Weight gain dropped off

[DaisyRose]

I'm quite worried - I've just had Ruby weighed today (the 1st time since her 8wk check as it is quite difficult to get to the baby clinic and they told me not to worry too much as she was doing well at the beginning) and it seems that she hasn't put on much weight.

She was on the 50th centile when she was born weighwise, and her height was even further up than that but today she's dropped right down to just above the dotted line; I did her height when I got home and that's on the dotted line.

We had this with Rosie - she has always been very tiny (and still is) and they had me at the baby clinic nearly every week until she was a year old but she was only 6lbs 4 when she was born (although she was born at 39+5 wks and Ruby at nearly 42) and she's always had little skinny legs and arms. We're really surprised because Ruby looks pretty plump and has massive rolls of fat on her legs - she just hardly seems to have grown length wise! She's also pretty content and very bright. HV wants me to take her back in a week. I've been feeding her every hour this evening to try and get more milk into her and to stimulate more but now I'm really worried again! I was made to feel awful with Rosie (one HV accused me of not feeding her enough at about 8 months) and I'm dreading having to go through that again.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[Bee]

Yip

Finlay has never been on the bloody lines until recently. He was 6lb 7os @ birth (37 weeks) he then went up slightly, dropped again and again then gained weight. He's been gaining on average 2lbs a fortnight but he only put on 5.5oz in the last fortnight. But we have noticed that he's shot up in height.

Don't worry about it. If she's healthy then she's fine

 

[purple13]

She's also pretty content and very bright.

that's the important thing hon, along with wet nappies.

if you are happy that your daughter is doing ok, then don't bother getting her weighed. don't let anyone make you feel bad.

i had similar problems with my lil boy's weight gain and was pressured into giving him formula top-ups. in retrospect i realise that the pressure and advice from the HV's was all wrong and i'd have been better staying away - all they did was make me doubt myself and my instincts.

 

[Strangeness]

I worried myself sick about my son's weight gain. He was fine until 12 weeks and then gained slowly and dropped a centile. Tamzin has done exactly the same! Was on the 75th centile and has now dropped to the 50th. The hv said this is totally normal for breast fed babies and that the charts are rubbish because they are for bottle fed babies. I just stopped getting my son weighed in the end because I was a wreck and it didn't do us any good. He was happy, healthy and met all his milestones so knew he was fine.

 

[lisa282]

Yes we have had a similar situation with Eden. She was 8lb 6oz at birth and followed the 75th centile for the first 6 weeks or so, putting on roughly 6oz a week. Then she started to tail off a bit and dropped a few centiles until 10 weeks when she only put on 2oz in a week and dropped right down to the 25th centile. She was happy enough so I wasnt too worried but HV told me to keep an eye on her Anyway I think it was just a blip cos this week she has had a bit of a spurt and put on 7oz and jumped up another centile As someone else said, breastfed babies wont follow the standard guides the same as formula fed babies, they are much more likely to have big ups and downs but as long as their general well-being is ok and they are overall gaining weight then dont worry too much

 

[valentine]

Weight gain drop off is really really common in exclusively breastfed babies. It is common for them to pile on weight in the beginning, then drop down the centile lines (please remember the chart in your red book is normally the formula fed chart, here's a link to the breastfed chart for girls by World Health Organisation).

My DD went from above 75th between birth and 3/4 months, down to 25th then 9th at 6 to 7 months. I didn't worry though and no-one else seemed worried around me and it was explained to me that it was a perfectly normal pattern for an exclusively breastfed baby to follow.

I hope you and your girls are well

Valentine Xxx

 

[DaisyRose]

Thanks everyone, and thanks for the link Valantine - I am going to plot her weight on that chart and I'll show it to the HV if I have to!

I think she's fine - she's pretty plump (a bit on the short side though). I just hope they don't start the pressure. Some of the HVs you've had sound really supportive. It's ridiculous that the same charts are used for breast and bottle fed babies! I remember the HVs I had with Rosie though - they tried to pressure me into weaning her early! I wanted a 2nd opinion so took her to the GP to see what they had to say, and was basically told to ignore the HV and act on instinct as Rosie was fine and doing everything she should have been at that age.

I'll let you know how it goes on Weds. I think we're seeing someone else so hopefully they'll be better.

 

[purplebluered]

This thread has just helped me as was going to start one asking about the weight gain. My LO started off on 50th centile at birth and is now nearly on 9th. He's really long and lean, plenty of wet and dirty nappies and is just a very content and happy baby and achieving what he should be currently. My HV was slightly concerned about it but not overly so, and she wasn't worried about it, but me being me, started worrying about it! But now I'm not, so thanks girls

Actually writing it out and reasoning through why I shouldn't be worried has made me realise I really haven't got much of a reason to be worried

 

[Charlie:-)]

I posted an almost identical thread about Maia's weight gain. She was born on the 75th and had brilliant gain following the line nicely then started to drop and she is now go between the 25th and the 9th. My hv's used to give me the third degree and told me to feed her every 2-3 hours which i was anyway. So i tried to feed every 2 go the hope her weight would improve but she often refused to feed and it usually ended us being 3 hours between feeds. One week she only put on 1.5 oz go 2 weeks then the following fortnight she put on 11.5 oz! I also think it depends on where you lay the baby on the scales cause i once laid Maia a bit too far up and when i re-positioned her her weight changed dramatically. After having weeks of questioning i had a bit of a go at my hv and told then they were making of feel like i was doing something wrong and they backed down since then saying that they can see my daughter is fit and healthy so not to worry! Not easy when they go on at me. A friend of mine had the same thing with the same hv and the told her to start weaning her son so she did but he wasn't ready one day she was practically force feeding and was in floods of tears. In the end she went to her gp and made a complaint about the hv. Only this week i took Maia for weighing and she only gained 3 oz in 3 weeks but she has been much more active especially in her jumperoo and she had a sickness but a few weeks back but this time the hv reassured me that she wasn't concerned. Try not to worry you know your baby is healthy and feeding well so take no notice of hv. Sorry for typo im on my mobile.

 

[DaisyRose]

Hi,

Thanks for your replies, it's amazing how many of us this affects. When I went through this with Rosie I think I was really made to feel that she was in a small minority.

I took Ruby to be weighed on Wednesday and although she's only put on 2 oz this week, she seems to be sticking just about the 9th centile, and the HV I saw (a different one to last time) didn't seem at all concerned and said I only need to have her weighed if I'm worried. I think I will her her weighed once a month at one of the groups we go to, just for my own peace of mind, but I'm so relieved after all the pressure I had with Rosie.

Thanks again everyone, we must all try not to worry.