BF baby weightloss

Hi, I understand where you’re coming from but please know it is completely normal for babies to lose weight in the first few days. Both of mine lost more than that in the first few days. You are doing amazing. 💗

Hi! I had a c section and baby had lost 9.3% of her weight at the time of discharge. They almost didn’t discharge us as 10% would have been the cut off. I started supplementing with formula until my milk came in. Now that my milk has come in, I pump so that I know exactly how many ounces baby is taking. We feed her every 2-3 hours depending on her hunger cues. Generally every 2.5 hours during the day and 3 hours during the night! We are 12 days pp now and baby has made it to her birth weight.

It's really common for babies to lose weight initially. The health visitors don't seem to get too worried unless it's 10% or more. They just track it to make sure that babies get back up to birth weight by the second or third health visit. So don't beat yourself up! You're doing great. If you're concerned or if you just want a bit more support or encouragement, I'd recommend going to a breastfeeding cafe or similar (if you have them where you are). I got loads of positive support at one near us.

@Clare thank you, it’s just so frustrating especially when at the start I was asking for support and I didn’t get it x

@Natty thank you for this. I am going to try expressing and topping up her feeds. I’m glad your little one has made it back to her birth weight! X

My little girl had a fairly traumatic birth as she got stuck (shoulder dystocia) and then a few days later dropped 9.5% of her birth weight. I felt the same as you, I'd tried so hard with breastfeeding. They told me not to fret - that it's very common for babies to drop a fair amount as it's a stressful time for both them and you and the first few days are a huge adjustment. I stuck with it, didn't express, just fed her as soon as I felt she wanted it. I ditched the tracking apps I was using for feeds as they made me anxious. At our next check she had piled on the weight. I would just have lots of feeds and maybe even a day where you snuggle in bed, put a good series on and feed her on and off ❤️😊 best of luck. My daughter is a year now and still exclusively breastfed, I remember the early days well. They were definitely the hardest x

My baby lost 9% of his weight and didn’t get back to birth weight until nearly 2 weeks old. It’s totally normal! They have a lot of water weight to start with! But if you’re nervous you could definitely pump and feed EBM by bottle for a couple feeds to see how much she is eating.

Hun all babies loose weight after birth totally normal it’s all the fluid they loose when they are born and will regain it very soon! Usually within 2 weeks Don’t feel you have to start bottle feeding just based on this.your breast will produced the exact amount of milk you need for baby, my LO was fed with bottle and breast from birth due to low birthweight and I regret starting bottles from D1, 6m down the line she refused breast at around 4m and is now formula fed. My advice would be continue with breast feeding if that’s whah you want to do exclusively don’t fall under the pressure of Bottle top ups (unless recommended by health care professional) If you baby got plenty wet & dirty nappies … if so they are getting enough milk xxx

Thank you everyone! We’re getting plenty of wet nappies thankfully, but she’s becoming very reluctant to breast feed. They’ve advised us to make sure she doesn’t go any longer than 3 hours between feeds but she literally won’t latch sometimes, no matter what I do. I’ve started expressing as I was finding my boobs to be very sore and full so she’s now getting breast milk from a bottle when she won’t latch. I’m trying not to stress but it’s hard to not feel defeated though. Especially since I’ve tried so hard. I just don’t know what I’m doing right now 🫣 definitely feel like I need more support from my midwife x

We lost 12.5% and it took a good few weeks to get it back. I celebrated with two cakes. Definitely not a failure. He went down to the 2nd percentile but he’s now a 75th percentile chunk. Started at 50th. I just fed really often, probably every 2 hours. We only topped up with pumping once or twice. You’ll both get there! Keep making sure there’s enough dirty and wet nappies.

I’m so sorry you’re not getting enough support from your midwife. I suggest finding out whether there are any breastfeeding support groups in your area. Which area are you in? If she is finding it hard to latch then it might be worth getting her checked for tongue tie. It’s quite common and can be snipped if she does have it. It can restrict baby’s ability to feed x

@Clare thank you lovely, i actually went to a group on Friday but the support team weren’t available so going to another one on Monday. I’m over in Teesside. Unfortunately I now have a blocked duct which is impacting my supply and ability to express!

@heather thank you for sharing your story lovely. I’m glad your little one is thriving now 🥰 x

Ah I hope that you can get the help you need tomorrow or be signposted where to turn. It’s tough at the start but things do get easier xx

@Clare I hope you’re right; because I am really struggling. I don’t want to give up but I completely understand why people don’t continue x

My boy lost 14% of his birth weight! And didn’t get back up to it until 2.5-3weeks later! But midwife let us know that was mostly water weight he lost and it wasn’t an issue with my milk

I would do every 3 hours and on demand to build up supply and make sure she's getting plenty, personally I didn't like pumping because I saw it as time I could have been feeding her and the pump can't get all the milk so the amount you see isn't all of what baby gets, try some extra feeds between the 3 hours and see how you go x

@April oh bless him! I wish my midwife had of said that, she literally just told me she’s lost a lot of weight and kept telling me to feed every 3 hours which were already doing! Todays weigh day 🫣😭

@Selina yeah that’s what we’ve been doing, we’ve also been offering the occasional formula top up if we’ve ran out of expressed milk. Unfortunately I’ve got a blocked duct now so trying to unblock that x

Has someone checked the latch and if baby is swallowing? X

@Selina she latches great on the right, no problems at all but the left she struggles. It takes us a while to get her latched x

Baby girl has put on 1oz, I feel so defeated as was hoping for more. They checked my positioning and everything looked good, baby just wouldn’t latch. I don’t even know what to do anymore. Considering giving up on breast feeding and either expressing or formula feeding. I already express for one or two of her feeds but I don’t know what to do for the best and I’m so defeated

Shes still young and you're both still new to it, give it a little longer on the plus side she's not losing weight anymore that means you're heading the right way x

@Selina thank you, I’ve spent the whole afternoon/evening beating myself up over it

Just feeling very defeated but I’m going to try the clinic tomorrow to get some support and try for another few weeks

I’ve been told that the weightloss is probably because I’m using nipple shields - unfortunate due to my anatomy I wouldn’t be able to feed without them. Has anyone got any success stories?