What to Do When Your Baby Isn’t Gaining Weight
It’s normal to struggle. Don’t give up. You can do this!
It’s crucial that your breastmilk and nursing habits are established once your sweet baby arrives. Alas, it doesn’t always happen as easy as we would like. When you hear that your baby isn’t gaining weight as expected it can be stressful and scary. But let’s take a deep breath, and consider some facts…
Feeding issues are the most common reason a baby isn’t gaining weight.
There are 3 things you can do right now to investigate what is going on.
I am not a doctor. This is not intended to be taken as medical advice. But I AM an experienced momma of five who successfully breastfed four.
1. Assess Your Milk Supply and Make Feedings Count With a Pump WHILE Nursing Routine
This pump and feed routine saved my breastfeeding with our last child.
Feeding and Output Tracker Free Download
Click above to print out this free printable tracker. It’s an indispensable aid. It will help you determine how much milk you have, how much milk your baby is getting, and also has areas to track wet and poopy diapers.
WHILE you are nursing on one breast, pump the other breast at the same time, then spoon feed the pumped milk to your baby.
Doing this has two big benefits!
One: It allows to you measure first hand what your milk supply is. This will help you determine if that’s the issue. I’ve posted some more information for you about how much breastmilk your baby needs near the end of this article.
Two: Spoon feeding your baby is MUCH FASTER than nursing. So your baby will get every bit of milk possible in record time which means you’ll both get more REST. This will help your baby get stronger while simultaneously bringing up your milk supply!
Spoon feeding can be a little messy. A medical syringe like the one below would be ideal, and once again provide a way to monitor exactly how much your baby is getting from each feeding.
Commonly offered advice when a baby isn’t gaining weight is to nurse the baby on BOTH sides as usual and THEN pump… which isn’t always a reasonable option in my opinion.
We know how often newborns need to feed, and if you’re experiencing feeding issues, this schedule could end up causing more stress, fatigue and ultimately failure. On this kind of schedule there is no time for rest in between feedings and rest is a big deal!
With my youngest, once we got to the crucial point where he NEEDED to start gaining, he would not nurse long because he was lethargic, and it was impossible to keep him awake. He was getting weaker and weaker by the day. Nursing was probably exhausting at this point for the poor little guy.
On this pump and feed routine my son started gaining and kept gaining. Once he got stronger and more capable at nursing, we were able to ditch the pump, and continued to breast feed until he was 15 months old. 💝
2. Check your Babies’ Latch
Visit WIC Breastfeeding Support for some help with getting your baby latched on correctly. An improper latch can prevent good milk flow, cause you pain and discomfort, and affect your milk supply. So this is another very important matter to consider.
Some common factors that affect latch are nipple and breast size, your babies mouth formation, tongue ties and lip ties.
Tongue ties and lip ties should be addressed with your midwife or other health professional who is responsible for your care. Which brings us to number three.
3. Be Your Babies Advocate
We had a gut wrenching journey trying to keep my fourth child breastfeeding. Because he wasn’t gaining weight we were sent to the hospital at one point for a blood test, which came back normal. The pediatric doctor who we were dealing with actually said my baby had some tongue tie but doesn’t normally recommend doing anything about it…
Um, that makes no sense?! You have a baby who is not gaining weight, but you don’t recommend dealing with the tongue tie that could directly be causing the problem?…
Doctors are held in high regard for good reason. They have studied for years and have a difficult job. They deserve respect – but – they are not always right, so be your babies advocates. Stand up, be strong, and tell them that you think it’s important and want it dealt with, or get a second opinion.
Because there are readily available formulas, feeding issues aren’t always viewed as a big deal and I strongly disagree with this. There are so many well known benefits to breastfeeding for baby and mother. Not to mention the cost of formulas.
If you need more support:
- See your local health unit
- Look for breastfeeding clinics in your area
- Don’t forget about your local moms! There are some amazing mothers out there who would love to help. I even found a breast milk sharing group.
So how much breastmilk does my baby need?
How often should I breastfeed?
Quoted from kiddiesquare.com
“What Quantity of Breastmilk Does An Infant Need Per Day?
Knowing a baby capacity (how much breastmilk does a newborn need at each feeding), we attempt to make feeding as simple and direct as possible.
Each child is different and there is no fix no particular milk volume that a baby must meet every day. Here are a couple of rules of what to expect:
- The amount of milk that an infant drink from a single breast extends somewhere in the range of 30 to 135ml or 1 to 4 ½ ounces, though the normal volume is around 75 ml or 2.5 ounces.
- The number of breastfeeding periods every day might be somewhere in the range of 4 to 13, depending on baby’s need and how much milk is taken from the breast during every feeding.
- A specific breastfeeding session can express somewhere in the range of 54 to 234 ml or 2 to 8 ounces of milk.
- A male child usually drinks around 831 ml or 28 ounces day-to-day while little girls typically drink around 755 ml or 25 ½ ounces every day.
Therefore, the possibility of day-to-day milk consumption for a solely breastfed baby is somewhere in the range of 478 to 1,356 ml or 16 to 45 ½ ounces.”
Why Our Baby Couldn’t Breastfeed
My fourth child, who with in the end I had to terminate our breastfeeding, had tongue tie, as well as confirmed by a dentist, a mouth formation that made breastfeeding difficult. Having to surrender our breastfeeding was such an emotional and difficult decision. But sometimes it IS the right decision.
I will always remember and appreciate a sweet young mother’s kind words to me when I was going through this trial. “You’re giving your best. You’re giving your best.” Do your best momma. And take care of yourself. You’re beautiful and loved.
Hey mom, have you ever thought about taking up crochet? It’s a relaxing craft that may be the perfect way to calm those nerves. I have a post here that talks about some of the basics and how to get started. Check it out!
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