What to Do About Newborn Still Losing Weight?

When my daughter kept losing weight after leaving the hospital, my doctor had me supplement my breast milk with formula. Just until her weight got back up, I did both. And then when she caught up, the doctor said to drop the formula.

Hi my on is 3 weeks old he was born 8lbs and when we left the hospital and went to the pediatrician the day after going home he was 7.2lbs which doctor said was more than he would like to see he also had jaundice and I was breastfeeding he also poopz and pees like crazy doctor said to keep breastfeeding once I'm done to give him 1 oz of formula which helped bring the jaundice down amd he has gained weight

They do lose weight in the beginning so that is normal. Mine started out at 6lbs and 6lbs 3oz. and dropped to 5lbs something. I breastfed exclusively and the weight does come on slower with breastmilk.
I don't think your doctors are being uncaring but some of us are overly nervous in the beginning. If the food is going in and the pee and poop are coming out everything is most likely in order. Give it some time and relax. You will see amazing changes by the end of the first month. Enjoy.

Edit: I agree with the person below me. Do not pump. You will get more milk and have a better feeding with the baby at your breast. It is not important how many ounces only that the baby is satisfied at each feeding. Pumping is great for when you won't be there but otherwise do it naturally.

Congrats on your little one. I can't really help you for the weight loss, but I can help you with the jaundice. 2 out of 3 of mine where jaundice. My oldest was the worst. He had to be hospitalized 2 days after being released from the hospital with extremly dangerous levels. Keep breastfeeding. It will take a little longer for it to go away, but it is better then switching to formula and then trying to switch him back after the jaundice goes away. If you use a swing or a bouncy chair the put it infront of your window. If it is warm in your house then just keep him in his diaper or a diaper and little shirt. Try and get as much of his skin exposed to the light. The more he pees and poops the better it is! That is how he expells the jaundice. Best of luck to you!!! I hope everything turns out!

Hi! We had a beautiful daughter in September. She wa born 2 weeks early at 6'6. She also had juandice very severe and was put under the lights. She also had very very slow weight gain. This being my 4 th child I feel that the jaundice really interferes with weight gain. Once the jaundice began to subside she started gaining weight. It took her almost 3 weeks to regain her birth weight. Our ped was very accepting of our decision to only breastfeed and gave us the time she needed to start gaining. Please continue to bf and in no time you will be asking yourself was he really ever that tiny? Congrats on your beautiful miracle !
L.

PLEASE do NOT switch a baby with such issues as this to formula! Your milk is the singular most perfect food he could possibly get. Switching a struggling baby to formula can lead to all sorts of further problems.

How often are you nursing? I would nurse at least every 2 hours...more often if he's awake. Even if that means for the next week you are simply a walking dairy farm...give him the breast every time he'll take it. Wake him up if he's sleeping more than 2 hours at a time.

Make sure you are getting enough water to produce well, and for me, I found that initially I needed some extra fatty calories to get my milk to really come in well.

I think the jaundice is a big part of your problem and I would find new medical care rather than going back to a hospital that is that incompetent. Your pediatrician should be working aggressively with you and if he's not, you need to find a new one, that supports breastfeeding, and knows how to treat the jaundice efficiently. Anyone who told you to stop breastfeeding is not a doctor I would continue to use. Period.

It's a sunny day today...get outside with your son and let him get some good sunshine. It will help the jaundice and do both of you some good after the stress of the last week. Even if you just put a blanket down in the yard or on the driveway and sit in the sun for a short while...get outside.

If you want recommendations on pediatricians or the support of other moms who are pro-breastfeeding and very knowledgeable on resources in our area, there is a great yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/orlandopeacefulparents/

I did have this happen...The ped put my son on premie formula...big mistake! Years later we found out that a simple blood test to determine a food allergy could have saved me from using formula at all!

have them do a test for both an IGG and IGE panel...my son had sensitivities or delayed allergies to casein, which is in milk! we later found out he had gluten, soy, peanut, egg, grapefruit, and potato allergies...

