Confidence is shot :-(

[MrsSmartie]

Hi, I have been BF my LO since birth exclusively and all has been well. He now feeds for 10mins 3 hourly in the day, clusterfeeds at night and STTN already, with one feed at 5am. Hooray!

However, when I took him to the HV for weighing this week he was no longer following his curve and had dropped off a bit (from above the 25th centile line to just below). They weren't overly concerned but it has completely freaked me out!

He has a fair bit of vomiting and possets constantly but without any pain so I had left it as he was gaining weight but now he has gaviscon which is helping him keep it down. I am now completely anxious that he isn't getting enough but after 10mins at the breast he just refuses any more, if I express after then not a lot comes out so I think he is draining it. I tried to give him some EBM as extra but he had no clue what to do with the bottle and just looked at me like I was mad! I don't want to be expressing anyway. He has got really lazy at the breast and his latch on the right is pretty poor, he just doesn't seem that fussed, he never seems ravenous like he used to. He is a very placid baby.

Basically, I've just got myself all worked up over it to the point where I am completely stressing and obsessing over his feeds when I had been feeling so relaxed and confident.

I've kind of rambled on know but was just wondering if other people have had the weight gain slow down and was it okay? Did they need to change anything? I'd hate to think he's not getting what he needs.

 

[Geegees]

The charts are irrelivent for bf babies, they are based on ff babies.
Keep going as you are. You're doing super duper. Xx

 

[Millnsy]

My daughter has dropped slightly under her centile too. As long as he is still gaining and having wet and dirty nappies I wouldn't worry. Your lo knows what he needs so carry on following his cues. Try not to obsess about it! If the he wasn't worried you certainly shouldn't be. I wouldn't be surprised if by the 4 month mark the sttn goes to pot and you will be back to 3 hourly (sorry!)

 

[joo]

You might find that every now & then your baby has a slight lull in weight gain but then one week makes uo for it. I know mine sometimes stays the same on the curve but then one fortnight will put loads on to make up. Every so often I look at mine & think she's looking skinny, but she seems to have just grown taller! Then she spends the next couple of weeks fattening up before the next growth. Every baby is different though. As long as your baby has put on weight & is still getting the wet nappies then shouodn't worry x

 

[Rachel_C]

Actually I think the red books now are based on BF babies (ours is, for my daughter born in 2011) but I still wouldn't worry. The lines are an average over time but your baby could grow nothing for a week then grow double the next week to make up for it, or the same over a couple of months. As long as he is happy and healthy with enough wet and dirty nappies, I wouldn't think about it at all especially if your HV isn't concerned (and if they were, I would ask them to outline exactly why they were).

Don't forget that babies get better at breastfeeding as they get older, so 10 minutes on the breast might not be enough for a 3 day old but your LO will be able to get a lot more milk in that same time. You could concentrate on his latch for a bit BUT if his nappies are fine and he seems fine and you're not in any pain, a technically correct latch isn't right for all mum and baby pairs. I'm pretty certain my LO's latch is appalling at times but we've never had an issue and she's still going strong at 21 months.

 

[PGLady]

You sound just like me after ds 2 month weigh in. Point is the babies don't read the book! Mine fell from 25th centile to just under 9th and I felt terrible. But he was still gaining weight, is active, bright, smiley and happy and nappies are fine. So he's ok. he is v active so i think hes burning off more than he used to. Just doing things his way. I've resisted getting him weighed the past three weeks as I don't think it will help me and he seems fine. Going on wed tho and am apprehensive.. Keep doing what you're doing, you sound like a great Mum.

 

[MrsSmartie]

Thanks guys, I know I am being silly really but we all go a bit nuts whrn it comes to the health of our LOs! Just needed some reassurance. He still is very wet and poos every other day. He has slept 13 hours so far overnight with two short feeds at 10pm and 5am and settled straight after and is still asleep now. He does sleep a hell of a lot but he is always nice and alert when he does wake up and seems very well and will always wake up when he is hungry. All babies are different I guess! It's so stupid, I am very fortunate to have a very calm, placid baby who sleeps and naps brilliantly (well aware this could change!) and instead of just thinking how lucky I am, I worry that he sleeps too much etc etc. and all manner of ridiculous concerns.

I am usually such a calm person and just get on with things so I have really surprised myself, I thought I wouldn't be a mum who freaks out over everything but here I am... typical obsessive mummy! Heehee.

 

[summer rain]

Going from above the 25th centile to just under it is still classed as following the 25th centile, according to the experts who formulated the charts. It says in the red book that it is very unusual for a baby to exactly follow one centile line throughout the first year xx

 

[MrsSmartie]

Thanks! I am now suffering as all my expressing and generally mucking up my nicely regulated breasts has meant that I have woken up horribly engorged and leaking like mad so now the poor kid is going to really struggle to get any hind milk at all! Silly mummy...

 

[lily28]

The charts are irrelivent for bf babies, they are based on ff babies.
Keep going as you are. You're doing super duper. Xx

This!
Please see and growth chart for BF babies!

 

[summer rain]

The UK growth charts are based on babies who were EBF for at least 4 months! They are not based on FF babies, even the old charts were based on a mix of babies fed both ways I have no idea where this nonsense myth comes from-perhaps an assumption that UK growth charts are the same as US ones but they are not! Xx

 

[sevenofnine]

Don't worry!

Your baby is only a month old, and hasn't established his own curve yet. If I could upload a picture, I would show you how my baby is growing. She does not follow the chart, but after a few months, her own curve emerged and shows how she is growing at her own pace.

She was born 15th percentile, and by 1 month old had dropped to 1st. She stayed at 1st, following that curve and gaining appropriately until the last 2 weeks, when she suddenly jumped up to 8th percentile.

Her pediatrician was never worried, as she never LOST weight, just gained very slowly. He is extremely happy with her growth!

I worried tons and was extremely stressed out, but it was all for nothing!