lack of weight gain

I posted a couple weeks ago about Annelise not eating very well. Her eating improved some, but is still hit or miss. I was at the doctor office yesterday for a hip ultrasound for my other daughter, so I decided to get them weighed while I was there. Annelise was 8 pounds, 4 ounces two weeks ago and yesterday she was 8 pounds, 9 ounces, so she has only gained 5 ounces in the past two weeks. At the last ped appointment, he said that he wants to see an average of an ounce a day for the girls. Our doctor is out of the office until next week. Do you think I should take her in to see the on-call doctor or do you think this can wait until Monday? She seems happy and healthy otherwise.

 

I'd say it can wait until Monday.

I saw our pedi yesterday - we were in for Synergis, and the scale showed Daniel had only gained 3 oz in 2 weeks. He's our small guy, and we've struggled with his weight and eating all along. So I asked the nurse to give that information to the doctor and ask if we should be upping his calories again. The pedi came in and said it wasn't ideal weight gain by any means, but that if he was happy and acting normal - and still eating his normal amount - then we could give it a couple more weeks before getting concerned. It could just be a temporary dip. OR, we could up the caloric value of his formula again. Which is what we chose to do.

Back when he was about 2 months old he totally stopped gaining weight for about 3 weeks (scary!) and we saw 2 on-call docs about it and neither would do anything; we had to wait for our normal pedi to make the call. Even though clearly gaining only 1 oz over 3 weeks was NOT healthy and NOT good - they wouldn't change his formula.

Just keep working on her eating for the next few days, and try to get in on Monday to see your normal pedi!

 

QUOTE(Beth*J @ Apr 23 2008, 09:45 AM) [snapback]734962[/snapback]
I posted a couple weeks ago about Annelise not eating very well. Her eating improved some, but is still hit or miss. I was at the doctor office yesterday for a hip ultrasound for my other daughter, so I decided to get them weighed while I was there. Annelise was 8 pounds, 4 ounces two weeks ago and yesterday she was 8 pounds, 9 ounces, so she has only gained 5 ounces in the past two weeks. At the last ped appointment, he said that he wants to see an average of an ounce a day for the girls. Our doctor is out of the office until next week. Do you think I should take her in to see the on-call doctor or do you think this can wait until Monday? She seems happy and healthy otherwise.


An ounce a day is a good benchmark, but, not every baby gains like that....Actually, it is more like 4-7 ounces per week that is considering 'normal'. Or so my pedi says. My DD is a slow but steady gainer...She only gained 4 ounces per week while my DS gained 7 consistently. As long as she gained those 4, the pedi was happy - her own little curve. Your DD is on the low side, but it may not really mean anything right now...But, if you want to take her in, this can probably wait until Monday I'd think.

 

I think if I just had one baby, I probably wouldn't even be that concerned because she seems happy. The problem is that I have two babies and I can't help but compare them at times. Karina is consistently eatings 5-6 oz. of EBM every 2.5-3 hours. Annelise eats only 3.5 ounces at most feedings and sometimes it is less than that. There have also been about 4 days in the past two weeks that she hasn't had any of her 6 or 7 a.m. bottle. She just won't wake up for it and then doesn't eat until 8:30 or 9:00. I probably wouldn't even have felt the need to weigh her yesterday except that she seems to be eating so much less than her sister. I know, I know. They are two different people, but they started out the exact same birth weight (1280 g), so I have trouble not comparing their weights.

 

Beth - Are you supplementing their EBM with any formula? We supplemented all our EBM bottles with 1/4 tsp of enfacare per oz. So we were adding calories to the already calorie rich bm. We did this until they were 3 mo. We saw a consistent weight gain with both of them, but DS has always gained more and is more that 3 lbs heavier than DD.

Also, I'm sure you are, but I tried all kinds of different bottles and nipples in the first months. Finally we ended up on the evenflow med flow for DS and the comfi nipple (slower flow) for DD. I really wanted to use the playtex drop ins, but they hated those nipples.

 

As long as she is gaining something that is good-you could probably wait until Monday to call. You never know she may catch up by then

 

We are giving 8 oz. of 24 calorie enriched EBM per day. So for Annelise, that is about 2.5 feedings. I think ours is Enfacare...one teaspoon for 3 oz. I wonder if the doctor will increase the amount of enriched feedings she's getting. When she wants to eat, she really eats. Last night she took 5.5 ounces before bed. I know she can do it, she just doesn't want to or doesn't feel the need to eat most of the time. Wish I had that problem. :lol:

 

QUOTE(Beth*J @ Apr 23 2008, 09:14 AM) [snapback]735024[/snapback]
I think if I just had one baby, I probably wouldn't even be that concerned because she seems happy. The problem is that I have two babies and I can't help but compare them at times.


I am the same way. Owen weighs 3 1/2 lbs more than Molly. I'm always worrying about her weight gain.

 

Our DD had weeks like that and is still just a little peanut. Our doc said 1/2 to 1 oz a day for that age and then their growth slows after 6 months. DD was 5.9 at birth and was 12.9 at 6 months. Our doc isn't worried at all even though she really is tiny. Does your DD seem happy, content and active? Our doc looks at eyes/hair/skin, activity level and if they are meeting developmental expectations more than the scale. Babies grow in spurts, you might be surprised and she'll gain a lot more next time she is weighed. Our DD bounces around a lot if we get her weighed too much so we just stopped. I would call if nothing else to make you feel better, don't feel bad calling a doc ever. Really they are the same as an customer service person - they are there for you and your needs.

 

One of my girls is the same way but she's always been a terrible eater. Her sister now weighs 4lbs more than her and it is so hard not to compare. Every time I take her to the pedi I stress how hard it is to feed her and how worried I am about her weight gain. She has never gained an oz a day since she started taking bottle feeds and came home from the hospital. My pedi was not concerned until it slowed down significantly and sent us to a GI specialist. They diagnosed her with reflux, started giving her prevacid and we're adding corn oil to her food for extra calories as well as EBM with neosure for 28 cal/oz. I think when she was the same age as yours she was eating no more than 3-3 1/2 oz per bottle. She's 10 months old and only weighs 15lbs.

 

She does have reflux, but it is pretty well controlled with Prevacid. Her sister's reflux is not under control at all and yet she's the one who is gaining weight. Go figure.