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can anyone tell me what actually is failure to thrive in the medicals eyes

9 replies

robinredbreast · 22/08/2007 22:25

what do th so called professionals class as ftf ?

does your baby have lost x amount of weight ?
stop meeting development milestones?
not gain x amount of weight?

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saggarmakersbottomknocker · 22/08/2007 22:28

My dd was FTT but not officially classed as such until she had true weight loss. Gained very slowly and slipped down the centiles then lost.

She went from amost off the scale at the top (10lbs) to off the bottom by 13 weeks.

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Isababel · 22/08/2007 22:29

In terms of growth, I think it would be when the line of growth in the average weight and height tables (see red book) it is quite horizontal, or your child has drop out of scale.

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ib · 22/08/2007 22:31

I was told crossing two centile lines or bein off the bottom of the chart on at least two separate occasions.

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robinredbreast · 22/08/2007 23:26

what actually dos crossing two centile lines mean
? starting off on say on the 5oth and dropping to say the 9th ?

sorry i jusy dont get these charts

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SlightlyMadStar · 22/08/2007 23:49

Definition
Failure-to-thrive is a term used to describe a child who is not growing as expected. But, it is not the same as normal growth in a child who is small for his or her age. The exact definition is not completely agreed upon.

In general, failure-to-thrive means that a child:

Is at or below the 3rd to 5th percentile for height and weight; or
Has failed to gain weight as expected, as shown by dropping two growth percentiles (For example, the child goes from the 75th percentile to below the 25th percentile.)

And yes - dropping 2 percentiles means you start on one line and end up 2 lines lower (e.g. 50th to 9th is an example)

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mamadoc · 23/08/2007 12:01

Oh SMS you are worrying me now.
DD was born on and has remained on 0.4th centile. She never crossed any lines and always puts on a decent amount each week. In other ways she seems healthy and happy and HV and GP never said otherwise.
Surely the way these things work some people have tp be below average. It can't be the case that all babies at or below 3rd to 5th percentile are FTT.

As an aside I get a lot of comments on how small she is. My favourite was a little boy who asked his mum 'Is that a real baby or a dolly?"

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silverfrog · 23/08/2007 12:35

mamadoc - don't worry. If your dd is happy and healthy (lots of wet nappies, alert, responsive, etc) and the health professionals involved with her are happy, I'm sure there is no need to worry.

Dd2 was born just over the 50th centile, and has slowly readjusted herself to just below the 5th, but is bright as a button, very happy, and definitely healthy. No-one can beleive how little she weighs, as she is a chubby little thing (see profile for proof!) but each time I put her on the scales she just hasn't put on much at all. Such is life. Dd1 is the opposite - around the 98th centile, and no-one has ever said she is too big, so why would dd2 be too small for being at the other end of the charts?

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SlightlyMadStar · 23/08/2007 14:12

Appologies mamadoc...I have just realised that the exerpt I cut and paste was from a US website. I havn't even got 3rd percentile in my book - so I should have realised.

The crossing 2 lines thing is something which certainly is relevant in this country though. DD3 crossed 2 lines in a space of 4 weeks as a result of severe tummy bug and I had HV straight on my back for the next 4 weeks until it she had picked back up.
I guess they would be less worried about crossing 2 lines over the space of 6-12m rather than 4 weeks would be a less of a problem as it is gradual- but I can't find anything online to support this.