Newborn isn't gaining :(

[Mayghan]

I need help. My daughter will be 4 weeks on Friday, born at 6lbs 6oz, she went down to 6lbs and stayed there for almost 2 weeks (were thinking it was due to the jaundice). As of Tuesday she's 6lbs 4oz. She feeds every 2-3 hours, once in a while she goes 4 hours. Only eats 10-15 minutes and one side at a time though. So since yesterday I started tracking her feedings, although I think she may be hiting a growth spurt cause she's been eating every hour to 2.5 hours since yesterday morning but only about 10 minutes at a time. I am also tracking pees and poop and since midnight (its 8pm now) she's had 4 diapers that had pee and poop, one with poop only and 3 with pee only, I change her almost every time I feed her. I don't know what else to do... Until yesterday morning she seems very satisfied after every feedings. She is very hard to burp, most of the time I can't burp her but a couple hours later she burps and sometimes spits up about a mouthful of milk (this may happen once a day, 2 tops and not every day). Other than that she's a very happy easy baby. I am starting to pump a couple times a day to increase supply but I dont know what else to do...

[songbird516]

I would try to get her to nurse more often. I just remember with both of my babies that they nursed more like every 1.5 hours for the first couple of months. also you can try eating more calorie-dense, nutritious foods like butter, oily fish, whole milk and whole milk cheese, eggs (free-range, please!), coconut oil....eating nutrient dense foods can positively affect the composition of your breastmilk which might help her weight gain.

[ktmelody]

I would offer the breast every 1-1.5 hours. 2-3 hours is too long for such a tiny baby. Even my 9 pounder ate every 2 hours.


Is she wetting and pooping enough? Is her poop yellow and seedy?

[Mayghan]

Yup yellow and seedy. And I just started writing down when she peed/pooped yesterday but I'm pretty sure she had at least 6 or 7 pee diapers and 2 poops per day. And she's had more than that today already.

[Mack]

No advice but i found a great app to help tracking are nursing and diapers. It's called feed baby

[crunchymom2b]

She seems pretty healthy and happy in all other aspects. Is she hitting milestones? I agree with PP about offering the breast more often. Maybe she's just a slow gainer. Good luck!

What does her doctor say?

[VeganCupcake]

Can you get a pre- and post feed weight taken? That will tell you more about how much she is taking in.

Has she been evaluated for a lip or tongue tie? It's possible that she's just not able to nurse very effectively and therefore not getting much. And there are some babies who are just really relaxed and laid back and won't really let you know by crying that they're hungry.

[Mayghan]

I don't have a scale here. And she's not tongue tied. Doctor can't seem to decide whether we should be concerned or not. She thinks she may just be a slow gainer (her dad is tiny and has a hard time gaining weight). It's the amount of pee and poop diapers that's weird. Based on that she seems to be fine,...

[Mayghan]

Not sure what milestones she should have hit my 4 weeks? So nor sure if she's behind ob that. We are finding that she's more awake and alert since hiting her due date. She was born at 37 weeks.

[mommaagain]

Based on the number of wets and stools, she's eating enough. The stool sounds normal. Not burping and the little bit of spitting also sounds fine. Have you breastfed your others? I doubt there is a tongue or lip tie that has gone unnoticed to this point. There is usually pain involved. 37 wks is not full term. They look fine, and seem to act fine, but sometimes they don't nurse great in the beginning. A pre and post feeding weight requires a very exact scale. It will give you how much she takes in for that feeding only. Feedings vary, so you can't say that's how much she takes in at every feed. My best educated (IBCLC) guess would be slow weight gain due to prematurity. I would suggest offering more the breast more often and maybe offering the same side twice in a row to be sure she's emptying well and getting all the higher fat milk. If she's still not gaining in another week, try to find a local IBCLC to help you figure it out. Good luck!