7 week old diagnosed with Failure To Thrive. What the hell!

[aimeeeleanor]

I’m so deflated right now & need to know if anybody has been in a similar situation

My son is 7+1 weeks old. He was born on 13th July weighing 7lbs3oz. Born on Dropped down to 6lbs9oz at first weigh in. Then has verrrrry slowly been gaining weight since. Approx 10g per day. He now weighs 8lbs2oz & is small

• He is EBF
• Had a tongue tie cut at 2 weeks old

He seems otherwise healthy - Alert, has started to smile, seems strong (can lift head for short periods etc), tracks objects in front of him, makes cooing noises

The only issue we seem to have with him is wind. He burps a lot after a breastfeed (despite having s good latch) & seems to struggle some of the time when passing gas from his bottom or pooping. He writhes around when on the breast & also when trying to poop on his changing mat. Plus he goes A LOT. Like 10+ dirty nappies a day. Mostly yellow runny poops with one green one on an evening every other evening or so

Health visitor said he has dropped 3 centiles from birth yesterday on weigh in, he’s now on the 0.4th centile

She sent us to the GP who sent us straight to the Paediatrician at the hospital for peace of mind. Paed commented on him being a long but skinny baby who didn’t seem unwell in the slightest. She said he seemed ok & it wasn’t uncommon. Have suggested I cut out dairy & soy, though i’m not convinced as he doesn’t seem to have any symptoms of an intolerance or an allergy

Also said to stop letting him sleep through 5-6 hours on a night & to feed him every 2 hours during the day, 3 hours on a night

I was feeding on demand before but didn’t realise timings were from start to start, so he was definitely going longer than 2 hours between feeds (sometimes napping for 3-4 hours during day). I was also taking him off the breast whenever he pooped & seemed to have gas, which i have now been advised not to do.

Blood tests & pee / poo samples have also been taken to rule out anything related to that

Has anybody else had their child be diagnosed with FTT & they’ve turned out ok? I’m devastated thinking I have failed him. Unfortunately babies don’t come with a hand book & I thought we were doing a really good job. Obviously not :(

thank you x

Sounds like you are doing a great job - you absolutely haven;t failed him given what you've said about his behaviour - he's clearly a happy baby.
Just FYI green poos, a lot of gas and writhing at the boob can be symptoms of an allergy so worth giving the dieticians advice a go I reckon.

What about giving him a bottle of Aptimil? You can breast feed as much as possible but also give him a good bottle of formula? My daughter was very thin and putting on only ounces. I never considered formula until at her six week check, my GP said that 'on your way home, you are going to buy some formula and give it to her.'
She gulped it down and we never looked back. I carried on breast feeding as much as possible but the main thing was she put on loads of weight. I was so worried about not bonding etc but that was, obviously, never an issue. And I would never encourage anyone to bottle feed unless it was necessary which it might be here.
By the way, for the first six weeks of her life, I did everything - lactation consultant, taking various homeopathic things, pumping etc.

I'd echo the sentiment you're doing a great job. And try not to think that the health care professionals think you aren't - they want to help.

We had a similar rocky start with DS1 but my GP and HV said everything was fine. At 11 weeks we tried lactose free formula and the nappies stopped being green, he stopped wriggling and start napping better. So if you get offered a dietician I'd followup as it can be hard and slow to work it out.

Sounds like he may just be a good sleeper? Sleeping 5-6 hours at a stretch was something that my two really didn't do at 7 weeks!

Both mine were EBF and my eldest slept too long when she was newborn but the health visitor quickly got onto it because she lost too much weight and made sure we woke her up more regularly for her feeds. I can't remember all the figures but she lost 11% of her weight and we were in danger of having to take her back into hospital. The thing I found with EBF was that it was constant. The cluster feeding was a nightmare! And changing from one side to the other constantly!

7 weeks is so little, I expect you just need to wake him more frequently and accept that the next few months are going to be knackering.

And I just wanted to add that you are doing a brilliant job. the first six weeks were the longest in my life - it will all be okay. I kept waiting for them to take my baby off me but for some reason they didn't. She's 14 now and the healthiest and sparkiest person I've ever met!

You're doing great. My 10x a day pooer turned out to have multiple allergies with none of the other symptoms CMPA babies have, hers was the instant type of allergy so it didn't kick off properly until weaning. I would definitely try cutting it out of your diet - flora plant spread is delicious and Jacksons do good soya free bread

I have a 4 year old DD who was diagnosed as failure to thrive (horrible term) and was EBF.

She breastfed for literally 5 minutes a feed. I was always confused that all the breastfeeding info mentioned babies taking up to an hour?

Anyway, she is starting school next week in age 2 - 3 clothes having remained on her centile that dropped down 3 levels when a baby. She is petite and a grazer, never a big appetite but certainly not failing to thrive in any way shape or form.

If you and HCPs are happy baby is healthy, then I'm sure you are doing a great job - don't let it knock your confidence x

This. I had this with my second and beat myself up about not being able to breastfeed. Wish I hadn’t now. Anyway I gave formula and she guzzled it down. She was starving.

Hi OP my baby was born on July 13th too and she is EBF. She struggles with gas and poos a lot like yours. I’m surprised your baby is sleeping 5-6 hours at night. Do you co-sleep? I do and my baby feeds every 2 hours at night usually and every hour (or more) during the day

I should add she is a big tall lass now. Just wasn’t getting enough to eat

God, these threads always attract people suggesting bloody formula! 😡

You have not failed him. Well done for breastfeeding. It’s not uncommon for BF babies to lose weight in the early days. Number of nappies are the key things to keep in mind. I’d follow the advice to feed more regularly, as it can become a vicious cycle of your baby being less likely to wake for feeds as they feed less, and lose energy.

