4 mo old not gaining weight

[thekuhlkens]

dd had her 4 month check up on thursday, and she has only gained 2 ounces in 2 months. she has been super fussy all the time, was only pooping every 2-3 days and not having enough wet diapers. i knew she was small, and in the last week or two started getting concerned about the diapers, but i really didn't realize it was this bad.

our ped recommended supplementing with pumped milk or formula after each feeding at the breast. i had a bit of milk frozen so we used that but it's gone. and i'm pumping, but not really getting much. it's only been a day, so i'm hoping that will change... but how soon? since she's getting the extra milk, she's sooooo much happier and pooped twice yesterday, so i feel like it's the right thing. but now i'm out of milk and have to give her formula, which kills me.

i'm eating oatmeal and taking fenugreek and drinking mother's milk tea and pumping every time i feed her, which is like every 2 hours or so.

is there a certain way i should go about the pumping??? i've only pumped occasionally with a hand pump before, which never really went all that well. my friend has given me her double electric pump to use, but i'm still not getting much. i've tried pumping one side while she nurses but she's so squirmy and fussing while she nurses that it's fairly difficult. but i think i get more milk that way....

and what else can i do? i called LLL and she recommended a LC to call, but she's expensive and we really don't have the $$
she also suggested looking into getting a SNS? any thoughts on that???

i'm just so discouraged and frustrated and worried and confused...

[alegna]

I don't have a whole lot of advice, you're on the right track with water and oatmeal and such. Does baby co-sleep? If not, start now. Encourage nursing at night (your supply is the highest) As far as pumping, I'd try to pump after every feeding for sure, maybe more than that as well. An SNS or lact-aid is a great idea. Using that instead of bottles could save you a lot of heartache.

good luck!

-Angela

[crbyard]

We had the exact same thing happen to our family only a few months ago. I never got the SNS, but I recommend that you do. Bottles became an issue for us that we have just finally overcome. It sounds like your dc isa bit of a lazy nurser (I hate to use that term, but so it is). Over time, this will cause your milk supply to decrease gradually as she takes less and less in. What I did was pump like a madwoman! For the first couple of weeks, I really had to work hard to pump enough for half of a bottle's worth of milk (2.5 ounces) to feed her every 2-3 hours. I also cried because I had to mix 2.5 ounces of formula in to complete the feeding. Eventually, your breasts will take to the pump and you will begin producing more. Always offer dc your breast first, then the bottle or SNS. At this point, I think you should get the milk into her any way you can. If only a bottle will do it, then accept that. Once she gets her strength back -- and you will definitely notice a difference -- you may want to introduce the SNS. Fenugreek really helped me out alot, too. Personally, I found the three LCs I consulted to be a little "canned" in their responses and they acted frustrated when I said that their suggestions didn't work. I eventually followed the ped's advice to supplement with formula until my supply was back up. After four weeks, she was exclusively breast feeding better than she ever had. In four weeks, we only fed her one small can of formula, so I feel more than o.k. about that. Sometimes the end (back to the breast and healthy weight gain) justifies the mean (formula supplementation to increase strength). I know how you feel, and it just plain sucks! You two will make it, though! Keep your chin up!

[amis2girls]

My ped. said the same thing when my baby was four months. For me, I wasn't paying attention to how she was eating. I was stopping her if it appeared she wasn't interested or switching sides too soon. I made sure she was getting the hindmilk and she's doing fine now. HTH, I needed to watch my older kids with one eye and her eating with the other.

[thekuhlkens]

thanks so much for your support and advice. i'm doing my best not to lose my mind. it's only been two days and i'm already so sick of being constantly attached to the pump...
i'm really having a hard time getting her to nurse, so i think i'm gonna give the LC a call

[operamommy]

I third getting an SNS or a lact-aid. That way your babe can take all her nutrition from the breast, get enough to eat, and stimulate your milk supply all at the same time.

[GatorNNP]

Let us know how you are doing. Hoping you gave the LC a call, one good visit may help prevent you from having to buy a lot of formula.

[gypsypoet]

Power pumping to increase supply

You could also "power pump"

You pump for 10 mins, Rest for 10 mins

pump for 10 mins, Rest for 10 mins

pump for 10 mins, Rest for 10 mins

Do this 3 times a day.

This increased my supply a lot, and I'm only breastfeeding with one breast ( I have an inverted nipple)

My daughter is just about 4 months and I was worried about weight gain too

Much love mama

Sonni

[thekuhlkens]

Thanks so much for the support. I'm doing ok. Things are slowly getting better. I'm pumping for 10 minutes about every 2 hours and using an SNS to feed her. I'm getting about 5 ounces total pumping for the day. I'm really not sure how good that is, except that it's double what I was getting 2 weeks ago. She's taking about 16-18 ounces of supplement in a day. How much does a 4 1/2 month old usually eat from a bottle in a day? I haven't seen a LC, but I've talked to one a couple times on the phone last week. I'm probably going to call her again tonight and possible go to see her. I would like to do the weighing before and after feeding thing to see how much she taking in.

And, a friend has offered to pump and give me her extra milk. She's pumping twice a day for me (she has a 16 month old who's still nursing) and giving me about 6 ounces a day. I'm so grateful to her. I think it's so amazing when someone is willing to do that.

[Melany]

Went through this with my son

First off, if your ped will recomend a LC, your insurance should cover some of that cost. Same goes for your OB. I was able to get my insurance to cover the entire cost of the LC and she came over a few times.

If you get a LC, make sure she is one that comes to your house to see your nursing set-up. That makes a big difference.

For me, my problem turned out to be one of my breasts had severed milk ducts due to surgery I had as an infant. It appears to have corrected itself for my second baby, but it was really hard on me. I also took domperidone and that made a world of difference.

You might also want to consider renting a baby scale to see how much baby is getting during feedings. This will be usful when the ped suggests that you don't know how much baby is eating and that you should consider formula just in case.

I used a SNS while supplementing. That helps because baby is latched on and while getting supplement, stimulating your supply. It's cumbersome to get used to, but it really helped.

Hope this helps!

-Melany