Its happening all over again...

[QTB]

DS1 never gained his birth weight back... at 2wks old he was put on formula top ups... i burst into tears when the midwife said we would have to top him up... we ended up fully FF at 12wks, as my supply had disappeared... i was guttered, im 99% sure not being able to BF was what lead to PND...

Iv been trying so hard to establish a good supply this time, bubs been feeding as much as possible... im expressing if he sleeps longer than 3hrs... and i know i have heaps of milk cos im leaking like crazy, hes content after feeds, he falls asleep sucking and comes off and milk runs out of his mouth... and he has heaps of wet and dirty nappies...

anyway, harlan got weighed today for the first time since birth (10days) and hes 3800gms- he was born 3970gms - what am i doing wrong? why isnt he gaining weight?

i have 1 week to get him gaining weight - nxt monday he gets checked and if hes 3800g or less we are going to have to go down the stupid FF topups again... which i know will go the same way DS1s did

[Chunkydunks]

Doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong

I don't know what its like for bub not to gain back birth weight cos Kynan never lost weight to start off with. He just gained right from the word go. But I do know what its like when you find out your supply has dropped. At 3 months Kynan was losing weight rapidly and I was adviced to give him top ups. In the end he was so unhappy with my supply that he went formula full time.

I honestly don't know what to say because it really sounds like he's feeding heaps and should be gaining weight. Isn't there some way of testing the nutrition of the milk? Not saying thats the problem but maybe ist another avenue to explore.

Good luck with it and I hope he starts gaining weight soon

[V8]

Alarm bells are ringing for me here sweetie, i had similar issues with Josh and him gaining weight. I realised afterwards that there was no reason to give him formula, i was pretty much beaten down till i relented and gave him top ups at 4 months. You know what, he still didn't gain weight, but he was as healthy as!!

To me, you sound like everything is going beautifully, he's having wet/pooey nappies, you have plenty of milk, he's feeding well. Don't introduce formula because of his weight, i believe if you think he is healthy and not dehydrated, then weight is just a side issue, it really annoys me that they put so much pressure on you for the baby to 'fatten up' it's just ridiculous they do that. Please please, listen to yourself and your baby, tell the MCHN or whoever told you to make him put on weight to bugger off!! You know once you introduce a bottle there is no going back and then your supply will diminish and you'll be back at square one like with Brayds and having to fully FF him. You are doing wonderful Mel, you really really are.

[sueliz]

Alarm bells are ringing for me here sweetie, i had similar issues with Josh and him gaining weight. I realised afterwards that there was no reason to give him formula, i was pretty much beaten down till i relented and gave him top ups at 4 months. You know what, he still didn't gain weight, but he was as healthy as!!

To me, you sound like everything is going beautifully, he's having wet/pooey nappies, you have plenty of milk, he's feeding well. Don't introduce formula because of his weight, i believe if you think he is healthy and not dehydrated, then weight is just a side issue, it really annoys me that they put so much pressure on you for the baby to 'fatten up' it's just ridiculous they do that. Please please, listen to yourself and your baby, tell the MCHN or whoever told you to make him put on weight to bugger off!! You know once you introduce a bottle there is no going back and then your supply will diminish and you'll be back at square one like with Brayds and having to fully FF him. You are doing wonderful Mel, you really really are.

Sorry to hijack this thread but Vee I don't think you know how much I needed to read this right now. My DS2 is 5 mths and not putting on a lot of weight. He is reaching all his milestones and have lots of wet nappies and at least one pooey nappy a day and is ow sleeping throgh most nights, but he just isn;t putting weight on - and he was born a big bubs so I was really starting to get concerned. Have gone out and bought bottles and some sachets of formula just in case but something is stopping me for some reason from introducing it just yet - however I am still concerned about the weight thing. This has made me relax a little and see how I go. So thank you!!

[xkwzit]

You might want to consider swapping paediatricians, I have the name of a very pro BF paed (Wesley Hospital based) who was happy with DD1's weight gains when they were only 90 grams/week (at 6 - 8 weeks of age). 10 days isn't a very long time either, I think you can take a week or two to get second opinions etc.

I would also see an LC, she will be able to watch you feed and see if there is any physical problem with the feeding and suggest other tricks and tips (it is not as simple as just breast + baby, there are many different variations on that theme).

Please don't base your decisions on what a CHN says, my personal experiences of them have been confusing and demoralising. Confusing because they always said the opposite of what my Paed and LC would say, demoralising because they sucked my maternal power from me like psychic vampires.

Second opinion is required.

[cheezelkat]

what V8 Said!

Most babies don't regain birth weight until 14 days anyway.

Liam only gained max 125g a week...even now he is quite slim but happy and healthy... I would find a new CHN!

[Areca]

Hang on a second...I'm confused. It's normal for babies to lose up to 10% of their body weight in the first few days which means on day 4 he was able to weigh 3573gms so he's almost 300gms above that at day 10. So what if he hasn't gained his birth weight back yet, he is still doing well because he is above that 10%. It sounds like you have plenty of milk for him, and from your post the other day regarding how many wet and dirty nappies he has had he is getting plenty to eat.
I don't know who you are seeing that is giving you this information on his weight (CHN or GP) but please, please, please talk to the ABA. I can't see a single reason as to why he would need formula top ups. He is not dehydrated, he is feeding well, he is content and satisfied after a feed.
A friend of mine FF her DD from day one (no bm at all) and it took her 3 weeks to start gaining weight.

You said he got weighed for the first time today since he was born. Who's to say he isn't gaining weight? Like I said before, he could lose up to 10% of his birthweight. He hasn't! Or he did and he is gaining weight again. Please don't be guilted in to formula top ups when everything is going so well! Ring the ABA, arm yourself with info and take all that info with you on Monday and use it if you need to! You are doing a wonderful job!

[Areca]

I also just wanted to add for sueliz - DD1 was born 4.1kg at birth. At 3 months old she weighed 6.4kg. At 12 months old she weighed in at 8kg exactly. I bf her for 14 months. She was happy, healthy, and had plenty of wet and pooey nappies. She has just now tripled her birth weight and she is 2 1/2 at the end of the month and hasn't been bf since she was 14 months old. Thankfully my GP was supportive of bf'ing and the word formula was never mentioned until I went to see a paed when she was 11 months old. She insisted that I put DD1 on formula and I walked out and never saw her again. I went to a different paed, one who was supportive of bf'ing and never looked back! I chose to wean her at 14 months.

[stellarella]

OK firstly, stop seeing your CHN and no you don't have X number of days to get him back to his birth weight, he is your son and you will decide when and if he is put on formula FFS...where do these CHNs get off? They know nothing!!!

OK, now some of these

All children are different, all children gain weight differently......the charts mean nothing at all, we are quite frankly better off without them and unfortunately I think most of us are better off without CHNs.

You say you have lots of milk? Is Harlan happy most of the time, is he weeing/pooing, are his skin and eyes bright? I am guessing yes!!

You sons both gain weight slowly....in 6 months time he could be piling on kgs...just as my son gained like an elephant for the first 6 months and has since gained a measly 2 kgs (2kgs between 6 months and 22 months!!)

Please don't let this shake you...try forgetting the scales for a while and just enjoy him, enjoy BFing...monitor his output and relax

[neostudded]

I agree with V8 and double ace!

Good luck, sounds to me like there is no problems.