Babies: 0 - 3 Months

poor weight gain / weight loss (xp)

Our baby lost 13% of his birth weight at the hospital, probably because we didn't know what we were doing with feeding. We got lots of info, changed our ways, and ended up with a baby who gained 5oz over a 3 day period of going to the doctor each day starting right after coming back from the hospital. We felt better. 

Fast forward to out 2 wk (12 day) check-in. We kept up all of the same habits. Baby lost 2 oz. He is still 8 oz below his birth weight.  We were so surprised.

This is what I don't get. We have had 8 feedings minimum a day, usually 10. He has never had fewer than 6 wet diapers, usually 9ish. He has never had fewer than 4 poop diapers, usually 6ish. Anyone else hit all of the stats but has a weight gain problem? What did the doctors say? They told us to supplement breast with bottle (expressed milk--I have extra due to pumping and leaking). We'll see if that works. What did you hear? I am especially curious about the fact that the diapers fit guidelines.

One thing we know is bad about his eating is that he is super slow/tired/lazy. So feedings take a while. But that doesn't explain the wet & poop diapers. 

ETA: I am breastfeeding; bottles are just supplement and are also all breast milk. 


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Re: poor weight gain / weight loss (xp)

  • This exact thing happened to us.  DS lost an entire pound after birth and it took him 26 days to regain it.  His diapers were textbook also.  I have a few questions for you:

    1.  Are you breastfeeding?

    2.  Did you have a c-section?

     There was really no explanation for our LO's weight loss/slow gain.  We had to supplement with 1/2 oz of formula at each feeding.  That seemed to jump start his gain and we've since stopped the formula.  My theory is this:  I was pumped full of 4 bags of fluid before my c-section.  My swelling was so bad I was 10 lbs heavier when I left the hospital than when I went in.  I had to leave the hospital in my bare feet.  I think that DS was swollen too and alot of his weight loss was fluid.   It also might have been a milk supply issue....but I doubt that because his diapers were normal.  Some babies just take longer to gain weight.  As long as his diapers appear normal (especially his pee - is it clear to light yellow?) then he's most likely fine.  

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  • imageKatieSings:

    This exact thing happened to us.  DS lost an entire pound after birth and it took him 26 days to regain it.  His diapers were textbook also.  I have a few questions for you:

    1.  Are you breastfeeding?

    2.  Did you have a c-section?

     There was really no explanation for our LO's weight loss/slow gain.  We had to supplement with 1/2 oz of formula at each feeding.  That seemed to jump start his gain and we've since stopped the formula.  My theory is this:  I was pumped full of 4 bags of fluid before my c-section.  My swelling was so bad I was 10 lbs heavier when I left the hospital than when I went in.  I had to leave the hospital in my bare feet.  I think that DS was swollen too and alot of his weight loss was fluid.   It also might have been a milk supply issue....but I doubt that because his diapers were normal.  Some babies just take longer to gain weight.  As long as his diapers appear normal (especially his pee - is it clear to light yellow?) then he's most likely fine.  

    1 -- yes, I should have made that clear and will edit my post.

    2 -- no, I had a really easy vaginal delivery. Baby was on the smaller side, though -- 6 lbs, 6 oz. He is still under 6 lbs now. 


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  • baby may not have a good enough latch to get enough milk in a BF session.  How much of a bottle will he take at 1 time?

    He probably is a lazy/sleeper eater because of the weight loss, unfortunately.  

    I had this problem as well with BF.  I started to pump and give her a bottle after each session.  While my DH gave her the bottle, I pumped again.  She was a lazy/sleepy eater.  It was because she was not getting enough food and would fall asleep.  Too tired because of lack of food.  Once we made sure she was getting enough from a bottle and gained weight, over 8 lbs, she quickly woke up and fed better.

    I would give more bottles, pump more.  Make sure the baby gets enough to eat.

    good luck.

  • I want to start by saying, I hope this isn't your problem, and I don't want to scare you, but just make you aware that it could be something more  serious. 

    We had the same problems, DS was 6lbs6oz at birth and dropped down to 5lbs 11oz, after 5 weeks he is still only 6lbs 4oz, at three weeks our pedi. found a heart murmur, and we learned that DS has a hole in his heart.  This is what is making him sleepy, eating slow, gaining almost no weight etc.  His body is burning too many calories to make his heart work so there is nothing left to gain weight.  So if you are really concerned make sure to be your child's advocate...that's what I ended up having to do, and see a LC, I saw 4 before I finally felt confident that nursing was actually going well.

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  • imagetriplea1819:

    baby may not have a good enough latch to get enough milk in a BF session.  How much of a bottle will he take at 1 time?

    He probably is a lazy/sleeper eater because of the weight loss, unfortunately.  

    I had this problem as well with BF.  I started to pump and give her a bottle after each session.  While my DH gave her the bottle, I pumped again.  She was a lazy/sleepy eater.  It was because she was not getting enough food and would fall asleep.  Too tired because of lack of food.  Once we made sure she was getting enough from a bottle and gained weight, over 8 lbs, she quickly woke up and fed better.

    I would give more bottles, pump more.  Make sure the baby gets enough to eat.

    good luck.

    That theory -- about not having enough food/energy in order to be able to feed properly -- has been stated to us a lot. That is why we are not switching to giving him the bottle after every feeding to make sure he has enough. Hopefully it will work.

    People have also mentioned the latch and that was the case at first (before we even had the initial 5 oz weight gain) but I know that's not the problem now. We get good latches now. And on the same latch he can be both great (deep sucking) and lazy or sucking shallowly.  


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  • We had a similar situation it just didn't last as long. DS was 6lbs 7oz at birth & by the day we were d/c'd home he was down to 5lbs 10oz and over the next couple of days got down to 5lbs 5oz...anyways, long story short. I was BFing & he looked like a champ even the LC thought so. After meeting with the pedi & LC's a few more times we found out that he was mildly tongue tied which meant, even though he looked like he was nursing great, he wasn't able to get his tongue out far enough to pull milk from me very well. Ended up going to an ENT & they "clipped" his tongue. It was a super quick procedure that DS didn't seem to mind at all & after that he has been gaining weight perfectly. 

     May be something you want to have looked at; apparently it is frequently missed when its not too severe...until the child has trouble talking. Good luck. 

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  • My DS was 7lbs 9oz at birth, 7 lbs 12oz two weeks later, EBF.  Fast forward 4 weeks, and he goes in for pink eye infection.  Turns out he is only 8lbs 6 oz, so had only gained 10oz in 4 weeks.  He went from 25% percentile to 5th percentile.  I started the mini pill somewhere in there so they think that decreased my milk supply.  The funny thing is that he always had wet/poopy diapers 8-10x day and had no symptoms of dehydration or lethargy.  So for the last 2 weeks I have been BF frequently, pumping a couple times a day, and supplementing with 1-2 oz of formula after some feedings (esp at night).  He gained 20oz in 2 weeks, and is now 9lbs 14oz. Still only 10th percentile. I am now making enough milk but want to continue to supplement to get him back up on the growth chart.  LIke you I thought the wet diaper count would ensure good nutrition, but it turns out it can be wrong.
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