Dear Geraldine,
I hope you can help me as I just don’t know what to do if you can’t. My baby is nearly 6 weeks old and has just regained his birthweight, because I started expressing after feeds and topping him up. I know I have milk, I was very engorged in the beginning and I leak a lot during the day. He seems healthy and happy in himself, but I just don’t understand why he is not gaining weight if he is feeding for nearly 10hours a day? My HV says that he is positioned and latched well but she is not happy with his slow weight gain. He does sleep a lot at the breast. Please can you give me any advice? I don’t want to introduce formula but will have to if he doesn’t start feeding more effectively as I just can’t do anything during the day and it is really getting me down.
Shelly Jackson
Hi Shelly,
You sound like you are in a bit of a pickle.
From what you have told me, it sounds like a couple of things can be going on. The first is that I don’t think your little one is transferring milk well. You may have a lot of milk, but for some reason, your baby is not able to access it and drink it. There a few things that can cause this to happen.
One is cranial compression which affects the way your baby holds and milks the breast. If there is an imbalance in any area of his mouth, he will not be able to strip the breast. Go and see a cranial osteopath.
Another thing that can lead to this sort of situation is incompatible anatomy. This could mean that your nipple is large in relation to his mouth and so instead of getting nipple and areola, he is just getting the nipple tissue. In time, he will grow bigger and be able to take in nipple and areola, but you will need to manage this properly in the interim. (Have a look at my Low Milk Supply Guide for more information)
I hope this helps. Come and see me at the Twickenham Practice if you need more practical suggestions and assessment.
Kind regards,
Geraldine
