Breastfeeding and baby's weight gain

[AC81]

I'm breastfeeding Erin, but I'm worried about her weight gain. She was 7lb at birth, and as of yesterday was 10lb 4oz at almost 11wks. The HV said she is doing ok, but is in the 9th percentile (which initially I thought meant she would be one of the heaviest, but then she pointed out that she's on the other end of the scale!). The HV didn't seem concerned, but I'm worried that I'm not giving her enough to eat. She seems content between feeds, is beginning to sleep through the night and has very wet nappies. She will go anywhere from 2-4 hours during the day between feeds and I feed her when she asks for it. Should I be worried that she's not heavier?

When I do feed her she will come on and off for the whole feed, squirm around, and has taken to headbutting the boob and trying to catch it in her mouth, which is VERY painful, she also throws her head back while still attached. Half the time she won't latch properly and I spend the whole feed having to hold my breast so that she'll take it. Does anyone know why she'd be doing this? My nipples are getting tougher but she really does give them a beating and I feel like I'm at the end of the breastfeeding road and am thinking about weaning her, which I'm really not ready to do. I have tried some formula, but she'll only take a few ounces, then spits it back out and wants the boob....

Any advice appreciated! Am I going wrong somewhere??

 

[Bec L]

Hi
Am not sure why she is dong the squirming thing but I think in terms of how she is doing it sounds like she is fine. If the h/v isn't worried and she is content between feeds then you must be doing something right! Even better if she is sleeping through - Poppy still doesn't do that now!

I think it is easy to get a bit hung up on how much weight they put on, but unless she was drastically losing weight or barely putting on at all I don't think you need to worry.

Personally I think she is a little to young to wean and it doesn't sound as if she is ready if she is content between feeds. Keep at it and fingers crossed she'll keep putting weight on and stop giving your nipples a bashing

 

[AC81]

Hi
Am not sure why she is dong the squirming thing but I think in terms of how she is doing it sounds like she is fine. If the h/v isn't worried and she is content between feeds then you must be doing something right! Even better if she is sleeping through - Poppy still doesn't do that now!

I think it is easy to get a bit hung up on how much weight they put on, but unless she was drastically losing weight or barely putting on at all I don't think you need to worry.

Personally I think she is a little to young to wean and it doesn't sound as if she is ready if she is content between feeds. Keep at it and fingers crossed she'll keep putting weight on and stop giving your nipples a bashing

Yeah i think it is easy to get hung up on weight gain and i'm tring not to stress about it. By wean I meant put her on formula instead, but so far she's having none of it!

 

[Jemima]

Hi there,

I think it sounds like you are doing everything right; feeding her when she wants to be fed, and she is content, giving you wet nappies and sleeping well at night...sounds excellent to me.

Breastfed babies tend to gain weight at different rates than FF babies and I would say that as long as the HV is happy and she is not losing massive amounts of weight, then just keep going as you are!

As for the headbutting thing, a lot of us have/have had similar problems with our LOs. There are quite a few threads about it on here so have a look as some of them offer good suggestions as to what might cause it. Do you think that in Erin's case it could be wind maybe? Have you tried stopping and burping her mid-feed (and before a feed can be helpful too).

It would be a shame for you to give up now that you have come so far but you should do whatever you think is best for you and Erin.