Slow weight gain

[meg79]

So my little man is starting to worry me even with me trying my best not to.

He has always been a slow gainer, only dropping 7% at birth but taking 3 weeks to get it back. Since then he has been gaining an average of about 1lb every 2 weeks. Apart from this time. I had him weighed 5 weeks ago at 14lb, weighed him yesterday expecting at least 16lb and he only reached 15lb 2. That's only 16oz in 5 weeks!! Percentile wise, he was born on the 96th, dropped to the 91st and even though gaining weight has now dropped to just above the 50th

I'm hoping that it is just his body adjusting to his large birth weight and him "evening himself out" but I just can't help worrying a little now. The call from formula to do top ups is getting stronger.....

I do have to say he is very alert, happy, sleeps well, seems to feed well (although always brings milk up after a feed), he is almost sitting unaided and loves standing and taking his full weight. He always has wet nappies and has at least one dirty one a day, sometimes 2 or 3 or sometimes misses a day but makes up for it the next lol.

I dont know..... Reading that back, I'm not concerned, but why is he gaining really slowly??

 

[Lightworker]

Do you mean he is possetting, or bringing up an entire feed?
I know some babies are just slow gainers. I think as long as you nurse on demand, for as long as he wants and as you say he is generally happy, weeing and pooing alright, and hitting his milestones, I would try not to worry too much. Sometimes the centiles can be a blessing or a curse, and parents worry needlessly. X

 

[AmeliePoulain]

My little girl was similar but born much smaller. She took nearly 3 weeks to regain her birth weight (but she didnt lose a vast amount - about 6%)

She only ever gained when she was a newborn 6oz a week, this slowed down recently to about 3oz a week.

At pretty much 6 months she weighs about 13lb 8oz

 

[summer rain]

I wouldn't worry. In my experience all babies go through a phase of this at some point, gaining a pound every two weeks is at the higher end of average weight gain so it may just be that your baby's weight gain is slowing quite dramatically because of genetic factors, my LOs always got to nearly 15lbs and then their weight gain slowed down hugely; whether they got to nearly 15lbs at 3 and a half months or 6 months or 8 months. There is more to a baby thriving than piling on the pounds and ounces; have you had your LOs height and head circumference measured? When my son only gained a few oz in several weeks he had grown 3 inches in height and jumped up a centile in head circumference; during that time. As my mum says 'they can't grow both ways you know'. Thats the wonderful thing about BF; your baby's body will use the milk to grow in the most optimal pattern of growth for them as an individual; even if it doesn't follow the charts (including the new BF charts).

 

[Lightworker]

Good point Summer rain - HVs these days have a tendency of dismissing length and head circumference say its not important - I have no idea why.

 

[kmac625]

I wouldn't worry about the slow down in weight gain. Clara was 8lb 11.5oz at birth and lost 9.3% of her birth weight but gained it back quickly thanks to me having to give formula top ups when my milk didn't come in until day 6 and then I had low supply at first also. Once I stopped the formula at 3 weeks she started to gain slowly and even though she was above the 90th percentile for weight (height and head circumference too) at birth, by 3 months old her weight was below the 50th (even though her height and hc stayed above the 85th). Between 4 and 5 months in a four week period she only gained 17oz (even though we had started solids and she was getting a bottle of ebm to top her up each day), but had grown 4cm. It sounds like your son is healthy and doing great so I'm sure he's getting more than enough bm from you.

 

[meg79]

Sorry for delay girls, very bad Internet!! I would love to get him measured but the HVs won't do it and I'm not confident I'm that accurate at home. A centimetre out makes a huge difference on the charts. He does seem to be still up there above the 96th percentile for length though....

I'm not worried about him unless I look at the charts lol. Ameliepoulin & kmac625 I'm so glad someone has experienced exactly the same thing. I'm just worried about slipping further down the charts, but I suppose any weight gain is better than nothing?!

Lightworker, he does posset on nearly all of his feeds. Sometimes it seams to be a lot, like really wetting a muslin (or my clothes!!) but I really don't think it's any more than an oz at very most. It's normally my fault for not winding him more frequently during a feed.

I think I'm going to go for a sneaky early weigh-in. I would to it next week, but the clinic is only open when he is due for his jabs and I don't want to distress him any more than necessary!

I do wish I could get his length properly measured though, how can you get it accurate at home? It's nearly impossible with just a sewing tape measure and a rough estimate of how far down on a changing mat he fits!!

 

[Rockell8788]

We do our ds length as he wasn't gaining weight. We find the easier way is to put the tape measure on the floor next to him and put is feet against the skirting board and a book above his head. Just need to make sure his legs and the tape measure are straight

 

[summer rain]

I measure LOs length on my other son's white ikea worktable, I make sure his head is completely level with one end; then flatten out his leg and mark with a pencil where his heel is; then afterwards I measure the length from the end to the pencil mark with a tape measure; its very accurate; usually only 0.5cm different than when the HVs do it (at least from past experience) and tbh many HVs are poorly trained at measuring length anyway; this is why they hate doing it; so it could well be their measurement that is off. xx