To think Doctor should be more worried about babies weight loss?

[SmallYetMighty]

Ds 11 months is small and always has been but in the last 4 weeks he has lost what I would consider a large amount of weight.

Naturally I rang the GP and queried this and after waiting all day today for a doctors appointment he was seen tonight at half 5 and they are not even remotely concerned. The GP even said his weight wasn't low for his age.

Last month he was - 17lb 2oz
Yesterday exactly 4 weeks later he is now - 15lb 7oz

He has been cruising for over a month and has been crawling for several months and whilst not noticeably much more active, I'd say he is always on the go.

He eats really well, 3 good meals (mixture of blw and spoon fed) and 2 snacks plus he has 2 bottles a day.

I don't think I'd be as worried if he had lots of weight to lose but he wasn't very heavy before losing the weight.

Am I right to think they should be more concerned or is the GP right to say he's fine and the amount of weight he has lost is nothing to worry about?

If you're getting zero response from the health visitor I'd try and find a means of checking that out - perhaps she's moved on and nobody has thought to tell you. People shouldn't be left with no access to a health visitor, surely?

If you can't find a central number, maybe the GP surgery have one, or if you can find someone who has a different hv in the same team maybe you can get their number and contact them and explain that you're getting no response.

Health visitors should be more used to deciding when a baby needs referring because of their weight, as they're normally the people dealing with that side of things on a regular basis.

I wouldn’t worry too much about him drinking more water if he’s dropped a milk feed.

I'll try not to worry but I appreciate the heads up that it might be something worth looking at.

People shouldn't be left with no access to a health visitor, surely?

It is quite frustrating and the only other parents I know in the area (albeit only 3 other mums) have exactly the same health visitor. It is possible she might have left though as we've not seen her since his 8 week check. I'll keep trying the number but I'll certainly check on Monday whether she is still there and if there is any other numbers I could add to my contact list just incase I need support in future.

It might seem an odd question but it’s one that consultants and GPs have asked me at various points over my DSs health- but what do you think might be going on to have caused the weight loss?
There obviously has to be a cause of such significant weight loss and your insight is possibly the most important opinion on it.

but what do you think might be going on to have caused the weight loss?

Honestly I wish I had even a small idea as to the reason but I cant think of anything.

He's eating well, he's developing as expected, he seems fine in himself (no grumpier than normal or obvious changes in behaviour) and he's not been unwell there doesn't seem to be anything I could pinpoint such a large weight loss to.

Hi @SmallYetMighty

I see that you were asked about eating and bowel movements, intolerances etc.
Although my DD didn't loose weight she barely gained any weight over an 8 month period. Something I repeatedly raised with the GP and HV and was dismissed as being an overly concerned FTP. I had always assumed my DDs bowel movements were normal until I looked after my niece (3weeks younger than DD) one day and realised they were anything but normal! It turned out DD actually had a dairy allergy and wasn't absorbing a lot of the nutrition from her food. Other than not sleeping at night (which we mostly assumed was teething) there wasn't really any indication of a food allergy.

Hopefully like others have said this weight loss is down to your DC's crusing but an unknown food allergy may be something to keep in mind if DCs weight is still dropping.

If it’s a mobile number could you text her even just to say you really need her to call you back?

It turned out DD actually had a dairy allergy

It's funny you mentioned that as when he was very young, about 4-5 weeks we suspected an intolerance or allergy to milk as he would throw most of his feed back up and his nappies were horrendous.

However we were pretty much ignored with our concerns (again we were referred to as anxious first timer) and it all settled down about 3-4 months.

His bowel movements do seem perfectly normal and he is now never sick. However it is now a small niggle at the back of my mind now you've brought it up but surely he wouldn't be losing the weight now when his diet is less milk based?

@LouiseTrees

If it’s a mobile number could you text her even just to say you really need her to call you back?

I've sent her a message so I'll hopefully get a response soon.

@CovidStoleTheRainbow

As far as I know, milk should still be his main source of nutrition until 12 months.

I'd keep on and on with the HV, call and call.

This isn't a rule so much as what is usual, and if he has only dropped one bottle, it is likely still representing most of his calories. Most babies don't eat enough to replace the majority of calories under about one. But it's not exact, and some babies are much better and more interested in eating food than others. But there is no reason to stop an infant at that age from eating more solid food if they are keen and it will naturally start pushing out other things.

Hi OP,

Coeliacs could also maybe be a consideration. You can be a silent coeliac (no obvious signs) and it was known as failure to thrive in the older days, before they understood it.

