Michelle,
One thing that I'd be interested in is documenting how much the baby is
actually taking in, such as with pre- and post-feeding test weights. I've
seen some situations, including my own with one of my babies, where the slow
weight gain really was due to barely adequate intake. Mother may naturally
(or should I say pathologically?) have a borderline supply, or it could be
induced by a poor suck on baby's part, caused by low thyroid, or something
else. You can't begin to untangle this question mark without knowing how
much is really going into baby. After seeing some of the cases I have and
realizing in hindsight that it was the intake/supply, not just genetics, I
think it is worth looking at before saying, "it's normal," as some of the
scenarios I outlined above could happen repeatedly with successive babies.

Another possibility is that the mom's milk is just lower in fat content. I
didn't used to believe this was possible until I started doing my research
on insufficient milk supply. One mom told me that she felt like her milk was
"water," and that when she added borage oil supplements to her diet, her
milk became creamier and baby was more satisfied. In studying the whole
process of milk synthesis, you begin to realize that it is possible that a
part of the chain can break down and be substandard due to deficiences in
nutrients or hormones.

Lisa Marasco MA IBCLC

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