Not gaining weight?

[AnnaMaria]

I just don't know what to do with my kid. Since birth we have had problems about her weight. At first she had trouble keeping food in but then she got over that and only gaining weight stayed.
We were in hospital for a week because she was ill and didn't gain any weight. Now we're at home again and everything seems to go back to normal. I hate waking her up at night when it's feedingtime. And she also hates it. Doesn't want to eat and only whines when I try to BF. I don't know what to do. Do I have to keep waking her up or is it more useful to let her sleep and eat when she wakes on her own? Cause when she wakes in the morning she is so hungry and eats a lot.
Doctor says I should wake her up, she should eat after every 2-3 hours but every kid is different so I don't know what to do. Maybe you can advise me? At 2-months-old doctor visit she weighed 3360g, when born she weighed 1900g.

 

[nkbapbt]

When we bought Lakai home from the NICU, he was a feeding schedule of every three hours and then a 6 hour stretch at night. Mind you Lakai has a feeding tube..so its different for him compared to your LO. But I don't see why waking her is the right thing to do...if she won't eat why wake her? You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink right?

Lakai is also a slow weight gainer, but he is gaining..and it sounds like you LO is as well. I mean it's not as if she hasn't gained any weight, right?

Is the doctor considered about her weight?

I think you're right when you say every baby is different, some gain a lot of weight quickly, some gain a regular speed and some slowly.

Im sorry I wasn't much help

 

[AnnaMaria]

Yes, she has gained weight but doctor says it's not enough. When I had twins they were pretty miniature kids and slow gainers also. That is why I question about doctors orders to wake her up. Twins finished night time feedings when were month old and they are still alive. At the other hand they weren't preemies and didn't had problems with reflux.
We don't have any special pediatricians in here, just this usual pediatrician and maybe she doesn't know that much about preemies. All this time I have thought she would be enough but thanks to your answer I called and set an appointment for speciality doctor.
You were a lot of help, cause sometimes we just need somebody to assure something we already know or think. Guess I will let her sleep tonight and see what she does on her own.

 

[Marleysgirl]

Hi there

When Andrew was eventually discharged (at 11 weeks, and 1.9kg), we were told that he had to be fed every 4 hours, had to be woken to do so if he didn't wake himself, and had to be BF for 20 mins solid or bottle fed a particular quantity of EBM.

We followed that advice for one day and night. We absolutely hated waking him during the night to effectively "force feed" him.

The next day, we opted to feed on demand, having more EBM available in the bottle in case he was hungry. Sometimes he woke after 3 hours, other times after 5 hours, and we let him feed as long as he wanted. At the next midwife visit, he'd successfully put on weight!

So we've continued this method of demand feeding since, and he's doing just fine. I only wake him to feed if I'm trying to manipulate the feed times around hospital visits etc. And he does now tend to wake every 4 hours without our intervention.

He's now 2.5kg btw, and was only 638g at birth!

 

[AnnaMaria]

Wow, 638g. That's like half of mine.
Anyway, thanks for your post. It gave me even more courage to let her sleep although I guess I won't be sleeping but walking between our room and her room to check if she hasn't woke already
I will be waiting for dr. visit.

 

[Foogirl]

Doctors never seem to be able to agree on this sort of stuff.

I don't suppose they said it was perfectly natural for them to lose some weight after birth either?

Looking at the percentile charts it would appear Anelle has dropped from 50th centile to the 25th, but I'd assume she dropped weight after she was born so that shouldn't be a problem. She is still gaining weight and that is what matters. The next weight taken should indicate if she has dropped further.

If waking her to feed is upsetting her and / or she isn't feeding anyway there would seem to be little point. My mum was told to do this with my older sister and she refused point blank. My sister did fine with it and she would go 5 or 6 hours without a feed. Abby dropped her 3am feed really early on and would go 6 hours a night from about 3 months without a feed. During the day she would feed every 2-3 hours.

If Anelle isn't gaining weight properly and you are breastfeeding, you might want to up your calorie intake to make sure she is getting the right amount of fat laden milk. Also, is she definitely feeding for long enough when she is up - e.g is she getting a good mix of fore and hind milk? You could also try topping her up with a formula, there are some designed to help weight gain. I'd try all of these before I even considered waking a sleeping baby!!!

In the UK the general advice is to feed on demand. Most babies will soon let you know when they are hungry! Take comfort in the fact that you know your baby better than the doctors. They tend to take a "one size fits all" approach and think the same advice suits all children. If Anelle is a happy, contented baby who isn't losing weight then you're doing something right.

 

[AnnaMaria]

Yeah, she dropped her weight to 1700g after birth. Doctors didn't like that but she was eating. Yes, I'm BF her. Unfortunately I'm the type who can eat as much I want, I gain nothing. I guess that could be a reason why she isn't getting any calories either? Do you know what are good things for me to eat? I try to eat strong and healthy meals every day.
She usually eats for 20 mins but when she is really hungry she eats for 40 mins. This night I didn't wake her up. Put her to nightsleep 10pm and today morning she woke 7am. She was hungry, ate for 50 mins, a record. Now I still don't know what to do. Should I let her sleep that long or do one feeding at some point? At moment she is sleeping her nightsleep for third hor. Went to sleep 9pm.

 

[Foogirl]

Yeah, she dropped her weight to 1700g after birth. Doctors didn't like that but she was eating. Yes, I'm BF her. Unfortunately I'm the type who can eat as much I want, I gain nothing. I guess that could be a reason why she isn't getting any calories either? Do you know what are good things for me to eat? I try to eat strong and healthy meals every day.
She usually eats for 20 mins but when she is really hungry she eats for 40 mins. This night I didn't wake her up. Put her to nightsleep 10pm and today morning she woke 7am. She was hungry, ate for 50 mins, a record. Now I still don't know what to do. Should I let her sleep that long or do one feeding at some point? At moment she is sleeping her nightsleep for third hor. Went to sleep 9pm.

The fact you don't gain weight isn't that important when B/F and may well explain why your LO doesn't gain weight either! If she dropped to 1700 then she has pretty much remained on the 25th centile since birth. This does mean she is smaller than average but certainly nothing to be concerned about.

When looking at your diet, you want to make it varied to ensure a good mix of nutrients. Our Food Standards Agency gives the following advice:

• plenty of fruit and vegetables (fresh, frozen, tinned, dried or a glass of juice). Aim for at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables a day
• starchy foods such as bread, pasta, rice and potatoes to give you the extra energy you'll need
• plenty of fibre, found in wholegrain bread and breakfast cereals, pasta, rice, pulses (such as beans and lentils) and fruit and vegetables. After childbirth, some women experience bowel problems and find constipation particularly painful, but fibre helps with both of these
• protein such as lean meat and chicken, fish, eggs and pulses
• fish at least twice a week including some oily fish
• dairy foods, such as milk, cheese and yoghurt, which contain calcium and are a useful source of protein

Also, drink plenty of fluid, try to drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of fluid a day.

You could try a dream feed. This is where you feed them without waking them. But it can be difficult to do (it was impossible with Abby, she always woke up). I would be concerned, if my baby was already in the habit of sleeping through, that waking them would break them of that habit.

If you are happy to do a very big feed in the morning I really don't see the problem You could also try "cluster feeding" for a few hours in the evening. This is where you basically sit with them feeding for 2 or 3 hours. Abby went through a phase of doing that and this was when she started sleeping through. Just make sure you are comfy and have a good stock of biscuits to snack on and something to drink.

 

[AnnaMaria]

Thank you so much Foogirl. I wrote down all your tips and I will eat by them. Raising a preemie isn't so easy after all so all tips are welcome.