A seemingly happy and content baby, just no weight gain!

DD is 4.5 months and is a happy, alert, active baby that sleeps well. ( A blessed relief after my first two!) :clap:
DD has always put on weight slowly but over the last 4 weeks she has only gained 80 grams.
I offer 'top up' feeds, and can sometimes get a dream feed in, but if DD isn't interested she'll refuse to even try.
I have ordered Fune Greek supplements for the chemist and am going to make the lactation cookies suggested here.
I guess i just need to know if any weight gain is good or if i need to do something else about it.

Im by no means an expert on the subject but I'd think that if she is content and sleeping well then she isn't starving. If she isn't gaining weight maybe it's just a natural drop instead of because she isn't feeding enough?

I hope you get the information you need soon!


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I am no expert but in my opinion any weight gain is good, also there is a growth spurt around then have you noticed her getting much longer? If you are concerned drop into a clinic and have a chat otherwise sounds like your doing a great job to me, sleeping well and gaining slowely.:clap:

how long between weigh in's? And was it on the same scales?

A weight gain that small is not good - not for a baby that age. A baby that sleeps 'well' isn't always a sign that things are going well. A baby that age should be loudly demanding feeds and a sleepy baby can be a sign that they aren't getting enough to eat. I would be trying to get bubs to have more feeds - feed from one side, have a play, change nappy etc then offer the other side. Try and use the methods for increasing your supply too and I'd also be watching the outputs - wet and dirty nappies as well. Now that it is getting warmer bub may need a lot more fluid to stay hydrated. If things don't improve, I would start to look at reasons why bub isn't gaining weight. By all means you are doing a fantastic job and it's great that you aren't immediately going to formula as an option :) and you don't seem worried about it, and if bubs was older I wouldn't be overly worried either, but if it were me I would be doing everything I can to get more into bubs and see if that makes a difference. If it doesn't, then maybe its not an issue.

I second what Trillian says. Does your baby cry at the end of the feed wanting more? my baby is the same age and always wakes up crying and wanting BF straight away. How often do you BF? Annabel today has fed at 4.30am, 7.30am, 9.30am, 12noon, 2pm, 3.30pm, 5pm so far and then she has another feed at 7pm for bed and then she will wake up either for a feed at 11pm or sleep through. They say 8-12 feeds is normal at this age. I had issues with my first baby and lack of weight gain, we supplemented with formula, BF first then formula 60mls top up if needed. This was after I tried all avenues to boost my supply with my Lactation consultant. How is your supply?

My DD was fully breastfed.. She weighed 8.9kg at 6 months and at 19 months she still weighed 8.9kg.. No gains or losses in that time.. CHN told me I needed to stop BF and get blood tests as something may be wrong.. I went to my wonderful GP who said rubbish to the stopping BF. and there was no need for blood tests.. She was an very active baby/toddler. I know she was older then your bub is.. Also DD didn't sleep well at night but during the day she was awesome :lol: Reasonably content till night time..

so to answer your original question if she is happy and content then let her be. As long as she is having plenty of wet nappies then she is all good but if you are concerned maybe pop into your GP for a once over to ease your worry

Part of the issue may be that a typical baby pooh-and-wee-and-feed can cause a difference of a couple of hundred grams between (just fed, haven't pooed and haven't weed yet) and (just pooed and weed, haven't fed yet). Can you weigh her again in a week or two and see if things have changed? Also try offering her feeds at least every couple of hours during the day - and maybe try offering her the first boob again after she has finished the second.

The best thing to do is get some real-life advice and help from a qualified lactation consultant. You can call the ABA for advice also, and they may be able to suggest an LC in your area.
There *might* be an issue with the amount of milk she's getting, but it's impossible to say from that one metric alone. What is her output like - poos and wees? IF there is a problem - and I don't know that there necessarily is - then you really need to figure out what exactly the problem is, rather than just assuming there's an issue with your milk, you know?

Easy solution. Don't weigh your baby. You said it all when you said she was happy and settled.

Whatever did they do before scales ;)

Thankyou all for your advice, i weigh DD every thursday at our local clinic on the same scales. DD feeds 6 to 8 times a day and had lots of wet nappies . My local hospital is an hour away so we are travelling there to meet with a LC tomorrow. I will keep you all posted.

Personally, I do not think 80g in 1week is anything to worry about. I also don't beleive you need to be weighing your baby that regularly!

Misty, it was 80g for 4 weeks - not 80g per week :)