10g a day :/

[AngelofTroy]

I really need some advice/support. My baby girl is 18 days old, and she is still nearly 5% off of her birth weight. Gaining an average of 10g a day, breastfeeding on demand, averaging 10 feeds in 24hrs plus one 40ml top up of expressed milk a day.

Some history, she was in NICU with sepsis her first few days and nil by mouth, so she lost 11.5% of her birth weight. She also had a tongue tie cut in hospital. We had to give full feeds of formula to get her off of the drip. She was on formula top ups until a week ago and I was pumping after every feed, waking her for feeds... This was unsustainable so we switched to exclusive bf and pumping 2x a day, she feeds much better on demand.

Our midwife is happy with her under the circumstances, she is settled between feeds, lots if wet and dirty nappies, no signs of dehydration... But I am nervous because the gain is so slow. They want her to gain 100g in the next 5 days or we will have to rethink our plan.

She is a sleepy baby and often falls sleep at the breast before emptying it. I offer both breasts, strip her for feeds if at home, tickle her, do breast compressions, change her mid feed if she is sleepy.. my latch/position has been checked 100s of times, we do tons of skin to skin..

She is swallowing at least for the first few mins, I don't know what else to do! Help!

 

[noon_child]

I really need some advice/support. My baby girl is 18 days old, and she is still nearly 5% off of her birth weight. Gaining an average of 10g a day, breastfeeding on demand, averaging 10 feeds in 24hrs plus one 40ml top up of expressed milk a day.

Some history, she was in NICU with sepsis her first few days and nil by mouth, so she lost 11.5% of her birth weight. She also had a tongue tie cut in hospital. We had to give full feeds of formula to get her off of the drip. She was on formula top ups until a week ago and I was pumping after every feed, waking her for feeds... This was unsustainable so we switched to exclusive bf and pumping 2x a day, she feeds much better on demand.

Our midwife is happy with her under the circumstances, she is settled between feeds, lots if wet and dirty nappies, no signs of dehydration... But I am nervous because the gain is so slow. They want her to gain 100g in the next 5 days or we will have to rethink our plan.

She is a sleepy baby and often falls sleep at the breast before emptying it. I offer both breasts, strip her for feeds if at home, tickle her, do breast compressions, change her mid feed if she is sleepy.. my latch/position has been checked 100s of times, we do tons of skin to skin..

She is swallowing at least for the first few mins, I don't know what else to do! Help!

Sounds like you are doing everything you can. I remember how stressful it was watching to see if my daughter was swallowing, waking her when her sucks slowed, trying breast compressions, pumping pumping pumping and I really think all that stress inhibited my letdown (cortisol blocks oxytocin).

Can I ask, was her weight gain just as slow on the formula? I had to give formula top ups, and although it did help, it wasn't the massive weight increase everyone hoped for. I thought "well there's no point telling me she's too small, as I'm doing everything I've been told to!". In the end it's their job to be worried about whether they need to intervene if her weight is low. You are doing your job already.

I think at three weeks old they get more alert and find it easier to stay awake for feeds. Feeds tend to get longer and cluster feeding has more feeding and less sleeping involved, so maybe in a few days you'll see a difference (unfortunately they often get more unsettled at that point too)

Don't be afraid to ask someone to check that the tongue tie was cut far enough.

 

[petitpas]

It sounds like you have been doing an amazing job until now! Don't panic, keep at it and give your little one a bit of time. She had a serious illness and initial feeding issues, I wouldn't be surprised if she needed to get into the swing of things.

As for the feeding technique, maybe you could stick to one boob per feed. That way she gets more of the calorific hind milk. Leave her on for as long as she wants to, even if she isn't swallowing much. Those later drops are full of fat!

Most of all, try and relax. Something that can be hard to do after a worrying time. You have done really well and your baby is well now, too.

 

[AngelofTroy]

160g in 5 days!!!!

Officially discharged from midwives!!!!

 

[crownest]

Brillant congratulations

 

[minties]

So happy for you!

 

[noon_child]

Yey, it sounds like she's over the illness that set her back and is on track now. You can relax a bit and feel very very proud of what you have achieved.