Underweight babies-tell me your story

[Desert Strawberry]

Luna seemed to be doing so much better. She's nursing well, peeing a ton, pooping, finally getting a little long for her newborn size jammies. I took her for her 8 week check up and she has LOST weight.  :crying:

We're back to bottle feeding pumped milk, weight checks, boosting supply, etc. 

 

This is new to me.  I have had small babies, slow gainers, a sick one. But She's HEALTHY, just not gaining. 

 

Has anyone else been through this? Could you share here or in PM? I just need to hear how these things go. I know every story is different. I'm feeling very alone and discouraged.

[HS Mom in NC]

Call a Board Certified Lactation Consultant.  They're medically trained and can give you rock solid advice. No one else is qualified to give breastfeeding advice.

[snowbeltmom]

Call a Board Certified Lactation Consultant.  They're medically trained and can give you rock solid advice. No one else is qualified to give breastfeeding advice.

:iagree:

 

Also, based on personal experience with my oldest when he was an infant, it is possible that the scale is out of calibration.  I would have your child weighed again using a different scale.   :grouphug:

[barnwife]

Ditto pp. Definitely contact an IBCLC. 

PM me if you want to know about my experience with a baby who lost weight.

[Tanaqui]

Also, based on personal experience with my oldest when he was an infant, it is possible that the scale is out of calibration.  I would have your child weighed again using a different scale.   :grouphug:

 

Extremely possible. I once went from the doctor's office to the ER. Within 20 minutes, and without eating anything, my kid had "magically" gained a couple of pounds. Yeah, right. (Of course, she wasn't an infant at the time, but still!)

[Ellie]

Luna seemed to be doing so much better. She's nursing well, peeing a ton, pooping, finally getting a little long for her newborn size jammies. I took her for her 8 week check up and she has LOST weight.  :crying:

We're to bottle feeding pumped milk, weight checks, boosting supply, etc. 

 

This is new to me.  I have had small babies, slow gainers, a sick one. But She's HEALTHY, just not gaining. 

 

Has anyone else been through this? Could you share here or in PM? I just need to hear how these things go. I know every story is different. I'm feeling very alone and discouraged.

 

:grouphug: 

 

Check with La Leche League.

 

Are you nursing her every 2 1/2-3 hrs? That would be better than pumping and giving her bottles, because that will affect your milk supply.

 

But check with La Leche League.

[Starr]

My high tech pediatrician told me to keep nursing and just watched for a while. He said dd was probably just nursing enough to sustain life but she was healthy. She was on the low end until she was two. He  was delighted when she finally reached 95 percentile for height and 65 for weight. Oh we tried one bottle a day for a month. That was boring...and a waste of time. I don't have medical advice. I think I would work with a professional on the nursing and keep close tabs on her weight.

[happypamama]

IBCLC or LLL. Ask for recommendation for someone to diagnose posterior tongue tie, and if that's the case, get it treated. It can cause poor milk transfer and low supply.

 

Also, if she gained length, that is a good sign. She might be getting ready to put on some weight.

[HS Mom in NC]

I relactated for an adopted baby.  Making sure you drain all the foremilk AND the hind milk before stopping and/or switching sides is critical to increasing supply-so is frequency.  Babies sucking are always preferable to a breast pump which is a bit of a challenge for those of us whose babies were on the other side of the world.  More than every 2 hours round the clock was the ideal for those of us having to build a supply.

 

[cjzimmer1]

Mine didn't lose weight but he just stopped growing.  NO weight or length growth in two months.  At first doctors said, I wasn't feeding him enough so we tried to up feedings.  Then we tried supplimenting with all sorts of things (formula, homemade goat's milk formula and then human donor milk).  Kiddo refused anything but me.  Went to a doctor who specialized in breastfeeding issues.  Did a weight check before feeding and then again after feeding.  Kiddo was only taking about 1/2 ounce - 1 ounce per feeding.  We tried meds and herbs to up my milk supply but it made no difference. 

