Baby not gaining much weight

[ebbyniko1108]

Hello everyone, my baby is 24 days old. Today we had another appointment and my baby is not gaining much weight. I am breastfeeding her and I have enough milk. But she is wanting to breastfeed for 3-4 hours always. Even though she is on the breast for so long she hasnt gained much weight. She was born 3.25kg and is today 3.27kg and she is 24 days old so she has really not gained much. We dont have any problem with her latch and I can hear that she is swallowing the milk. I dont know what the problem is and what to do! :(

Offer her the breast every 3 hours, timing from the start of each feed.

She does feed every 3 hours but stays on for 3-4 hours.

Have you spoken to a lactation consultant? Did she lose weight after birth, and did you have fluids before the birth?

What did the HV say? Have you spoken to your GP? Your baby is on a much lower percentile than she was at birth, which is concerning.
Does she have a lot of very wet nappies?
I would definitely offer a bottle of expressed milk or formula after every feed to see if she is still hungry. I would also weigh her before and after every feed to see how much she is drinking, and to track her weight gain. And I would go to see my GP if she doesn't start gaining weight soon.

Firstly I remember at the hospital being told the percentile charts were based around formula fed babies. Breastfed babies gain weight much slower and often dip at first and then regain weight again. If she's having wet and dirty nappies and is sleeping well and content I wouldn't worry OP. She's getting what she needs and I don't see the need to be fixated on weight.

My son dropped almost 20% in his first month on the percentile chart but his nappies were perfectly fine. Everyone was telling me to top him up or add formula (myself too I was constantly doubting myself and weighing him) but by 4 months he was 90th percentile and had jumped almost 80% on the chart. If you'd guessed by the first couple months of his life you'd think he was starving. By 6 months you'd think he was overfed. The HV couldn't believe he was the same child. Each child will gain weight according to their build as well as how hungry they are. Now he's back down to his birth percentile and lost the baby fat post breastfeeding but he's perfectly happy and healthy.

I'd say keep an eye but as long as there is weight gain and wet/dry nappies continue as you are

Firstly I remember at the hospital being told the percentile charts were based around formula fed babies.

They are not. The WHO chart used in a child's red book is based on healthy breastfed babies.

My babies head is also measuring in the 9th centile. The HV said we can go back in two weeks to get checked again. But I am so concerned! 😞

3 to 4 hours is too long. If you can afford it try a private lactation consultant.

Are you sure baby girl is feeding for the whole time she in on your breast? Have you been taught how to pop the seal with your little finger if she is using you as a dummy?

It is hard and you sound like you are doing a good job

Have you spoken to a feeding specialist, either your local infant feeding team or a private lactation consultant if you can afford it? And has your baby been assessed for tongue tie? Feeding for hours but not gaining weight is a big red flag for tongue tie, this is what happened to us.

She had her tongue tie cut when she was 1 week

How much of her birth weight did she drop?

It sounds like she’s just sleeping and using you as a dummy.
If you take her off after she’s had a good sleep she might wake and feed again.

Did she dip in the first week after birth and is then going up, or has she been stable the whole time (more of a worry)?

If you are really concerned take her to a GP. Some HVs are great, some are not.

So she was born 3.25kg and dropped 6% to 2.800kg. Then she was checked when she was 2 weeks old and was nearly 3kg. And today at 3 weeks and 3 days she is 3.27kg.

She lost and then gained back and is at her birth weight now after 3 weeks. She is gaining but very slowly

She definitely isn't feeding for 3 hours at a time, sounds like she is using you as a dummy. You can feel the sensation change when she is feeding to when she is just sucking.

For my DD, if she was just sucking i would take her off breast anf burp etc, then if she fussed put her back on as then she would feed again. If i just let her suck she wouldn't feed properly

She leaves the breast after a time and when I put her to sleep she wants more breastfeeding. I can hear that she is swallowing so am sure she is getting the milk

Okay, I think it’s important to view it as she has gained 470g in total and in less than 3 weeks because she would have spent a few days loosing weight before she started gaining (which is completely normal)!

If I were you I would keep an eye on it, make sure you are eating and drinking plenty yourself and go to the weigh in again in 2 weeks. I don’t think you need to throw anymore money at lactation consultants, she’s feeding plenty and some babies just take a bit longer than others to pile on the weight.

My DS is breastfed and took over 2 weeks to get back to his birthweight. By 3 months he was 98th percentile after being born on the 50th!! He would also feed for hours and hours, again as he got older the feeds got much shorter.

Breastfeeding burns a lot of calories for small babies as well- it's a lot of effort for them til they get more efficient. You do probably need to limit her time on the breast a little. A lactation consultant would really be worth the money for you.

Regarding the small head size, I know you'll worry anyway but there are millimetres between 9th centile and absolutely normal so someone else might measure it quite differently. Try not to catastrophise.

My boy took almost a month to gain his birth weight - was ebf also. Same as you: his latch was good and I could hear him swallowing and OH BOY the feeding sessions. He did start gaining weight eventually. What helped us was me eating lots of protein - super-proteined yogurts, bigger portions, and I would have a flapjack at his 3am feed every night. Just keep chucking food in.

Hope she picks up soon!