8 day old daughter losing weight - advice please

[Heavenx]

My daughter who is 8 days old today has lost 15% of her birth weight according to the midwife when she visited yesterday, she will be visiting again today to check baby's weight again and then take things from there. I am so very worried!

I have been mixed feeding, I would love to soley BF but due to an underactive thyroid my body simply does not produce enough milk therefore I have been BF and then topping her up with formula, she has about 3/4oz in total and manages to keep it down, she has this every 4 hours. The mw yesterday told me to wake her and feed her every 2-3 hours instead but this was impossible to do with her yesterday afternoon and throughout the night, of course I managed to wake my daughter but she simply didn't want the extra feeds, making it difficult to get the bottle or breast in her mouth and even when she did attempt to feed she only managed about an oz but within 10 mins it all came back up!

I feel like I am doing my best to feed her and help her to gain weight, following the mw advice but I am so owrried about what it will mean for us today if the mw says she has lost more weight overnight. I feel a failure and am so worried about my daughters health now

Anyone have any advice? Why is my daughter losing weight even though she is managing at least 3oz feed every 4 hours? What would the DR's at the childrens hospital look for? Is she likely to be kept in hospital and could I stay with her? (Hopefully I'm worrying over nothing major and it won't come to her having to stay in hospital but I'm not sure what the usual proces is dealing with a baby who isn't gaining weight)

 

[3rdtimelucky]

Im not sure hun. When my Lo was 4 days old, we had to bring him back to the hospital for his heal prick test. When they weighed him, he was at a 10% weight lose of his birth weight, and they said that procedure was that if he lost anything less then 10% that he would be kept in hospital. So they arrange to have me visit my doctor twice a week to make sure he was putting on weight, and thankfully he did start putting on weight! He was just a bit of a slow starter.
I made sure, that I never went over 3 hours for a feed and got as much as possible ino him!
I hope things work themselves out for you both

 

[polo_princess]

I always thought that fluctuating weight is normal over the first few weeks?

I dont think you have anything major to worry about, im sure she wont need to go to hospital, all babies gain weight at a different rate, some are very slow gainers and others pile it on. Try not to worry

 

[beatnick]

it is normal for weight loss-

when she is feeding from you you cannot tell how much she is taking- have you thought about expressing milk for her? (that way you can check the amount she is getting)

maybe feeding every 4 hours is a bit of a gap for her at this stage- couldyou try spreading the feeds to two ounces every two hours? this way you are upping the amount overall?

mixed feeding is complicated- i did this for a while and due to the fact breast milk is not as filling as formula it sort of messed up his timings and amounts he would take. its very difficult to get it right as your boobs produce milk as required for your baby and the amounts are differing. mixed feeding messes this process up a bit and the breast feeds she get might not be the "needed" amount. i went to formula feeding in the end and he is growing nicely!

try to not feel like you have failed (although i must feel this way at least once a day) its sooooo normal to struggle with getting them fat to start with. my best friend ended up in hospital with her lo after a week due to weight loss and felt so terrible, but the mw pointed out the amount of women in the same boat in the same room as her. her little one is a fab little girl now.

just to reitterate- BF is very difficult to get established with, let alone mixed feeds- your boobs are prob a bit confused! you will work it out!!

 

[ellie27]

My Anna was the same - lost 15% by day 8.

I exclusively breastfed for the first 10 days. I was then told to top her up with formula which I happily did to get her going. I would bf her and then she would take 1-2oz every 2-3hrs. We topped-up for 3wks til she was back to her birthweight of 6lb14oz then we switched to formula only.

I would feed her little and often and see how it goes.

I am sure you have nothing to worry about - though I was so worried with Anna too

 

[Nel.B]

It is normal for them to loose weight after birth (so everyone has told me) but by their 2nd weigh in they should be gaining again. In saying that, my LO didn't gain weight. This was because I was only told to give her 40mL/feed (1.5oz). I had no idea on what babies should be having and thought the midwives would know best. She went from 3050g (6pd 1oz) down to 2089g (4pd 6oz)!! I was then told 40mL was not enough by my home visit community nurse and she was only just surviving on this. How bad did I feel!!!! We then upt her feed to 80mL/feed (almost 3oz), then up to 100mL (3.5oz) and now she is having 125mL (nearly 4.5oz). Once we upt it, she started gaining again and is now 4100g (9pd). I was expressing each feed and she was having only breastmilk for the first 3.5wks but now is exclusively formula.

Amelia has feed almost every 4hrs since birth and we only demand feed. Waking her to feed doesn't work for us.

 

[Sam9kids]

Most babies lose weight in the first week or 2. Im sure bubs will pick up xxx

 

[bletherer]

I know how you feel I too had a thyroid issue which I thought at the time was affecting my milk production.

My baby lost a lot of weight.
The mix feeds really are a nightmare arent they?...I hated it and was constantly in tears, felt like I was a failure.
My baby just wouldnt feed at night!! She just slept right through.

Hang in there it definitely gets better. My baby didnt have to go into hospital.
I found fenugreek really helped me, although to be honest it became clear to me with time that my milk supply had more to do with my post pregnancy anxiety due to drama at home than my thyroid....I eventually ditched the fenugreek and the combined feeds over time...she has been exclusively BF for about 5 months! she is now 7 months.
Try a few relaxation techniques...massage, music etc if you think that might the same case with you.
BTW has your Dr changed your thyroxine dose? this also helped me.
if you have to go into hospital please take full advantage and try and rest this was my main problem as a result of my stress.

I hope this helps..feel free to PM me if you'd like.

 

[Heavenx]

Thanks so much for your helpful replies.

I saw the mw the next day (a different one) and she concluded after weighing my daughter that the previous mw had somehow got the wrong weight and therefore my daughter hadn't lost as much as originally thought but still had lost enough for them to want to keep tabs on so we won't yet be discharged from community mw care until my daughter has reached her original birth weight, but at least I can relax and know that we won't have to take her into hospital.

The mix feeding is confusing, but I think we are now getting into a routine, it's still the night times that are a bit of concern to me because she'll pretty much sleep through. The mw assured me though that as long as she's feeding every 2/3 hours during the day (which she has done for the past 3 days now) that she'll be getting enough.

Thanks again for your replies xx

 

[twinklestar]

thats good news hun, just keep doing what your doing she will soon gain x