Hello. My daughter was born 40 weeks,9nky 4 pounds 17 inches long. She is 3 and still to this day is failure to thrive. She will care less if she eats. She would constantly throw up. She’s 3 but only 20 pounds. She never was in thr nicu and we were able to leave the next day. It is very hard and it drained me emotionally and physically. After countless stays in the hospital and times we though we would lose her we discovered a year later she had a rare Genetic disorder called IGF1-R. We make it day by day but ur not alone. Feel free to message me mama.
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He could be throwing up from acid reflux. Please have that checked out
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It could be very dangerous to your baby to take advice from the internet.
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Goat’s milk is one of the best. Real goat milk.
As long as they are gaining , no matter how little , don’t worry too much at all love . Some kids just have faster metabolisms , some kids never really get chunky at all . But honestly it’s only something major if they lose weight . Small consistent gains are what matters . Xx
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My daughter was small. She gained weight but was always so little and just looked like skin and bones when on formula. I started adding cereal early on(no I didn’t get doctor approval because none of their business as long as the baby is healthy). She started to plump up and when she started to get teeth(4 months old) I started introducing baby food to her and that’s when she really started to get growing. Honestly he’s eating and healthy all babies are different and unless he goes a day without food I wouldn’t worry to much. And when can start giving him baby food(obviously to soon now but wait a couple months) and he should plump right up and be okay.
I went through this with my son, but the circumstances were completly different for him.
It was always because of his lungs. They just didnt develop well enough and collapsed less than a minute after birth.
He spent almost 2 months in the NICU.
They said he would be ok and sent him home.
He was NOT ok.
He had somehow caught rsv. Luckily my mom happened to be holding him when he stopped breathing.
If he had not been being held in that moment he wouldnt be here today.
His brain went without oxygen for a few minutes until medics got a breath in him. Thats brain damage and unknown to what extent or if it can repair itself or not.
They put him on life support. During which time he got a staph infection from the ventilator hose.
He was like that for a long 3 months.
When he came back around they did a swallow study because he seemed to be having some trouble breathing still while eating.
Sure enough it showed he was aspirating every time he tried to swallow (getting liquid in his lungs).
So they put his feeding tube back in and sent him home again.
Over the next year he continued to do poorly despite have the feeding tube.
And was still always listed as failure to thrive.
His pedi did make some important changes for him along the way though.
1st he switched his formula from soy to lactose free. The PICU had put him on soy, but his pedi said he would never gain weight with soy formula.
That helped, but not enough.
So he made a bigger step and put him on a very high calorie formula that we litterally had to have a prescription for and could only get from a certain pharmacy.
His pedi also set him up with Early Childhood Intervention Services. They do different kinds of therapies with the babies to help them catch up and get back on track with the other babies thier age. These therapies really helped him so much.
We had a really good pedi who really stayed on top of my sons care until he was eventually no longer considered failure to thrive.
Hes bigger now and still has alot of problems from being on life support for so long and things like that but hes doing so much better.
He no longer has a feeding tube and can eat and drink with everyone else now.
Just stay on your Pedi and ask tons of questions. Write them down so you can take them in with you and nothing gets overlooked or forgotten.
Ask about Early Intervention services. Its free and every state has a program for 3yrs and under (it just may be called something different in different states)
Go to God and ask for his good health. Sounds like he got off to rough start. Feeding more often is good start, maybe even little meals more often. Follow what doctor advises
Tell them you want him tested for CAH. More extensively than done for new born testing.
My son was FTT went from 8lb to under 6lb.
Very little at the time was known about CAH.
Learned it wasn’t FTT
He was salt wasting.
