Has anyone else had a lo whose growth was slowed because of problems absorbing food?

[makedoandmend]

DD's (9mo) weight line drifted down from 50th centile to between 2nd and 9th from 12wk - 24 and has remained there before stalling recently.

Have been referred to paeds to check the weight and the fact that dd is yellow (not jaundiced).

At the 9m check today HV says she thinks there may be a problem in her absorbing food as she has always eaten solids well and will pack away quite a lot of food. She says that the growth looks like there has been an interruption rather than her being genetically small.

Wondered if anyone else had experienced the same thing?

I'm not sure, my DD is 3.6yo now, and was 8lbs 4oz born, she was always a pretty chubby baby, even when walking. Now she's 2 stone 2 lbs, and her 2yo brother is taller than her, she's just going into 3-4 clothes, but she is really small and pretty skinny, she eats pretty well and is active, but why won't she grow?

bump

anyone?

My ds was growing normally for 10 weeks then stopped almost completly. He only gained 1ib in the next 3 months. He has hypertriglycerideamia. It is still being looked into but it looks like he is missing an enzyme which is involved in breaking down fats so he is basically living off sugar and he was breaking down his muscles when he was sleeping longer at night.

hypertriglycerideamia is a symptom, not the condition

noodlesoup - sorry to hear about your ds - that must be very worrying for you. Were there any other symptoms? How is he now?

my ds had absorption prblems when he was little, they thought it was coeliac disease- biopsy showed what looked exactly like this. They treated his severe reflux and he stopped eating gluten (later dairy and soya too) and he slowly improved but he was pretty poorly on and off and spent lots of time in hospital with infections. He also never showed interest in food.

He is now 12 and you would never know what a frail little thing he was.He eats fine and there is no evidence of any malabsorption.

Does your ds like eating? Is he sick a lot?

I feel for you because its so worrying and upsetting when they dont grow. I hope they find out whats wrong and a way to help your ds soon.

sorry your dd

He is 25 weeks now. He has been refered to a different Dr who we are seeing tomorrow so I'll know a bit more about it then hopefully.

He had problems at birth and was in scbu to he was automatically refered to a pead for outpatient monitoring. He had to have blood tests to check his blood count as he lost blood at birth. Every time he went for a blood test he was automatically weighed and measured and that is how it was picked up. He is my third dc and I wouldn't have bothered going to clinic to have him weighed because he seemed so well.

He followed the 9th percentile line until 10 weeks, then his line went flat. It probably coincided with when he started sleeping longer at night. He was bf so it was assumed that I wasn't giving him enough.

He was tested for chromosomal abnormalities, thyroid disease, celiac disease amongst other things.

His blood tests indicated that there was a problem with his liver and that he had raised triglyceride levels in his blood. He has been prescribed a formula called monogen which contains medium chain fats (as opposed to long chain) and he put on 9oz in 10 days when he first started taking it (125ml a day). That is as far as we have got at the moment.

I had to test his blood sugar level for a bit and it looks like he can't go longer than 4-5 hours without his blood sugar dropping under the normal level. Because he can't use his fat I have to make sure he is fed frequently or he will break down his muscle. He did have poor muscle tone but that was expected due to him being oxygen deprived at birth.

He does have some developmental delay but that might be due to his birth rather than this condition. He is very bright and alert and 'normal'. His drs say he looks much better than his test results indicate.

What do you mean when you say she is yellow but not jaundiced? The Dr my ds is seeing tomorrow is a liver specialist and ds has had his liver scanned because his blood test showed a problem.

DS2 was 7lb when he was born and gained weight quite wellish until he started eating solids. He then slowed down growth wise, his tummy became really bloated, he had really bad excema, his stools were revolting and never solid which delayed his toilet training, his speech and language and general developement was delayed. He was an angry, shouty and revolting child with a really bad temper.

I managed to get him refered to a paedeatric dietician and he had skin prick tests done (I was thinking he was lactose intollarant) and they came back negative. But during my conversation with the PD he mentioned coeliac/GI and made a comment and something pinged in my brain. I asked what they could do to test for it and he was very dismissive of me and I felt I was being overly worried and a fussy mother but he did suggest a blood test, I suspect to put me off. DS2 had his blood test and I was told to go home and wait for the result.

As soon as I got home I looked on the web and implemented a GF diet. Within 3 days his stools started to solidify, within a week his excema was clearing up. He is now toilet trained with proper stools, his tummy looks normal, his skin is beautiful, he is growing nicely (always been the smallest in his nursery but I suspect they are going to get a shock when he goes back tomorrow), his speech and language are coming on though still not brilliant and he starts 5 weeks speech therapy next week, his development is coming on nicely. His behaviour has changed so much, he is the most plesant and so patient with people when they don't understand him straight away.

The bllod test came back inconclusive with a letter from the PD which reading between the lines said I was a fussy Mum. Wish he could see my boy now.

Sorry that was long and waffly

When his blood sugar was low, his behavior was still alert etc. I wouldn't have had a clue that anything was wrong.

ra29 dd loves eating - and seems to eat more than her peers which is why we're about the weight. She used to be sick a lot - but got better when I gave up chocolate and coffee. She's only been sick once on solids (the other day right over me, the bed, the floor, the cot - lovely) while I was burping her after her last feed. I have reintroduced chocolate into my diet so maybe I have to give it up again Glad to hear your ds is better

noodlesoup - it sounds like you've really been through the mill regarding the birth and testing etc. Good luck for tomorrow. DD has a yellow look to her skin (I hadn't really noticed because she's got ginger cradle cap and used to have it on her eyebrows (they looked like two Wotsits!). But you can definitely see it on the soles of her feet. Not sure if it's linked as GP seems to think this may be just from two much beta-caroteine which is common with babies and toddlers. Her eyes are nice and white.

Thanks for your story MrsGok - so glad you found something that worked. If it were me I'd probably dash off an email with some photos to the PD - maybe he won't be quite as dismissive with the next mum! I'm hoping that the hospital appointment will come soon - the hospital misread the letter and referred me to the dermatology clinic by mistake so we had to start all over again last week but luckily HV is intervening and is trying to get the GP to rush this through.

It's difficult because dd is such a happy, alert child. She's behind with physical development but is very 'chatty'. Like your dc noodlesoup - you wouldn't know anything is wrong (apart from the yellow of course which only noticeable if you look carefully)

claire2009 - sorry didn't mean to ignore you - have you been to see anyone about your dc?

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