Weight Gain

Sorry for the long post! So my little boy was born at 35 weeks and was 5lbs 12oz. We’ve always struggled with his latch since he’s premature and we also found out he has a type 4 tongue tie and torticollis. While it has been painful for me and a struggle for him, there was never any concern with his weight gain. I was told he needed to double his birth weight by 4 months which he has. He’s always been on the lower end of the growth chart but again, the pediatricians never had any concern with his weight gain. Wednesday we went for our regularly scheduled weight check and I was told that from the previous check to that one, he only gained 16 grams a day which was lower then they’d like. Since he gets a bottle of expressed milk before bed anyways, they told me to switch it to formula. Obviously I was upset after everything we’ve been through to try and breastfeed. They didn’t say anything that I could do to up the fat content in my milk or even fortify it by adding formula to it. They just immediately jumped to “give him formula” I guess aside from this being a way to vent, why would his weight be of concern all of a sudden if he’s already met his goal of doubling it? How can I better my milk so I can stop giving him formula? They said they would reevaluate him at his 4 month appointment at the end of the month to see what he needs. I have nothing against formula, I just really wanted to be able to breastfeed him after everything the two of us have gone through these past few months.

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Heyy my little boy was born at 35 weeks and was also 5lb 12oz 🥰 personally I would carry on breastfeeding. You know your baby better than anyone else and if you feel they aren’t gaining weight then maybe introduce a formula feed a day but I wouldn’t be giving up breastfeeding just yet. Xx

Hey! Good for you for sticking to it, even in the painful moments and breastfeeding your little!! Personally I wouldn't stop breast feeding. I would add oatmeal, flax seeds, and lots of nuts into your diet!

I would eat more nutrient based foods. But the thing about breastmilk is that it adapts to babies needs. Your breasts “scans” baby’s saliva and then your milk changes composition based on what the saliva tells your breasts baby needs. So while you can better your diet, your milk basically constantly customizes it’s composition based on baby’s needs. Some babies ARE on the smaller side but not every pediatrician likes that or acknowledges that. So if there aren’t any other issues, I would think about getting a pediatrician who’s more breastfeeding knowledgeable and breastfeeding friendly (not all of them are sadly). Or maybe get a second opinion.

@Andrea Yeah they have us doing only one bottle a day so far :/ I planned on breastfeeding as much as possible !

@✨Wis 🇭🇹 Unfortunately being active duty he’s only allowed to go the military hospital so there’s only a limited amount of pediatricians we are allowed to see :/. I do think he’s just on the smaller side but the doctor who told us to feed him formula was the nicu doctor who came and talked to me when I was in the hospital during delivery

@Julia I see i would still get a second opinion and then if they still see baby needs to gain that weight then I would introduce one bottle a day but do the nutrient based diet as well it should help

My little one was born at 36+1 and only weighed 4lbs 10oz. He also went through phases where he'd put on more weight and then it would plateau a bit, especially when they're having a growth spurt. Do you have scales at home? I was told and lived by: as long as they're putting on weight that's fine. He was exclusively breastfed, so if you feel breastfeeding is what you want to continue, don't stress over it :)

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