She lost 6 oz!

[sattygirl99]

Yeah... 6 oz in 24 hours... Yesterday she was 11.11 (pre feed) and 11.15.5 (post) and today she was 11.5 (pre) and 11.9.5 (post).

I feel kind of inadequate... Supply is supposed to be highest at night... Yet I cut out night supps and she loses weight... 6 oz in 24 hours isn't a little either! That's a week's worth of gain in 24 hours!

I think I'm just going to go back to making 4 oz bags and letting her take them all if she wants.. It's all breast milk... The worst that will happen is she'll get chubby off of mama milk. Better chubbers off of mama milk than off of formula!

I'm trying to not to beat myself up... My supply is what it is.... I've done everything that I can (and I think I'm just going to stop the dom, it doesn't make a difference anyway). But I feel kinda like crap... This is what I get for trying to cut her off supplements... Obviously, I don't have the supply (or maybe it's not my supply per se, but the fat content?) to nourish my baby on my own...

I'm using a Medela scale (Rented) and I weighed her twice both times so it's accurate... A friend kept saying, 'the scale has to be off, etc.' but I can't see how it would be...

[starling&diesel]

I know that must be worrisome, Satty

... but I just wanted to give you the advice my Lactation Consultant, Midwife and Pediatrician all gave me: DON'T RENT A SCALE. Babies weight fluctuates just like ours ... If babe is meeting milestones, happy, alert and developing, then don't weigh her daily. Weigh her weekly, if at all.
You will drive yourself bonkers, hon.

[Cherry Alive]

Originally Posted by starling&diesel

I know that must be worrisome, Satty

... but I just wanted to give you the advice my Lactation Consultant, Midwife and Pediatrician all gave me: DON'T RENT A SCALE. Babies weight fluctuates just like ours ... If babe is meeting milestones, happy, alert and developing, then don't weigh her daily. Weigh her weekly, if at all.
You will drive yourself bonkers, hon.

Really good advice! Also, sometimes small environmental things can really change weight by a few ounces and it doesn't mean anything. Scales aren't totally accurate either.

Last week I had my scare with my DD when she had lost 2 oz in a week right before her 2-month visit/vax. Well, two nights before we went she marathon fed—totally making up for the weight and then some.

[AngelaM]

Yes, I agree with Starling&Diesel. The scale can be useful to see how much she's taking in per feeding. Use it for that if you want to/feel like you need to. But don't weigh her otherwise. You'll make yourself crazy, and as long as she's meeting her milestones, having wet dipes, etc., it really doesn't matter if she fluctuates a bit.

, mama. I know how hard it is.

[kiara7]

Please, don't do this to yourself. I understand you, but constant weighing is going to drive you insane, mama. Once a week, on the same day perhaps. There are a lot of factors affecting weight (pee and poop, time of day, etc.)

[sattygirl99]

Thanks everyone!

I did decide to go ahead and put a little more in her supplement bag.. I increased it to 3.5 oz and just let her take whatever she wants. She's been sometimes taking it all, sometimes leaving an oz or so. I figure it's all breastmilk and it's not going to hurt her to let her take whatever she wants... I'm worrying far too much about how much she's taking in and not focusing on just breastfeeding her. I need to let go the' control factor that I have because we supplement. It doesn't matter how much she takes, really...

[kristi96]

Actually I think that using the scale is a wonderful idea. However, I wouldn't just do one one pre/post weight. When my supply was super low I rented the medela scale for a month and did pre/post weights all month. One pre/post weight isn't accurate because the baby could be comfort nursing or just having a snack. I find that my DD takes in the most in the morning.

P.S. I didn't pay atention to how much the scale said she weighed I just paid attention to the amount it said she took in. Now you can't do this with any scale you need to rent the Medela Scale.

[sattygirl99]

We are using a Medela scale. It's rented, lol.

I was just coming back to post a bit of an update now that my head is on straight...

On another board, someone mentioned that the 6oz could easily (and likely) be bowel/bladder matter and it makes sense... She did poo twice yesterday instead of
once.

So tomorrow is a brand new start... We're going back to 2.5 oz in the supplemeter and no overnight supplementing. I'll weight her after the first feeding (that's when the LC said to weight her, after a good nursing), write it down and then pack up the scale until next Friday.

I guess I got kind of nervous... I don't have faith in my body to nourish her (why would I, it's failed me thus far) and when I saw her weight go down by such a drastic amount, I kinda freaked out. Her overnight diapers weren't as wet (wet but not soaked) and it got to me. I'm thinking way too far into it... She was happy and alert, playing and active and that was with 4 or 5 days on the lowered supplements. The only thing that was new was no night supplements. But she seemed pretty content, went back to sleep after nursing...

SO... starting over... and taking it one day at a time... I prayed a lot today... Prayed for the strength to continue nursing her through our 'special needs' and prayed that someday, we can be supplement free (or maybe down to an oz or something). I believe we may be able to someday be partially supplement free (maybe the earlier feeds but supplement afternoon/evening feeds). I'm going to watch my baby and not the scale. She'll tell me if she needs more.

BTW - How many wet diapers SHOULD an almost 4 mo old have? And should they be saturated or just a little wet? We use cloth...

[TiredX2]

Looking at your numbers, I think they actually prove that she is getting plenty of milk. Both weights show a 4.5 ounce gain simply due to nursing. Weight fluctuates as you mentioned, so I would be looking for more of a pattern.

You know now that she *IS* taking in plenty of your milk at each feeding. Now, like it sounds like you've decided, you just need to take a big breath and wait some time. At four months a weekly (or even after two weeks) weigh-in is going to be more meaningful than a daily one. When babies are pooping 6 times a day, wieghing them at any time is not going to make *that* big of a difference. But as they slow down it can make a HUGE difference.

I am really impressed with how hard you are trying to have faith in your body and your ability to nurse your DD. I am sure it must be so hard and I know you only want to do what is best for her.

[starling&diesel]

Originally Posted by sattygirl99

I guess I got kind of nervous... I don't have faith in my body to nourish her (why would I, it's failed me thus far)

I'm there with you, hon. Right there with you. Hang in there, mama. Your are doing so well!

[loraxc]

On another board, someone mentioned that the 6oz could easily (and likely) be bowel/bladder matter and it makes sense... She did poo twice yesterday instead of
once.

YES, this can make a difference. I had a baby scale in my home for, oh, 6 months or so. (My DS was FTT and my midwives lent me their scale.) I used to weigh DS multiple times per day. What I learned is that weight can fluctuate 4-6 oz IN A DAY depending on feeds and diaper output. (I wish everyone knew this.)

You should probably either weigh once a week or even every two weeks or multiple times per day. I found I could sort of get a sense of which way things were going with multiple weighs, and see the pattern in terms of "Oh, he just pooped" or "Oh, he just nursed" to find the average.