Underweight baby

[Foggymog]

My son was EBF from birth until 3 months, at 3 months he fell from the 50th centile to the 9th so consultant advised us to start supplementing with formula to get his weight up. We mix fed for a few days, until he started rejecting the bottle completely and only wanted to breastfeed. He breastfed almost constantly, I’m talking hourly day and night for 7 days, I went along with it hoping he’d build my supply back up but when he was weighed again he’d fallen even more to the 2nd centile. I’m trying to mix feed, but he clearly prefers the breast and bottles are a complete battle. His weight isn’t getting better as if he refuses the bottle enough he gets offered breast to calm him down but I’m obviously just not making enough milk. Would going full formula fed be best at this point? It would be a battle at first but maybe if he stopped having breast as an option he’d actually start to gain weight. I’ve been determined to not give up completely but I’m not sure who’s benefit I’m doing that for anymore. Is enough enough? He’s happy and hitting milestones.

Anyone?

Ring NCT’s breastfeeding support line and someone should be able to come to your house with practical advice re: combination feeding. You may need to feed him formula from a cup, or use nipple shields if his latch isn’t great. They will have good ideas anyway.

One excellent way to improve supply is to eat fenugreek. If you are close to an Indian area, you can often get special fenugreek enriched food specifically designed for breastfeeding women. If not then google Indian post partum recipies.

Could you for some feeds express some of the breast milk you do have, but give it in a bottle to help with the transition, adding formula milk to make up the amount? Have you tried other types of formula? Also there are teats with a slow flow - if you currently use medium flow, maybe try a slower one for a while which is more similar to BF?

Has there been any information given as to why he is not gaining enough weight? I assume any medical condtitions for you and him have been ruled out? If you and his dad are small then he is going to (probably) be small and while he might not hit the general weight percentiles he could still be a perfectly healthy weight for his size.

Also have things like how he is feeding been investigated? eg has he got proper latch and feeding for long enough at each feed? I would have thought if you were feeding hourly for 7 days then that is plenty of time for your milk supply to catch up with demand.

I EBF both of my boys and it did take about 12 weeks for things to settle down and become easier, which seems to be the time that mothers give up because it doesn't seem to be working. Stick with it if you can!

But, as Grumpy said, I would get some advice from NCT or La leche.