[advice] HELP! DS losing weight

:cry:

I've been exclusively bf DS since birth, and he's 5.5 months old now.

I've been concerned by his weight gain over the past few months, but the MHCN has previously said he's fine, and that as long as he's eating and sleeping and wetting well, we shouldn't worry.

At his weigh in today, it turns out that in the last couple of weeks, he's lost 80gms, and is back down to 6.86kg (4.17kg at birth).

The MHCN today said to DH that we might need to start him on solids - but that doesn't make sense, because breastmilk and formula are so much better (gram for gram) than solids, aren't they?

I've been back at work full time since he was 9 weeks old, and DH is a full time SAHD.

DS breastfeeds around 6.30am, then has a 280ml bottle of milk (recently increased from 250ml, which was increased from 225ml) at 11am and again at 3pm. Then he breastfeeds at 7pm, goes to bed around 7.30pm and sleeps until 6.30am.

He very, very rarely wakes up overnight, and he is happy during the day.

He wets about 6 nappies per day (7 if you count his double overnight nappy as 2) and dows a poo every other day.

I express milk before work, twice at work, and once before bed. I also sometimes express after his 7pm feed.

I had surgery in September, and my milk supply never really recovered. I'm taking Fenugreek capsules and tea, lactation cookies, using hot washers and massaging my BBs, and breastfeed extra feeds on the weekend if DS seems the slightest bit hungry.

But we haven't run out of milk yet - we've been churning through the milk I pumped before the surgery and stored in the freezer, and still have a bit left. So it shouldn't be the quantities, because DS seems satisfied after his bottle, and sleeps so well.

What am I doing wrong? I feel awful and am trying to hold it together until I can go home to him.

I can't see any options other than that maybe my milk isn't good quality anymore and we have to put him on formula supplements.

Please help.

Could you try a few more feeds during the day?
Sorry not much more help :hug:

It's a hard decision, can you get in to see a pead or gp? I have had to top up dd1 and Ds. The advice I was given was to try formula first and then solids. Dd1 still didn't put on weight, so she was on solids at 4 months. We worked out at 8 months that she was lactose intolerant. Ds was only putting on 60g a week, he has been on formula top ups and we have also confirmed he is lactose intolerant too. His last weigh in has him putting on 260 a week.

First off, there is nothing wrong with your milk! It's perfectly fine for your bub. :hug:

I can understand your worry having been there twice myself! My DD stopped gaining weight around 3 months and flatlined for a couple of months. She stayed the same weight the whole time no matter what I did. I decided to start solids slightly before 6 months after speaking with a dietician and paed. We got her into 3 solid meals a day, straight into the meats, pastas, avocadoes, essentially high fat foods to give her the extra calories. This really helped and she started gaining weight again. She's still a lightweight but is happy and healthy and is still having 4-5 breastfeeds a day and 1-2 overnight. Have a look at this thread I posted when my DD stopped gaining.

Other things to consider is he moving around more? Rolling, crawling, wriggling? He'll be using more energy doing all of this so his weight will slow down (normal).

You are doing a fantastic job for expressing and working and feeding your baby the best you can.

thanks, ladies.

eluned - he's not rolling (other than sometimes from his tummy to his back) or crawling, but he's a wriggly little man, and he just loves standing. if he's lying down, he's wriggling and playing and batting etc, and otherwise, he's standing (assisted!) either with us or in his jumper.

he spends a bit of time in his bouncer but not much - it's lost its appeal, now that he can move about :)

Avacados are a great idea ... maybe them and a bit of mince ...

Isn't it ironic that most of the healthy things I'd use to help DS gain weight are things that we'd eat if we were trying to *lose* weight?

How stressful for you hun :hug:

Firstly, as you have said, the nappies suggest that your DS is getting enough milk, and there is no such thing as poor quality milk (even malnourished mums in the 3rd world produce milk of suitable quality for their babies). So you are doing nothing wrong and your milk is just fine. The number of feeds your DS is having is probably a bit below average, but then it sounds like he is taking about double the amount from the bottle than he would be from the breast so that would even out (and of course the nappy count is good). The only thing I could really suggest there is to try offering him half a bottle every 2 hours or so rather than a full one every 4. I don't know how much difference that would make to weight gains though.

Also you are correct that solids are usually counter productive as they displace the milk which is better for growth. As Eluned has said, some foods are better than others, so when you do start solids I'd skip the rice cereal and pureed vegies and go straight to meat, dairy products and avocado.

In the meantime, are you sure he has actually lost weight? Was it the same scales? The same clothing? Was is just after a big poo or the last weigh in just after a feed? 80g is a small amount and could easily be as a result of these differences. What does your instinct tell you? Have you noticed any change in alertness, settledness or look that would suggest he is suddenly not doing so well?

One option, if you are comfortable with it, is to try and offer an extra feed each day for a week - maybe a dream feed, or another evening feed, and see if he will take it. Then have him weighed again and see where you are. Weight gains do vary from week to week, so weighly weekly can cause un-necessary stress, but in this case it might reduce stress for you! How do you feel about this?

I wouldn't freak out just yet peanutter. you know you're a feeding champ and this could just be a one off.

I think the important thing is that this has been found very early - it may not be any problem at all, and it is fixable. As you say your bub is still content and happy and so on - so there is nothing to feel bad about at all. You have done a damn good job in nourishing him to this point, and you are going to be able to provide most of his nourishment going forward too!
There's nothing magic about 6.00 months for starting solids - it's really 6-ish months. So some high-energy solids are certainly worth a try. Avocado, ricotta, natural yoghurt, minced meats, and some fruits and vegies so he gets used to their tastes too. Because of the EBM you will be well aware if they start to displace milk - but he's quite likely to still drink everything he can get! And the little bit extra could well be all that's needed.

