Hi!
Thanks so much for all your replies. What a lovely group of people it is here on the BW forums!
Lots of questions to answer, so here goes:
Have you discussed your concerns with her doctor? How does her doctor feel about her weight gain? Has she actually lost weight, or is it that she is dropping percentiles? Do you know what growth chart your doctor is using? (Many doctors still use growth charts based on formula fed babies, where ebf babies tend to follow a different curve. Try http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=63598.0 and see how her growth charts) How is her wet/dirty diaper output? Are there any other health issues? How is she sleeping? Do you do night feeds?
Her doctor(s) are telling me not to worry overly much, but say it's something to keep an eye on, just in case there's anything sinister going on. It's mostly the ped-nurse that got me panicky in the first place because she told me that it would be fine if Ella was just small, but because she started off average and has slipped down the curve, then we should be concerned. She's given me quite a lot of conflicting advice, so I'm not all that happy with her.
The growth chart is the Norwegian one, but one of her doctors told me that her progress will look different depending on which chart you use.
She hasn't lost weight, she's just slipped on the percentiles.
Her nappy output is fine. I spent two weeks tracking absolutely everything (nappies, sleep, feeding etc) and the only thing that stood out was that she's just not eating very much. 3-6 minutes breastfeeding per feed usually, and often won't take the second side.
No other health issues that we're aware of, aside from the eczema. But I had/have that, and her dad has pretty bad pollen allergies, so it's not a big shock that she has it.
Sleeping has been pretty terrible, but I think we're getting on top of that now with some good advice on the Night Wakings board, as well as having just weaned the swaddle and moved her into her own room for all sleeps.
It can take longer than a week to show any improvement - it takes up to 2 weeks for all milk proteins to get out of your system and breastmilk, and then it can take another 2 weeks for your baby to eliminate them too. Some babies show improvement right away, but when I eliminated dairy I was advised to do it for a month. Are you eliminating all dairy (even hidden and trace) or just obvious? Some babies are so sensitive that even trace amounts can cause severe reactions.
I'm eliminating all milk and soy proteins from my diet, and making pretty much all my food from scratch just to make sure. Honestly though, I'd be surprised if it turned out to be a milk intolerance, because when we first started her on milk-based formula she had no negative reactions at all (not obvious ones at least) and her weight did stabilize a bit at that time.
How often is your LO BFding at the moment?
I feed her pretty much every three hours with DFs at 11pm and 3am (ish). The ped-nurse advised me to try feeding her every two hours instead, but that made things worse, because she'd eat just enough to take the edge off and never really got hungry at all.
I did mention to the doctors and the nurse about her getting less calories from solids, but they all kind of poo-pooed me. The nurse wants me to try vegetables with added oil as soon as we've finished the milk testing. I personally don't think it makes a difference either way, since she eats less than a teaspoon of any solid food I give her anyway. And I give her a milk feed first before offering any solids, otherwise she gets frustrated.
But on the positive side, the first thing the doctors and nurses say when they look at her is how alert, active and healthy she looks, and how she doesn't look skinny or scrawny. Both her parents were small as children (in fact my mother was told I would probably be brain damaged because of my small head - the good old 70s eh? Heh).
So I'll just push ahead with the breastfeeding and try not to worry (bahaha yeah right). Thank you all so much for your advice and support. It really means a lot to me.
And Vick: Hi! I didn't think there was anyone from our part of the world on here! Nice to "meet" you! I hope the Swedish system isn't as annoying as the Norwegian one can be!
We got so frustrated with the red tape at one point that we went to one of the rare private hospitals to get some answers... and then the next day I got a call from the public hospital offering us an appointment.