I will say (I was in the hospital for a week after birth.), my doctor was super impressed as my daughter weighed 9 lbs 13 ounces at birth and a week later when we left the hospital she weighed 12 lbs… my doctor informed me he was shocked because babies lose weight and typically take about a month to get back to their birth weight. I would just continue doing what your pediatrician recommends. BUT if you wanted to, go get a second opinion and see what they say as well 
I had a doctor just try to tell me my son had this but really they have crap MA who were not documenting his weight properly and just writing down his same weight for every appointment 
just a word of caught it document everything get paper work from everywhere you go !!! The doctor will report to CPS !!! Get proof of the specialist!!! Get all medical records !! Weight your some every day and take a photo !! Document everything he eats how much in a note book write exact amounts with dates and times !! Take a photos of the bottle before and after if you have to !! Not even joking
Snuggles and constant feeds. They have such tiny tummies they can only hold so much, but it goes fast.
try some cereal in his bottle
Please don’t change his feeding habits or try anything his doctor does not recommend. Don’t listen to advice from facebook or the internet. The doctor sending your baby to a specialist is a good thing. The specialist will find out what’s going on, if anything. Sending love and good vibes.
I’m pretty sure that drs are too quick to throw that out. I have 5 kids and they were all born tiny and stayed tiny. Always behind on weight. But, once they hit between 3-6 months they started to double. 6-8 months even more since we started solids. I would get a 2nd opinion and not let 1 dr ruin the most precious newborn time by worrying and stressing.
I put a tiny bit of rice cereal in my babys bottle to help her gain a bit more weight. The doctor recommended it for her acid reflux but it helped with that as well.
I don’t have any first-hand experience but I did just watch a feel good video about a child who was failure to thrive as an infant didn’t talk till he was four, but he is all grown-up perfectly fine healthy and successful…
It could be formula period. Some babies just never do well on it. I was one of those babies! I think my parents just had to get through it. I always spit up everything
My daughter was considered failure to thrive when she was born she would hardly eat anything I had to wake her up every 2 hours to feed her.
My daughter was 4.3 lbs at birth. Thriving now at 15. She has always been on the lower end of the scale but as long as she was healthy it was all good. Heck she is 15 and weighs barely 90 lbs now but runs track and straight A student
If he is eating regularly I would say he’s fine as long as he’s hydrated and fed and seems happy maybe get a second opinion from another doctor because my kids were born at 37 weeks at 6 lb 6 oz and didn’t reach 8 lbs by their one month checkups my daughter is almost a year old and 22 lb now and my son is three and he’s about 30 lb
Put oatmeal cereal in his bottle (will need a larger opening one) and he will gain fast. Worked for my two who were both small.
I’m praying for you and your family. My pediatrician told me to put an extra scoop of formula for his milk.
8LBs is actually Healthy for a newborn.
He’s gonna be fine hun just give him time
Tasha Anderson Maybe you could offer this person some helpful advice?
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Can u breast feed him?
Desiree Edwards Desiree Edwards
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Sounds like it could be reflux, try similac allimentum formula if it’s too expensive, get a note from the Dr for WIC. My preemie needed the premixed cause the powder made her regurge
Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. Anyone have experience with babies with failure to thrive? - Mamas Uncut
Baby isn’t even 2 months so I absolutely would not be adding cereal or anything else into his diet
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All my babies were under 6lbs. And under 5% so I’d get a second opinion. As long as he’s eating and meeting his milestones, let the drs eat dirt… they only PRACTICE medicine they don’t know everything
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My son was born at 34 weeks. He weighed 4lbs 13oz. Our doctor put him enfacare Enfamil it has extra calories in it. He stayed small for a super long time. But he was always gaining at each appointment. Ask your Dr about different formulas that you can try. I wouldn’t do the cereal in the bottle, you’re actually never supposed to do that no matter the age or situation. It’s not safe. When feeding take breaks give him time to get it down. Burp every ounce if you have to. I hope this helps.
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We did. We struggled for months.
- I’m petite and tend to have small babies. Both my boys are still technically under the curve but do follow the curve.
- Breast fed babies tend to be smaller than formula fed.
- We have a genetic condition in our family that makes it hard to digest Milk proteins. I didn’t learn that until baby #2.
Trust your gut.
