What does failure to thrive mean?

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Ive heard this alot lately especially in relation to the whole octomom sage. What does it mean?
Generally, it means that a baby isn't doing well in terms of growing properly. Sometimes it's due to poor nourishment (from an inability or a refusal to feed - or as a result of illness), and sometimes a baby is labeled as such just because he or she is small. The condition tends to be more common in multiple births. It's something that can also be misdiagnosed, in a way...a small baby is not necessarily "failing to thrive," even if the ped says so...especially if he's meeting his milestones on time and doing things that are consistent with his age group.  (+ info)

Children who show signs of failure to thrive, why is it they have to take a blood test?

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Why is blood count taken? what do find? i heard something to do with anaemia screening? is this true.

Plus: can u give me a site or book where they have info on this topic. please, it would be nice.
xxx
The reason for all the tests is first and foremost to look for a medical reason for the failure of the child to grow as expected. This can have a social or quality of care reason, but most of the time there is an underlying medical condition that needs to be discovered before the child is either permanently damaged or even dies.
They do run routine blood work, and anemia can be one of the tests they run. They need to make sure all the organs are working (liver, kidney, etc.) or they may be testing for food intolerance diseases such as lactose, soy, gluten, casein, etc. If your small intestine is destroyed due to a food intolerance then it is not possible to absorb nutrients and the child will be a slow grower or even die of malnutrition or organ failure.
They may also be screening for toxins such as lead or mercury, and various drugs.
They also run tests for several diseases such as cystic fibrosis, gerd, infections, parasites, etc.
Here is an excellent website for you, hope this helps:
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/nutrition/failure_thrive.html  (+ info)

Does anyone know why babies born with tetralogy of fallot (a heart defect) have failure to thrive?

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Many babies with heart defects have feeding problems, and problems gaining and maintaining weight. Often the heart has to work so hard that it takes a lot of energy to keep it pumping - these babies have to eat more to compensate for their heart working harder. On the flip side, eating is an activity that takes a lot of energy. Lots of heart babies have a hard time getting all the calories they need because they get tired before they are done feeding, so they don't take in enough calories to gain weight. This can lead to failure to thrive - it's a catch-22. Some babies with TOF or other defects have feeding tubes for a while - others are on high-calorie formula to maximize the amount of calories they take in.  (+ info)

failure to thrive in a 14 month old child?

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14 month old hispanic male parents noted daily emesis and progressively worsening diarrhea with foul-smelling stools. struggled to breath at times and other times he would breathe rapidly, particularly at night. stool culture negative, however, microscopically,his stool was noted to have more than 100 fatty acid droplets per high power field (hpf) (normal <60 droplets/hpf) . Two espisodes of otitis media and 1 hospitalization. only gained 1.25 pound/month.
where did you copy and paste that medical jargon from? Do you expect a non expert to understand?  (+ info)

11 mo old with Failure to Thrive-has Milk Protein Allergy, what can he drink to gain weight?

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My son has been breastfed for 11 months and is only 16 lbs. He has been diagnosed with Failure To Thrive since the age of 6 mo. but he hates formula and refuses to drink it unless it is mixed with 75% breast milk. I want to change him over to other liquids that will make him gain weight, but he will boycott them because of the taste.

Although he loved Pediasure, it has milk protein (Casein) and gave him a horrible allergic reaction. Are there any high-calorie nutritious things I can give him to drink?

Please help. Thanks!
We have tried Nutramigen specifically for allergies and 2 different soy formulas.

Regular Soy milk does not have enough calories/nutrients to make him grow.

Dr's just want him to drink more formula or high cal. drink but I can't get him to do it.
PS. Lactose (sugar)free does not mean Casein (protein) Free, Lactose intolerance is different than a milk allergy. I feel like this is hopeless.. praying for a miracle.
I would see a nutritionist about this. I would think their should be a high protein soy formula out there. I hope he is not allergic to that. Good luck. Are you feeding him jarred food yet. If he really likes your milk you can puree fresh veggies and add your milk to it to give him more calories. Have you tried that.

I made my son's baby food. All you have to do is steam the veggies and put them in a food processor to puree. You can do a lot at one time and freeze them in ice cube trays or baby jars. You can also use the first years small containers. The breast milk might make him eat more of it. Just mix it in. I hope this helps some.  (+ info)

Should I be worried about my 6 month old weighing only 14 pounds? Failure to thrive? or not yet?

