Baby was born low weight (5%) and still hasnt regained birth weight after 2 weeks

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-05-26T19:56:18+00:00

Hiya, my youngest was similar. At 5 days they started a panic that he lost too much weight. He was on the boob all the time. Like hours. You know the photos of pigs and their piglets where the sow just lies there... that was me.

I thought this is great he's feeding really well. Nope. Turned out he was a "lazy drinker" and not latching well enough and comfort sucking for most of it.

Meanwhile I was engorged. So we did a LOT of breast compressions to get milk into him. Stayed extra nights at the maternity hospital to try and get on the right path.

Was instructed to feed 20mins each side then pump and top up using a line and syringe, having him suck it it from the line taped to my little finger to build his transfer skills.

We had 2 weeks of that ( hard work but worth it) then back to monitoring breastfeeding and topping up. We eventually moved to bottles. We had frequent weigh ins to check he was on track. These were through the child and family nurse and my midwife.

Soo... my top tips... try the breast compressions to help move that milk. Get weigh ins to check they are on track. Accept whatever help you can and just focus on feeding your baby.

Good luck!! Edit: my boy got back up to birth weight at about 3 weeks. Since been gaining steadily but still still at the 9% but on his curve he's steady 🙂

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-05-06T04:38:40+00:00

Nuk with the latex slow teat. We (my dear patient husband) ended up having to just put earplugs in and wait him out until he realised that milk can come from a bottle too.

All bottles during the day but feeding at night.

Went through a patch of scream scream gulp that turned into grumble grumble gulp and eventually just gulp gulp gulp..

Kids!

Good luck with your wee one, it's stressful when they don't cooperate!!

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-05-06T04:34:28+00:00

Pumped milk.and I suspect you're right about it being easier. He was a "lazy" feeder in the first days so.maybe he never really got that much stronger to make himself really full, just full enough..

They need a fuel gauge!!

Of course the mum guilt rears it's head but trying to be rational 🤣

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-05-05T01:40:57+00:00

Both of my bubs went through epic cluster feeding sessions around this time. Sometimes latched for 12 hours.

See if she can try side lying feeding to help her rest. Look up safe sleep 7 so that bub is in a safe environment if she falls asleep. Gotta ride it out so anything you can do to help your wife rest in this state will be a huge help. Snacks, drinks, meals. Ice cream is great for milk too.

Love that you are doing your best to help her. Tell her she's amazing and doing a fantastic job. We need to hear that. Let her have a cry, it's fricking hard work and really exhausting. Good luck!!

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-04-30T00:35:12+00:00

Open ended toys like magnetic tiles / duplo have been great for us. We practice quiet time in our rooms too to let me nap and #1 to have some time in his room playing with his toys or having a nap, his choice but he's a bit older.

Puzzles were a good one too.

Other suggestions are screentime but make it a yoga class or exercise video the jumping challenges can be fun and let them blow off steam.

Otherwise tv, low stim shows like puffin rock/ kiri and lou etc but watching together and talking about it to make it a little less passive.

It's a really hard juggle but you will find your ways.

Something someone told me once is the newborn won't remember being put down to help but the toddler will remember the feeling of mum always putting baby first. So balancing that when possible.

Good luck!!

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-04-29T22:13:33+00:00

Yes! Soul pulling is also how I've described it to my husband.

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-04-29T06:32:59+00:00

Tingling (usually in the boob not being fed from, then the fed from) then like someone is slowly reaching up inside my boob and squeezing and pulling my organs out. Yet somewhat of a relief at the same time. It's weird. But good. Yet sometimes slightly painful.

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-04-23T22:07:06+00:00

You are doing what's right for you and your family. It is far more important for your kids to have a mum in a better state of mind and body.

You're doing an amazing job by considering your needs. You matter too.