My current ped informed me that if they had done this test when he started losing major weight, we would have known that I could not eat/drink dairy products and he would have been fine. By not finding this out, we went thru sooo much!

You may keep this in mind as well...and it is a simple blood test to find out...remember!! YOU are the Mom and you are not being overly protective! YOU have the right to ask for any and all testing! YOU have the right to request further study! And if your ped refuses, find another one!

**all my opinion and based only on my life**

My eldest lost weight and didn't gait it back for awhile. Just keep nursing on demand as often as he wants it. ALso put him by the window to get some sunlight to help with the jaundice. My prayers are with you and I honestly believe he will be fine.

For the weight 'issue' I personally would not be too upset over that. The health industry has some dangerous standardized general ranges for newborns, when they should actually allow for a lot more room for individuality.

Breastfeeding on demand, having the infant finish on one side per feeding (allows for the fattier hindmilk to be consumed), and wet and poop diapers thru out the day are good.

The newborn immediately looses a lot of weight due to water weight lost. At the 2 week mark, that is where you should worry if even more weight is lost (but not from the original birth weight). As long as he holds steady with enough upward weight gain, and the baby seems to be alert for the age - you really should not worry so much.

Maybe you should contact a local Midwife, Le Leche League Leader (to ensure proper latching and amount of milk consumed per feeding).

Wow, I can't beleive that they sent your son home with his jaundice count so high. My daughter had jaundice and I had to keep her in the hospital until it was down to 8. Did they give you the patches to put over his eyes so you can lay him in the sun a few times a day. The sun is the best thing there is for jaundice but be careful not to leave him to long so he doesn't burn. Also stip him down to naked or to his diaper when putting him in the sun. I put my daughter by the window for about five minutes five to six times a day and it cleared her right up. But I would for sure take him to a different doctor asap. One more thing, what you eat reflects on how he does. No coffee, soda, tea, onions, garlic, etc... You can go online to a lot of the nursing sites and they will help you find what you shoudl and shouldn't eat. Find a doctor that cares.... that cares...Good Luck.

Wow, that is scary.
What are you eating? I'd get probiotics and digestive enzymes for you and see if improving your digestion and your probiotics will help him.
What a stupid rule to make you wait and worry.
Best, k

Hi L.,
Well most of what you say about your son sounds normal. You may want to link to www.prenatalplusyoga.com/links to see what Elizabeth Pantley a wonderful author says. My advice to you is since you are only breast feeding it is very important for You to eat well and hydrate lots so you son gets all the Good Stuff. The Baby Book by Sears and Sears is terrific and The Ultimate Breast Feeding Book of Answers by Newman. These can be bought on Amazon used for little. Knowledge is power and when you know it is OK you can relax more. Blessings and Happy Holidays.
D. Geymayr, E-RYT, HBCE, CD, CLD, CPD, IMP
Prenatal Plus - Yoga, Inc.
401 Miracle Mile, 4th Floor
Coral Gables, FL 33134
###-###-####

I had a similar problem when my son was born. My midwife originally told me to nurse him for 20 minutes on each side for each feeding. I went to see a lactation consultant because of the weight loss and it turns out that he was only getting foremilk. The lactation consultant had me switch to 40 minutes on one side per feeding.

It worked brilliantly! Hope you find as simple a solution as I did!

He probably IS absorbing the nutrition from the breast milk...it is just so well digested that it seems to keep you busy diapering. I suggest you contact the La Leche League as a great resource. I gave birth to a 9lb 10 oz baby and she got down to 8 lb 12 oz before turning around.

Keep up the good work with breastfeeding, it is all he needs to grow!