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My daughter is 6 months old and weighing only 14 pounds. Is this considered failure to thrive? or is this just a little bit under weight?
they said she is in the 16th percentile. She eats ALOT, but never really a whole lot at one time. she only took 2 ounces until she was 4 months and now she takes only 4 or 5. but she eats baby food too, 3 times a day.
6 lbs. 4 oz. at birth
my daughter is 5months old, and weighs 10lb. she's in the lowest percentile, and gaining weight. your baby sounds like a perfectly healthy normal baby, some babies are fat, some are average, and some are small like mine. Nothing to worry about, Failure to thrive means, not gaining any weight. go to your baby clinic once every two weeks, get her weighed, then you'll know if she has a healthy weight gain over the next month.  (+ info)

can you sue a doctor for mis diagnosing your baby with failure to thrive?

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Any other mothers dealt with the "failure to thrive" label?

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My daughter is 21 months old, and she's always been smaller than the growth charts want her to be. Yesterday we took her for a weight check and now she's so far off the chart that my doctor wants to send her to a specialist. She is healthy looking, not malnourished, very active, and she eats like a normal toddler. Also, developmentally she's perfect in every way except for her weight gain. So she's definitely not autistic or anything like that. My mother has celiac disease, so I wonder if that could be what's going on. Anyway, I'm kind of freaking out, and starting to feel like I've failed as a mother. Anyone got some wisdom/advice/suggestions for me?
I'm not a mother, but my daughter had that label as well. She was a premie and even at 7 years old, she's a little behind. If there was one piece of advice that I wish someone told me, it would be to try to pin the doctors down to a diagnosis. They will want to run tons and tons of tests on her, without ever reaching a diagnosis. Some of the tests are easy, some are pretty nasty. The challenge is to know when to push back on the doctors, and when to have them go forward with the testing. If the doctor wants to do a test, ask them if the test will reach a diagnosis. Also, listen to your gut when it comes to running too few or too many tests. You're the parent and doctors are not infallible.
If you suspect celiac disease, you should get a test for it, as well as other genetic anomalies. They can run various tests on a single blood sample.
More importantly, you are not a failed Mom. It's common for Moms to feel that way in this situation. You're in a tough position. You want to do everything you can for your child, but this must be tempered by the pragmatism on the medical front. Believe me, there are parents like you out there struggling with a similar situation.  (+ info)

My 2 month old nephew was admitted for failure to thrive because he was starved by his parents, I need advice?

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My nephew was admitted to the hospital with severe failure to thrive. The doctors said another couple of days and he wouldn't have been alive. He is doing SO much better in a week. He is still under weight for his age but is thriving. The parents have no clue that they did something wrong and keep blaming everyone else. They go in to see him on average 2 hours a day. I have been there everyday for on average 4-5 hours a day, since I go to school full time and work about 4-8 hours a week. The baby is supposed to be discharged on Monday after I meet with children services and the doctor however we don't know where the baby is going until then. My husband and I are all set to take him but we were interested in knowing if there was any financial help out there for us. We are going to take him regardless but were interested in knowing since we are not the richest people in the world but have a good savings and income. We just want this little guy to be loved and fed.
If Childrens Services is involved and you would be foster parents to the child there are medical and other benefits available through the state, your best bet would be to speak to the child's caseworker.
The previous poster is wrong. In most states if a child is removed by CPS and there is a capable family member preference in placement would be given to a family member rather than a stranger.  (+ info)

A baby diagnosed with "failure to thrive" is being fed soymilk by her mother....?

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...What do you think? Could it be the
soymilk which is contributing to the problem? Soymilk is not really "milk." The baby has a milk allergy. The mother is a friend of my daughter. I told her to urge her friend to see her pediatrician about switching the baby to goat's milk instead.
and there are lots of alternatives for milk allergies these days, so definitely need to see about switching. Goat might be okay, what about lactose free milk products, or certain formulas they have developed now which are designed to deal with this issue.

At the local hospital there should be a lactation specialist, who would have gone through breast feeding procedures when the baby was born. I am guessing that is no longer an option but they might well have some suggestions as to the best way to get the baby to feed well, as some are lazy suckers/eaters. Plus would have advice about best formulas.

Then there is the bottle itself. It night be getig colicky etc. and so not eat because it associates it with gastric distress. The Dr Brown's bottles are definitely the best for avoiding that issue and baby not having to expend too much effort to get their food. But check the holes too-the punctures can be imperfect, clogged, or just a bit too small for the child to get a good feed.

Good luck!  (+ info)

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