[amyandelle]

Azaliah is now 36 hours old and is down 10% from her birth weight. I am being told by two different Ped's from two different practices (ours and the one here at the hospital) that I should supplement with formula after every time I nurse. My milk is not in yet but I think it will be here today or tomorrow and then of course I can start pumping to supplement with my own milk.

What should I do? I am not totally opposed to the formula if it was just a few times total if she really needs it but after every feed? That seems really excessive to me.

Thanks!
Amy

 

[JamieCatheryn]

Put her to the breast constantly and make sure the latch is very good (sucking and swallowing is evident, she stays on a good long time, plenty of aerola in the mouth). The weight will bounce right back when your milk comes in. Formula could well just make her puke and forget how to nurse, in your shoes I would and did try getting as much colostrum into baby instead. I had the same things exactly happen. See a lactation consultant if you can.

You can pump a little colostrum and bottlefeed it if there is a latch problem that is insurmountable for the moment, but better to nurse directly at the breast. My jaundiced sleepy boy needed this from me, I got .5 oz or so out at a time and fed it to him, that halted the weightloss.

 

[alegna]

Did you have an IV for an extended time? If so, her birth weight was likely artificially inflated and you should go from her lowest weight.

-Angela

 

[pinky]

Is there an IBCLC you can consult with? Most likely formula supplementation is not needed (and in fact would be a bad idea), but it would be good to have a full clinical evaluation to be sure. Make sure you are getting advice from someone who is looking at the WHOLE picture of your baby and not just looking at the numbers.

Warning signs would be--
severe jaundice
baby is lethargic, difficult to wake
baby is dehydrated--no tears, fontanel is depressed
baby is not latching or nursing well

You would also want to be more cautious if she's really small, where that weight loss can make more of a difference.

I agree that after every feed seems excessive, and at any rate supplementing using a bottle is a really really bad idea; you want to use a SNS or Lact-Aid.

good luck, I hope your milk comes in soon!

 

[LadyCatherine185]

sounds completely normal. your babe is only a day and a half old! usually milk comes in between day 3-6. from what I have read it is completely normal for baby not to be back up to birth weight until 2 weeks old. if you start supplementing this early, your body will never produce enough milk to meet your babe's needs. have the baby nurse constantly, she will gain weight in no time.

 

[Macnamara]

I think it is normal for baby to lose about 10%. Babe should be back to birth weight after 2 weeks.

I heard a dr. explain that it is good for baby to lose up to 10% because that means the fluid it out of the lungs, and baby is peeing/pooping like it should.

 

[4evermom]

Babes always loose weight after birth and getting back to birth weight by 2 weeks is the "goal".

 

[TiredX2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alegna Did you have an IV for an extended time? If so, her birth weight was likely artificially inflated and you should go from her lowest weight. -Angela

I would wonder this as well. Most women's milk would not have come in by 36 hours and yet most children do not lose more than 10% of birthweight. Is there any way that the weights could be off? (different scales, w/diaper vs w/out, right after a poop, iv, etc...)?

That said, are you sure it is 10% I am surprised how many people report 10% or great than 10% and when you do the calculation it is actually incorrect.

I would go ahead and watch the weight, but wouldn't worry too much at this point. Unless DD is at particular risk (did you have GD?) it is probably within the range of normal.

 

[lulutattoo]

nak. dd had lost 11 percent by 4 days but was o/w ok--no dehydration, plenty of diapes. Had major latch issues (very little milk transfer). Cranio-sacral therapy fixed things right up, although dd didn't regain her birth weight until almost 4 weeks pp.

 

[Sagesgirl]

Wait, I thought it was perfectly normal to lose 10% of birthweight almost immediately? I'm fairly certain all three of mine did.

If you feel like you have to supplement, do so only with an SNS or by syringe feeding. Do NOT give the baby a bottle this early. Just one bottle can wreck a newborn's latch. I know this from experience.

