day 7 baby lost weight have to express my milk and top up formula feed

[purplesparkle]

feel so disappointed midwife came to feed him yesterday and he has lost 100g in weight. didny realise he had been drinking eno7gh breast milk or latch properly as he has been quite lethargic and falling asleep on boob. have been advised to pump and top up with formula im glad hes still getting breast milk. but im sad he may never latch on boob again. he gets weighed tommorow so if hes put enough weigjt on ill be able to try bfing again

 

[Twinmum87]

Your baby is 7 days old? That is completely freaking insane advice! I actually cannot believe that has come from a so called health professional. My older 2 were still loosing weight at 9 days old and not once did anyone say it was a problem or even suggest formula. They both lost around 6oz of birth weight, which was a lot as they were small anyway, and both regained birth weight by 2 weeks old. I would speak to a breast feeding consultant to work on latch and be assessed for tongue tie if baby still struggles with latch. Has baby been jaundice at all? That can cause them to get too sleepy. Can trying things like exposing the back, tickling feet, stroking along the jaw line to wake baby back up when feeding. Formula and top ups is most definitely not the first port of call and a 100g loss of birth weight is not uncommon. A loss of anything up to 10% of birth weight is normal.

 

[noon_child]

feel so disappointed midwife came to feed him yesterday and he has lost 100g in weight. didny realise he had been drinking eno7gh breast milk or latch properly as he has been quite lethargic and falling asleep on boob. have been advised to pump and top up with formula im glad hes still getting breast milk. but im sad he may never latch on boob again. he gets weighed tommorow so if hes put enough weigjt on ill be able to try bfing again

Is that 100g lost in total since birth? Or just since the last weigh in? If it is in total then I'd say it is well within the normal range (infact probably quite a small loss unless your baby is really tiny - my LO was 2.5kg at birth and lost about 220g by day 5 and I wasn't asked to go down the formula route till 6 weeks in after pain, damage and low weight made it increasingly necessary). Making adjustments to your latch and trying to keep baby awake for a bit longer on the boob should be all you need to help him regain his weight.

If it is an additional loss on top of a previous loss it may be a good idea to introduce some expressed milk (if there is a concern he is too lethargic to latch currently, or that there might be an underlying issue such as tongue tie) however I agree that 7days is a bit young to be asking you to use formula top ups if you haven't yet tried expressed milk...

How much of a top up have they advised?

 

[caz_hills]

I had a similar experience both with my son and my daughter who is now three weeks old. With my son I ended up switching to formula as the latch never was sorted out and with my newborn I'm exclusively pumping now and topping up with formula.

I was so desperate to breastfeed and it didn't work with my son and despite seeing three specialists and pumping I still cannot get her to latch and like your experience she falls asleep on the breast.

I know my experience is not positive but I do know women who it worked out for despite early weight losses. My son lost 12% and my daughter 9% and I was so worried.

I also found it hard as every health visitor gave me different advice! In the end pumping is working for men currently and although I wanted to breast feed, I know she is getting the goodness somehow so I feel happy about that. But I do need to top up with formula too as I cannot pump enough to keep up with her.

Good luck x

 

[purplesparkle]

Your baby is 7 days old? That is completely freaking insane advice! I actually cannot believe that has come from a so called health professional. My older 2 were still loosing weight at 9 days old and not once did anyone say it was a problem or even suggest formula. They both lost around 6oz of birth weight, which was a lot as they were small anyway, and both regained birth weight by 2 weeks old. I would speak to a breast feeding consultant to work on latch and be assessed for tongue tie if baby still struggles with latch. Has baby been jaundice at all? That can cause them to get too sleepy. Can trying things like exposing the back, tickling feet, stroking along the jaw line to wake baby back up when feeding. Formula and top ups is most definitely not the first port of call and a 100g loss of birth weight is not uncommon. A loss of anything up to 10% of birth weight is normal.

he has been jaundice which is getting better ive been mainly expressing my brrast milk and giving 1 bottle of formula a day. he lost some of his birth weight on day 3 then gained by day then lost on day 7. i think he was struggerling to latch because he was so sleepy. he seems to have perked up today and has been searching for my boobs have manged 2 x 20 minutes feeds on my breasts tonight. im going to see a lactation consultant on monday.

