small weight gain in breastfed babies when to worry?

Hello all, I'm hoping for some guidance. My little girl is 8 weeks old and has only put on 1 and a half ounces in the fortnight- she's now 9lbs 9 and a half. She's got a terrible cold as well. Plus her poo has turned from yellow to green. I'm working myself up and just need some advice. I should add my health visitor isn't worried because of her cold- but I', stressing. Any advice wil be welcomed thanks

 

Hello all, I'm hoping for some guidance. My little girl is 8 weeks old and has only put on 1 and a half ounces in the fortnight- she's now 9lbs 9 and a half. She's got a terrible cold as well. Plus her poo has turned from yellow to green. I'm working myself up and just need some advice. I should add my health visitor isn't worried because of her cold- but I', stressing. Any advice wil be welcomed thanks

 

My daughter lost weight for the first four weeks of her life and only actually put any weight on at 7 weeks, she is now 14 weeks and perfectly fine and caught up so try not to worry too much. Illness is always a time when weight gain slows as so much of the nurishment goes to fighting the illness. The only concern might be the colour of the poo, is it pale green or is it dark green and kind of fizzy? If it's pale green then it is probably just the back end of the illness, if it's dark green then that is more concerning because it can indicate that to much fore milk is being taken rather than the rich hind milk. IT's quite common when babies are ill for them to snack to remain hydrated so it can have this effect. the big thing is to try and make sure they are taking all the milk avaliable from one breast before swapping over to the other.

All in all try not to worry you'll probably find that she'll put loads on in the next fortnight to make up xxx

 

It may not be the case for you at all but with regard to the green poo, my LO gets this when I eat citrus fruit x

 

Thank you so much for replying, her poo is light green. She is sleepy and reluctant to feed at times ( fed fine last night) she seems to only feed for 20 mins. I'm going to wake her very 2 hours for a feed today and see if that helps. My husband however has since fallen down stairs and is awaiting surgery on his knee! We are snowed in too- what a lovely time of year!!

 

Oh dear! If she is poorly definately offer more feeds. If she continues to be sleepy and not feeding though I would give the docs a quick ring. She might just be sleeping the cold off x

 

are you switching breasts? make sure you keep her on the same breast as long as possible, which will ensure she gets the hind milk. call the hv too if you are worried. are they concerned about her weight gain?

 

Hi DP
Gosh, I could have almost written this post too. My LO lost some of her birth weight at the beginning (which is normal I know) but then failed to gain enough weight. Constantly around 25th percentile and 37th percentile at times.
We chose to feed to a routine; every 3hrs for first two weeks until she put bit of weight on and then Hv said ok to go to 4hrs. LO then failed to gain so advised to go back to 3hrs ( feeding on demand was not an option for us as this could mean her going 5hrs+ between feeds as we often have to wake her...). She then put on 9oz at 6wks but then nothing again the following week.
When we weighed in this week agan nothing but at our 8wk appt today she'd put on 6oz (since Tues!!) and, like your LO she has a cold and I too had been worried. I was so worried as LO was falling asleep at the breast and taking so long to feed because of her cold (it's awful hearing her struggle to breathe clearly )that I topped her up with EBM as I was sure that she hadn't drained my boob (also recovering from mastitis so important that boob drained each time too).
Anyway don't know if I have answered any of your questions but if your Hv is happy, I would try not to worry. I do feel there is too much emphasis on the weight at times too; my LO is so bright eyed and growing out of newborn stuff so she's clearly not that poorly.
Nappies vary from pesto-like green to carrot orange/brown. Haven't yet worked out the pattern of why and when a certain colour. Any ideas/previous experiences anyone?
Hope your LO's cold clears up soon.
Oh and Merry Christmas!
Pogo x