 

[mamazee]

My first lost 10% and nobody said it was a big deal. Though she was big and I remember the ped. saying that sometimes bigger babies lose a higher percentage of weight than smaller babies.

 

[sunflowergirll]

My first also lost >10%, though she was peeing/pooping up a storm. I had an IV for a long time.

Nurse at the hospital pulled out the formula. I went along willingly, because *of course* I needed to make sure my baby was OK.

12 hours after we started supplementing, my baby stopped nursing. Why should she? I spent the next two months pumping and bottle feeding. I was this close to giving up at least 4 times. Hubby was very supportive and pulled me through. My grandmother-in-law stayed for 6 weeks and helped me get back on track.

NEVER AGAIN FOR ME.

If diapers are good, baby has alert periods, jaundice isn't an issue, latch is good then I would not supplement again.

 

[CHoney]

My DS lost more than 10% so they wouldn't let us leave the hospital until they were confident we got the hang of nursing. DS did gain weight in a few days...we were having latch issues. He had lots of wet diapers, but never had as many poopy diapers as the hospital chart says.

 

[rivkah]

http://www.nursing.emory.edu/pulse/s...on/newborn.htm

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weekl...by_wt_gain.htm

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/80360.php

I think 10% weight loss is normal.

 

[luminesce]

My son lost this much. I gave birth in a birth center but did have an IV because I didn't feel like drinking. I think the IV inflated his weight a bit and helped hinder my supply coming in. (It never really "came in" btw; around day 8, I had a fever and it changed a little, but I never got engorged or had a plentiful supply.)

All that said, as long as your baby is peeing and pooping regularly, there is no emergency and no need to supplement.

I ended up finding out at around 12 weeks after his weight gain curve seemed to being dipping that I had IGT and was only making about 85% of his needs so I supplemented with donor milk from a breast milk bank until around eight months when he started eating solids a bit more regularly.

I had to figure most of this out myself. At around 10-12 weeks, I rented a scale and did a 24 hour pre and post feeding weigh to see how much he was drinking and took the info, along with weight gain charts to a wonderful LC (I wish I'd found her sooner!) In any case, the scale actually helped me to relax a lot and figure out what I needed to do. I "weaned" myself off of using the scale once I became more comfortable that he was getting enough.

 

[EdnaMarie]

36 hours? Isn't that totally normal? Lots of babies lose that much. My midwife doesn't even weigh babies after 24 hours because she doesn't want to stress moms out. She said she wants to see weight re-gained by one week, and otherwise goes purely by diapers and nursing frequency. She checked my daughter's weight at 72 hours.

Get yourself a lactation consultant (one session if possible) and talk about how to maximize and NURSE NURSE NURSE and make sure you use some lanolin!

Kellymom.com is great for this.

If I were you, and you are you so I cannot tell you what to do, but if I were in that position, I would not supplement at all. I would just nurse every two hours (waking baby if needed, switching sides every session until milk came in and was dripping out) even at night, for 15 minutes on each side, even if baby was just nuzzling for some of that.

Not supplement. Supplementing as far as I know is not necessary until a couple of weeks, unless baby is showing signs like not enough wet diapers, jaundice, etc.

 

[twinsplusone1]

my little ones were all jaundiced and lost 10% and it upset me so much that they wanted me to supplement so for my last one I just pumped every hour and fed him with a bottle of breastmild every 2hours while under the billi lights and only once did I have to give him a little teeny tiny bit of formula...I would just nurse all the time and pump after feedings if he's not jaundice...no need to supplement IMO now if drastic reations as described above like lathargy etc thats different but just keep it up all will be well.

 

[Hesperia]

Did you possibly have an iv during labour?

That can plump them up quite a bit and they can then lose more weight without much worry.

I wouldn't supplement, I'd get baby on the breast as often as you can, and have some oatmeal and fennel tea.

Eta - sorry my blackberry took me to the last post not the first, I thought this mama had only one reply. Repeat information above.

Hugs!
Hoping your full milk comes in soon!

 

[mysticmomma]

Update?