Advice please - DS is 20 weeks old and losing weight

[alkar]

Have had my DS weighed today and he has been losing weight for the past 5 weeks. He has dropped from the 91st centile to below the 50th. I am bf but also giving him the occasional bit of baby rice on the advice of the health visitor. I have been told now to give him baby rice for breakfast and dinner and some veg for lunch. I am not sure if thats the right thing to do though as I want to keep bf for as long as possible and I don't want my supply to dwindle. Does anyone have any suggestions?

alkar, can you check this with the health visitor again? Ask her if feeding him more often by breastfeeding more frequently, offering two, three or more 'sides' per feeding session, would not be a better first option.

I would be concerned that giving more baby rice and introducing veg might mean his net intake of calories is less. Breastmilk has far more calories than veg (unless you give pounds and pounds of veg!) and baby rice gets most of its calories from the milk you mix it with. Yet the baby's tum is filled, and he actually misses out a breastfeed he would otherwise have. This would, as you suspect, impact on your supply.

Babies normally don't lose weight, so I can see the concern, but if she thinks it is just a question of needing more food, then you have the best food 'on tap'

I agree with tiktok, why did your health visitor recommend giving baby rice at 20 weeks (or earlier) if the current recommendation is to wait until 6 months?

Thanks for the replys

Tiktok I think you're right, I will try to offer each side every time. He gets bored halfway through a feed though and starts pulling off having a look around then going back again. I think I will try feeding him more often and see how he goes next week. Our usual health visitor has been off for a couple of weeks and its a new health visitor giving me this advice.

Iwantyournickname - no idea why. Think its just because of the weight loss. She first suggested ff but he doesn't like a bottle and has a look of digust on his face if I try it

Alkar - do you actually mean losing weight? Or just not following the line he was on?

It's just that sometimes people get confused and think because a child is crossing the centiles on those charts that is "losing weight".

IMO losing weight is being 10lbs one week, 9lbs 12oz the next week; 9lbs 8oz the week after.

Is he actually doing this?

FWIW alkar - I was advised to wean early as my LO had become difficult to breast-feed and was losing weight (from 98th at birth to below 9th for a time).

Whilst it seemed logical at the time, I really think it made matters worse, rather than solving anything. So I would REALLY advise you to wait as long as you can.

I speak from bitter experience - whilst we've managed to get DD back up to the 25th centile, feeding (both solids and bottle - my supply didn't survive the drama) is still difficult and I really think it's partly because she was weaned before she was really ready.

Hang in there, and do everything that Tiktok tells you to!!

Hope things improve for you.

Maybe try feeding somewhere quiet, with no TV, phones etc.?

HTH
db
xx

Thanks db, I think I am going to follow your advice. DH has a milk allergy so I esp wanted to bf as long as possible.

Gargarin yes he is actually losing weight now

Alkar, I had the same thing with my DS at about 24 weeks. He'd already slipped from 50th to 25th centile over time, put on loads of weight one fortnight and then proceeded to lose most of it over the following three weeks. I'd already started introducing bits of baby rice and fruit/veg purees so I carried on with the same quantities at just the one meal a day whilst increasing the breast feeds. It felt quite constraining having to get an extra feed in each afternoon particularly as DS didn't really seem to be that interested but it didn't last for long, a few weeks later that feed turned naturally into a solid meal partly in order to ensure I had enough milk to give him a proper bedtime feed. I also offered both sides at each feed apart from the last one which seemed to involved about 8 "sides", sometimes more. He is now putting on weight steadily, still only tracking the 9th centile but at least tracking one rather than falling down the chart.

Anyway, this wasn't meant to be so long, just wanted to say that you're not alone and it is possible to turn this around.

i guess you are at a point of no return re solids but instead of increasing quantities, can you offer some foods with higher calories, such as a avocado?

I don't think you are a point of no return with the solids, just stop giving them, for all the reasons Tiktok says.

Your HV is barking why are they all so out-dated and ill-informed? Why are they not made to keep up to date with not only the latest recomendations but the reasoning behind them? Head-Desk-Thud!!!

I second Tiktok, breastmilk is the most nutritionally dense food you can get, filling him up on "bulk" like baby rice and veg (I mean, really, what do you fill up on when you want to lose weight? Veg!! Doh!!) will actually reduce his calorie intake.

Boob him as much and as often as you can and if he still loses weight ask for a referral to a Paed and a Nutritionist/Dietition.

Monkies

yes sorry, ignore my last post .

Monkies

I am just bf now. He was up last night at 11, 12 3, 6 then 8, I am exhausted but am going to stick with it for the rest of the week and hope he gains weight at the next weigh-in on wednesday. Thanks for all the advice, I guess you should always trust your instincts!

keep us posted!

BTW Alkar, there is a "forgotten"/undocumented growth spurt at around 5 months, it's quite possible he is going to be a boob-monster for a few days but it will pass. Most people are unaware of it as we have been giving solids at 3/4/5 months for so long now that it's been forgotten, but both mine definately had a feeding frenzy at this age, along with all the babies of mums I know who bf exclusively for 6 months.

Hang in there!!

Monkies

He doesn't look remotely under weight in your pics, and I see you are oop north like me, let me know if you want me to pop up and have a chat with your HV !!!

Monkies

No monkies he doesn't look underweight at all Brill advice about a growth spurt I really think thats whats going on and like you say the books don't mention it, its very unusual for him to be up in the night. Think my HV is back on Monday and she is very pro bf so I'll hopefully get a bit more support from her.

JUst to let you all know DS was weighed again today and he has put on a massive 9oz this week. Thanks for all your support re bf, I am glad I stuck with it and didn't try to wean him too early.