Tiny weight gain in a week? :-(

[pinklizzy]

I feel like I'm constantly crying at the moment. Breastfeeding has been a real struggle for us since the beginning. We had problems with latching which made my nipples really sore, I still have areas of my right nipple that are sloughing off, it looks and feels awful, whether I'm feeding or not.
I've been using nipple shields which I realise isn't ideal but it was that or give up and he always seems to have a lot of milk in the shield when he comes off.
At the moment he's feeding very 2-2.5hrs for about 30-45 mins at a time and he sleeps well in between feeds which I hoped meant he was full enough.
He was weighed at 3 days and had gone from 3880g to 3570g. Today at 10 days he's only 3590g
I've been out today to get some fenugreek but we're nowhere near back at his birth weight yet. I feel like all these tears and stress have been for nothing, I'm going wrong somewhere. Feeding is making me miserable but I thought I was helping him to grow and put on weight when in reality we're not getting anywhere.

 

[megrenade]

Don't worry about weight gain. As long as he is not LOSING weight, he is probably getting enough

Has baby been checked for tongue or lip ties? That seems to be over looked quite often. It could be why he isn't nursing efficiently and why you are in so much pain.

I would encourage him to eat more often than every 2 hours, that seems like a long time between feedings at his age. The more often he nurses, the more milk you will produce.

Also, are you switching breasts halfway between feedings? I would recommend only nursing him on one side per feeding.. that way he gets enough fatty hindmilk. By switching halfway through feeds, he is essentially only getting foremilk, which is watery and not as fattening.

Good luck mama

 

[pinklizzy]

He has been checked for a tongue tie-my daughter had a tongue tie which really affected feeding so I was worried about it this time around.
I do have quite flat nipples though, although I used the medela nipple formers while I was pregnant which did help.
I don't tend to offer both breasts at each feed at the moment, if for nothing more than to let them recover between feeds! He will feed and then unlatch himself and then if he still doesn't seem satisfied then I will offer him the other side.
I wil try to get him to feed more often, I dread him waking for feeds as it's just so painful,although not as excruciating as it has been and my nipples bleed less.
I was so determined to breast feed this time and thought it would be so amazing-I wasn't expecting for it to make me so unhappy so I need to adjust to that I suppose.

 

[leigh5tom]

My son lost weight every time he was weighed for the first two weeks. It was heartbreaking to watch. It took over three weeks for him to he back to his birth weight. He lost weight at 3 days (to be expected) but just kept losing then he maintained and then finally got back up. Please stick with it. You are doing great. Trust your body, it knows what it is doing. X x x

 

[sheldonsmommy]

Is baby having lots of wet and dirty diapers? That's one of the best ways of seeing if he is getting enough milk. Sometimes weight gain is slow at the beginning. Also, they will sometimes gain very little one week and a lot the next.

 

[sun]

Some babies are slow gainers, but if he is going through diapers and still gaining (no matter how small) then I would focus on that. It definitely doesn't mean you're not getting anywhere! I have my quickest gainer ever this time around, and I think it was all the skin-to-skin and nursing I did in the very first days. We spent lots of time nursing on and off the first week - sometimes he was nursing for an hour or 2 at a time. Also making sure he gets that fatty hind milk, which it sounds like you're doing by draining one breast completely. Keep at it mama! You're doing great. xoxo

 

[summer rain]

I would get the tongue tie and lip tie possibility double checked, it could be a posterior tongue tie and these are much harder to spot xx

 

[leigh5tom]

Just to add - my son had a tongue tie xxx

 

[teal]

He could just be a slow gainer. My son lost over 12% of his birth weight by day 4, my milk came in on day 6 and then it took 4 weeks to regain his birth weight. I did have my son checked by our GP and she assured me he was fine, just a slow gainer.

I did go to a breastfeeding support group at the midwife led unit and one of the things they suggested was switch nursing. Feed on one side until he starts looking sleepy and then switch him to the other side. This was to make sure both my breasts were being stimulated for milk at each feed and the switching sides would wake him up a bit for more milk.

 

[Popples1]

I had a similar situation. My son wouldn't latch at all for the first few days so we stayed in hospital for 3 days. He was also jaundiced so very sleepy - waking him up to feed was very frustrating and made each feed last forever. Couple that with extremely sore nipples and I was a very unhappy mama.

At his first weigh in (he didn't gain but maintained his weight) and I really let it know my confidence. After that I was feeding, expressing and topping up with ff. His weight went up a treat but with hindsight I might have been better trusting my body and just nursing more often to try and stick with EBF. At the time, I was very upset, tired and just desperate to see my baby thrive, so I don't regret anything, but I'd probably do things differently next time.

Good luck - you're doing great.

 

[TCK_Runner]

I don't think it would be a big deal topping off with a ff or trying to express some milk and give it to him until you feel satisfied. I think the best advice everyone has been giving me so far is that happy mama = happy baby, plus it gives some respite so the nipples can start to heal. We did the combi-feed for the first two weeks with formula, now it's only breastmilk, but I express as well. Only in the last week have I been able to switch back to putting her on the boob a lot more -- and she latches on! without a nipple shield! Every baby is different, of course, but in my case there has so far been no nipple confusion. She still prefers the boob but will take the bottle when she's hungry.

I was/am also pumping regularly, which stimulates the production a bit quicker and I personally feel more comfortable watching her consume several measurable ounces (rather than guessing how much she's taking in from me), at least once or twice per day. If you feel the way I did, then you also probably are so stressed out and worried that it's not helping either the milk production or the nipples... at least, it didn't help me one bit when I felt like that. Now I'm able to express several ounces every time I pump so that we even have a little supply in the fridge for my husband to do some feeds when I'm out doing an errand, at the doctor's, while I sleep, when I'm exercising, etc. It is amazingly helpful!!!! Especially for me to take a nap when I desperately need one. In any case, my bet is that once you start to feel less stressed out, probably by watching him take in measurable amounts and likely gaining weight more rapidly, I bet you'll feel better and, in most cases, this will also help up your production and give your nipples some more recovery time!

 

[Popples1]

I was/am also pumping regularly, which stimulates the production a bit quicker and I personally feel more comfortable watching her consume several measurable ounces (rather than guessing how much she's taking in from me), at least once or twice per day.

I spent a week doing this & ff with no boob at all for precisely this reason. Being able to measure what's going on made me much happier, though everyone says baby is better at getting milk out than the breast pump so I'm trying not to take it as an indication of my supply - occasionally I get 4.5 oz from both combined but other times it's only 1.5oz!