2 week old only gained 35g in 12 days - so stressed

[Taurean]

I'm typing this while I feed so it will be kind if brief. Our dd was weighed on tuesday, she was 2 wks and 3 days, and the poor little thing has only gained 35g. I was devestated to say the least. We've been on an expressing mission since as well as breast feeding to see if she can gain something more by tom (Friday). My supply appears to be low as the most i've expressed is 75ml total but a few times it's been as low as 40, so 20ml from each breast. It's so disheartening. I'm taking fenugreek and feeding and expressing as much as possible in an attempt to boost my supply. I'm an emotional wreck though and so tired which I know won't be helping the situation. It's a vicious cycle.

Has anyone else had a slow growing bubs? Has anyone got some advice for me? I'm in desperate need of a confidence boost. I'm worrying about every tiny thing now - is her urine pale enough? Why isn't she pooing as much anymore? What if there is an underlying issue? What if my milk supply doesn't improve? And the list goes on!

Help!

[Janie]

Oh honey, massive hugs for you . I know this is a really stressful and upsetting time for you, so go easy on yourself. First things first, although it's not ideal, she did have a gain, not a loss! I have every confidence your supply WILL improve hun, given a little time and effort. It is not something that is going to happen by tomorrow morning!!! Your expressing efforts sound stellar to me, seriously. 70mls is a huge amount, simply huge.

Can you tell us about your DD's feeding patterns? How many feeds she would have in a 24 hour period? How long she feeds for? Does she have one or both breasts?

I would really, really recommend calling the ABA tonight hun 1800 mum2mum. You don't need to be a member to call, and I'm sure you will find the support invaluable. This needn't spell the end of breastfeeding for you guys, far from it!!! You can get through this, I'm sure

ETA I did have a slow-gaining bub, so I completely understand where you're coming from . As you can see we ended up breastfeeding for over two years!

[Kitt3n]

Call the help line beautiful - they will reassure you more than anyone else can - sounds like you are doing just fine but talk to the ABA

[Liviam]

Janie gave you some great advice. I had a really low weigh gaining DD too. She only averaged 100gm a fortnight and I was so stressed too. Turns out my girl is just a tiny tot and that is all she was going to do regardless. It sounds like you are doing an amazing job feeding/expressing. The amounts you are expressing are fantastic. I was lucky to be getting 40 -50 mls in total. It is so hard but try to enjoy feeding your little girl too. Why don't you have a nice bath together so you can relax and she can have a nice float and a beautiful feed. Or even spend the day in bed together with heaps and heaps of skin to skin contact. It would be beautiful for you both.
Keep us up to date darl and use the support and resources on here.

[Mezzz]

Hi, I can't remember the exact grams but I remember when the mchn visited me at home in the first few weeks she said my ds was not putting on enough weight and I had to express so I went out and bought a pump and spent the next few days an emotional and physical wreck trying to breastfeed and pump my grazed scabby nipples and he wouldnt take any expressed milk from a bottle I seriously cried almost non stop for days. Then my next visit which was only a matter of days he was weighed and had caught up! So I dont know if more milk had just come in or he had just started feeding better who knows but I think I was made to panic too soon. Sorry I cant be of more help I agree call the ABA they will give you some better advice, and just so you know it gets so much easier soon. I totally forgot about this period until I read your post. In the first couple of months once I stopped the expressing and started sleeping when he slept (day or night) I was alot happier. I'm also still b/feeding and he is nearly 2.

[feeb]

Hugs hun I know how you feel!
DS lost to much wg in hospital and then was slow to put on wg till about 8 months!!!!

I was expressing and also getting very small amounts, i found fenugreek upset my belly and also DS but other thing you can try are Blessed thisle and Alfalfa tabs I took both of these for about 8 months maybe more. I also got a script from GP for Domperidone which I took i total of about 200 tabs over a course of a few weeks.

Can your hear bub swallow milk? Is baby settled post feed? Does bub possit?

Keep up the good work. =ts hard work but you will get there! If I had listened to them telling me to FF I would be still BF at 14 months as I am and preg!!!

[~Raven~]

I had a similar thing happen where from leaving hospital C had lost 70g at 1 week 5 days and then the next weigh in the following week he had put on 540g!
I'm sus that it was a dodgy set of scales because that amount in a week is almost unbelievable. The MCHN was sus on them too and it was the same nurse who did both weigh ins.

How is her output? I'd be taking lots of notes about her nappies to keep tabs because if she's wetting and pooing lots then it is getting in there!

[Janie]

Hi, I was hoping to hear back from you so I could see your answers, but my eyes are falling out of my head, so I'm going to have to go to bed, sorry!

So I'll just quickly say that it's really normal for babies at this stage to need to feed at least 8 times in 24 hours, even if they're not demanding it. In fact, it's often the babies that don't demand it that need the extra feeds! Once they have some extra milk in them, it kind of helps them to 'wake up' and start demanding food on their own. Rather than expressing, you could try offering some extra feeds, and see how that goes. Liviam's suggestion of spending a day in bed together is a brilliant one, and the first thing that really worked for me and my DS! Within 48 hours he was feeding much more effectively, and frequently, and therefore putting on more weight. You just feed her whenever she looks like she might want it, without looking at the clock and worrying about time. And inbetween you just lie around and read, watch tv, and REST!

