Newborn failure to thrive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask other people about lip and tongue tie - I assume someone has checked but get a second and third opinion.

She does have a lip tie and a consultation scheduled. Trying to get it moved up and potentially seeing someone else sooner.

My son had jaundice and a tongue tie so we’ve been through all that.

No signs of an allergy—no spitting up, no reflux, no colic, no problems with poop.

It all comes down to not enough intake of formula/breastmilk. I just can’t get her to take more.

On the lip and tongue consult, I was able to see someone and have a frenectomy done within 48 hours of calling (baby was under 2 weeks old). In other words, you can find someone on short notice—you need not wait.

[Anonymous]

I’m the poster above. Just read your last post—nice work OP. I hope things continue to improve.

[Anonymous]

Formula feed only.

[Anonymous]

The people who say only formula feed are not correct. Some babies just take longer. Don't give up nursing because it is good for your baby and you. She probably seems slower because you are comparing her to your first baby. My sister's baby hardly ever woke up the first six weeks. I mean, that baby slept! She was the first in the family and we didn't really know different, so we tried everything to wake her up. At six weeks she woke up - she's 5'8, just graduated from Cal Berkeley and has no issues whatsoever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I appreciate all the helpful suggestions and positive thoughts. I had already tried a lot of suggestions (formula, nipple shield, etc) but it was validating that I was doing everything I could reasonably do. Postpartum hormones are intense and really make it hard to know what’s normal concern and what’s irrational!

We had her weight check today and she’s gained more than expected (almost a pound this week) and is 5 oz over her birth weight. She’s still pretty sleepy but is definitely easier to feed and taking more per feed and doctor isn’t worried at all.

Great news, OP. Happy to hear it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The people who say only formula feed are not correct. Some babies just take longer. Don't give up nursing because it is good for your baby and you. She probably seems slower because you are comparing her to your first baby. My sister's baby hardly ever woke up the first six weeks. I mean, that baby slept! She was the first in the family and we didn't really know different, so we tried everything to wake her up. At six weeks she woke up - she's 5'8, just graduated from Cal Berkeley and has no issues whatsoever.

I don’t have a problem with formula but I also don’t understand the logic behind giving a 2 oz bottle of formula vs 2 oz bottle of pumped breast milk. She’s not exclusively eating from the breast. In fact she’s getting both at every feed—breast and bottle. Maybe people just aren’t reading?

She does seem to be more awake this week than last week. Maybe it’s just that we are also more awake? 😂

[Anonymous]

My daughter had something similar. We ended up doing feeding therapy to strengthen her feeding skills. She got better by 3 months. She would get so tired and it took forever. She also ended up on Pepcid because she had terrible reflux.

[Anonymous]

So happy for you OP! I remember how stressful it can be worrying about if you're baby is getting enough / why they aren't eating much a particular day etc and that was without failure to thrive, just general newborn worry. I hope its smooth sailing for you from here

[Anonymous]

Awesome news. Can you move up the tongue tie consult, though?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Awesome news. Can you move up the tongue tie consult, though?

We actually did move it up and had it this morning. Doctor thought it would help with more efficient feeding so we went ahead and did the release. Of course by now she’s gained another 6 oz in four days and is eating all the time. Up to 3 oz bottles. I think she just needed a little extra time for her initial growth spurt.

Also have to laugh because this is the same kid the doctor tried to scare me into thinking would be huge because of gestational diabetes. 😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go all formula. Truly. You’ve done your best, time to go all formula.

Yup THIS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Awesome news. Can you move up the tongue tie consult, though?

We actually did move it up and had it this morning. Doctor thought it would help with more efficient feeding so we went ahead and did the release. Of course by now she’s gained another 6 oz in four days and is eating all the time. Up to 3 oz bottles. I think she just needed a little extra time for her initial growth spurt.

Also have to laugh because this is the same kid the doctor tried to scare me into thinking would be huge because of gestational diabetes. 😂

Excellent! I bet nursing feels better, too.

[Anonymous]

Both my kids were failure to thrive - and not on the growth chart til about 6 mos. In both cases it was a dairy allergy. This is why the advice to simply supplement more/fortify formula can be dangerous because the formula can in fact be causing the issue.

Op have your ped give you a stool card and run a test for occult blood in stool - basically blood that you can’t see with the naked eye. This would indicate an allergy of some kind.

For us, breastmilk with strict dairy avoidance and supplementation of alimentum ready to feed resulted in immediate and dramatic weight gain.

Good luck and please know it gets better. My kids are now thriving and have outgrown their allergies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of my babies who was like this ended up being allergic.

Any other symptoms for allergy besides not gaining weight?

No. Just too sleepy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is going on, the baby is falling asleep and not finishing the bottle?

Almost always asleep, takes a long time to drink an ounce. Hard to wake to feed.

My jaundiced baby was like that, but I'm guessing at 3 weeks that's been ruled out. Some of the same tricks might help though.

This is from: https://llli.org/breastfeeding-info/jaundice/

How to Wake a Sleepy Baby
• It’s easier to wake a baby in the stage of light sleep: eyes are moving under the eyelids, baby is making sucking motions or moving his arms and legs.
• Dim the lights so that baby will open his eyes.
• Undress baby down to just a diaper.
• Hold baby in an upright position. Talk to the baby. Gently rub his back, hands, and feet. Walk your fingers up and down baby’s spine.
• Wipe baby’s forehead and cheeks with a cool, damp cloth.

Both of mine were jaundiced and the first one took about three weeks for them to directly tell me in a way that I understood. You have to aggressively wake them up and keep them up. Agree with the PP who said go all formula. You do not let them eat less than 2oz a feeding and every two hours. It sucks, OP but is easier when you go straight to formula because you don’t tire them out with the breast.