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

I had the sadness with my dd at 7 weeks. She had lost weight and dropped a fertile
Lots of runny poo and reflux. Gp advised nutrimagen ( for possible milk allergy) and baby gaviscon. Seemed to do the trick. She has put weight on.
She is 5 months- but still getting her event 4 hours at night.

Best to listen to the medical professionals.

Thank you! That's really kind of you to say.

OP my daughter was born in March and dropped 3 centiles within the first few weeks and classified FTT. She also writhed around when feeding and had too many dirty nappies every day (she had around 8+ some days). She also suffered with gas/wind problems. She turned out to be CMPA. This was easily solved for us as she was bottle fed and she was put on the correct formula and prescribed omeprazole for silent reflux (she was writhing during feeding because the milk was coming back up and causing her pain but she wasn’t vomiting or showing any signs to us that this was happening). It would be worthwhile ruling out an allergy or any reflux issues (including silent reflux) because your baby really does sound very similar to mine and she has now re-gained 2 centiles and is no longer being monitored. Try not to worry, you will get to the bottom of it all eventually and it sounds like you are doing a great job!

I would be wary of giving formula OP as firstly you're supply will drop and secondly, she may have a CMPA.

As long as she is having plenty of wet nappies that is all that matters. There is so much misinformation around breastfeeding and people waiting to push formula at the earliest opportunity.

Note the sensitivity to dairy might be just that.not allergy.many get scared of from milk and dairy and continue off it.but we were told very early on that it often is just the babies sensitive make up and the composition of dairy to that,rather than a lasting allergy to dairy.so they very quickly are able to tolerate it.
don’t think she needs to be off dairy forever it’s so often jot true.

My DS2 was diagnosed with FTT. I was told he might not live. He was off the centiles. Below 0%. I remember the HV putting a dot below the graph in his red book and I cried!

He is currently on holiday with his girlfriend and about to go into final year of uni where he is on course to get a first.

Got to admit those early years were very tough. He did have problems eating and he also had a host of other physical and neurological problems, including very severe GERD.

Your DS's FTT might be to do with the tongue tie. That can really stop them from latching on - a friend's baby had this. Once he'd had the tongue tie operated on and it healed, he caught up very quickly. I hope it's that simple.

Did the paediatrician listen to the LO heart sounds and tummy sounds?

If yes, crack on, but if you decide to supplement with formula, find a dairy and soya free one. If you are cutting it out of your diet, read labels really carefully, milk can hide under lots of other names (like whey for instance). Google is your friend for info on this.

If no, get back to the GP and ask for a check on LO heart sounds.

Seriously, cut out the dairy and soy! The endless diarrhoea is very symptomatic of an allergy.

You are doing a great job. It's tough when they are so young. I'd echo following the paediatric advice because they're the specialist and they've seen you and baby.

For what it's worth, my little one turned out to have CMPA. Didn't get a diagnosis til we tried to wean. He was ebf until then which had limited his symptoms, went south when even tiny amounts of cow's milk introduced, but were fine once he and I cut milk (and then soya) out altogether. I wish I'd tried it sooner. If it doesn't work, you can ask to go back and see them again.

Has your baby's heart been listened to?
Very slow weight gain was the 1st sign that my baby had a hole in her heart (which has now been operated on).
I don't mean to cause any alarm and it probably isn't anything this serious but it's worth getting checked.

My friend's baby had very similar - fussing, sleeping too much, green poo. It was CMPA. Mum cut out all dairy and soy from her diet and within a couple of months had a much happier, heavier baby!
Worth trying this first - and I see also recommended by the Paed.

It's really not helpful to tell an ebf mum to formula feed, especially when the evidence points to CMPA, and can be solved with dietary changes.
It's even less helpful to choose one of the most expensive brands of formula on the market and tell someone to buy it, particularly when all stage 1 formula has the same nutritional content.

@Fairylightsongs. You understand don't you that if given formula milk and the baby has a dairy allergy as the paediatrician suspects then the baby will
1 NOT be fed on the formula. As he won't be able to digest it and 2 will end up very very sick

So if you genuinely believe "fed is best" right now you ought to be pushing your own views of breast milk away and suggesting the mother follows the medical advice she has been given. If the doctor later feels there is further issues formula will 100% be suggested. However right now if op was to go to formula and the baby has a dairy or soy allergy then that could have really bad effects on baby.

If you truly believe "fed is best" surely you can acknowledge that fed can come in more way than through a bottle and work?