 

[purplesparkle]

I had a similar experience both with my son and my daughter who is now three weeks old. With my son I ended up switching to formula as the latch never was sorted out and with my newborn I'm exclusively pumping now and topping up with formula.

I was so desperate to breastfeed and it didn't work with my son and despite seeing three specialists and pumping I still cannot get her to latch and like your experience she falls asleep on the breast.

I know my experience is not positive but I do know women who it worked out for despite early weight losses. My son lost 12% and my daughter 9% and I was so worried.

I also found it hard as every health visitor gave me different advice! In the end pumping is working for men currently and although I wanted to breast feed, I know she is getting the goodness someh5ow so I feel happy about that. But I do need to top up with formula too as I cannot pump enough to keep up with her.

Good luck x

i an exclusively pumping and toping up with formula as like you need to until my supply increases again. im offering boob aswell to see if i can reestablish latch.

 

[purplesparkle]

feel so disappointed midwife came to feed him yesterday and he has lost 100g in weight. didny realise he had been drinking eno7gh breast milk or latch properly as he has been quite lethargic and falling asleep on boob. have been advised to pump and top up with formula im glad hes still getting breast milk. but im sad he may never latch on boob again. he gets weighed tommorow so if hes put enough weigjt on ill be able to try bfing again

Is that 100g lost in total since birth? Or just since the last weigh in? If it is in total then I'd say it is well within the normal range (infact probably quite a small loss unless your baby is really tiny - my LO was 2.5kg at birth and lost about 220g by day 5 and I wasn't asked to go down the formula route till 6 weeks in after pain, damage and low weight made it increasingly necessary). Making adjustments to your latch and trying to keep baby awake for a bit longer on the boob should be all you need to help him regain his weight.

If it is an additional loss on top of a previous loss it may be a good idea to introduce some expressed milk (if there is a concern he is too lethargic to latch currently, or that there might be an underlying issue such as tongue tie) however I agree that 7days is a bit young to be asking you to use formula top ups if you haven't yet tried expressed milk...

How much of a top up have they advised?

since lastt weigh in i an expessing. he gets weighed at hosputal tommrow. im goingvti see what they advise and see a lactation consultant

 

[caz_hills]

I had a similar experience both with my son and my daughter who is now three weeks old. With my son I ended up switching to formula as the latch never was sorted out and with my newborn I'm exclusively pumping now and topping up with formula.

I was so desperate to breastfeed and it didn't work with my son and despite seeing three specialists and pumping I still cannot get her to latch and like your experience she falls asleep on the breast.

I know my experience is not positive but I do know women who it worked out for despite early weight losses. My son lost 12% and my daughter 9% and I was so worried.

I also found it hard as every health visitor gave me different advice! In the end pumping is working for men currently and although I wanted to breast feed, I know she is getting the goodness someh5ow so I feel happy about that. But I do need to top up with formula too as I cannot pump enough to keep up with her.

Good luck x

i an exclusively pumping and toping up with formula as like you need to until my supply increases again. im offering boob aswell to see if i can reestablish latch.

Good luck - the LC told Me what we are doing is the toughest - pumping, feeding, trying to latch. I really hope it works for you x

 

[purplesparkle]

thanks caz_hills i am finding pumping really hard this early on with my eldest i didnt start pumping till he was 6 months.

 

[purplesparkle]

good news my son has gained the weight he lost and is less lethargic and more alert. he has more energy and has been searching for my boobs to feed on he is having 10 to 15 min feeds. im still expressing and giving 1 formula bottle a day. hoping he will bf more regularly niw

 

[caz_hills]

good news my son has gained the weight he lost and is less lethargic and more alert. he has more energy and has been searching for my boobs to feed on he is having 10 to 15 min feeds. im still expressing and giving 1 formula bottle a day. hoping he will bf more regularly niw

Fabulous news! Well done to you and your little man x