But also - your bub is "gaining" 280 grams every time he has a bottle, and "losing" a similar amount when he wees. So depending on the timing of the weighing in the drinking-weeing cycle it could just be a wonky once-off.

Hey Peanutter - I was going to PM you after reading the other thread but then I found this one so I'll reply here. What a crappy stressful day you must have had. Boo to scales!!!!

Have you considered doing a dream feed? Our babies are pretty similar in age and DD is having 5 - 6 feeds per day BUT she is only drinking 180mls in her bottle which she has 3 or 4, so I think J is actually drinking more than X in less feeds.

My wonderful SIL had her DS weighed last week and he'd lost a bit of weight too. Probably about 80gms or something. She was told not to start solids but instead to BF every 2 hours and give a full feed if he wakes. Her DS is a really happy wonderful contented little kid and she had no idea he was losing weight because he is otherwise so happy. She is getting him weighed again later in the week to check he is putting on weight.

I really don't think this has anything to do with the quality of your milk. You milk has made your bubba the big strong boy he is!

DH strongly believes that babies are just going to lose weight at some point and like adults, they will have periods of time where they will gain and lose.

Hugs for you Peanutter - I think you are absolutely amazing and if you still want to BF then I think keep doing it but if you are happy to use supplements, then go that way. You will make the best decision for you and your family. Xx

thanks for all the ideas and thoughts ladies.


mantaray - ... it was the same place, same scales, naked and no nappy for both, same time of day ... no poo today ... I would love to give him an extra bf but the last few times we tried dreamfeeding (since he was about 4 months old) it unsetted hime terribly and he woke up at intervals for the rest of the night... I work full time, and it's just impossible to do a proper day's work if I haven't been able to sleep. And unfortunately, I don't produce enough milk to express to give him another feed during the day. Goodness knows I've tried! But thanks for the suggestions. I'm happy to hear any more that you have?

I understand your point re weekly weighs, but I definately want another weigh next week to compare ... it will stress me out an awful lot more not knowing.

The not knowing I find a lot more stressful than knowing. When you know, you can make decisions and take action. It's not always fun (like now) but I would feel so much worse persisting knowing that I might be doing damage, or not helping Josh grow and develop as much as he can, iykwim.

what DH and I have decided is that we're going to include an extra feed in the day. so I'll still breastfeed and pump at 6.30, then bub will get an EBM bottle (around 280ml still) at 10am (instead of 11am), then a *new* formula feed at 1pm (starting at 200ml), and then another EBM bottle (around 280ml) at 4pm (instead of 3pm). This way, we can be sure that he's not having the formula instead of boob juice.

and we're just starting BLW at dinnertimes to start.

DS isn't eating yet of course, just playing and nomming, so we gave him a little of my banana and potato this evening. Would have given him some meat, but DH had already put mustard on it ...

And we gave him a top up bottle of formula. I thought my heart would break, but Joshua didn't seem to care at all. He looked a little curious, maybe because of the different flavour and texture, buthe just drank it and kept playing and looking around.

And then he went down to bed with no fuss, no dummy, no crying.

Maybe this is for the best. :(

If Joshua was happy and content then you guys are doing the right thing. This parenting business is way harder than I ever imagined it would be..........I know this situation is tough on you Peanutter. You have done and are doing the best job ever and let it be said, you are doing it tough. Working full time and being a full time expressing Mummy is not an easy feat and with the other difficulties you have gone through over the last 5 months, you truly are a superMum. Wear the tag with pride :)

Don't have advice, just wanted to say I'm backing you all the way with whatever you choose. You're doing such a good job...Kudos to what Starangelk said! You should be so proud of how you're dealing with everything :)

thanks, fellow ladies :)

I'm feeling a bit more at peace about it ...

175 of 185 days intended ... 95% I guess is a pretty good result. If it was an exam I'd be thrilled!

DD is 12 days older than your little man :)
she has also had weight issues, its really weird, a few may 2010 bubs have!
we feed on demand, or every 2hours if she hasn't demanded by then. she does have 60ml formula and 100ml ebm before bed (DHs feed) but I'm in awe of you expressing full time! wow!
I struggle getting 100ml in the morning for the night bottle!
I personally wouldn't be too worried, maybe have another weigh in next week to see if it wqs a once off?

thanks trich~ I hope your LO keeps going well, too :)

Today is the start of your new page Peanutter :) Yay for starting solids - our DD is loving it and we are doing BLS.

that's right, staranger - it's a new day, it's a new stage, and I can be sad even though it's too late to change it, or I can enjoy this next bit now :)

now, I wonder how many places DS can get this pumpkin... ?

I have had some similar concerns, but have decided that worrying is not worth my time and energy. My baby is 6.31kg as of today and he is 6 1/2 months, I had issues with him waking every 2 hrs overnight to feed, things have improved since he had his tounge tie corrected and I started him on solids, he now only wakes once or twice.

I decided that my baby is happy, is now sleeping well, hitting milestones on time and gaining an average of 80gm week. He is quite active and has a great appitite. DH was a small baby, though DS2 is smaller I have decided that he is just going to be small child, that it is genetic and not going to worry any more.

It sounds like your baby is happy and healthy, introducing solids wouldn't do any harm, we r doing a combination of BLS and purees, it worked well for DS1. DS2 had a ball yest squishing a banana.