I hope you get some answers soon, I person definitely wouldn't drop it x

OP, if you haven't crossed two percentiles, that is likely why the GP isn't that worried. Losing is not the most common thing but it's not unheard of, and contrary to popular belief it does not only happen when there is a problem. It's usually pretty temporary.

You could try and include some more calorie rich foods, but as far as eating more, he won't if he isn't hungry, and if he is hungry, he's be eating more.

If he's drinking and eating well, energetic, and poop and urine seem normal in appearance and amount, he's probably just losing because he is burning a lot more energy all of a sudden. A healthy baby will eat enough, you don't need to try and force feed though you could consider f they are struggling with self-feeding - but it doesn't sound like that is your issue. If there is a problem, then you will need to find what that is and deal with it rather than just trying to get the baby to eat more. But chances are he's fine.

Thanks for the super informative answer goosefoot.

Coeliacs could also maybe be a consideration. You can be a silent coeliac

That's pretty interesting, I never knew you could be a silen coeliac despite the fact I used to live with one. Something like this would I think explain better the weight loss occurring now, especially as he eats so much more 'real' food as apposed to purees and milk. It's certainly something I can discuss when I ring and request to speak to a different GP next week.

@SmallYetMighty

It turned out DD actually had a dairy allergy

It's funny you mentioned that as when he was very young, about 4-5 weeks we suspected an intolerance or allergy to milk as he would throw most of his feed back up and his nappies were horrendous.

However we were pretty much ignored with our concerns (again we were referred to as anxious first timer) and it all settled down about 3-4 months.

His bowel movements do seem perfectly normal and he is now never sick. However it is now a small niggle at the back of my mind now you've brought it up but surely he wouldn't be losing the weight now when his diet is less milk based?

I've a very small toddler with CMPA (he's still less than 11kg now at 2.5yo below 0.4th centile...) So...It might be that your baby does have an intolerance, and just developed a learned resilience to the formula milk eventually as the need to feed takes over. But if you're now giving him cheese, butter, cream, chocolate and other dairy products - that could well be causing a new intolerant reaction as his digestive system works out how to deal with these new, stronger milk foods. If possible, it might be worth dropping the dairy products from his diet for a week or 2 and then weighing him again to see if that helps.

Ok I'm going to disagree with that, I dont think you should be dropping dairy products to check for an allergy when they are his main source of calories. I also think that if your ds had a dairy allergy you would see some signs of it - eczema, diarrhoea, blood or mucus in stool, constipation, wind, pain. It's really not usually silent. And processed diary - cheese, yogurt etc is less likely to cause a reaction that straight milk.

My DS lost loads of weight too at that age. We noticed at the time but now looking back at photos it’s quite shocking as he went from 75th to 50th percentile. However, it coincided with him cruising and also being constantly sick with colds and coughs from starting nursery so the dr wasn’t overly concerned. 15 months later he’s just stayed at 50th percentile. He was a particularly chunky baby so I guess he had weight to spare. If there’s no reasonable explanation for the weight loss see a dr.

Our surgery don't have baby scales. So even if they wanted to weight a child they can't. If they are worried about the baby's weight they are told to get it checked by the health visitor.

It never occured to me that they wouldn't have scales, although that that would explain certainly why they didn't weigh the OPs little one. Although I do think it's daft to send the OP on her way saying everything is fine, when they haven't actually checked the child's weight, or made a future appointment to do so. The poor OP may be worrying over nothing.

OP I hope you manage to get in touch with the health visitor soon, or manage to get a second opinion.

Thanks onxe again for some excellent helpful advice. I think removing dairy bow id probably not a good plan as if they want to test for an intolerance then I would have to reintroduce it but I'll certainly keep in mind it might be part of the problem. I'm not adversed to trying a dairy free diet fo him but I think I'd feel more comfortable doing so if it was under guidance from a professional.

He was a particularly chunky baby so I guess he had weight to spare.

It sounds like your DS was just finding his natural place in the percentile charts. He sounds lovely, I always secretly wanted a chubby baby. Sadly being such a slight thing I'm not sure letting DS potentially lose any more is a risk I should take as he really doesn't have much to lose to begin with.

It never occured to me that they wouldn't have scales

They definitely have scales in the building as the midwife team are based downstairs, which makes it all the more frustrating he didn't double check.

I'm hoping to hear back from the midwife today but if I don't I shall definitely be calling the surgery back tomorrow. I honestly thought they would be massively concerned especially with how light he already was but it certainly seemed like he would rather just get us out and go home.

I'm hoping to hear back from the midwife today but if I don't I shall definitely be calling the surgery back tomorrow.

Fingers crossed you get some answers.