Baby weight slowed.

[Ldls]

Hi
my health visitor came round the other day and advised that my son isn’t gaining as much weight as he should be.

Birth 11/05 - 3.165 kg (6lbs 15)
22/05 - 3.02kg (6lbs 10)
29/05 - 3.30kg (7lbs 4)
12/06 - 3.58kg (7lbs 14)
27/06 - 3.96kg (8lbs 12)
24/07 - 4.36kg (9lbs 9)

he’s only gained roughly a pound in 4 weeks but has grown 4cm.
he has started to sleep 6-8 hours a night. He’s even hit 10 hours once.

He is EBF and she started asking if I’d be open to formula.
I'm worried that im not feeding him enough or if my supply is dropping. I feel so guilty that every time he fussies I just think he’s starving

i tried to express and got 2oz in 20 mins ? So I might just give him a top up in the afternoon.

I know this is a lot of information but he’s due to go in for surgery next week and I’m a wreck and the thought of underfeeding him is going to break me.

Oh my goodness this is shockingly bad from a health visitor.

You carry on breastfeeding, your baby is absolutely fine.

I can't believe these people are allowed to operate to be honest with you. Makes my actual blood boil.

Unusual advice from a HV. A baby who is gaining weight is being fed sufficiently.

Do you know what his birth and height centiles were at birth and what his weight centile is now?

Unless he’s dropped two complete centiles, say from the 75% to the 25% there is no need for concern.

Even then formula should be the last resort not the first. The first stage would be for a BFC or Lactation Consultant to observe a full feed and for mechanical problems, like Tongue Tie ruled out.

If more feeding is required you should be encouraged to feed more often in the day, give breast compressions a try avd only then consider topping up with first EBM avd only if all of that doesn’t work should formula be encouraged.

Also, how much you can pump is absolutely no reflection on how much you’re producing. Some women can barely ever produce much EBM but successfully feed their baby.

Have a read of the link about Tongue Tie and read this from Kellymom How might I increase my baby’s weight gain.

But don’t take my word for it, give one of the BFing Helplines a call and talk this through with a BFC

Avd do have a look in the “Infant Feeding” section under “Feed the World”

It might also be worth reading Look at the baby, not the scale

@BunnyRuddington @Countingtoten10 I've put the numbers in a centile chart and this baby has dropped from 35th to the 1st centile. That's actually a concern and the HV was right to flag it, it's a big drop.

Have you had the latch checked OP to see if baby is feeding efficiently? The first port of call is not necessarily formula but something else is going on for a baby to drop that much. It can affect their development, they need the calories.

Pumping doesn't necessarily show how much milk you are making. I say this as someone who has breastfed and then pumped when I went to work, pumping is very very different. You also need the right flange fit, a proper pump and some nipple cream to pump efficiently.

Ah ok, that is a concern then. Have a read of the links I posted @Ldls, speak to one of the BFing Helplines and consider getting a Lactation Consultant in, if they can assess for TT Thats would be even better.

t totally depends on how you feel. You can explore the options of why there is weight loss or you can go straight to the top ups. It is totally up to you and no way is the wrong. Talking to a BFC on one of the helplines will help you talk through your feelings and come up with a solution that suits both you and LO

I don’t think your information is right.
this is his weight chart. @BunnyRuddington @PoolTime345

The HV should be reported for that. I'm not joking.

Get BF support from someone trained and up to date.

You can ring the HV service now, or get urgent advice from your GP - but just specify you want up to date BF support.

Clearly if there is surgery there is another health concern, you need targeted and context-specific advice.

In the meantime offer feeds much more frequently, including through the night.

@Ldls I used an online calculator but obviously your blue book is your correct ref point. That's still quite a drop, any health professional has to bring it up. Have you looked into BF support?

Well he hasn’t dropped two centiles yet and some babies do just find their own line after birth.

I would still speak to a BFC though and read the links I posted, the Kellymom ones are all evidence based

Looking at the chart the gain is slower than is maybe ideal but wouldn’t be an issue at all if you weren’t near the bottom end of the scale but there’s nothing to suggest you need anything more than a bf check - your hv isn’t qualified or she wouldn’t have got is so wrong. Use the links or your local infant feeding lead snd get a feed observed and make a plan to boost bf.
As a simple guide the more times you fed the better and the more sides each feed the better - if you switch baby so they get three or four or more then there will be more milk intake.

I hope all goes well OP