There are 2 types if breast milk--fore and hind milk. When he starts nursing the first couple of minutes, he gets the fore milk--the first milk which is not fatty, but rather thirst quenching. Consider it like skim milk. After a while, he gets to the hind milk--the fattier milk which helps him grow. One way to make sure that he gets enough fat is to keep him on ONE breast only at a time until he is full. If you feel that your breast is empty, KEEP him on that same empty breast--the emptier the breast feels, the fattier milk he is getting. It is a common misconception that the baby empties the breast. My son had a really rough start also--he was born 8lb 10; left the hospital 7lb 15oz; one week later he was 8lb, meaning he only gained 1oz for 7 days, and it took him 4 weeks to get to his birth weight. That was due to the fact that I was nursing him constantly but he was never getting to the fatty milk.
Your only indication (besides the scale) that he is getting enough is his wet and poppy diapers. If you are counting plenty, then he is happy. My only other suggestion to you is to get in touch with a La Leche League Leader, google it, they are every where in the world and they are absolutely amazing in giving knowledge and support to new nursing moms.
As for your other question about his testicles, sometimes it takes up to a year for them to descend, however, I would talk to his pediatrician about it now. Also, if you are concerned about his pediatrician, find a new one. you are comfortable with.
Good luck to you and congratulations on your little one!

My little fella lost a lot of weight in the beginning too. Since I had a C-Section, my milk was slow to come in and I could barely pump any colustrum; anyhow, they convinced me to put him on formula and breastfeed via finger feeding and SIS. Once my milk came, I nursed him exclusively, but he continued to lose weight. The pediatrician told me to continue finger feeding him formula after nursing. It turns out that I had a low milk supply. I wish I had detected this earlier b/c relactation took a lot of effort and time. Anyhow, these are the warning signs that I wish I had tuned into:

Do you hear gulping sounds when he nurses?
Do your breasts drip during let-down (I personally can't feel my let-down at all)?
Did you have any issues with low iron while pregnant?
Is he a lazy feeder? - (many newborns fall asleep frequently while nursing; however, I misconstrued this as having his hunger satisfied - plus, a lack of vigorous sucking may lead to a poor milk supply).

Through relactation, I was able to boost up my milk supply and get off of the supplementation. If this is the case for you - I will be happy to offer more advice.

First.. pumping will NOT be a good reference as to how much milk you baby is getting. When you actually nurse your baby your milk let down is always more than you could ever pump because you are close to your baby, your body naturally produces more. I think you should be patient. Keep nursing on demand as much as your baby wants it. Do not offer a pacifier. If he wants to suckle.. NURSE HIM.. eat healthy..(try not eat anything that may cause you gas cause it may cause your baby gas)..and keep yourself hydrated! And before you know it.. he will be gaining weight.

Also keep in mind. if your baby is being weighed on different scales, that may be part of the problem. You may want to invest in a baby scale. You can find one at babys r us... that way YOU can know for sure what his weight is. I hope this helps. God bless!!!

Don't worry he will grow and gain weight! He is only a few days old. Eat alot of protein. DO NOT vaccine him!

My daughter who was born August 5th and was 8lbs 9oz. She was nursed only. At 5 days old she was 7lbs 5oz. at two weeks she was 7lbs 4oz.and at 3 weeks just 7lbs 7.5 oz. Her fourth week she finally made a decent weight gain, 7lbs. 14 oz. She had no weight issues after this time. She too ate like crazy and had regular poop/pees. She seemed very content. My pediatrician encouraged me to continue to nurse her on demand or at least every two hours. And I saw him weekly for the first four weeks to monitor her. The pediatrician said that as long as her bowel movement were on track and she seemed content and alert that it was acceptable that she had lost/low weight gain as long as she started to improve by the third week. It was slow and worrisome at the time. But I am very glad that my pediatrician encouraged me to continue nursing. He did suggest fenugreek as a supplement for me, which I took for two weeks. She just turned four months and is fantastic.

The only help I can offer is to suggest you find another doctor - it really sounds like you need new one. Be your son's advocate and fight for him to get the proper care and ask a lot of questions and demand answers.