 

By then kiddo was 6 months old and so we started solids in a desperate attempt to put some weight on (born at 7 lbs 9 ounces but was less than 10 pounds at 6 months old)  Tried all my normal homemade baby foods, wouldn't eat anything.  Literally screamed at the sight of a spoon.  I had some jarred baby food from WIC.  Turned out I could get him to eat about 3 spoonfuls of banana/strawberry flavor (but it took him 9 meals to eat one 4 ounce jar)  Anytime I would try other flavors he would go on food strikes for days on end.  Funny thing is, kiddo never acted fussy, never cried for more food and was a very content baby.  Dr. said it's rare but some kids will starve themselves.  Apparently I was lucky  (NOT) and got one of those.  Doctor was thinking about hospitalizing him but decided to send him for allergy testing first.  Despite having zero signs of allergies it turns out  Kiddo had very low level of eggs and dairy allergy.  When I removed them from my diet, he immediately started gaining weight.  Every doctor I was working with at the time asked me what else I changed because the turn around was amazing (from gaining less than an ounce a week to gaining 8-10 ounces a week).  But I did nothing different. 

 

The really odd part was the allergist said his allergy levels were so low that is when they normally would give the allergy food BACK to the kid not be taking it away, but it really made all the difference.  I only lasted on the strict diet for 2 months  before I started cheating (I missed cheese in the worst way).  Over the next 3-4 months I added back everything I had removed and kiddo continued to grow fine.  Doctors are a bit baffled because he didn't follow any of the expected paths for allergies but it was the only thing we changed in the whole time period that made a difference.

[prairiewindmomma]

Ditto the advice on:

1. making sure baby is getting hindmilk--do a full pumping on one side and look to see what your milk looks like---and then make sure you are fully depleting a side before you switch

2. weighing before and after feedings

3. looking into food allergies 

 

and I'll add...make sure you are drinking 120ish oz of water a day, eating good protein, and wearing baby as much as possible.

 

I have re-lactated a baby and I've also dealt with a preemie who had to learn to nurse after a month on ng tube feedings. One of the most helpful things for me, aside from all of the medical stuff (see items 1-3) was to put baby in a moby or other wrap and wear her as much as I could---18 hours a day.  With my preemie, it helped my body naturally build supply.  Baby wearing helped her maintain body warmth so that she was using fewer calories trying to keep herself warm. 

 

If the input of milk is good, and you are verifying that before and after feedings, then I'd look into part B of the equation: why is she using up so many calories? Or is she not absorbing them properly?

[Veritaserum]

My second had a very, very slow gain in her weight. Because she met her developmental milestones on time and was healthy, her doctor was not concerned. She is almost 13 years old and in the 1st percentile for weight. She's just a small person.

[Desert Strawberry]

Call a Board Certified Lactation Consultant.  They're medically trained and can give you rock solid advice. No one else is qualified to give breastfeeding advice.

I have. I'm not looking for advice.

[Desert Strawberry]

:iagree:

 

Also, based on personal experience with my oldest when he was an infant, it is possible that the scale is out of calibration.  I would have your child weighed again using a different scale.   :grouphug:

the weight loss is based on two different scales. By the ped's scale only, she just isn't gaining much. 

[Desert Strawberry]

:grouphug:

 

Check with La Leche League.

 

Are you nursing her every 2 1/2-3 hrs? That would be better than pumping and giving her bottles, because that will affect your milk supply.

 

But check with La Le

I was feeding on demand, but now every 1-2 hours, following up with bottles of pumped milk. 

[Desert Strawberry]

IBCLC or LLL. Ask for recommendation for someone to diagnose posterior tongue tie, and if that's the case, get it treated. It can cause poor milk transfer and low supply.

 

Also, if she gained length, that is a good sign. She might be getting ready to put on some weight.

 

She did. It has been treated and resolved. Possibly she just needs more time.

[chiguirre]

T didn't gain weight well until I threw in the towel and used formula. She's been ginormous ever since.

 

If you've done everything else, I'd give it a try. If it doesn't work, you can pursue getting a referral to a gastroenterologist. It's just one more box to check to put your mind at ease that you've tried every avenue. It will also make your pediatrician happy that you are a compliant patient and they'll give you less stink eye. It's not fair but it's true.

[Kiara.I]

Mine gained okay at first.  Then she wasn't gaining as well.  Then she stopped completely.  Fortunately by then I had already got to the IBCLC, but she'd tanked my supply by then.

 

She had upper lip tie, a bubble palate, posterior tongue tie, and a recessed chin.