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I went through this, moved my son onto hipp organic and fed him every 4 hours. Took a couple of weeks but now he’s a wee pudding. He’ll be okay, he’ll catch up xx
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My son born at 37 weeks was born 7 lbs 1 Oz, went to 6 lbs 9 Oz when we left the hospital. Can’t remember exact time frame but at a month old I belive they categorized him >1% and failure to thrive. We went and seen a gastro pediatrician and was in Cincinnati Childrens on and off with ultrasounds and x-rays. He’s now 11 months in the 67th percentile. Took a lot of Dr appointments. I would never wake him to eat, but would always get a bottle ready anytime he woke up. His gastro also recommended adding baby oatmeal to bottles, but only do this if your own doctor recommends.
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It’s okay to be referred to a specialist. It doesn’t say anything about you as a parent. Sometimes baby need a little extra care. Many babies that were failure to thrive live perfectly normal healthy lives
Is he eating? If the parents are small most Drs just let the kids continue on. The important question is is he meeting all the other milestones.
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If you have the ability to read the ability to reach out and chat with a homeopath and naturalist and a second opinion pediatrician is nutrition they potentially have some fairly direct advice for this situation.
Look more into the age range but my friend’s son has a lot of trouble with his eating habits and she uses this protein powder in his beverages it’s no flavor… I’m not sure what’s on the market specifically for infants but but this is definitely something to discuss with your pediatrician and nutrition expert as a possible addition to increasing formula
My daughter had the same thing happen, except I was 42 weeks. My milk supply didn’t have enough colostrum or the good stuff and she started losing. So my doctor recommended putting her on formula instead, and within a few weeks she put on the weight. She went from a tiny petite baby to looking like a mini sumo wrestler
You don’t have to switch to formula to help baby gain weight if you don’t want too. I would just keep waking baby every 3 hours through the night and feed on demand during the day. But go no longer than 3 hrs.
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When my daughter was born she lost weight which they said that’s normal she was born 8 pounds 3 ounces when we got released from the hospital she was 7 pounds 12 ounces when she was 2 months old someone turned us in to dhs and said we wasn’t feeding her which was a lie I fed her every 3 hours but she projectile vomited and my husband is small so when her pediatrician had us bring her in for a weight check he sent us to children’s hospital she’s a failure to thrive baby and had acid reflux really bad we was there for a week got released Easter Sunday her pediatrician just kept switching formula and the hospital said she burns extra calories so they switched her to Enfamil AR and do 4 ounces of water and add 3 table spoon of formula and add 2 teaspoon of formula and after you feed her set her up 15 to 20 minutes and don’t feed her laying down.
My son was not gaining wait in the first few weeks, I was treated as though I was incompetent, midwife wouldn’t discharge him , health visitor not much use. I kept a diary of his feeds and how much he was being sick. Health visitor suggested gp. I got him to the see a doctor and it turned out he had reflux and oral thrush. Both missed by professionals and quickly treated.
My youngest only weighed 16 pounds at a year. I only weighed 16 pounds at a year. She had been walking for 2 months. I just kept feeding her she is still small at 36 years. Just make sure she is making her developmental milestones.
My daughter was. She’s fine.
I think for us, we just did what she wanted to do. We used shakes and stuff… but when she was ready to thrive… she did. We just nurtured her until her little body decided she was actually a warrior. Once that happened… holy cow! She’s been bossing us around since!
I had the same issue with my youngest son. He was born at 37 weeks as well, and weighed 5 lbs 13.5 oz. I breastfed exclusively (no shortage in supply at all.) He was at the 5 percentile till around his 18 month check up. He was growing, and he didn’t really start gaining a lot of weight till he started on solids.
My sons were born at 36 wks and were born 5’5 & 4’8 they were in nicu for atleast 4-6days. They were both breastfed so they put on weight straight away. My eldest was on the boob for 4months because i got pregnant straight after him and had to wein him off for his brother who is only 9months younger. My baby drank me dry by the time he was 2months so he was on nurture gold powder milk and put on heaps of weight. So for me nurture gold was the one 
Going to a specialist maybe a good idea. They maybe able to do testing. Perhaps it is something genetic and this child is just a more severe case of it then your other babies.
