Failure to thrive

[trales]

That is the new label, and I don't like it one bit.

We are meeting with a nutritionist later this week, then back to the ped and then maybe up to Dartmouth for a GI consult.

She is a year old and losing weight. She is a bit dehydrated, I can't get enough food or liquid into her.

I am a little stressed out about it.

The ped has been amazing, she is trying to be really calm and re-assuring and going to great lenghts to figure out the problem without a million tests and interventions. We are trying new things every few days and it is making me tired.

On a happy note the reflux medication is working wonders, it is like having a totally new baby, so happy.

I hope this solves the problem and she starts putting on the pounds. I want my fat baby back.

[Drag0nflygirl]

I've heard that term before - and It feels rather judgemental, so I can see why you wouldn't care for it.
It's also maddeningly nonspecific, and a little bit "no $h1t, Sherlock". Like if my butt won't stop getting bigger, do I have "failure to diet"?
It sounds like the meds are really helping her out though, I'm sure things will be fine in no time. :hug5:

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

Big hugs to you and hope you find that solution fast, must be incredibly stressful!

[ThreeofUs]

Good luck to you all - my thoughts and prayers are with you. So glad the reflux meds are working for you!

[trales]

Like if my butt won't stop getting bigger, do I have "failure to diet"?:hysterical:

That is brilliant, I am so going to use that at the doctors.

I just got her to eat 4oz of food, and about 1oz of prune juice/water. Yippee.

Of course, I have to suck the juice up the straw and put it in her mouth and then she will drink. Come on kiddo, give mama a break, drink out of your sippy cup.

Thanks for the support.

[npace19147]

Sounds pretty painful. Which sippy are you using? Maybe try taking the stopper out so the liquid just flows into her mouth?

Hope I'm not repeating something completely obvious and making you roll your eyes...good luck to you!

[Globetrotter]

:hug5:

My dd was also diagnosed as failure to thrive. I too despite that term!!!! She was a very active, bright little girl and thriving just fine, thank you. She just wouldn't eat solids and was (is) very petite.

In our case it was nothing to do with reflux. It was partly due to severe pain from teething (yes, sounds crazy!) as she got her first seven teeth all at once! We did pediasure and gave lots of fatty foods. I could have written a book on all the crazy things I did at the time :)

She is a great eater now but still skinny.
I'm glad the relux meds are working!! Have you joined a FTT online support group or list? That also helped as it's hard to understand what it's like to have a non-eater (No, she wouldn't eat if I let her go hungry! She would gladly go without eating, at that time.).

Kris

[bubbaray]

Does she like the straw sippy? My DD#2 isn't anywhere near ready for a straw sippy yet. DD#1 started with them around age 2. I know some kids like them sooner, but if she's dehydrated, you might want to play around with a variety of sippy's to find one she likes.

Both my girls started with the First Years disposable (take & toss IIRC) sippys -- they aren't leak-proof, but they are easy for them to get liquid out of.

DD#2 likes the ones with the handles:
http://www.learningcurve.com/product/detail/Y9319A1

She also likes her Playtex First Sipster:
http://www.playtexproductsinc.com/infant/CupsByStage.asp

Both of those cups are "safe" plastic, BTW.

I swear, both my girls live on air, but I haven't had to deal with that label (which is rather insulting, makes it sound like you've "failed" as a parent, KWIM?).

You nurse her still, IIRC -- can you increase the number of nursing sessions??? At least until she's not dehydrated? That would concern me.

Poor you. Poor her. Hugs all around!

ETA: BTW, what did the dr say about her leg????

[icunurse]

Our DD is starting to fall off the chart for weight/height. She has reflux, but it seems to have mostly resolved itself. She eats like a little piggy, so I have no idea where the calories are going (though she is quite active). If your DD has been dealing with reflux for a while, she may have an irritated esophagus (if she still seems hesitant to eat or fussy during feedings). We used Carafate for a couple of months, it coats to let things heal - made a HUGE difference.

[brittone2]

How is her suck? Any chance you could get an early intervention evaluation for feeding issues (in some areas they will do this but not in every area of the country as far as I know).

While reflux could be contributing, one other thing to consider is oral-motor issues...oral muscle tone, strength of suck, efficient use of tongue, etc.