 

We got the ties revised.  Then we did a lot of hard work since she still only wanted to nurse for the initial letdown and wouldn't keep nursing after that to, you know, get what she actually needed.  It did eventually turn around, but it was frustrating.

 

So.  Are you nursing pain-free?  Have you checked for ties?

[Caroline]

My not gaining weight baby is in his second year at Georgia Tech killing it in mechanical engineering. Good luck!

[Ellie]

T didn't gain weight well until I threw in the towel and used formula. She's been ginormous ever since.

 

If you've done everything else, I'd give it a try. If it doesn't work, you can pursue getting a referral to a gastroenterologist. It's just one more box to check to put your mind at ease that you've tried every avenue. It will also make your pediatrician happy that you are a compliant patient and they'll give you less stink eye. It's not fair but it's true.

 

A friend had an underweight baby. When he was about six months old she decided to try formula. It triggered every imaginable allergy you can think of, not only to the few foods he had previously tasted with no problems but also to skin sensitivities such that his father had to wash his hands when he came home from work before touching the baby or the baby's skin erupted in welts; the allergist recommended that my friend continue nursing but to severely restrict her own diet (no beef, dairy, wheat or chicken o_0), and that she add one bottle a day of Nutramgen, because little baby did need to gain weight (the mother was extremely thing, as well; she would forget to eat, and probably wasn't taking in enough calories to provide for the baby). By the time baby was a year old, his allergy reactions were down to a constant runny nose.

 

So, yeah, I'm very glad you didn't have problems, but there can certainly be allergy issues, and it should be very carefully monitored.

[Desert Strawberry]

Mine gained okay at first.  Then she wasn't gaining as well.  Then she stopped completely.  Fortunately by then I had already got to the IBCLC, but she'd tanked my supply by then.

 

She had upper lip tie, a bubble palate, posterior tongue tie, and a recessed chin.

 

We got the ties revised.  Then we did a lot of hard work since she still only wanted to nurse for the initial letdown and wouldn't keep nursing after that to, you know, get what she actually needed.  It did eventually turn around, but it was frustrating.

 

So.  Are you nursing pain-free?  Have you checked for ties?

She lost 8% of her birthweight in the first 12 hours. She was unable to nurse or suck at all. I fed her with a syringe, then a bottle, then a nipple shield, and now just nursing sans equipment. Her latch is good. No pain. I am just getting over a cold and she has a little cough. I'm sure that's not helping. Her weight and feeding has been an ongoing struggle.

 

The extra milk is helping. It's only been since Monday, but already she is pooping more with better color and texture, and she seems happier. Even a teeny bit plumper. 

 

She seems to tire quickly at the breast. She stays longer with the bottle and is less fatigued.

[Plateau Mama]

My 3rd was 9lb at birth and fell to below 8lb. We had trouble nursing at first but even when that was resolved His growth curve was a steady decline. All the way off the chart. My dr wasn't concerned because his growth curve was steady. When he was 4 months old we started him on solids. Full fat everything. He's now 7, about 50% but that is still with full fat everything and eating nonstop.

 

He has always been very active, even as a newborn. My dr says he just burns a lot of calories.

[Desert Strawberry]

T didn't gain weight well until I threw in the towel and used formula. She's been ginormous ever since.

 

If you've done everything else, I'd give it a try. If it doesn't work, you can pursue getting a referral to a gastroenterologist. It's just one more box to check to put your mind at ease that you've tried every avenue. It will also make your pediatrician

Ped is not pushing formula and is not really terribly concerned.

[La Condessa]

She did. It has been treated and resolved. Possibly she just needs more time.

That sounds like it might well be it. With my babies who had problems learning to nurse properly and one who was tongue tied, I was told it takes 2 to 3 times as long as they were doing it incorrectly to learn to nurse effectively the correct way.

[Desert Strawberry]

Luna was 6 pounds 15 ounces at birth and 7 pounds 3 ounces now. Not a big girl.

[Desert Strawberry]

That sounds like it might well be it. With my babies who had problems learning to nurse properly and one who was tongue tied, I was told it takes 2 to 3 times as long as they were doing it incorrectly to learn to nurse effectively the correct way.

Huh. Well, it's only been 2 weeks or so. She may need a lot of time. 

[Guest]

Our dd was small at birth.  She gained weight, but it was slowly.  She wound up having tons of food allergies.  I would probably look into that.

