13 day old baby lost 13% of birth weight. HELP!

EvelynAndJamiesMummy6390 · Dec 21, 2019 7:49PM

I'm looking for some advice if anyone can help. My son is 13 days old and was gaining weight after an initial loss of 9.9%. We got him up to 6.7% and when the health visitor came to see him yesterday it had dropped again to 13% so we were sent up to see the breastfeeding clinic at the hospital. Of course he latched and fed totally fine there so we were sent to the paediatrician to run some blood tests etc and then discharged. We were to offer top ups of formula or expressed milk after he came off the breast each time for 48 hours to try and get his weight back up.

Of course now that we're home he's struggling to latch again, he gets really angry and it takes ages to calm him down. He won't accept top ups either and I'm worried his weight will plummet further. Do anyone have any advice/tips to get him to latch? It's generally in the evening and first thing we have an issue and nothing through the day.

We're back to the breastfeeding clinic next week so I'm hoping he won't lose more and end up admitted. It feels like I'm not doing my job properly.

EmJ3 · Dec 21, 2019 8:26PM

Hi @EvelynsMummy6390 unfortunately I have no good advice, except that I was in the same boat with Matilda but she did accept the top ups from those tiny baby bottles.

The breastfeeding lady told me to ensure that you don’t hold the bottle up too high so that the baby has to work a little for the milk. After she dropped so much, I ended up combi feeding and then just bottle feeding on the hv’s advice. Hopefully your baby will settle so you can carry on breast feeding. Did you breast feed Evie?
xxx

EvelynAndJamiesMummy6390 · Dec 22, 2019 12:12AM

@EmJ3 I lasted 3 days with Evie before switching to formula. Jamie can latch fine he just plays up at certain times of day. I had no concerns because he was wanting fed loads so I never even thought he might be losing weight. Our initial plan was to combi feed after the first month or so but even the teeny little bottles he takes 10-25ml then refuses more. I'm hoping the Dr was right and its just one of these things and he turns a corner soon because for the most part I'm enjoying feeding him.

(The bf lady said it might be the boob is just too heavy for him so I'm to try tucking a muslin under for support to see if he manages better).

JaneDC · Dec 22, 2019 3:00AM

Sorry to hear that you are having troubld with his latch, and typical that he fed find when you visited the breastfeeding clinic.

My baby is just over a week old. He sometimes struggles with latching on. I've found if I hand express a bit of milk, so it's sits on the nipple, he can latch straight away.

He also finds certain positions way easier to latch on.

Not sure if any of that will help. It's strange that he seems to have difficulty at certain times during the day. I don't have any tips for that.

Don't let this get you down. You are doing everything you can to get him to gain weight. This is my second time breastfeeding and I definitely am more relaxed this time, as I can see now that I put a lot of unecesaary pressure on myself the first time round.

Sigsauer · Dec 22, 2019 8:09AM

Sounds like he is not getting "back" milk that is more noutritios. Try to express a bit before giving him breast, so it would be easier for him to get to this back milk.
With my boy I am giving him breast with drop of milk on nipple and first few sucks I am masagen my breast so milk would flow more to get his interest. Also try to feed him in darkish place with mo sounds around, he might be distracted while feeding
.

EmJ3 · Dec 22, 2019 10:34AM

@EvelynsMummy6390 I was told to do the same with a Muslin and that did seem to help. I lasted 4 weeks in the end as the combi feeding seemed to affect my milk coming in although maybe I just had a problem with my milk in general. In the end I took advice from the hv because she said I needed to take her into hospital if she dropped any more so it frightens d me. How’s Jamie been now? Any better over night?xx

EvelynAndJamiesMummy6390 · Dec 22, 2019 6:19PM

@EmJ3 my milk supply seems OK so far, I'm having to pump some off so he can latch easier. He was a nightmare last night. I fed him at 1.30 and set an alarm to feed him again at 5 if he hadn't woken. Hubby in his infinite wisdom then turned the alarm off because we looked peaceful and he never woke up til 6.30, fed on and off for 90 minutes then refused to feed again for another 4 hours. Since then he's been wanting it every 2 hours like clockwork but no wonder he isn't gaining! We'll try again with the alarm tonight 🤞

Sigsauer · Dec 23, 2019 11:00AM

Try to feed him during the day as much as possible... Even if he will have only few min on breast, this should help.

EvelynAndJamiesMummy6390 · Dec 24, 2019 4:04PM

@sigsauer thanks I've been getting him on as much as possible and he's been a bit more regular with dirty nappies so a good sign I think! He's been having small formula top ups after he's been on the breast on doctors advice but any more than 15-20ml and he's throwing it all back up so hoping for a gain on Friday and we can get back to normal feeding 🤞

Sigsauer · Dec 24, 2019 4:41PM

Fingers crossed.
Have you tried breastfeeding teas?

13 day old baby lost 13% of birth weight. HELP!

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