Formula fed baby gaining weight slowly

[Becproc23]

My 10 day old son has been formula fed since birth.

At the Day 5 weighing, he had lost 11.9% of his birth weight. He was weighed again at Day 10 and is now 8.6%.

Although his weight is going in the right direction, it is slow for a formula fed baby. Based on his weight, I calculated he should be having at least 507mls of formula a day and he is getting well over this amount.

I’m really worried and wondered what other people’s experiences are?

Hi @Becproc23 has the MW or HV weighed him?

Was it on the same scales each time?

What did they say after the last weigh in?

Hello,

A MW / HV weighed him on all three occasions. Same scales were used for the first two weights and different scales for the last.

He has to go for another weigh on Day 15. She mentioned that he might have to see a specialist child doctor if the weight gain is still slow.

I know it's hard but try not to worry too much at the moment, especially if different scales are being used.

It does sound as though they are monitoring the him well and the Paediatrician just might look at him and say he's fine or it could be something as simple as Tongue Tie.

When you're working out how much formula he needs, are you going by his weight? So he should be having roughly 150 ml to 200 ml per kilo per day. Is that roughly what he's having? Is he draining his bottles?

Thanks for your reply and reassurance.

He is currently 3.365 in weight, so multiplied by 150 gives 505mls. He had 670mls yesterday and has been over the minimum volume for the last few days. He gained about 85kg for the first reweigh, which we were happy with, but only 30kg for the next one. It’s strange considering it’s formula as well.

Honestly, it could be anything from the new scales aren't calibrated to the fact that he'd just had a wee the last time and needed a feed.

I'm sure everything will be fine.

Have a read of Look at the Baby, Not the Scales by Dr Jay Gordon

I wouldn’t worry yet as long as there is plenty of wet nappies. Their weight will fluctuate during the day depending on milk intake and poo/urine output so you need to look at the trend over a longer period of time to see what’s going on eg if you weigh them after a feed and then weigh them the same day after they have done a massive poo they might weigh 100g less the second time but doesn’t mean they have lost weight.

Thank you for your reassurance. I think most babies are supposed to regain their birth weight within the first 2 weeks, so worried we aren’t reaching this target.

Thank you for your reassurance. I think most babies are supposed to regain their birth weight within the first 2 weeks, so worried we aren’t reaching this target.

They are but it's not that usual for them not too.

Sometimes it's just one of those things, sometimes it can be something like Tongue Tiee* which can be easily rectified.