So you could try feeding for approx. 20 minutes on one side, maybe changing her nappy, and then offering a similar amount of time on the other side. She may be less interested in the second side, that's okay. Still offer it to her and see how it goes. Making sure that you are offering her feeds at least 8 times in 24 hours. I think you'll be amazed at what a difference that can make.

To give you a real confidence boost, it sounds (with limited info) like your supply is not the issue - it's just getting the milk into your bubba, which is pretty easily remedied .

ETA the others have made good points too about weighing practices. Sometimes things like a different set of scales, what your DD was wearing, if she'd just done a big poo, can all make a difference to weighing a baby. But it is important to see good weight gain in very young babies, so I think you're doing the right thing in looking for some support. I hope you're busy on the phone to the ABA .

[Toomanytoomany]

I'll second the idea of offering extra feeds, whenever she opens her mouth! And staying in bed with your baby, skin to skin, sleeping together as much as possible for a few days. All you need to be doing right now is feeding your baby and letting your body rest and do what it needs to do. Also, allow her as much night feeding as she wants.

All the best!

[Janie]

Also, allow her as much night feeding as she wants.

I'll second that, for sure! I'd go so far as to encourage it, although it may go against the grain when you're so tired .

[tk1999]

Taurean - just wanted to say that your expressing efforts are stellar... when DD was in hossie and I was on the express train at two weeks I was sometimes getting 40ml total if I was lucky but I just kept up the expressing ie more frequently and I found that with the pump I was using (medela swing) that I would get more on the stimulation cycle so sometimes I would just do that cycle two or three times.

What kind of pump are you using?

Also what TMTM said - when we got home on gate leave (cause DD had had a loss of 20grams and we had to go back to hossie on Monday ie two days) each time she was awake I would whack her on the boob and stroke her head (tip I picked up from hossie) if she started to fall asleep... for some reason it still makes them suckle

We are here for you hun

[Fuzzywuzzy]

Taurean, I was in exactly the same situation as you with my DD. She continued to lose weight until she was about 11 days old then started to put it on and was 160g over her birth weight at 2 weeks 2 days. I was freaking out big time when she hadn't started to put weight on after 11 days and was trying to express and feed her that milk as well as offering the breast at least every 3 hrs (whilst being an emotional wreck and crying because I thought I was starving her) My midwife was happy with the 8+ wet nappies per day and loose yellow poos and suggested 3 hrly feeds even if she was asleep. DD went on to have some big weight gains each week after that (300, 450, 380 before it slowed to about 150-200g per week)
Try to to stress as hard as it is, and I hope that you have a good weigh in tomorrow

[Taurean]

Wow, you girls are amazing! Thank you so much for so many beautiful words of encouragement and such great advice! I'm pumping again so this will be a bit brief but here are the answers to your questions

Izzy feeds between 3-4 hours. Sometimes it's two hourly hut generally closer to 4. I've been waking her when she over sleeps. She was doing lots of poos until Sunday and now she's down to 2-3 a day. That concerns me a bit. Im confident there are enough wet nappies though and they are often heavy - she's in sposies. She was taking about 45 mins to feed before we started this 'system'. She spent most of the time on one breast then finish on the other - max 10 mins in second breast before snoozing. She's very placid and content after a feed. She did have her night and day confused making her a little unsettled at night but she seems a lot better the past 3 nights. Not sure if it's because she's now getting more food though. She has quite a bit of awake time early morning and early evening but she us content and happy just studying her surroundings.

I spoke to the ABA today and she said just feed her as much as I can and not to restrict her time on the breast at all - health nurse had said 15 mins max the express then offer her ebm. That just wasn't working though. I like the normal feed and top up with ebm better. ABA also said not to focus too much on the amount I'm expressing as babies are much more efficient at getting the milk. Hmm, I really need to renember that!

I think I've just expressed 70ml which I guess is pretty good for this time of the day. Will offer her the breast now then top up with ebm if she's still hungry. I'll pop back in tom with an update too. And I love the skin on skin lazing around idea! That's our morning sorted out.

Thanks again girls. I do feel more positive now. We can do this!

Ps we are seeing a lac consultant on Saturday too. I have flat nipples which could be causing her grief. Have bought a nipple shield but have been a bit stressed to master it yet

[Toomanytoomany]

Taurean, 70 mil after a long day is GREAT!! And her output sounds terrific. I hope this is just an issue of the scales being off or weighing her at different times of the day or something.

What your health nurse told you makes no sense - take the baby off the breast after 15min then try to stimulate production with a pump, which is less effective than a baby and then offer the milk out of a bottle? What the ABA person said was spot on - as much time at the breast as she wants. Four hours is a longish time to be going without feeds at that age, so I'd really be working on feeding more frequently than that or making sure she stays on the breast for as long as you can coax her to, even if that means changing her nappy to wake her again. But then i've had babies that once they've had enough, they've had enough and nothing will coax them back on again

Keep up the good work, and good on you for asking for advice and persevering. You're doing a wonderful job and your placid contented baby is proof of that.