Best of luck, I hope everything turns out okay for you and your son.

Hi My name is M.,

My daughter had similar problems the only thing that helped was Allergy elimination treatment. Check out naet.com & Bioset.net. Did both, my daughter is now flourishing perfect health. I will write more later. Have finals this week and next. Take care and good luck.

Hi L. - My daughter was not gaining weight after she was born and i noticed blood in her stool. She was on formula, but i have been told that it is common with breast fed babies as well. She was allergic to milk, so we tried a soy formula. If your daughter is allergic to milk (dairy) and you are eating it then maybe you need to eat soy. My daughter was also allergic to soy so we had to put her on a special formula (Similac Alimentum) that has the proteins broken down very small to make it easier to digest. As soon as we did that she started gaining weight at about 1 oz per day. I live in Leesburg but go to a great pediatrician in Ocoee. His name is Dr Yarckin, but I also love his Nurse Practitioner Elaina. Maybe you can set up an appointment. ###-###-####. Best of Luck!

My third child developed jaundice before we were released from the hospital. My milk had come in and he was seemingly nursing well. He had wet diapers and was pooping. Everything seemed okay until we brought him to the ped 5 days after he was born to check his jaundice. His weight was still down, as you stated, all newborns lose about 10 % of their birth weight after they are born. This is normal but it's not "normal" for a baby to not begin regaining their weight and they should be at or exceed their birth weight at 2 weeks post birth. With that said, my son did not regain his birth weight at 2 weeks and the ped wanted weekly weight checks after that. My son's weight continued to go up and down but he never was able to maintain his weight consistently. Long story short, I contacted a lactation specialist and found that my son's suck was weak. Thus my milk supply was diminishing. I had no choice but to put him on formula. I was heartbroken as I had breastfed my first two children exclusively without any problems at all. Even on formula, my son continued to struggle gaining weight. I bought a baby scale and began weighing him daily as his weight had become an obsession for our family. We were concerned. My son is now 3 years old and we still are amazed that his weight goes up and down after all this time. He's healthy, very active but since birth, his weight had always been a concerning matter. When I left the hospital, my nurse told me to watch his weight due to his jaundice. She said for some reason jaundiced babies have weight issues. My son was born via scheduled c-section and my sister, who is a registered nurse suggested that the jaundice could have been caused from him being taken from me before he was ready. I have not researched this theory, but I have heard from other mothers that their jaundiced babies had weight issues. I did not do anything special to make my son gain weight. I gave him formula and attempted to breastfeed him but he eventually weaned from the breast at 9 months.

I would advise that you seek another pediatrician for your concerns if the doctor you are using is not addressing your concerns.

i'm not really sure about losing weight since mine never did, but have you pumped to check and see just how much mild you are actually producing? maybe it's not as much as what you think it is? if you pump for a bit then you'll know exactly how much he is getting. also as for the jaundice i wouldn't really worry. from what my dr told me, it peaks about a week after birth and then will start to go down. my sons was pretty high at his circumcision about a week after he was born.

I don't have any first hand experience, but I have a friend who had a similar problem with her son. She breastfeed him and he continued to lose weight until the pediatrician told her not to breastfeed, and start him on a special formula. Then, he immediately started gaining weight, and looked like a completely different baby. So, there are special formulas out there. Have you asked the doctor to try some other formula?

Good luck!
R..

yes, L., first, congrats on your new little one!i feel your pain. i had some issues with the hospital staff at all childrens hospital in st. pete. fl. when my son was born. sometimes parents know best. i wouldnt wait till he gets that bad, (at the 90 percent). if you continue to feel theres a real problem, i would bring him back in, (+ worry about the bills later.) you know whats best! baby comes first.

It may take up to 2 wks for your baby to recover his birthweight. Keep BF you are doing a good job. This is very normal, thats why they seem so calm about it. Congrats on your new baby!! :)