I need some help.

[Mamata3]

My newbie is 16 days old and we went to his 2week appt today. He was up 4 oz in 6 days ( his last weight check) he is not up to birth weight yet but he was slow gaining the first week. Now the doc wants Jim to go to the hossy so they can "see what's wrong with him". I could be wrong but is 4oz in 6 days not good? That's like 18grams a day, I know they look for 20grams a day but that is really close. Should I be worried?

[Belbaby3728]

Is he having plenty of wet and dirty diapers a day? (Wet more important- my dd pooped every 5-7 days back then). She didn't get back up to her birth weight till almost a month old. I think so many drs are used to ff babies. Any jaundice? Are they concerned about that? That too can be mistaken- sometimes its bad other times it's from breast feeding and goes away after 4-6 weeks.

If he's latching well, having plenty wet diapers , continues to gain and no other issues I would not worry too much. Some babies just grow slower. If your worried you could also see if there's a LC in the area- many have baby scales and will come weigh baby before and after feeding so you can see how much baby is taking in.

My dd is just over double her birth weight now at 7 months, she's fine

[Ashleah143]

My DS is currently 5 weeks old he just reached birth weight last week and is only gaining around 2 oz a week! Pedi is just keeping and eye on it he has plenty of diapers a day and everything is great so she said as long as he is gaining it's fine. But him gaining more a week would be "ideal"

4 oz is 6 days is great! Most breastfeeding babies gain between 4-6 oz a week

[AnimalHouse]

Originally Posted by Belbaby3728 Is he having plenty of wet and dirty diapers a day? (Wet more important- my dd pooped every 5-7 days back then). She didn't get back up to her birth weight till almost a month old. I think so many drs are used to ff babies. Any jaundice? Are they concerned about that? That too can be mistaken- sometimes its bad other times it's from breast feeding and goes away after 4-6 weeks. If he's latching well, having plenty wet diapers , continues to gain and no other issues I would not worry too much. Some babies just grow slower. If your worried you could also see if there's a LC in the area- many have baby scales and will come weigh baby before and after feeding so you can see how much baby is taking in. My dd is just over double her birth weight now at 7 months, she's fine

Yes, yes, and yes to everything in this post! The number of wet/dirty diapers is much more important than the number on the scale!

How does your LO seem after nursing? Is he content, satisfied? Is he unusually fussy, or seem hungry more than "normal" (I put that in quotatation marks becayse at 16 days old, it's "normal" for babies to eat around the clock!).

One other thing to consider is a foremilk-hindmilk imbalance... that can cause slow weight gain. One big indicator of an imbalance is green, frothy bowel movements.

[doulamomma]

Originally Posted by AnimalHouse Yes, yes, and yes to everything in this post! The number of wet/dirty diapers is much more important than the number on the scale! How does your LO seem after nursing? Is he content, satisfied? Is he unusually fussy, or seem hungry more than "normal" (I put that in quotatation marks becayse at 16 days old, it's "normal" for babies to eat around the clock!). One other thing to consider is a foremilk-hindmilk imbalance... that can cause slow weight gain. One big indicator of an imbalance is green, frothy bowel movements.

yep, all that

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[Mamata3]

He does have green poop but it's not frothy. He sleeps on the boob all the time. He only cries when I change him or give him baths. He wets about 8 times a day but doesn't poop everyday but the days he poops it's at least 2 times.

[Huxley]

I was told half an ounce to an ounce a day is a good normal weight gain.

[songbird516]

I definitely wouldn't take him to the hospital unless there was a problem other than slow weight gain. Like, he was lethargic or crying a lot or not eliminating well.

And, what everyone else said

[AnimalHouse]

Originally Posted by Mamata3 He does have green poop but it's not frothy. He sleeps on the boob all the time. He only cries when I change him or give him baths. He wets about 8 times a day but doesn't poop everyday but the days he poops it's at least 2 times.

That looks like normal EBF newborn poop to me. I agree with PP - I wouldn't take him to the hospital unless there are other factors, besides slow weight gain (ie: seems unsatisfied after nursing, decrease in wet/dirty diapers, poor skin coloring, is unusally lethargic, etc).

I'm curious - how much did he weigh at birth, how much weight did he lose, and what does he weigh now? Generally, babies take 1-2 weeks to reach their birth weight, depending on how much they lose in the first few days. After about four days old, the average gain for a EBF baby is 4-7 oz/week. But obviously all babies are different!

[Mamata3]

Well I took him to the doc yesterday and he was up 4oz in 24hours! I didn't even know that was possible! So we have a fallow up on Monday but we are in the clear. And the ped said that she is not worried about the green poo. Thank you mamas.