 

ETA: dd eventually outgrew her allergies (and was desensitized to two)... that is when she actually put on weight.  

[La Condessa]

The extra milk is helping. It's only been since Monday, but already she is pooping more with better color and texture, and she seems happier. Even a teeny bit plumper.

 

She seems to tire quickly at the breast. She stays longer with the bottle and is less fatigued.

Yay, that's great that it's working! Your last sentence sounds just like my oldest--she would nurse only long enough to take the edge off her hunger, then drop off into an exhausted sleep, she spent so much energy nursing. I was waking her frequently to feed around the clock and trying to keep her awake and eating as long as possible, but the lactation specialist said she was expending the majority of her calories just on the effort of nursing, with little left over for growth. (She was an inefficient suckler). She told me to nurse her using pumped milk in the SNS for no longer than 20 minutes per side, then offer a bottle to see if she was still hungry.

 

Many people will tell you to never use a bottle, but with all four of my kids I found that when they were getting enough calories through supplementing, they had much more energy to keep trying to nurse. All of them eventually were able to nurse exclusively without supplementation.

[KungFuPanda]

My oldest was tiny. 5 1/2 lbs but full-term and strong. It took us a good 8 weeks to get nursing down so that it wasn't constant or uncomfortable. We never experienced a loss in wright, just a very slow gain from a tiny beginning. At one year she still hadn't hit ten lbs. She weighed thirty lbs at the age of six. She's 18 now, 5'' 3", somewhere near 100 lbs, and healthy and beautiful. She's always been healthy except for developing asthma in adolescence. She's all arms and legs with a small torso. Dance teachers love her.

[prairiewindmomma]

 You are absolutely right.....drinking from a bottle is less work than nursing, and if she is getting tired from nursing, the extra bottles at the end are a great idea!  We did the breast followed by bottle thing for a few weeks with one of mine, and she naturally transitioned to breast only. You wouldn't think eating and keeping oneself warm would be such a calorie burn, but it's amazing what some small tweaks can do to help a baby put on weight!

[Guest]

My baby was FTT from something like five months to nine months. He also just didn't look well in the face; sort of gaunt.

 

In retrospect, I wish I had tried giving him infant formula along with the bfing. I don't know if that would have been better, but his weight gain normalized after he started having baby food.

[Deee]

My son was 4.2kg at birth. At 3 months he was 4.6 kg. He had awful reflux and it took a hospital admission for non-organic failure to thrive to finally get a diagnosis and some treatment. We started him on solids early. By 3 months, I was feeding every 90mins. At 14, he's about a month off six feet tall. He's a good eater, but has a very well regulated appetite. He never overeats and he will always be slim like his father (unlike his mother.....). Its worth keeping in mind that most of the weight charts were developed in the 70's and 80's when most babies were bottle feed. Breastfed babies tend to be a bit lighter.

 

It is a tough time. I cringe when I look back at baby photos of those first few months. If your doctor is happy, keep doing what you are doing, rest up when you can, and enjoy your baby.

[La Condessa]

It is a tough time. I cringe when I look back at baby photos of those first few months. If your doctor is happy, keep doing what you are doing, rest up when you can, and enjoy your baby.

I have a darling photo of dd1 spontaneously kissing dd2 when she was 3 1/2 weeks old. I've never been able to bring myself to print and hang it, though. Dd2 looks so pale and gaunt, with knobby joints and that almost translucent look their skin gets.

[happypamama]

I'm thinking she just needs a little more time to catch up, if she wasn't transferring milk well at first because of ties. But she's now above birth weight, and that's great! Especially if the ped isn't really worried, I wouldn't be too worried yet.

[chiguirre]

Ped is not pushing formula and is not really terribly concerned.

Then you shouldn't be terribly concerned either. I'd give it until the next well check to see how it goes. She'll probably start gaining nicely now that the tie is fixed. If she doesn't it will be time to worry next month. Don't borrow trouble now.

[Desert Strawberry]

Then you shouldn't be terribly concerned either. I'd give it until the next well check to see how it goes. She'll probably start gaining nicely now that the tie is fixed. If she doesn't it will be time to worry next month. Don't borrow trouble now.

She has a weight check scheduled for next week. I want to bring her in tomorrow for my peace of mind. I'll be in town running errands. I need to see that she's gaining something.

