Underweight and milk prduction

JerseyGirl1324

My doctor told me my LO was underweight. she was 10 lbs 12 oz at 2 months. I started pumping each feeding in advance to see how i was producing. she is now 11 lbs 4 oz. I was only producing 2 oz on each side every 2 hours. the doctor told me she should have 3-4 oz at each feeding time. However, when I feed her from my breast, she falls asleep and wakes up hungry an hour or less later. can i keep my milk supply up if I continue to pump her feedings in advance? any advice? how much will she need at 3 months, 4, 5, etc?

rae_dylanzmom

I put your info into an infant weight calculator and came up with 47th percentile, so I am not sure why your pedi would call your daughter underweight. She sounds right on track to me.

erinlovesdavid

Are you doing breast compressions while baby is at breast? That can help keep her awake by stimulating milk flow. Check out this video (watch it till the end):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJrBRYxDNSE

I was skeptical until I tried it, and it really really works!

According to my LC, your baby should be getting about 2.67 oz of BM for every ounce that she weighs. So for an 11 lb 4 oz baby, that would be about 30 oz per day.

I hope this helps a little bit, I can't answer your pumping question because I'm new to pumping, but hopefully someone else will chime in!

jcsumm0

First of all, your pedi sounds unhelpful.  How much did your child weigh at birth?  She should be gaining about .5 oz- 1oz a day.  If she is doing that and having lots of wet diapers, she's probably fine.

Second, your baby is more efficent than a pump, so pumping does really tell you how much she is getting.  What are you doing with the milk you are pumping?  Are you giving it to her and letting her breastfeed?  When I was pumping to supplement (because my daughter wasn't nursing well, she was really small at birth), I would give her 1-2 oz in a bottle, breastfeed her until she was full, then pump and give her that milk at the start of the next feeding.

I was doing all that under the direction of a IBCLC.  I would highly recommend you see a lactation consultant.  They can help you determine whether you need to supplement, how well your baby is nursing, etc.

Also, babies eat about the same amount of breastmilk per day from 1-6 months. 

jcsumm0

Also. kellymom is a great resource https://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/weight-gain_increase.html

https://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/weight-gain.html