Poor weight Gain

-Hi all -

I have a three month old bubs who has been only gaining 70g a week.He started off great with a hiss and a roar then by 6 weeks things started going pearshaped. He has "reflux" - he has always been a spilly baby but was fine about it before then and after 6weeks he would sleep poorly, cry when laid flat and would be a fussy feeder. We have him on zantac for the reflux and he is sleeping better. We feed mostly lying down or at least leaning back to help with strong let downs, we feed a lot on one side then offer the other - what else can i do? He now sleeps well during the day, sleeps for 9-10 hrs overnight - is such a happy baby when he is awake.Should i even be worried? The dr is monitoring him but not too concrened at this point...Any one else been in this boat? any adivce would be appreciated...

HI Aj,

It is so hard to know what is gowing on isn't it! I can not reallly relate to you but i have had my cousin go through a similar experience. At the end of the day as long as your doctor is monitoring him he will be ok. I think it is more us mums worring more than the baby. I have learnt to go with the flow and follow what your baby wants. It is hard at first but in the end once you get the hang of it it's alot easier. My littly is teething at the moment and doesn't want milk or solids too much so i just go with the flow. At the end of the day if she is really really hungry she will let me know. I haven't been much help really have i but i do feel for you. I hope it gets better soon for you.

Jen
xx :hug:

AJ we had the exact same problem with Zander. The difference was that he was on formula & I just swapped to one that helped him gain weight. Have a look below at Zander's weights and you'll see that as Ethan gets older he should work it all out.

Look at Ethan. Does he look healthy to you (besides the reflux). You say he's a happy baby & that says alot to me. Maybe he's just slow in weight & has a fantastic metabolism?

Between 6-8weeks Zander only put on 100gm, but to look at him he's always had chubby thighs & arms. Admittedly at 18months old he still wears size 0 pants so he is little but he looks healthy & is a very hapy little man. In you heart do you think there is a problem?? Mother's intution is really impoartant IMO.

Birth - 4.01kg
2 Weeks - 3.98kg
4 Weeks - 4.4g
6 Weeks - 5kg
8 weeks - 5.1g
3 months - 6.5g
4 months - 7.3g
6 months - 8.85g
8 months - 9.1g
12 months - 11kg
18 months - 12.9kg

Gemma gained weight very slowly too. Even now at 12 months shes only 8.8kg and I was told by the doc that shes boardering on underweight! PFffttt to them. Shes happy and healthy and just a very active bub. Gemma was formula fed and just didn't gain weight quickly at all. I wouldn't panic, he's gaining weight so thats the main thing!!

thanks ladies for your help - am trying not to stress too much about it as he is a very happy wee man - and this week must have been a growth spurt week as we got 140g increase so yeah just trying to go with the flow...

Shannon - yeah am loving being a mum just wish there were better manuals that come with these things!!!

Sarah if we had zanders increases i would be stoked see below

15/7/06 Birth 3550g
5d -20/7/06- 3240g (310g drop in 5 days)
1w2d - 24/7/06 - 3400g (160g gain 4 days)
2w2d - 31/7/06 - 3620g (220g gain in 7 days - 31.4g/day)
3w2d -7/8/06 - 3900g (280g gain in 7 days - 40g/day)
4w 4d 16/8/06 - 4100g (200g gain in 9 days - 22.2g/day)
5w2d - 21/8/06 - 4220g (120g gain in 5 days - 24g/day)
7w 6d - 8/9/06 - 4480g (260g gain in 18 days - 14.4g/day)
8w 3d 19/9/06 - 4650g (170g gain in 11 days - 15.5g/day)
10w4d- 27/9/06 - 4730g (80g in 8 days - 10g/day)
11w3d - 3/10/06 - 4800g (70g in 7 days- 10g/day)
12w2d -9/10/06- 4940g (140g gain in 6 days - 23.3g/day)

Was told that we should expect 25-30g per day - or at minimum 100g per week

Hi AJ

I had/have the same problem with Ally. She only gained 150 grams in 3 weeks! From 7-9 weeks. I thought I had low supply so I started to wake her for feeds. So:
6pm I would do bath/boob/bed, then instead of the next feed at 1am, I would wake her at 10pm - so essentiall I got her to take an additional feed - she would still wake at 2am for the next feed.

Now no one agrees that I did the right thing - "don't wake a sleeping baby", however I was so much more relaxed knowing that she was getting enough milk that I don't regret it. A happy Mum is a happy bub. Ally is now in the 50% percentile for weight and height and I am a lot more relaxed.

Good luck honey

AJ, please google the world health organisation child growth standards and have a look at the percentiles chart of weight for age. If I'm reading it right your little Ethan is doing just fine for a breastfed bubba.
If he's filling up his nappies and is a happy little person I would geuss that you're doing a wonderful job and he's thriving. One of my baby books argues that babies shouldn't be weighed more than once a month because it creates too much anxiety in thier mothers related to weight and that early childhood nurses and Drs should use other methods for evaluating whether an infant is getting enough food.
It sounds like you're doing a wonderful job and if the Dr thinks that there is no cause for concern he must have confidence that you're doing well too.

AJ, i have found myself in the same boat. Liam was born small and until recently has followed the growth chart but still below it.In the last few months there has been a very small amount of weight gained-500gms. i took him to the clinic and she said as long as he was still happy, reaching his milestones (which may be hard to monitor at Ethans young age) and was filling his nappy that all we could do is monitor his progress. I have started to increase his solids qty and so far all looks good. She also mentioned that sometimes they have huge weight gaining time and at others go through a bit of a lul, so hopefully that is what is happening with Ethan. If the Dr does not seem concerned at this point i would for my own reassurance if i was you weigh him weekly just to check his progress and if you feel uneasy about it take him to the clinic or back to Drs.

AJ- he is doing fine, Charlotte is the same age and she is about the same weight too at 2 1/2 months she was 4.830kgs and some weeks she only will put on 150grams, as long as he is having wet and dirty nappies he is fine