baby losing weight

[redmare]

If any of you have any advice about a little one losing weight I would really appreciate it.

We went for our 8 week check up and jabs today and the doctor found that my daughter has not only not gained any weight but lost some. She's never been a big baby and we had a bit of a job getting her weight up to her birth weight at the beginning; she's been on the 9th centile consistently but I thought we were getting on ok and wasn't too fretful about her being on the light side. She was up to 3.7kg 2 weeks ago, but today she'd dipped towards the 0.4 centile, going down to 3.6kg.

I'm breastfeeding and, despite a few problems with plugged ducts in the breast which I managed to shift before it progressed and painful nipples for a while, I'd started to really enjoy it. I went to the breast feeding clinic in Peckham to make sure that she was latching properly and that there's no tongue tie issue when I got the plugged ducts and all was declared well. I'm feeding on demand and, while she takes a long time to feed, I'm letting her stay on until she pulls herself off. I'm trying breast compressions too - my breasts rarely feel particularly full and I've been taking milk thistle and fennel tea for supply - and expressing occasionally to try to build up a stash in the freezer for emergencies. I'm eating well and taking a breast feeding vitamin supplement too.

She's active, alert and a happy little soul in general, napping pretty well in the day and sleeping well at night.

I haven't been particularly worried about having a baby whose weight was on the light side but this has thrown me. Does anyone have any thoughts on what I can do?

Thanks!

[susyp]

My sister had this problem and had to switch to bottle feeds with formula - he was starving and had loads initially - despite that he's the only baby in our family who wasn't really fat at 6 months - just very very hungry!

susypx

[telemum]

This struck such a chord with me. Well done - you're doing a fantastic job with your baby. Is very stressful I know - I've been there twice. My older dd (now five) fell off the charts while I was breastfeeding her. Though I did supplement with formula in the end she had three months exclusive breastmilk and I continued to mix feed her until six months when she refused all milk (stubborn girl). Some things that helped;

Expressing and storing (which you are doing) and in fact sometimes expressing after a feed and then giving her the milk in a bottle. I also took domperidone (prescribed initially by Kings) which helped my supply massively. Fast forward five years and she's still not the largest girl in the world (in fact I think she remains on the 0.4th centile) and she doesn't like milk, at all. Never has. Which may have been the main problem.

With daughter 2 it was better. I knew to be proactive. I bought my own weighing scales (no more trips to the HV) and expressed from the off as well as taking domperidone from week two. When I compared their two red books I could see that the curves were exactly the same - as if they were genetically programmed to lose weight at one point. When she did fall massively I supplemented with formula for a few weeks and then went back to breastfeeding. She only gave up when she was a year old.

Sorry for the lengthy response. Don't know if any of it is useful but I'm happy to discuss if its helpful - I was a temporary expert on infant weight loss for a bit!

[Undiscovered]

Did you have her weighed on different scales that usual for the check up? Not sure where you go, I know the ones at DMC weight lighter than the ones at the Townley Road clinic (as had a similar experience).

If I were you i would get her weighed on the same scales as you did 2 weeks ago, to compare apples and apples, before worrying too much. Give the health visitors a call or just pop in , when I had the same thing they were lovely.

[Saffron]

First: Don't give up on the breastfeeding, you're doing great!! Pat yourself on the back for getting through a really difficult time.

Second: Rip the bloody centile page out of your Redbook and thow it in the bin. Or better yet, just set fire to it! Seriously, forget about the centiles for a minute and just look at the weight. Over the course of 2 weeks she went from 3.7 to 3.6 kg? I make that a difference of 0.1 kg = 100 g. That's really very little.

Now consider two things (a) the weighscale could be inaccurate, meaning her weight is relatively unchanged.

Or (b) consider what does 100 g look like? Well, 100 g of water equals 100 mL, or about 3.5 oz, or one really fat wet/pooey nappy (nappies themselves weigh ~20g and are negligible in this context, just think about the contents!). It maybe that last week she was weighed with the additional liquid still inside in one form or the other. It could even be as milk in her tummy. So, again, reach the conclusion that her weight is basically unchanged.

And there's nothing wrong with that. It's perfectly normal for many babies to grow in cycles of length, then weight. They grow "up", then "out". Baby may be putting energy into growing just a few milimeters taller, and might not put on any weight in that time. Husband and I "wasted" loads of money having this confirmed by a private paediatrician after the HV tried to refer me to a nutritionist*. She didn't even offer to refer me to a lactation consultant, grrr.

Dr Singer http://www.harleystreetpaediatricgroup.com/dr-jack-singer.html was the private paed consultant we saw. He said weight is a very rough measure of growth, and showed us lots of other things to consider. Then we had to cough up an eye-watering amount of money, but at least Hubbie and I felt better. He also said that breastfeeding leads to very slim babies, and that's 100% normal no matter what centile they are on.

So my advice would be to save your money just yet, as you say Baby is doing well otherwise. Get a free referral to a lactation consultant instead. Or see a private lac consultant, will still only cost you a fraction of seeing a private physician! Many women perceive a drop in milk supply around 3 months, don't let that throw you. Having a lac consultant on speed dial would be very useful.