Wow, you girls are amazing! Thank you so much for so many beautiful words of encouragement and such great advice! I'm pumping again so this will be a bit brief but here are the answers to your questions

Izzy feeds between 3-4 hours. Sometimes it's two hourly hut generally closer to 4. I've been waking her when she over sleeps. She was doing lots of poos until Sunday and now she's down to 2-3 a day. That concerns me a bit. Im confident there are enough wet nappies though and they are often heavy - she's in sposies. She was taking about 45 mins to feed before we started this 'system'. She spent most of the time on one breast then finish on the other - max 10 mins in second breast before snoozing. She's very placid and content after a feed. She did have her night and day confused making her a little unsettled at night but she seems a lot better the past 3 nights. Not sure if it's because she's now getting more food though. She has quite a bit of awake time early morning and early evening but she us content and happy just studying her surroundings.

I spoke to the ABA today and she said just feed her as much as I can and not to restrict her time on the breast at all - health nurse had said 15 mins max the express then offer her ebm. That just wasn't working though. I like the normal feed and top up with ebm better. ABA also said not to focus too much on the amount I'm expressing as babies are much more efficient at getting the milk. Hmm, I really need to renember that!

I think I've just expressed 70ml which I guess is pretty good for this time of the day. Will offer her the breast now then top up with ebm if she's still hungry. I'll pop back in tom with an update too. And I love the skin on skin lazing around idea! That's our morning sorted out.

Thanks again girls. I do feel more positive now. We can do this!

[Janie]

Your bubba sounds gorgeous .

My MCHN also suggested that regime (once things got really desperate for us), and it totally stuffed things up for us. Once I spent a few days just having DS on the boob almost all the time, things improved alot. So I would second what the ABA counsellor suggested to you, just lots and lots of feeding. TBH, I think that is more important ATM than top up feeds (JMO), because they can be detrimental to your supply. If your DD got to a stage of losing weight, less output, and being very unsettled after feeds, then top ups might well be required, but I think in your case that extra feeding will really, really help. Maybe for the next little bit you could make sure she doesn't go longer than 3 hours between feeds? And of course feed her as often as she wants!

I know it's very hard to trust your body when you've had a scare like this - but you can, you really can. You body is making oodles and oodles of milk Taurean . That is so fantastic! Trust your body that it can nourish your baby, remember that it grew her for 10 months . I know top ups make us feel more relaxed in the short term, but they really are a PITA. When you can breastfeed successfully without them, you will find such pleasure and relaxation in feeding your daughter. Remember that babies are designed to feed frequently, sometimes 2 hourly around the clock! Yes, it's tiring, but it's what they need, it's how they survive. I hope that once you see some good weight gain, you will be able to relax into trusting your body and breasts to do their thing. I really believe you can do it!!!

Good luck today, and please let us know how it goes . I feel positive that you will see some good results for your hard work, but please don't expect too much of yourself, or your DD. It's only been a few days, and sometimes it takes longer than that to see that things are improving. Often it's good to look at the bigger picture with babies weight gains - don't forget that .

[tenar]

You're getting great advice here, I'll just add my voice to the chorus.

70ml is heaps to express at once at this stage. I happen to have very good supply of milk, even an oversupply. In the first couple of weeks I couldn't express more than 20ml at a time (now I can get 150ml or even more sometimes). I would not be doubting your supply at all.

By the way little things like whether she was weighed before or immediately after a wee or a poo will make quite a difference in how much she weighs at that moment, so she could well have put on more weight than the measurements suggest.

In the first few days, while we were in hospital, DD had a bit of jaundice. So we had to feed her 3-hourly to try to clear that from her system. Some things we did to wake her up enough to feed were:

- don't let her sleep for too long without waking for a feed

- feed one breast, then change the nappy to wake her up, then offer the other breast

- express a bit of milk so there's a drop on your nipple, and try to get this into her mouth so she gets the taste of it and remembers there is milk to be had if she sucks

- stroke her head to wake her up, stroke other parts of her

- gently wipe her head with a cool wet cloth to wake her up (yeah, it seems mean, but it worked for us - I called it "bugging the baby into feeding more").

- If you are using the normal, front hold, tuck her bum in closer to you to get her to suck again with more enthusiasm. No idea why this works, but it helped us. It was a suggestion of the breastfeeding advice midwife in the hospital.

I hope your worries about this are over soon.

[Taurean]

Great news! Izzy gained 40g in 3 days!!!! It's not huge but enough apparently and a very 'nice' gain. We are heading in the right direction again. I also managed to express 110ml on one sitting thus morning - 80ml out of one side! So my supply doesn't seem to be an issue. I'm so happy!!

All the advice you girls gave me was fantastic and the words of encouragement really gave me that confidence boost I needed. Thank you all so SO much

ps we had over an hour of skin on skin breastfeeding in bed this morning. It was beautiful and so good for both of us. We will be doing it more often.

[Fuzzywuzzy]

Woohoo! That's awesome, keep up the great work!