hospital talked about investigating other reasons why she might not be gaining weight as well as she should be?

If you have a partner, are they able to visit at the moment? Could they do a donor milk feed, and have the baby so that you can get a bit more sleep?

How much are you expressing compared to actually feeding? Letting your baby latch and feed might get your supply up more than expressing. And formula is not a bad thing. You are breastfeeding and expressing after a csection - surgery! If your baby is not gaining enough weight then use formula.

She was weighed 11pm wednesday.

They weighed her earlier today as they hoped id be allowed home. So it was about 2ish

She had not gained at all.

They said usually they would then leave it to day 10 and not weigh again but are going to weigh tomorrow at day 8. To double check.

Baby has an issue with her kidneys too so they are being a little over cautious for that reason. Dilated kidneys on her ultrasounds. On going investigations now shes been born.

This hospital is all privaite rooms and I am a single mother and ftm. So feel like 10 days stairing at the same 4 walls would be enough to test anyone and is clouding my judgement. As its a sure fire way to mess with your mental health.

Given your update on the wet and dirty nappies it sounds like baby is getting plenty. As I said it takes time for them to regain weight, I’m surprised that they took between weds and now as a measure, I don’t think that’s enough time to show a significant gain? With us I don’t remember them weighing dd much in hospital, they certainly didn’t expect to see gains but told me to focus on nappies more. Also, don’t forget that up to 10% weight loss is within normal range. I would still advise that if you want to b/feed just spend this time over the weekend whilst your in doing it. If she only came off the bilibed today it’s no surprise that they want to keep you in because they need to monitor her levels. That might be as much of a reason to keep you in as the weight gain. It sounds like you’ve actually done an amazing job already, feeding a baby with jaundice is no easy task!

Just wanted to say that you're doing brilliantly and also congratulations on your baby, btw.

It's such hard work to be expressing around feeding as well. I really cannot fathom the reluctance from the consultants to give formula, to enable you to rest a bit between feeds. If you decided to use formula would they accept that decision?

@sycamore54321 baby is 10 days not 8 weeks. It all sounds totally normal for a breastfed jaundiced baby at this stage, I’ve been through the exact same thing and managed to ebf, if this is what the op wants to do it’s toally possible at this stage.

Your body is recovering from major surgery while you look after a brand new baby, so be kind to yourself and try not to feel pressure to produce copious supplies of milk immediately. It's ok to use donor milk, mix feed or formula feed if that is right for you and your baby.

I read a thing (probably in The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League, but I don't have a copy to hand to check) about the weight gain thing. Most babies drop weight after birth, then gain. So if they were constantly weighed, the graph would be a U shape. If your baby is feeding well and producing lots of wet and dirty nappies, she should be gaining. Is it possible that she was weighed on the downward (left hand side) of the curve and then again on the upward (right hand side)? So it would look like maintaining or dropping but that's just because there aren't enough points plotted on the graph to make the whole shape.

@Notquiteagandt do you have any friends and family who can visit? I was on a ward so lots of people coming and going and trips to bathroom/kitchen for food to break up the day but even so I got to the point where I asked if I could leave and go for a walk.

@Tinyteatime they kept her in for 18hr obs after coming off the bilibedm her levels have been up and down so they where compensating.

Annoyingly the consultant said he was so convinced shed of gained weight hed already started typing up her discharge notes. Only to then be told she had no weight gain so said she needed to be monitored for 24hrs afterwards. So we had to stay here.

Que 24 hours of anixity for me.

But thanks everyone feeling reassured all ready.

Baby is currently in my arms playing with a bottle of donor milk. She hates the teats so thats an other reason i worry about mixed feeding is nipple confusion.

@Tinyteatime and @sycamore54321

Sorry for confusion baby is 7 days old. I was in labour for 3 days due to induction before ending in emergancy csection.

So I have been in hospital for 10 days but shes only a week old.

Also if baby is now feeding effectively from the breast can you ask to reduce or stop the pumping? If she is cluster feeding and you’re pumping too that’s too exhausting.

Im not anti formula but have a cows milk allergy myself so scared to give it to my baby. Silly I know. Just scared of making her ill.

That's not silly at all. Completely understandable and I'd be the same in your shoes. Given your baby has plenty of wet and dirty nappies and still very young on the growth charts I'd give it a few days with the breastfeeding and see how you feel after the weekend.

My DS1 lost too much birth weight despite constantly being at the breast and trying to feed, but also then went more than 12 hours with no wet nappy which is the point at which I turned to formula and mixed feeding and never looked back. Had there been signs he was getting enough breast milk I'd have been more likely to persist with ebf.