Baby Struggling To Gain Weight

My LO dropped by 9% and I felt the same pressure, was told to feed every 1-2hrs BF and top ups, they came to weigh her every 48hrs which stressed us out. She was 1oz below still at 17 days and they wanted to keep going another 4 days but I persuaded them to discharge us over 1oz. We had a different person measure her every time with lots of conflicting advice. Reach out for support to check the latch and technique, either the right midwife, infant feeding team or bf support, I also felt might was really good and was amazed at the difference felt even better after support. I’d say follow your gut, I didn’t do the top ups every feed and always fed 2-3hrs instead because it was stressing me the hell out and she kept being sick and getting upset and genuinely felt it was like I was forcing her to eat. Once we got discharged and HV took over they were lovely, she said that BF always drop more, gain more slowly and then usually follow a lower percentile than birth weight.

Sounds like your already doing an amazing job pumping to keep up supply as I didn’t do any pumping, I topped up with formula. Now we’re 5weeks, got her measured on Monday and weight was perfect. I had stopped ‘top ups’ shortly after being discharged, though she still has 1 bottle before bed, and occasionally another if I’m showering or napping. But this is my choice as I wanted to combi feed and want her to stay used to the occasional bottle.

I'm worried about this, our little one gets weighed again tomorrow so hopefully he's gained weight. I don't think my milks come in just yet as I was expecting to be leaking on the otherside not being fed on and leaking throughout the day but I'm not yet. Looks definitely like milk compared to the colostrum so I don't know whether to try pumping so he can have top ups too x

1. Have you asked to see a lactation consultant? If there’s an issue with latching they’ll pick it up and often are able to give much better advice. 2. How’s her output? 3. Has she been checked for any oral ties? (Lactation consultants are also better at finding this) 4. Are you eating/drinking enough? 5. Have you heard of power pumping to boost supply? 6. How is babies overall mood after a feed? Is she very fussy? Pretty content? Other things that might help: - lots of skin to skin - coconut water, oats, milo, spinach and lots of protein - get baby on the breast as often as possible You can also make your own lactation cookies which might help. But there’s also a prescription that you can get to help increase supply too.

My eldest dropped 11% by day 3 and initially I wasn't worried as I felt we just got off to a slow start breast feeding and my milk supply took some time to come in. However the modwofw team did male me feel more anxious about it due to their plans which I do understand bur doesn't make it any more difficult. Eventually they signed us off on day 15 as they were happy she was close enough to her birth Weight and the lovely midwife said to me ''you did it, now I never want you to worry about her weight again'. Fast forward 2 years and we're worried she has too much of an appetite. My point is there, ate always things that we will worry about as parents and unfortunately there is a lot of conflicting advice but you WILL GET THERE!!! The best advice I was ever given was listen to to everyone's advice and opinions but do what you want with it and do what you think is best.

I gave formula top ups, sometimes who formula feeds to enable me to get a chunk of sleep whilst my partner could feed her. I stopped giving formula after she was back to her birthweight and I never looked back as we then successfully exclusively breastfed for the next year and I love it. Whatever you decide, you've got this!

@Sharnee I am pretty sure that my HV has spoken to someone for me and I may have someone come out to me which would be great! The HV checked for a tongue tie and couldn’t see one, but i’ll ask for her to be checked again. I hope so! I am drinking better now definitely and eating two meals now, but I do know this is something that I am bad at so maybe I need to be more conscious of this. I have seen the power pumping, I tried it once but didn’t seem to get anything out after the first pump? I don’t know if this is me doing it wrong, or a supply issue? She is super content after a feed, and often will soothe herself to sleep. This is one of the reasons that I assumed we were doing really well! Thank you so much for this comment! super helpful! ❤️

Thank you everyone! ❤️

@Laura Yes, I think this is my plan! I didn’t want to give any at all, but I know it’s important that she gains the weight. Then hopefully after, I can wean her off of the formula and go back to exclusively breastfeeding! ❤️

@Laura Yes, it is so hard when you have everyone telling you what you should do and it’s all conflicting advice! I am trying my best to think for myself and decide what’s best for us, but it’s so scary worrying about if I am making the right choice! ❤️

@Anna Ah I hope your LO has put the weight on! 🥰 I think this about my milk sometimes too, I know it’s come on but not much at all but then I do leak quite a bit?! But when I pump I get MAX 1.5/2oz joint from both breasts after quite a while and I know that’s not much at all ❤️

@Laura Yes, I am trying to make my own decisions when it comes to what is best for us. It’s just so hard as you want to do the right thing for baby and that’s a tough call! I am only doing formula top ups when I do not have enough breast milk expressed to give her as I would like to prioritise my milk! And overnight I am doing 3hr gaps without top ups, so that I can get some sleep otherwise I wouldn’t be able to function and I do this alone so I need to be able to!😂❤️

@Ellie-May thank you. It is really hard to know what's going on when they're feeding so just fingers crossed the weight is going on 🤞🏽 Thank you, I might give it a go x

@Ellie-May Definitely ask for a LC and get them to check for any ties too. They can also tell you if your flange is correct for pumping which can be a huge help. I was told I needed to be drinking 3-4lts a day for hydration so I try to add things to it to avoid boredom and get that in per day. I also set little reminders for myself (might include phone alarms, sticky notes on the fridge or in the bathroom etc.) I don’t eat many full meals a day but I do try to make sure I’m having little snacks throughout the day instead. You may not get a huge amount out by power pumping (and again I’d double check flange size is correct as it can make all the difference) but try to be consistent at it, it kinda mimics babies cluster feeding to amp up supply. The fact baby is content after a feed is a pretty good sign. Is she a particularly pukey baby?

@Sharnee Thank you for all of this advice! I have an appointment with the infant feeding team on wednesday morning so they’ll be able to check baby over again and watch her latch etc. I didn’t even know the pump had different sizes! i’ll definitely ask them to check that for me, thank you. Hydration and eating are definitely a problem for me🫣 but I have a 2L bottle and i’m doing my best to drink as much as possible. I always have toast for breakfast and something later for dinner, it’s just making sure that I’m eating something in between. No, she’s never been sick at all. She’s spit up twice but both times was after a formula feed as I think she had too much too quick but it was only a tiny amount. xx

Same boat as you! Day 3 - lost 10.3%, day 5 lost 11.7%. I pump and only get 20mL. I have been doing top ups with formula and consulted with a lactation person to check my latch. My latch is good and she said not to do formula but tbh I can’t sit and watch her cry knowing she’s hungry and I don’t have enough for her. So I do whatever she needs. I have tried pumping the 8 times a day that they recommend but it’s just miserable so I am for 4-6 sessions a day. I try to power pump for one, but again that doesn’t always happen. Full transparency though is my little one has really taken to the bottle so sometimes struggles on the breast. My lactation person gave me a nursing supplementer (tube feed thing) which I did use a bit, but with my partner going back to work it wouldn’t have worked long term for us as it was a 2 person thing. Feel free to drop me a message if you wanna chat/ vent! I know it’s super stressful, I spent many days in tears. Sending hugs x