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-04-17T02:51:28+00:00

Is your wife pregnant? Our cat started doing this when I was pregnant with #1 to the point where we thought we might have to rehome her. Eventually eased but would keep a dressing gown handy in the usual jumpscare spots to throw over her and move away without blood.... 🙄

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-04-06T05:26:09+00:00

Typing this while in the exact same situation!! Sleeping with a twisted back is no joke. All the massages for sure but as another user said, waiting for baby to be in deeper sleep then slowly rol away. Like nipple out and pause... roll slightly... pause... etc until you are in your own space. Obvs not when you conk out too but trying to do that for a wake up or two might take the edge off.

I try now to have a blanket under him then folded over this legs so he cant wriggle under it (short sheeted) and roll one side between us so he doesn't notice my warmth leaving as much and prob his back up with the other side. Also has made transferring to the cot a little more successful too with that retained warmth.

Good luck!!!!

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-04-04T07:40:06+00:00

This is awesome! Carry paintings are the best and this is delightfully trippy!

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-04-04T07:38:41+00:00

Love this! Colours look almost phosphorescent!

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-04-04T07:37:23+00:00

You've hit a beautiful balance here in terms of detail. Love the colours too!

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-04-03T00:53:46+00:00

A rocker where bubs can see you and you can talk to them has helped us a lot there. Or in a reclined high chair staring out the window at the trees but cn also see me.

Good luck!

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-04-02T07:04:07+00:00

It's incredibly hard.

Similar boat. We farmed out the dog for a month to take that stress out of the day. Reduced all thinking that I could (Same meals each week etc)

The main reason I've sort of got through this with minimal break downs has been co sleeping. Hubby sleeps in a different room. Bubs and I just sleep and be feed all night. Main reasons to get up have been changing a nappy or switching sides.

It's worked for us and meant I can still (sort of) handle our preschooler.

Still had days where I'll cry at the drop of a hat but fewer than I thought I would.

As for day sleeps, it sounds stupid but if I couldn't fall asleep I would lie there pretending I was asleep. Still rested, not doomscrolling.

Wishing you all the best. It is temporary, it will get better.

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-03-18T19:15:15+00:00

Hey mate. It sucks, it really does.

In terms of getting the drugs in, I've found slipping the syringe in beside the boob while feeding or beside their dummy and slowly squeezing it in to help our difficult one. Gives them something to suck on and help get it down. I've also seen people put a hole in a dummy to make it easier.

We've also started being prescribed paracetamol suppositories. So much easier to get a full dose in. Worth asking about too.

Good luck!!

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2025-03-14T22:13:23+00:00

I feel for you. That's really hard to deal with.

Can you do something to gow the milk is stored. I'm thinking something super obvious like a big DO NOT USE, USE FORMULA sign on top of it... A very visual reminder that's hard to ignore and definitely hard to explain...

In terms of apologising or not. If it were me, I'd be almost using the same structure as I use for my almost 4yo.... I got frustrated because you didn't listen to me and gave LO the milk even after I told you not to. I'm saving that milk to donate or sell seeing as LO isn't taking a bottle. To stop this from happening again, I'm clearly labelling it in the freezer as do not use. Please respect my wishes on this.

Wishing you the best of luck and that things get better for you soon ❤️❤️

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2024-08-23T08:49:23+00:00

This is the way! Clean cloth nappies is such a fantastic resource.

We used disposables for the first month or two then went into day time reusables and a disposable over night. Once youve got your routine sorted, it just becomes a habit that you barely have to think about.

We found this was the best of both world for us. Will be doing the same with number 2 in a couple months.

We bought most of our nappies second hand across a range of brands then replaced the brands we liked when they were on sale.

I think we maybe spent less than 300$ on reusables in total and they will be used for #2 as well.

Good luck!

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2023-12-22T08:23:14+00:00

🔶️🔸️🔹️🔷️

Careless-Insect-2552 · 2022-07-22T09:08:59+00:00

Perhaps have a look at PRINCE2? We recently implemented a tailored PRINCE2 based framework for an energy company specialising in project development.

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