# When do they start to gain weight?



## Sakura-chan

Hi

I had my LO a week ago at 31 weeks 4 days and he weighed 1730grams ( a good size I am told) - he is in NICU and I have been to visit him everyday and I keep getting more and more dismayed as his weight CONTINUES to go down instead of up.

Today when I went they told me he was 1463grams. I know it is normal for babies to lose weight when the are born but I thought it was more likely to be 10% of his body weight instead of the more than 20% it is now.

How long did it take for your LO to start gaining weight? I asked the nurse if I should be concerned and she said not yet but that they are hoping he starts to gain soon. I am not sure what the plan would be if he doesn`t start gaining...

With my first baby he lost 280grams in total (but weighed 3278grams born) but had started to gain again when we were discharged as he was 3178grams when we left the hospital at 5 days old. I know I shouldn`t compare but I am very concerned that Shion is still losing weight when he seems so small already.


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## mylittlebud1

Hi,

Congratss on your little bundle of joy.

I had Evie on 22nd December 2010 at 27 + 2 days weighing 1126 grams (2lb 7ish oz). She at her smallest went down to 950 (2lb 1oz) but then she has gradually started to put weight on again. 

Feels like its taking a while but she was doing alot of breathing on her own at first which meant she was using alot of energy up just breathing so she is now on CPAP to support her so she can rest and since she's been on that i've noticed her weight gaining steadily.

I don't know the exact answer to your question as your little one was a lot bigger at birth but hope thats helped. Is he taking milk ok?

Claire xx


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## Sakura-chan

Thank you for your response.

Is CPAP when they have oxygen through the nose? I am dealing with this all in Japanese but my husband just calls that a nose breathing machine (that is the literal translation of what he says in Japanese- I have no idea if he is using the correct word or not). If so then my little one is also on CPAP but has time off it each day. He has been on that since he was taken of the ventalator at 4 days of age...

I am hoping his weight starts to pick up soon- it is a big concern for me and I just think I would feel so much more positive if he started to gain. I am not going to the hospital until tonight today and I am hoping that his weight will be the same or up!! Fingers crossed!!

When did you notice her weight starting to go up? Was it after a week?

Thanks and best of luck with your LO as well.


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## xxClaire_24xx

Hi I had Ellie at 34 weeks and she was 4lb 3oz but went down to 3lbs 1oz due to an infection we got her home 4 weeks after her del date and she was 4lb 15oz so she gained weight quite quick, she was getting all breastmilk that I expressed but thenI wasnt producing enough so she started getting 20ml mixed with 20ml of nutri prem formula milk and this really helped her gain the weight, how often and how much does your baby feed x


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## Sakura-chan

Shion feeds every three hours and is on 35ml at a time at the moment- the nurses were saying that he starts to get grumpy after 2.5 hours so they plan to up the amount in the next day or so. He is on breastmilk only at the moment.

Thanks for those who responded!!

Some good news- he started gaining weight on Jan 14th and in the last six days has gone from 1463grams (his lowest) to 1624grams as of today!! We are stoked!!! Just in case others read this he was 8 days old when he finally started to regain weight!

He is doing well- off oxygen full time now and while still tiny he is maintaining his own temperature quite well so they have turned down his incubator temperature to see how he goes and the time I can hold him for now is longer!! We usually have a cuddle for abotu 45 minutes when I visit.


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