Don't let it all throw you. You're doing great!

xx

FFS, she did not even know that there's a difference between a dietition and a nutritionist, that being a dietition is qualified whereas anyone can call themselves a nutritionist.

[prm]

Is your little one sleeping through the night by any chance? As they always say it's ok to let them sleep through if they are putting on weight, but if they are not it would be advisable to wake them up every 3-4 hrs (a friend of mine in the same situation as you was advised this and it worked for her). Personally I started by trying to feed my 2.5 week old on demand but I was getting concerned about how much was feeding and how much was comfort sucking, as he was hardly putting any weight on. I switched to feeding every 3 hrs and now he is getting about 8 good feeds a day he has started putting weight on a lot faster. See what advice you get from GP / HV specfically for your case but personally I would not hesitate to supplement breastfeeding with formula if necessary.

[KatDew]

This happened to me. Turns out the scales at my GP surgery were out.... by 300g!!!! A huge amount for a newborn. I suspected a problem as I have twins and both twins had apparently lost weight. My GP blamed the fact that I was BF twins. I contacted my HV and got them weighed on their usual scales and they'd actually gained 200g.

[redmare]

Thank you all so much for the replies. You're really kind to take the time to reassure me!

I'm just trying to hold my nerve and not worry so it's really useful to get your perspectives. She doesn't give the impression of being hungry after a feed (she does the lolling drunk baby thing which I love!), plus good sleeping and contented disposition (most of the time!) suggests to me that she's getting what she needs.

@telemum that's very interesting about domperidone. How did you know your supply was low - was it your daughter's weight gain or something else (I wish we came with gauges to know what's in and what's going out!)?

@undiscovered it was the same scales in the same surgery. That said, you've reminded me that I've been amazed at the variation when weighing myself from one day to another so perhaps there could be a bit of a wobble given it's such small amounts we're talking about - thanks for the perspective @Saffron, I hadn't thought of it like that.

@prm she has just started sleeping quite a bit - some nights she can go 5 hours, others 4, others 6. Perhaps it has had an impact. But she's not got any other issues and is waking up pretty content even after a long sleep. She feeds every 2 - 3 hours during the day.

@Saffron she's long and lean so what you're saying about different growth cycles is fascinating. Her daddy's tall and lean and there's a lot of height on my side of the family (my sister is 6 ft) so she could be putting in her efforts there. I'll definitely ask for a referral to a lactation consultant if she's not put on weight next week ( and thanks for saving us a trip to Harley St!)

@KatDew - that's an incredible amount to be out by! I wonder if they have another set of scales at my practice to do a comparison.

Thanks again for all the wisdom - lots to think about. I'm feeding her like she's a little Strasbourg goose today so hopefully next week will see her a bit heavier.

x

[RenF]

Mostly... what Saffron said.

And just to add, I experienced this too. In fact I think its really, really common. But you always feel like its just you, and you must be doing something terribly wrong. You're not, you're doing great.

Best advice I can give, is try not to get too stressed. For a start this won't help your supply. Find someone whose advice you trust eg NCT breast feeding counsellor, lactation consultant (PM me if you would like a name), la leche league etc. Internet forums are great for support, but I did find that I spent hours desperately trying to find the answers and going round in circles with all the different advice. The same actually goes for health professionals. Almost everyone one I saw told me something different which is why I say find someone you trust and stick with them! Also... trust yourself- you say that your baby is well, content, sleeping ok etc. All good and you should be led by her.

For my part, I finally ended up taking domperidone which helped my supply, and I did end up supplementing with formula, but my baby's weight issues were more pronounced than what you describe. Don't beat yourself up if this is a route you decide to take (formula ain't poison after all), but don't feel that it IS a route you have to take, although you may feel some pressure to do so.

Hopefully this is just a glitch and your baby will continue to thrive, as it sounds like she's been doing.

All the best.

[RenF]

Cross posted with you redmare. Sounds like you're on the right track! Keep it up...

[redmare]

Thanks @RenF, I'll drop you a PM for the name of the lactation consultant to have up my sleeve.

Interesting that you mention domperidone too - I wonder if I should get some just to be totally sure that my supply is sufficient. I was working on the assumption that your supply regulates itself to the demands of the baby but perhaps I should take it to be on the safe side. If it comes to it I'll supplement her with some formula (I was raised on it as I refused point blank to take the breast much to my mother's grief, and like to think I turned out ok!) but want to give the breastfeeding the best run I can.

The amount of information and advice out there is pretty overwhelming so I'm really grateful to have all these experiences to add into the mix of my own instincts about the wee one.

[prm]

Redmare sounds like you are doing great and you have a happy healthy baby...looking at other's advice I would start by getting your baby weighed somewhere else to cross check and whatever the result I am sure there is no harm in waiting a couple of weeks without doing anything drastic that you are not sure about (ie taking meds etc) to see if this is an ongoing issue or just circumstantial. In terms of lactation consultants Claire Kevdes at Kings has a wealth of knowledge and Im sure would be able to help - I dont have her number to hand but Im sure a search in the forum or google will help, if not I can dig it out for you. All the best!