 

He's not worried in that i've had small babies before and she's had a late start. It took her 3 weeks to regain her birth weight. He wants her to have pumped milk after each feeding. 

[Ellie]

Ped is not pushing formula and is not really terribly concerned.

 

Good for him. :thumbup1:  And you. With this info, I would say to continue doing what you're doing (as long as the baby isn't going longer than 3 hrs between feedings). :001_smile:

[Debbi in Texas]

My son was born weighing only 3 pounds 4 ounces at 37 weeks. Placenta had stopped growing at 21 weeks. He started gaining weight and was able to come home in 17 days. In the hospital I used a pump, but once we got home there was no way I could pump the milk and feed it to him every 2 hours round the clock. He wouldn't switch.

 

He never took more than around 20 ounces of formula in a day. All through his childhood it was difficult to get him to eat. I have worried about this kid's eating all his life. Doctors showed no concern however. He has always been in very low percentiles on the chart and sometimes off the chart.

 

He is now at college, still skinny as a stick. But he makes very good grades and is healthy.

 

I have no advice. Just wanted you to know that there are people who have lived through it.

[Tsuga]

I was FTT--so much that only formula was an option. My mom made her own (!). She wasn't able to pump.

 

I don't remember being a skinny baby although there are photos of it.

 

Actually I don't remember at all, and I turned out fine. I love my mom. I am so grateful she did her best.

 

Hugs. to you all.

[Plink]

Just ((hugs))      BTDT, and still carry the emotional scars.  

 

Your milk supply does not = your value as a mom

 

Baby will be okay, even if there really is something wrong and you have to accept plan B as your reality

 

It truly is okay to pump, supplement, or do whatever you need to in order to get baby fed.  Ignore anyone who insists that the problem exists because you are doing it wrong - obviously they are not awake with you for an hour each at one, three, and five AM, and they have no clue.  

 

Supply issues can and do appear out of nowhere.  Our bodies change, and babies are just learning this suckling gig.  

 

Don't accept the fallacy that any and all nursing issues are the domain of the mom.  Ask to have baby's mouth checked.  Twice.

 

Buy your own infant scale and keep track of weight gain/loss on your own - you can use baby's weight before and after feedings to track intake rather than pumping to measure output.  MUCH less time consuming and better for your supply.  Also, this will completely eliminate the "different scale/different weight" problem.

 

IF you do end up needing to supplement, try looking into supplemental nursing systems - the baby latches on to mom, and gets an extra boost of formula at the same time.  They are slightly cumbersome, but wonderful creations!

[Okra]

I had this happen to me.  Baby wasn't eating quite enough and she was very very sleepy.  Because she wasn't eating enough through nursing then she had to conserve her energy through sleeping.  While I had never ever bottle fed my other children, we switched to breastmilk in bottles, and occasionally formula.   It was quite amazing when she started gaining weight, she was so much more alert and seemed happier.  Nursing was just extra work for her and the bottles helped to get more food into her.

 

I would breastfeed, and then pump.  And, occasionally feed bottles of formula.  For all those people that say formula is terrible, well formula was an amazing supplement for us.  It kept my daughter healthy.  Before her I couldn't even imagine opening a can of formula, but I can honestly say formula was part of what kept my daughter healthy.  So, even though it might not have ever been in your plans, keep in mind it's not a terrible evil either.

 

Ultimately, if you find a way to help her gain weight, then that's what you need to do, even if it wasn't in your ideal plans.  I know I struggled with my decisions, I had never bottle-fed a baby at all.  But ultimately a healthy bottle-fed baby is better than an unhealthy breastfed baby.

 

Also, we bought a baby-scale off of ebay.  Great investment for moms worried about baby weight gain.

 

Overall, hugs, I know this is really hard.

[sarasue7272]

My oldest sd is 7.5 now, and was a skinny baby. He is still skinny with the same body type as my dh. I had inverted n1pples so that made things harder. I stressed and pumped and woke him up at night to nurse. At about 3 months, my ped said maybe this is just how he is. And that was true. He probably would have gained better if I had a better supply but he is fine now. I have never been able to pump much.

I weighed him with my digital food scale. Put a smallish cookie sheet on the scale with a baby blanket on top and hit tare. It went up to eleven lbs.