While I haven't BTDT, I've worked with many families with children diagnosed w/ FTT and I agree...it is an insensitive diagnosis and it doesn't really help the family. It isn't a judgment of your success as a parent in any way, but I know it feels like that to many families.

I hope you can get some answers soon, and I'll cross my fingers that the reflux meds do the trick for your little one.

[SnuggleBuggles]

((((Hugs)))) I hope things get better soon.

Beth

[trales]

Last night was not the best of nights, but is was still better than it was before the Zantac.

She has never been a great eater, her latch has always been iffy, but she is definitely able to empty a breast and when we were finger/tube feeding her at 1 month, she would almost suck your nail off.

This morning she barely ate anything, we tried games, but she has only had about 2oz of food in 7 hours and refuses to breastfeed right now. I will try again in a little bit.

Thanks for the advice, I am going to get a bunch of different sippy and straw cups from a friend today to try out.

BTW her leg is totally fine now, when we got the to ped, she started crawling like a champ and made me look like a freak show.:hysterical: I guess she was just learning to crawl.

Thanks for the support, I will keep you all updated.

[boolady]

It was partly due to severe pain from teething (yes, sounds crazy!) as she got her first seven teeth all at once!

I don't know how long your DD has been losing weight, but although my daughter has never had a weight issue, my generally good eater who did have reflux and was on Axid until it was phased out at 9 months totally stopped eating when she was cutting really painful teeth.

I know you have probably tried these things, but I'll suggest them anyway, because at a few times, this is all we could get DD to eat-- really, really cold water from fridge with ice cubes, popsicles, yogurt or applesauce that had been in the freezer for about a 1/2 an hour to really chill, etc. Nothing that she had to bite, and NOTHING warm at all.

[DrSally]

I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this! If the reflux meds have made a huge difference, maybe that will be the key, I really hope so!

ETA: My DS got started on sippies with the take n toss lil learners. It's valveless and short so easier to tilt. It has ridges so it's easy to grab. He still likes to drink out of them.

[kochh2]

we're in a very similar boat-- our DD is also a 3/2007 baby, and juust 15 lbs...she is not officially FTT dx'd as i think some docs aare starting to not use that dx for exactly the reasons we hate it... but, we are stil watched closely, and or DD does have kidney reflux, which may contribute to her size... but one thing I try to do it feed her stuff with the most bang for the spoonful. DD did have some feeding issues, but has also always just been teeney, following her own curve-- things we find that are most helpful are:
food choices such as ***e greek yogurt- whole milk-- very high fat content, also avocado, and good, natural cheeses. Our DD seems to really enjoy good flavors (um, blue cheese, asparagus, etc...) but has a very distinct texture preference- she is picky is astrange way!! we've had to really be IN TUNE with her likes/dislikes to get her to eat more-- sometimes we have to do a round robin, tradign off and letting her have a break before a new person offers her food, sounds crazy, i know, but we are working very hard to not have her develop a behavioral feeding problem!!

as for drinks, i find that she likes to suck cold water off a cloth sometimes, so you could even freeze a wet, clean washcloth in a stick shape and let her experiment with that.

I find that i have to let go of my super healthy organic mama mindset for now, and focus on trying anything we have around to see what she'll eat-- good luck, i know it's not easy-- PM me if you need more support...

[trales]

We had a really bad night last night, up screaming every 1.5 hours. I don't know if it was the food, we tried mangos for the first time.


as for drinks, i find that she likes to suck cold water off a cloth sometimes, so you could even freeze a wet, clean washcloth in a stick shape and let her experiment with that.

I am putting it in the freezer as soon as I get off the computer. DH did get her to drink some prune/water juice out of a straw yesterday, almost 2oz. Between a lot of games, we managed to get 5oz of food into her during the day and I got her to breastfeed 4 times.

If only the stress of all this would allow me to snack less and lose some weight.

[KBecks]

but has a very distinct texture preference- she is picky is a strange way...

I was wondering if texture or sensory aspects of eating may be part of it. A nephew is going through some kind of sensorial therapy because of difficulty with eating.

I hope you get good help with this and don't blame yourself! I also hate the failure to thrive label/description.