failure to thrive

My daughter is now 20 weeks and weighs 5lb 8oz, she was 12 weeks prem and weighed 2lb 7oz at birth.
Her doctor has classed her as severe failure to thrive and wants to admit her to hospital for one week, why is she a failure to thrive she is a happy baby and feeds ok
Why do they wont her to go in for a week? what will they do? Nothings been explained to us so it all seems scary, please help

[bizeemom]

I'm so sorry to hear that you, your baby, and your family are going through this.  That is very scary that you are just being told to do this w/o any explanation.  I can understand that some doc's don't like to worry their patients but I know I deal w/ things better when I know what I'm being faced w/.  Unfortunately I have no helpful advice for your situation other than you have every right to ask your doc lots of questions; and if I were in your shoes I would definitely look into getting a second opinion...I hope all turns out well!!!

[bunnybear]

Thank you, we new that he wanted her to go in for a week but we were not told about the severe failure to thrive we read it in a copy of a letter that was sent to our gp which upset us, thats why we have no idea whats going on

[bizeemom]

Definitely look into it and get answers, and a 2nd opinion.  This is your baby, her life and your decision as a family.  How can anyone make decisions w/o any understanding of what they are deciding on?  That's scary.  Definitely post again so we can be updated!!!

[Nicki1433]

They will probably do a bunch of blood tests, ultrasounds on different parts of her digestive tract, and then go from there.  They want to keep her in for a week to see exactly how much she's eating, pooping, peeing, etc.  They also need to figure out what is causing her to "fail to thrive".  It seems very scary, you're right, but it's probably what's best.  They need to get this figured out before something terrible happens as a result of it.  

[AnnieBrooke]

I would send her to the hospital and pray they find a cause for her problem.  Don't hold her back because of a phrase "failure to thrive."  She is very lightweight for her age, that is what "failure to thrive" means.  It should be for the best to have her in and diagnosed.  God bless.

[bunnybear]

Thank you all xxx

[jd1419]

One of my coworkers had this with their daughter when she was newborn.  It was that she was very content and did not eat on a regular schedule.  They were lucky they did not have to bring her to the hospital--but they did have to go on a very strict feeding schedule to make sure she started to gain the weight.  She is now a very healthy 4 yr old with no health problems.--Your Dr.s may want to make sure that her body is absorbing the nutrients like it supposed and make sure that she is demanding to be fed, and what the schedule is like.  Ask for a little more detained explanation, but then let them help you also--just to make sure nothing is wrong with your beautiful baby.

[waitingwithhope]

It is very common that premature infants often are "failure to thrive" babies, either within the first month or months down the road. It is important to let the doctors intervene because this can prevent malnutrition and developmental delays down the line. It could be that your baby is having difficulty absorbing nutrients. They will look at their overall height, growth, weight that your doc has been charting. While not every infant will be in the 50th percentile range, what they look for is that your baby is consistently growing and developing on their own growth curve. Any child below the 25th percentile must be watched very carefully. There is no need to worry--they will check your babies past records, measure their head, height, weight and then feed your baby through traditional methods (i.e. bottle) with very enriched formula or through an IV. They will be watching for how their bowel system/ peeing etc. is working as well as ultrasounding their organs to make sure they are functioning properly (this also can be done through a CT scan too). They will chart their daily growth and weight (they will weigh your baby very frequently, i.e. after every feeding). This is so common in premature infants...there is nothing you have done wrong and no need to worry!

[mum2beagain]

My son was a preemie and was always in the lower centiles for weight even though he seemed content, it was when he dropped below the 5th centile just before his 3rd birthday that I was told he was at risk of 'failure to thrivre' he has some feeding issues and had to have a bunch of tests done, they all came back clear so physically he was fine, we just had to have him on a really high calorie, easy to eat and digest diet for a while and he is now healthier and back where he should be.

Do you nurse/ give baby any breastmilk at all?? If not the doctors may be able to prescribe donor breastmilk, they often do this with preemies and in failure to thrive cases. I have been giving my 3 year old expressed breast milk daily since  I was told he was at risk of failure to thrive and it has helped tremendously ( I have a six month old who I nurse so I am lucky to have my own milk available).

It is definately better to get your baby help now, don't be scared, the doc's want to do everything possible to ensure you baby is healthy.

[bizeemom]

Bunnybear- it sure is good to have support from those who have gone through, or know of others who have gone through the same situation.  Just for the record, I certainly didn't mean that you shouldn't do something about your daughter ASAP.  It just makes me uneasy when you or a loved one needs serious medical attention and it doesn't get addressed that way and it's down played.  She's your baby and of course any parent want to fix things ASAP. I agree w/ all the other women up above, it's just comforting when you know you have a sensitive gp.  I'd rather air (sp?) on the side of caution than wait...You will be in my prayers, really!