Thinking of changing to formula as baby not gaining weight but just so down!!

[kpt20]

Hi all

i have been bf my daughter since birth 2 weeks ago - she was a little early and small - 5.15lbs. in first 5 days she lost more than 10% of her weight and has gained back very little since. im killing myself breastfeeding her as much as I can but she is also quite a sleepy baby and falls asleep on the breast and its hard to know how much she has had so every cry I feed her and its exhausting and I then have to express too and i have a 5 yr old who also wants mummy time!

I felt like I had made progress and when she was weighed the gain was only 20g!! i felt so deflated!!! can't carry on like this as the stress of her weight is killing me!!!! she is getting weighed again today and have decided if she hasnt gained much again then am going to give formula but feel like im just giving up. I have really tried and tried and now all its doing is just making me feel down all the time and totally stressed as her weight is the only thing always on my mind and i dont think i can keep going like that.

is there anyone who has given formula cos of weight gain? anyone make me feel better about it? also some advice on best way to switch over anyone???

I ff my son after 4 days as my milk just didnt come in and i gave up as had such sore nipples and he was constantly crying and felt really bad about it for a long time so really wanted to give it a go this time but im not sure i have it in me to carry on like this feeling so low!!! my son is fine happy and healthy so i keep tying to tell myself that and that its fine. think i just need to hear from others!

 

[ellie27]

Hi there.

First thing - congrats for doing so well!!

Second- perhaps seek some advice in bf section.

I bf Anna for the first 2 weeks. She went down from 6 lb 15 oz at birth down to 6 lbs 1 oz - down by 13%. I was told by midwife I would have to express or get Anna on formula. I tried expressing and got almost nothing so started combi-feeding. It took til she was over 3wks to get back to her birth weight. Around that time I went to ff only - and glad I did. I certainly did not feel guilty as at that point it was the only thing that would get her weight up and get her healthy - most important.

They do say happy mum happy baby - it doesnt sound like you are having a good time which is not good on you at all.

It was the right decision for us and we are doing great now.

Let me know how you get on

 

[indieknits]

I also wanted to say congrats for doing so well, I know how hard it is BFing in those early weeks.

I read somewhere that it is normal for BF babies to lose more birth weight than FF babies. My Emma lost about 13% too, and we were readmitted to the hospital for breathing issues, so whilst there we topped up with formula. After about a week she had regained her birth weight so we went back to BFing exclusively but I was REALLY paranoid about it.

Try not to worry (easier said than done I know!). You have some options. You could top up with formula or with EBM (I personally never got on with expressing), and once she is steadily gaining weight you could go back to exclusively BFing or continue combi feeding.

I chose to BF for 3 months and when I switched to formula, I did it gradually - switching a feed every few days - so that my boobs didn't become sore. It also gave Emms a chance to adjust.

DO NOT feel guilty if you decide to switch to formula full time. I don't regret my decision to at all - Emma and myself are both happier for it!

 

[kpt20]

thanks guys - really helps to hear from people who have been through a similar thing.

when u started combi-feeding - how did u introduce it? a bottle or 2 at the same time every day or how do you do it? and also did this cause difficulty for them then to latch?

 

[littleblonde]

My daughter actually gained more weight on breast milk than she had on formula. Hopefully you will notice a big improvement today. I tried combi feeding but she did get confused. So moved to just fomula. I do feel sad still about that as i loved it. The girls in the BF section are fab and there is a sticky where i got quick great advise so maybe ask in there before you make your choice. Congratulations hun

 

[kpt20]

Hi all

she was weighed again today and has put on 30g and she is fine and healthy within herself. its a little gain but its still another gain in the right direction so I think i am going to take each day as it comes and see. if she continues to gain fair enough but if she starts to drop then im not going to get all in mess about it i will introduce formula. I'm setting myself a target of bf till she is a month old and then will see how i feel about it. I have my mum here to help at the moment so cooking and sorting out my 5 year old has not been an issue and i have beenable to concentrate on just feeding baby ananya but after the help is gone its not going to be easy at all so I will see i'm not going to kill myself about it as an unhappy mummy is not going to be any good to either of my kids.

 

[indieknits]

Sounds like a good plan to me!

When I introduced formula, I started with the first feed of the day (7-8am), then after a few days changed the 3rd feed (so there was a breastfeed in between) - so basically alternated the feeds between bottle and boob until I was completely bottle feeding. Emma didn't have any nipple confusion at all, although I did have to experiment with a few different bottles.