To ask a poo/health question in aibu - toddler losing weight

[Verticalvenetianblinds]

Ds (13months) has lost weight again. He's gone from 25th centile at 6months to 2nd last week. He weighs just over 18lbs.
He's had a string of problems I've posted and got help with. We have been referred to paediatrician.
I think he has some sort of absorption issue, his poo is lumpy. For example, he had melon for pudding and then it came through still quite obviously melon. I'm used to sweet corn and blueberries but surely melon should break down quite easily?
He is dairy intolerant, we have also cut out gluten but it didn't make any difference (9 weeks)
I'm struggling to get any more food in him, he eats a wide varied diet, and always finishes his 'healthy' dinner (cottage pie/lasagne/stew/stir fry etc) and has regularly snacks of pouches, yogurt (soya), biscuits, toast, cereal etc. It just seems to go straight through him!
He's had a poo sample done, but it just came back as the lactose problem.
I know it's not an aibu but I'm posting here for traffic. Anyone had any experience of this? It's scary being told he's not thriving but the dietician didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know (little and often, varied etc etc)
He's still bfeeding as he hates the dairy free formulas

Is he actually losing weight, or still gaining but more slowly, ie just going down the centiles?

This time (monthly weigh checks) he'd lost 8ounces

8oz isn't a lot in the context of 18lb, though, surely?

I have a tiny tiny 10mo who gains steadily but very, very slowly. Almost certainly genetic in our case, we're all tiny and she was born tiny. What centile did your ds start out on?

How's his development? Is he hitting milestones? How active is he? A very mobile baby may put on less weight due to expending more energy.

Is the poo actually runny? I think it's quite normal for things to come out looking rather like they went in, but if it doesn't look as if the digestive system is working on things, that might be worth investigating. How often does he go?

No it's not, I realise that. But over a month they'd expected him to stay the same at least, hopefully put on something but a loss means he's dropped over 2 lines in 6 months. He was born on the 50th centile and then dropped over 7 months to the 25th.
He is active, started to walk at 10 months.
He goes 4/5 times a day. It's firm and what I'd consider normal, just with last nights dinner clearly visible.

I have problems with lactose and it does cause my digestive system to "rush" with awful cramps and badly digested food.
Are you due any appointments with a dietician on this?

Have you had a skin prick allergy test? Is he allergic to soya (7-35% of kids with CMPA are).
My LO has recently shown signs of CMPA, so I've had to stop dairy as it passes through breast milk-are you dairy free? ( And taking calcium supplements? ) It's a pain but I've noticed a poo improvement, and the lovely people on the allergy board pointed me in the right direction! (Bourbon's, jaffa cakes and wine )
Basically you need to see the paediatrician. If soya is a problem it needs to be managed properly as it's in so much!

We had a different issue in that our son has chronic constipation, but is also under consultant care to monitor poor growth. Basically he was at 91st weight, 75th height at 12mths but by 2.5yr his height was below 9th and weight 50th (though he is muscly). His growth had slowed significantly. Since being given movicol for his constipation his growth picked up though at this stage it seems unlikely his growth will be dramatic enough to catch up in the short term, though now maintains a consistent growth pattern following the gap between 9th and 25th. I would push for a referral to a paediatrician, preferably a growth specialist, though I think there may be a few reasons why they won't refer at this stage. Mostly he isn't that old yet. Is he chewing food properly, or swallowing them whole? Has he recently become more active? Been unwell or teething? I've been told after s year, most children began to adapt to a growth pattern more in keeping with how they should be and dropping 1 or 2 percentile bands is quite common. My advice would be to get regular measurements done (monthly if possible) to try to gauge his growth patterns. His growth could be a temporary pause, rather than a long term issue. Try to get a health visitor on board to help with the monitoring and seek their support and go to a GP expressing your concerns. If absorption is a concern then blood tests should be taken to rule out conditions that can lead to malabsorption.

I cut out all dairy and soya from 3 months old, but then gradually reintroduced dairy, big problem. Cut it out and gradually reintroduced soya, no problem. But we don't have soya milk or anything, just the yogs and obviously it's in loads of dairy free stuff!!
You've just reminded me I've not taken a calcium tablet in quite a while! Better sort that out!
Got referral to paeds done today, and due to see dietician in 2 months but think I'll ask to get a sooner one.
I'm just not sure what else I can do/what they'll tell me to do. I know he won't be 18lbs forever but I am a bit concerned he'll be stunted!

4-5 times/day is quite a lot at this age, IMO, and I think worth looking into, esp in conjunction with the intolerance. But I do think there may be being too much fuss whipped up around the weight. Babies/children don't read centile charts. (Well, one of mine clearly did, as he has a textbook height line, absolutely parallel to the centiles, just considerably under them He is bright and the picture of health, just from a tiny family).

I also agree with requesting an allergy / intolerance test. My son had reflux (though not a severe case), and for a long time there were foods that would go straight through him (carrots would come up, blueberries straight down!) He has mostly grown out of this and I just avoid food that reacts with him. We didn't get a formal diagnosis though as he had clear rejections with specific foods.

vertical skin pick test and paediatrician with an interest in allergies (hopefully)
I'm waiting in a referral as well. It takes a while it seems!

Will wait and see how far away paediatrician appointment is. If it's a while I'll go back to gp and ask for more tests. He's got to have his ear op at some point too.
Poor little dude, always seems to be something! Ds (6) has never been poorly!

mum face take the calcium. Osteoporosis can be awful

Sorry, overly mum face post. Best of luck!

I found the stash I stocked up while still had free prescriptions, will take double for a bit

Has he been tested for coeliac's? Is he completely gluten-free?

No and no. Gluten free didn't seem to make any difference but I'm happy to give it another go if they think it'll make a difference. He doesn't sleep well either, still waking every two to three hours

stay on the gluten and ask for a blood test to check for coeliac's - hope you get some answers soon

Yes give gluten and test for coeliac.
Birth centile isn't that relevant.

Is he actually lactose intolerant? Or does he have CMPA? Your posts aren't clear.

If he's lactose intolerant then breastfeeding won't help, as there's lactose in all milk even milk from humans.

Lactose/dairy issues as well as malabsorption can be a consequence of coeliac's due to damaged villi in the gut.

Here's a link to the NICE guidance on coeliac testing/investigation:

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng20/chapter/key-priorities-for-implementation