Q re Newborn Weight Gain

Charlotte51

Hi Ladies!

I was wondering what other people's experience was with newborn weight gain after birth - ie how long to get back to birth weight, average weight gain by week, issues with not gaining enough, any color like that?

As background I am a FTM with a 13 day old who was pretty skinny at birth (full term and 5lb 15oz).  She is just now barely back to birth weight despite my having a strong milk supply, supplementing BF with pumped milk, feeding at least every 2-3 hours and her having the usual # of wet and dirty diapers.  Her pediatrician is monitoring this v closely (we go in for weight checks every few days) and they are a bit concerned so I was just wondering what experience others have had.  Many thanks in advance!

sschwege

My understanding is they should be back to their birth weight by 2 weeks and that's where your child is at correct?  If it makes you feel any better DD was 1oz shy of her birth weight at her 2 week appointment and pedi shrugged her shoulders and said, 'close enough'.  I was EBFing

munchkinrhodie

Mine was also born pretty small, he was born at 39 weeks and weighted 5 pounds 8 ounces. I had issues with breast feeding and never told to supplement with formula so sadly he ended up in the NICU the day after we were both discharged (his weight had dropped to 4 pounds). He was back to his birth weight by the time he was a week old. I was told to give him preemie formula (since it has extra calories in it) and mix it also in the small amount of breast milk I was pumping (I stopped when he was 1 month). He is now 3 months old, still a little peanut but he is healthy so the doctor isn't concerned. At his 2 month old check up he weighed 9 pounds so he getting bigger slowly! He still is drinking the preemie formula (since he is only in the 1% percentile for his age) but I'm happy to report he is finally out of newborn clothes and wearing 3 month clothes! I know it's scary but it sounds like your doctor is monitoring it pretty closely so try not to worry too much and know your not alone, some babies are just born tiny

Avion22

Our baby was a chunker at birth (9 lb 14 oz), and was 9-3 when we left the hospital.  He's been eating like a champ, nursing is going great, he eats every 90ish minutes during the day and every 3 hours at night, and at his 2-week appointment he was only 9-7 (on a different scale, so I'm a little skeptical, but still).   The doctor wasn't TOO worried, but I'm definitely disappointed that he's not back to birth weight (and I SWEAR he's bigger now than when he was born), and we go back in another week for a weight check.  I doubt he'll have gained 7 oz in a week, so I'm guessing they're going to want more weight checks after that.    

berenely

I have kind of an eccentric story, but I'll share anyway. Amelia was born at 8# 11 oz. At her 2 week dr appointment (when she was 3 weeks old) her weight was 7# 12 oz. LO and I had a rough time breastfeeding. I had low supply and had to supplement. We also had to go in for periodic weight checks. I was told that babies should gain anywhere between 1/2 oz to 1 oz per day. Baby girls usually stick closer to the 1/2 oz mark but not Amelia. Lol, she's been consistently gaining 1 oz a day for a while. At her 2 month appointment she weighed 11 lbs, 2 oz.

I'll also add that it took her until she was a little over a month old to make her birth weight again.

HTH! GL!

alittlelibrary

My guy was 8lb even at birth, 7lb 11oz when we left hospital and up to 8lb 8pz at two weeks. We are having a rough time with nursing, but I'm pumping enough to keep up with him. He noticeably went from 3hrs to 90min between feeds a few days ago.

maelic

My girl was 9lbs8oz at birth, 8lbs13oz two days later. My milk came in and she gained 4oz in less than 48hrs, she's up to 9lbs1oz. We have another weight check on Tuesday but she seems to be making steady progress.

Aliki

My girl was 9 lb 10 oz at birth, and 9 lb 3 oz at discharge.

At 5 days, she was down to 8 lb 3 oz. and I was told I needed to supplement with formula because she had lost too much weight.

I later realized that it can take up to 2 weeks for a baby to regain birth weight, so I'm a little disappointed at my pediatrician's advice to start supplementing. I'm glad it ended up not affecting my breastfeeding relationship (DD is almost 1 month old and now EBF). 

It ended up taking DD 16 days to regain her birth weight.

LiamsPoppa

My son's birth ( 4/9 ) weight was 7.1 by the time we left hospital it was 6.9 At is 1st dr visit he was only 7.1 1/2 now he's( 4/26) 8.5 1/2 ! He's gobbling down 4oz per feeding / combo of wife breast milk & formula. Sleeping close to 4 hrs at a time . He responded well so far to stroller walks .

Kriztyn

I'm still struggling with this.. my LO was 7lb 10oz at birth and has been 7lb 3 oz for 2 weeks now... just can't seem to gain. We finally got to 7lb 5 oz yesterday but I only think it was because I fed her RIGHT before the dr. appt. Continuing to feed every 2 hours and supplementing one formula feeding at night like dr. ordered.

CapricornPig

My LO was born at 36 wks 5 days, started at 5 lbs 13 oz, and dropped to 5 lbs 2 oz by the time we were discharge (2 days later). As with most newborns, particularly early babies, she was super sleepy and had a hard time staying awake or feedings. To add to that, she had bad jaundice, which made her even more sleepy! I was also told to supplement, whic I did because I knew we had a 2-fold problem with the weight drop and needing to get her to pee/poop a lot to get rid of the jaundice. It's taken 3 wks 3 days to get her back to her birth weight, but now I'm moving away from formula and towards mostly breast milk, and trying to nurse more than pump/bottle feed. Goal is to hit 6 lbs by end of this wk, and to EBF by end of next wk.