You are doing a great job, and the paediatrician has said your baby seems well. It’s good to keep an eye on these things, weight etc but it certainly doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong or that you’re doing a bad job.

Do you have a local Infant Feeding Team you
can be referred to? Do you have the means to book a private lactation consultant (£100ish)?

I had a similar situation. However I was absolutely crap at breastfeeding. Not saying you are but I was
and knew I was! The HV told me she wasn’t allowed to suggest giving ds formula. So I said if it was your baby would you give your baby formula? And she instantly said yes. We then mix fed fairly successfully for several months.

if the pediatrician thinks baby is ok then I don’t think any real reason to worry.

but i wouldn’t rule out giving formula if you don’t think he’s getting enough.

I had failure to thrive, my mum had 4 kids, I was number 2 and the only one who had to be bottle fed due to not putting on weight. I'm now 41 and slightly over weight. Fed is best, hopefully a medical person can be more scientific.

I would do everything they suggest, including the possible allergy advice. Just offer milk all the time and even express a bit in between feeds to keep supply high. Prioritise food over sleep and just keep getting anything that worried you checked.

There doesn't sound like there's much wrong. Alert, lots of dirty nappies. Sounds like starvation indeed 🙄then recommending processed cows milk to someone who's been advised to cut out dairy is a sterling idea.

Honestly this place man.

Try the peads ideas. My youngest had horrible nappies and uncomfortable moments if I ate stuff like oranges. Wouldn't do much harm to cut some stuff out and see if changes things.

I personally didn't get them weighed passed 6 weeks tbh. The obsession with that ruddy line did my head in.

I stopped reading when you said he has not signs of allergies or intolerances. Despite not settling on boob, problems with wind and frequent awful nappies. All of which were symptoms of CMPA in my eldest. Listen to the professional.

I had a milk allergy, atrocious nappies and a pained dance when I needed to poop. I got put on soya et voila, total difference.

Do not give him a bottle of aptamil if a medical professional has said you can keep breastfeeding and told you to cut out dairy. That is terrible advice.

i agree with a pp that it does sound like symptoms of a CMPA so definitely worth cutting out dairy for a few weeks.

best indicator of baby’s milk intake is nappy output so if he’s doing multiple dirty nappies a day, he is getting plenty of milk. There’s nothing wrong with your milk and it sounds like you have a good supply.

but it could be that he has an intolerance which is irritating his stomach and causing the milk to pass through very quickly which may prevent him from absorbing all the calorific value of the milk if it’s in one end and very quickly straight out the other.

So yes I would wake him more frequently for feeds but also cut dairy out. Good luck you are doing brilliantly x

Had this with my youngest - ended up in the shaded bit below the bottom centile line! He had loads of tests re growth and development but nothing found. Was smaller than peers throughout primary but was healthy and well and shot up in his teens. Follow the advice offered and hang on in there OP.

Hi OP. My now 17 yr old DD was also labelled failure to thrive at a few weeks old. She was EBF too. She was born with stats at bottom of growth/height/weight charts and steadily came off the charts (she was so small) . I was given a few appointments with a specialist, they took some bloods and ran tests on her heart. It was suggested I give her top up formula which I didn’t do. It was also suggested I wean her early (also didn’t do this). She is still v small for her age, but perfectly formed. No major issues over the years health wise. Some humans are just meant to be small!

I would seek advice from a breast feeding support worker and veg his tongue checked again. It could be a posterior tie that was missed and only saw the front bit or tongue toe can reattach x

You're doing a brilliant job! Your baby is putting on weight, pooing frequently and sleeping well. All excellent. Since they're wanting him to speed up the weight gain, try the simple things first. The dietary advice and feed more frequently. Absolutely no need to give him formula unless you wish to. Your milk is sustaining him well. And you've done the hard work breastfeeding stimulating supply, so good going!

DD never had a formal diagnosis of failure to thrive, but it was mentioned several times (we were told that they don't use it as a diagnosis where we were any more, FWIW).

We were told from birth to do the thing with feeds every two hours and 'top up' feeds of formula afterwards. I don't want to scaremonger so will be clear this is only anecdata, but honestly, I think it was a mistake. She vomited so much after and during feeds, and I think they didn't really believe DP had enough milk (she did). And she'd often be still finishing one feed when the two hours was up! It was stupid.

DD is 5 now; in terms of height she's small for her age but well within the normal range; in terms of weight/width she's absolutely tiny (she still fits into some of her 18-24 month clothing; jeans and leggings are invariably falling off her waist if they're long enough in the leg. But that's just her. She was always that shape. She was a thin baby and a thin toddler and so on. She is also exactly the shape DP was at her age - and the shape her cousin was. It is quite obviously healthy for her.

The only thing I wish was that we'd ignored the pressure and been more confident to say she was fine.

I would also say consider some formula. That does not mean stop breast feeding, in fact it could actually prolong it.

It can be lovely for a dad to be able to do one feed.

My son failed to thrive. Formula really helped. Unfortunately I felt it was all or nothing but it really didn't need to be. With my daughter I mixed fed from the beginning.

You can either offer it at the end of a feed but if he is windy this may not work. Or substitute one at say 9/10pm which means you can get to bed early to get a decent stretch before the night feeds

We had the same, breastfed, tongue tie (cut twice) actually turned out baby had a cows millk protein allergy. Impacted through me consuming it. I had to give up dairy and move to combi feeding using special formula.