My son was premature and only 2.5 lbs. He was prescribed a special formula for him to gain weight. I got it at a pharmacy and it was very expensive. Insurance did not cover it, but WIC did. It’s been 13 years ago so I don’t remember the name of the specific formula. Ask your pediatrician or go to a specialist. I hope you guys find the help you need 
My baby was born at 36 weeks, weighed 6 pounds. She was in NICU and they told me to feed her 2-3oz every 2 hours. She’s slowly gaining weight, but they never tell her what percentile she’s in.
We put butter in the formula for my grandson when he wouldn’t gain weight. It helped a lot.
Mine was we put her on nutramagin this is probably not the right spelling lol but she gained weight after that because its high in calories
I don’t suggest cereal in the milk yourself as it can cause choking but do highly suggest Enfamil ar it’s a thicker formula that not only helped my little one gain weight but keep her milk down just cause she couldn’t keep the regular stuff down
They had me give more calories so we did 5oz water and 3 scoops formula.
Do you do skin to skin when feeding? I wonder if that would also help with feeding.
I use oats lame cook the oats use the lame mix with his formule it work
Add Gerber baby rice to his bottle. It’ll thicken it up and help with any GERD (acid reflux in babies) and help with putting on weight. I had issues with my kids gaining weight and this is what his pediatrician told me to do. After feeding keep baby up at a 45 degree angle for 20 minutes. (helps with keeping food in tummy and less spit up after meals)
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As a M/B RN, my kids were small & at term, My daughter did her normal wt gain, but wasn’t chubby, ever. She double her wt at 6 months & triple at a yr, The ped, Dr complained all the time that she wasn’t chubby/ fat, Again she gain wt, just was small, So I said to him, ‘but she is healthy’ & she was, So I got another ped Dr, Today she is 50 & healthy & a size 4 
A baby will loss wt after they are born. But usually gain about 2 lbs a month. If your baby is eating well don’t worry, There is too much on this % bit, . Healthy is important, as the normal wt gain, But size should also be taken in consideration. My daughter’s daughter just turned 13 yrs old, She is 5’7" - wears a size 10 women’s shoe & is thin, but her wt isn’t normal for a normal 13 yr old. I told my daughter to let it go. They have to take in consideration how tall she is, not just her age. Now as for your son, he really should have gain a little more wt than he did, But again, if he is eating at least 4-6 oz a fed , he is good, Plus he gain about 1/2 oz in 1 wk, that isn’t bad. But switch to another ped Dr. if you are not happy. And being refer to a specialist, might be a good thing. Maybe something else is going on And always remember she works for you not the other way around,
I had twins in 2017. They were born early so we had an NG tube. Weights were 3.14 an 4.8. My 3.14 baby is still small but pediatrician has him on pediasure twice a day… he only gained maybe 1 pound in a year, but says hes still healthy, I still have issues with certain things on eating with him. Ask about an added rice formula, or boost up calorie intake by adding an extra scoop of formula to bottles. (If formula feeding)
Put cereal in his bottle of milk. It will help him gain weight
At first mine wouldn’t take a bottle so I switched bottles. I got her a mam bottle.
Nevermind I don’t see your name to message you
I’m going to send you message
Neosure will pack on the weight
My daughter had heart surgery 3 days after birth. Born 6 lbs 7 ounces…left hospital at 5 lbs 12 ounces…Once she got home…she started eating more off all the tubes and started getting chunky, but they said she was too small and under the percentile was supposed to be. Her first dr kept threatening child services saying she was too small based on a chart. Second dr wasnt comcerned. Said some babies are just small. She also had bad reflux and had to experiment with different formulas until found one could add baby cereal to and she could keep down. She is now on track and has been since age 4…she is now 7
When my son was in the nicu they gave him this to help him gain.
