Weight

Yes I had the same issue with mine. I ended up introducing formula for one feed a day as her weight wasn't going up at all. Then we've ended up transitioning to completely formula fed. I was gutted that breastfeeding didn't work as we'd planned but ultimately, all I cared was that she was fed, happy and healthy.

@Ellie yeah I forgot to mention he was having one bottle of formula a day (at night) but doesn’t even take the full bottle so didn’t see the point in introducing more formula if he doesn’t want it. But everyone’s trying to push me to just use formula now.

Yes my little one is on the 3rd percentile for weight. Exclusively breastfed but I guess it isn’t enough, even though she is on my breast so so often. Just had her 6 week check and they want to monitor her weight more closely. Its stressful :(

@Skye my Harper never finishes a bottle of formula but she takes enough of it over the day. It's definitely worth considering but if you're sure you want to continue with breastfeeding, speak to your health visitor or see if there's breastfeeding groups locally or a team you can be referred to

Yeah similar scenario here too! Born 6lb14, she was last weighed at 5 weeks (now 7 and being weighed again tomorrow) she was 7lb6, 2nd centile. She's EBF no formula at all. She tends to fall asleep on the boob most feeds, however doesn't always stay asleep once I sit her up to burp. Her feeds vary anywhere from 15 mins to 45min+ and she'll still be fussing for more about 40 mins later. I'm convinced she doesn't get enough from my right boob she's always really fussy on that side. I don't get huge amounts when I pump usually not much more than 30ml in 20 mins occasionally manage more. My HV isn't concerned about her weight gain but equally is monitoring it especially as she's dropped 2 centiles. I honestly don't know how to feel about it all, she's a super alert baby when not feeding and doing all the things she *should* be doing for her age, so for me I feel like she's doing well..?

I'm in the same boat - I wasn't able to BF as my son was admitted to hospital at 3 days old so we got stuck in the formula trap. At our 4 week check, HV advised cutting down on formula while I still had the chance to increase my supply. He's gained weight but dropped down to the 2nd centile since doing this. It's so hard knowing what to do. I wish the growth charts were separate for formula and BF babies because we all know there are differences!

@Hannah I never even considered if one boob was not producing much like the other tbh.. will try and pump both and see if I do get the same from each. And yeah my little boy is so alert, has started smiling, trying to roll. Like I don’t feel like he’s behind. But yes his feeds can range like that too.

@Lauren yeah he got admitted the day after he was born and that kept trying to force formula on me. I kept trying the breast while in hospital and eventually he did latch. And now he latches amazingly. He just gets tired and falls asleep and then wakes up wanting more and this goes on for a few hours some days

Have you checked your little one for tongue tie? My little one was feeding every 45 minutes/every hour. He then had a tongue tie division and I’ve seen a complete turn around xx

I had the same thing and we got referred to the hospital to see the feeding team. They put us on a feeding plan to breastfeed for 20 minutes and then top up with expressed milk. They said he could have been losing weight because he was exhausting himself staying on the boob for ages and using more energy to suckle than he was getting from the milk.

@Francesca that’s what I reckon as he’s always knackered after being on the boob for a little while xx

@Skye it could also be to do with your diet and if your milk isn’t fatty enough, so not filling him up enough. I made a few changes to my diet to include a few more high fat foods and it seems to have helped massively x

@Francesca out of interest what did you change? I think I get enough high fat foods in my diet already but curious anyway! I have Nuts in my breakfast and a bit of avocado with lunch and I've just made some Oat protein balls which also have nuts in them to have as snacks in the day.

@Hannah I now have full fat milk instead of semi skimmed. Have eggs and avocado everyday and I swapped my fat free yogurt to full fat Greek yogurt. I’m not sure if this is what helped but bub doesn’t cluster feed as much as he used to before and seems a lot more content after feeds now x

Completely normal for them to want to feed all the time, they eventually sort themselves out xx