Some mothers worry about their babies not gaining weight, especially if they are told that their baby is not gaining weight during an infant health check to check their growth. You may compare your baby to other babies and worry that they are “small.” For these mothers, we will explain in an easy-to-understand way why babies are not gaining weight and what mothers can do.
Why can’t I gain weight?
Of course, there are individual differences in a baby’s weight, but it is said that a baby should be twice as heavy at birth at 3 months and three times as heavy at 1 year. It is said that
there is no problem if the baby is growing healthily, but as a mother, it can be worrying if your baby is not gaining weight despite your best efforts at breastfeeding.
Here are some possible reasons why your baby is not gaining weight.
Nutritional deficiencies (breast milk, formula, etc.)
To determine if your baby is not getting enough breast milk, check the following:
- Urinating 5-6 or more times a day
- Not constipated
- Gain 15g or more per day during the first 2 weeks of life
- During the first month of life, the baby will gain more than 25g per day
If the above applies to you, you don’t need to worry about a lack of breast milk. However, if your baby is not gaining weight despite drinking breast milk, the breast milk may not be getting enough calories. This is because your baby drinks the thin foremilk (milk that first comes out) but not the high-calorie hindmilk (milk that comes out later). This occurs when the let-down reflex to release milk is insufficient. It
may also be that your baby is the type who uses nutrition carefully rather than by weight, or that he or she is naturally small in stature. If you have any concerns, consult an obstetrician-gynecologist or breastfeeding clinic.
Moves well!
Babies who love to exercise and move around a lot tend to have a hard time gaining weight. Even adults who exercise don’t gain weight even if they eat a lot, so it’s the same in the world of babies.
Gaining weight is not the key to parenting success, but the most important thing is for the baby to be healthy. If your baby is healthy and active, there’s no need to worry about not gaining weight. If you’re worried that your baby may be too thin, consult a pediatrician.
This is what happened to me! Experiences of other mothers
We will introduce the actual experiences of mothers who say that their babies had trouble gaining weight.
I’m glad I consulted with you!
After giving birth, I breastfed my baby exclusively, but at the baby’s one-month checkup, they pointed out that he wasn’t gaining enough weight, so we started feeding him mixed milk. However, maybe because I added too much milk, my breasts started to feel swollen… I couldn’t get the balance right, and I ended up with mastitis (T ^ T) When I consulted with a breast clinic, I was told that I was producing enough breast milk, so I stopped adding milk. The doctor there said that it takes about two months for breastfeeding to get on track because newborns’ drinking powers are still weak
It may be a good idea to consult a breast clinic or breastfeeding clinic; you may find an unexpected solution.
He’s starting to gain weight with baby food!
　I was worried about my child’s slow weight gain on the Kaup index.
I couldn’t produce breast milk and he only drank a little at a time, so I repeatedly breastfed him, pumped the milk, and fed him with a spoon. For about two months, he was almost always sitting on the sofa at home.
The hospital was like that too, and I believed in breastfeeding exclusively, so I resisted milk, but I tried my best. Once he started eating solid food, his weight started to increase gradually, and I felt relieved.
There are also stories of babies gaining weight after starting solid food. Moms can rest easy knowing their babies are getting the nutrients they need from food and gaining weight.
I got through it with a mix!
My daughter was born prematurely and was hospitalized in the NICU for a while, so she was fed breast milk (expressed milk) and formula when she was hospitalized, and even after she was discharged, she was fed a mixture of breast milk and formula.
Soon after she was discharged, I was influenced by the breast milk supremacy of society and tried desperately to breastfeed exclusively, but my daughter was already small… and I got stressed out over the course of the process, so I started adding formula and weaned her.
Now, looking back, she started sleeping through the night from around 6 months old, I could leave her with anyone, she weaned easily, and she eats baby food well… there are so many good things about it, so I’m really glad we mixed feeding.
It seems that trying too hard with exclusive breastfeeding can be a bit of a pressure. If you switch to mixed feeding, it’s possible that your baby’s weight will change, as you’re also using a little bit of formula.
Each child has their own pace of growth.
My pediatrician once told me that unless your child has some kind of illness, if they are healthy, you should be patient and watch over them even if their weight gain is slow.
My child was also small at 5,330g at 4 months old, which worried me a lot, but he drank a lot of breast milk and started solid food at 6 months, and by the time he was 10 months old, he was approaching the standard on the growth curve graph.
Even if your child is drinking a lot of breast milk or formula, the pace at which they grow varies from person to person. Don’t get too nervous about the grams, and trust that your baby is growing because you are doing your best as a mother!