Try neosure formula it has extra calories I had 2 premies
It still may be the formula, you can add extra scoops to add more calories
I went through the same thing with my middle son he was tounge tied and they referred him to a specialist as well and the specialist was looking at how he was eating and she said that his top lip was really tight and I had to message his top lip and on the sides to loosen up the muscles and he always use to tuck his lip between the nipple of his bottle so I had to fix his lip a lot and make it how it is supposed to be he also use to spit up a lot and he doctor even put in the hospital for 3 days and ran test and remind you he was also born with club foot with both feet and had to have cast on his feet through is whole first year so he went through a lot so you are not alone going through this because I did to I know you aren’t supposed to do this but the lady at our local wic office told me to put a little baby cereal in his bottle to help him to gain weight and that actually helped some then he actually started get weight when it was time for him to eat baby food so maybe you can try doing a little baby cereal to thicken up his formula some I hope this helps you
First off, Congratulations on your new baby, and my thoughts are with you.
Well our girl was born big. She was in the 98th %. By 3 months she’s dropped to the 75th and they became concerned. She then dropped to the 50th even though she eats really well and we have been referred to a paediatrician. But my gp is pretty sure she was just finding her own groove as she has been now following the 50th well and she is 11kg at 20 months old so not super small or looking malnourished. But he wants her to see a paediatrician to make sure so we will see what the paediatrician says next week.
They did test for celiac disease and other things in a blood test. We went off dairy for a month to see if that helped (it did not, in fact she gained less).
Goodluck.
My neice… turns out she is diabetic.
My youngest son we in the <1% percentile. But doc said he was healthy, hit his markers quicker than others, and even had little rolls. He is just built small. He is now 10 months old wearing 3 month clothing still but he is crawling, talking, walking behind toys, mimicking movement. He just now started gaining but he is healthy. I just make small babies, so does my sister, and so did my mom. Doctors told her that all her children were small and we were all healthy kids and healthy adults.
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I was a failure to thrive baby. Spent 6 months in the hospital. I am fine, no effects. I was very skinny 28 pounds at 6 years old. But healthy.
Keep doing what you’re doing. The doctor referred you to another resource because that’s what they specialize in. I used to work in a children’s specialty clinic and there are many reasons why kids and babies are classified as failure to thrive. It’s usually because of severe unweighted but that doesn’t mean you are doing anything wrong. It could be formula but a specialist will run all testing needed to get it figured out. Prayers for you and your littles!
It could be you have a small baby? My two sons were exactly like this. My middle son is 16 and has shot up and my 4year old is still on the small side but not concerned. Breath mumma. Like others have suggested maybe get a second opinion! All babies are different, with everything!!!
Is he spitting up a lot? We had 2 kids that lost a lot of weight, and it was from powdered formula. We had to switch to ready to feed or liquid concentrate and added water. Something about the powdered formula that they couldn’t digest . Both are great now.
Im not sure if its okay for a baby that small cuz its been awhile since I had one that small but I had to mix the baby rice cereal in with my girls formula to help thicken up her bottle and fill her tummy faster. Her dr recommended it because even though she wasn’t going through any of this she was constantly wanting to eat. So idk. Id definitely talk to your doctor. I hope it helps. If not I hope you find something soon! Best of luck!
Could he be switched to breast milk from a milk clinic or someone you know? I’m sure the weight would get on uf he had access to breast milk. My baby dropped alot the first 5 days as my milk was late coming in. Once she started nursing she jumped to off the charts weight for her age
my twins were born 38 weeks on the dot, 6.6 and 6.3. my daughter went down to 5.8 by the time we left the hosp, son went down to 6.3. by their 2 week check up, neither were gaining on just breastmilk, so our ped had us supplement with formula and they started gaining. we fed around the clock every 2 hours for a week, then every 2 during the day and every 3 at night the 2nd week with BM+formula mix. once they started gaining, we could back off to every 4 hours once they hit birth weight, and then at night it was whenever they woke up to eat (with my son it was still every 4 hours. he wanted his routine then AND now lol).
I don’t mean to be mean, but could possibly need to have your milk checked out as well. I had this issue before.
All babies swallow amniotic fluid in utero. Something else is not right. I would go to a pediatric GI doctor. Maybe he has an issue with absorbing his formula.
Feed him more often. Every 3 hours isn’t enough for a newbie. Check the nipple size so he doesn’t have to work hard to eat. Most importantly, how are you feeling? 