@aimeeeleanor . I had a "failure to thrive " baby 18 years ago. She is aboit to start uni in a perfectly normal weight she was also exclusively breastfed and like with her older brother I had to cut out dairy. She is lactose intolerant and I am really pleased I did not go to formula i dont want to consider how bad she could have been had we gone there
Her older brother is low dairy but can tolerate some. He never eats cream or creme fraise as he says it makes his stomach hurt. That is all he has left from his dairy issues as a baby. A sore stomach if he eats cream.

You sound like you are doing a great job and have supportive hcp.

My DS was born during the first week of the first lockdown. He was not weighed once after birth or checked in on by HV.
He's 2.5 now and has gone from 50th centile at birth to now 14th. I honestly can't get my head around it, how they would detect medical issues without seeing any body.
I'm sure your baby is absolutely fine! Mum usually knows best, at least it'll give you some peace of mind though.

You are doing a great job OP, but we can’t gloss over the fact the baby has put on less than 1 pound in 7 weeks. That’s a very slow rate of growth. FTT babies often sleep for longer stretches because they’re hungry but don’t have the energy to wake for feeds.

If you’ve tried all the usual breastfeeding remedies, I would add 1 bottle of formula a day just to see if it makes a difference. You could always pump when you give the bottle to make sure it doesn’t affect your supply. If after a few weeks it’s worked, great you can carry on combi-feeding. If not you can cut it out and investigate the allergies etc. But don’t see formula as your enemy or the end of bfing!

Agree with all of the above.

I bf both of mine. They literally fed every 2-3 hours for the first 3/4 months day and night. I do remember they pooed a lot less from about 6/7 weeks so I would say there is a possible allergy.

You do sound like your doing a great job OP!

Firstly you are doing an amazing job!!

The symptoms your son has are very similar to the symptoms my baby had for non-IGE CMPA.

Once I cut out dairy and soy, my baby started gaining weight better and pooing once a day. I also set a timer to help remind me to feed every two hours.

There are a lot of Facebook groups which support breastfeeding with CMPA. Do have a look at them.

This happened to my now 4year old. She actually dropped from 91st centile to 2nd and continues to track along 2nd now. She too was exclusively breastfed.

she endured numerous blood tests, had people observe breast feeding etc etc the end conclusion was she just was meant to be petite. A very helpful health visitor eventually reassured me that she was bright and alert and that was the most important sign. If she had been being underfed that wouldn’t have been her presentation.

to complicate matters in my subsequent pregnancy I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I now suspect that I had gestational diabetes in my pregnancy with my daughter which led to her having a larger birth weight and placed her on a centile she was not meant to be at at birth, she then naturally found her place.

trust your instructs. If your baby is happy, alert, settled he is probably doing just fine. At that age I don’t think a baby would sleep for long stretches if they were hungry. I appreciate it can be different when they are first born and are really sleepy. It sounds like you are doing great mama.

God, these threads always attract people suggesting bloody formula!

And they always guzzle and gulp a verb that growing up was always seen to be a bad thing, however it is interesting that these two terms are always used. I often wonder if they have agenda.

peony and sarah talk sense and as for children starting school in January, I haven't heard of that since the 80's, certainly is not the majority.

You are doing an amazing job!

my youngest was EBF, I fed him on demand which was every hour! (It was exhausting!) unfortunately he had awful reflux and just kept losing weight.
We had to have bloods and stool tests done along with x-rays and all sorts of hospital visits, fortunately he was absolutely fine and healthy and nothing was flagged up on any of his tests and examinations but I was advised to try combination feeding which actually helped him gain weight back.

Im sure the doctors will support you and your little one, you have not failed at all!

If you had any knowledge of breast feeding, you would know that introducing formula at 7 weeks before supply is established is likely to lead to exactly that.
God it makes me so depressed that still in 2022 we have such mis information.

My 12 yr old was. Had paediatric appointments etc, nothing concrete came up and ultimately time passed. He’s still unusually thin (height always 50-75% centile but weight around 2-9th). He was ‘underweight’ in the reception check too. He’s got lean muscle, energy but no fat. He’s active and eats more than my other children to maintain his weight. Very healthy in general, apart from still a tendency to occasional stomach complaints we never really found a cause for with food diaries etc. He is thin enough people comment, clothes are tricky-but he can also run for miles and is sporty. His weight doesn’t seem to affect his height at all.

WTAF??
OP definitely don’t do this.
Shockingly terrible advice.

Supply is established by 6 weeks. I introduced the odd bottle of formula at around 4 weeks, didn’t affect my supply at all. If anything it helped as it meant I was adequately rested, I found if I was tired/run down/thirsty it decreased.