Day 10 lack of weight gain

[Danielleftm]

Just wondering if anyone else has been in a similar position and can offer any advice. Traumatic birth ended in emergency c-section, weight loss at day 3 was 7.5% (8lb2 down to 7lb6) - midwife check at day 5 showed pretty much the same weight but as his jaundice had improved massively and he was having normal amounts of wees/poos nothing needed.

We supplemented with formula in hospital / until day 6 as took a while for my milk to come in, since day 7 have been exclusively breastfeeding. He feeds roughly every 2-3 hours in the day whenever he shows feeding cues, 3 hourly at night, 15/20 minutes per side and stays on until he’s asleep when he breaks the latch. We are using nipple shields due to really struggling with latch and this is definitely the only reason we were able to stop topping up with formula!

Day 10 appointment today and he’s still at the exact same weight - nothing gained or lost. We are seeing infant feeding team tomorrow but feel like an absolute failure and the midwife implied we aren’t feeding him enough - even though all of the above implies we are. I just don’t understand why he’s not gaining weight if all other signs are good. Really feel close to giving up and just giving formula 😣. Im just exhausted and feel like an absolute failure.

I think you need to start feeding more frequently - I would go hourly in the day and try and phase out the nipple shields. Your supply will be a bit ‘behind’, but you’ve done an awesome job so far, but I’d expect a newborn to bf every 90mins or so when building supply.

I was told to feed every 3 hours including during the night until they regained their birth weight. If they feed at 9 until 10, to start feeding again 3 hours after the they started feeding so at 12.

@Snowdropsareontheirway 3 hourly isn’t really enough unless you’re very lucky and have no problems. It’s advice that’s outdated in my view as bfvsupporter. I struggled with weigh gain with DC1 and it wasn’t until I started offering feeds hourly in the day and 2 hourly at night that we turned a corner.

So I should be waking him to feed at those intervals - even when he’s completely settled? I just don’t really get it because to me surely he would tell me if he was hungry by waking and showing feeding cues, or not settling after a feed and wanting to be topped up with formula. Am I missing something?

You will have better knowledge than me. Mine always feed for 90 mins plus so hourly physically wouldn’t have fitted for me as I would have still been on the last feed when it was time to start the next feed!

OP make sure you’re offering both boobs at eat feed and go back to the first again if they will still take more.

You are doing amazingly well!

Get the infant feeding coordinator to check (or double check) for tongue tie - ties can be tricksy things right at the back of the tongue, but potentially all your current challenges (difficult latch, delayed supply, slow growth despite lots of time at breast) could be due to tt.

one of mine lost 16% of birth weight by day 5 which was -ngl- terrifying but she’s 12 now and bang on her birth centile of 75.
I would’ve lost all faith if I hadn’t breastfed her much bigger older brother until he was 2, which gave me the confidence to look for explanations outside of my
own body.

Yes at the start you need to wake to feed. When they’re getting more milk and are therefore stronger they will be able to tell you when they need to feed.

Yeah I would wake to feed, just because the more often you remove milk from the breast the more it will produce. New babies can sleep beyond their early hunger cues in the early days.

But you are doing SO well, don’t beat yourself up, but definitely try and offer extra feeds.

If he’s had jaundice then he will be sleepy. Jaundiced babies use a lot of energy breaking down the red blood cells that causes the jaundice and so don’t gain weight as quickly. You need to wake him up because he is probably too comfortable. Feeding also takes a lot of energy so lots of little feeds will increase his energy levels so he can eventually feed for longer.
I remember being advised to switch on lights and feed DS in just his nappy and to keep waking him up. He was very jaundiced due to being early. The more often he feeds the more your milk output is stimulated.

Thanks all. Will see what they say tomorrow and go from there!

If you’re going in tomorrow please get them to Check, check, check again and then ask for somebody properly trained to check for tongue tie. Sounds exactly the same as me.

LO born at 37 weeks went from 5lb 13oz to 5lb 2. 12% weight loss and jaundice. Fed one hour on, one hour off for a MONTH day and night, my head was gone. Was told he had a good latch by 4 different midwives.

We had to take him in to hospital every 48 hours in the end to be weighed(just what you want after a complicated Caesarian) usually lost a few grams, sometimes teeny gains if I’d been using breast compressions during feeds. In the space of 30 mins at our last appointment was accused of not trying hard enough, not feeding him enough and having poor quality milk….then a member of the actual tongue tie team came in at my DH insistence and Lo and behold had an 85% tongue tie.

we switched to formula, time wasn’t on our side for him to gain weight and my head wasn’t in a good place. I really hope it turns around for you because I know how awful it is having optimism every time LO is laid on the scale and your heart dropping when the numbers don’t change. Fingers crossed for you!

C-section babies can have an inflated weight because the fluids used on mum can go into the baby. A weight taken on day 2 or 3 would be a better starting point

Also , scales can differ so having baby weighed on diff scales can alter the reading

At that age I had to strip my daughter down to a nappy every 3h day and night to get her to feed. She wouldn't wake for a feed at all
She only lost 5% and was back at birth weight by 2 weeks but only on the 9th percentile so we kept the waking to for another 2 weeks to make sure she was following this line.

Sorry I haven't read the full thread but I just want to reassure you that you are not a failure. Breastfeeding is Hard Work, and you've had major surgery as well as your life being changed massively! You're doing amazing.

My son took almost 4 weeks to regain his birth weight. He was glued to me about 20 hours a day (feeding all that time). He's now 2.5 and thriving. He had and always has had, a huge apetite and high metabolism. Eats loads but is still really skinny 😜

Give it time, speak to experts, and try not to panic. It's good to get your child checked out, but there may be nothing wrong at all.

Sounds like you're doing great, I wouldn't worry too much at this stage if there's plenty of wet nappies and yellow poos!
Try feeding a bit more often during the day, exclusively BF newborn should feed every couple of hours ideally especially if you're trying to increase milk supply. I wouldn't wake him up at night though if he's waking every 3h anyway.
Don't give up, you're not failing- far from it