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Post by mumofnoah on Jun 20, 2004 7:24:48 GMT -5
my son Noah is 6 months old and is not gaining weight. He is currently in hospital (has been there for 5 weeks) and has not put on any weight. What is the usual thing with weight gain and ds. I am really concerned. He is about 11 pound.
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Post by donnita on Jun 20, 2004 17:21:03 GMT -5
Does Noah have any heart defects? If so, when did he last see his cardiologist? And is he in the hospital because he is not gaining weight, or is he there for another reason? My daughter Cassandra also weighed 11 pounds when she was 6 months old. She had not gained much weight until then due to her heart condition. Before the surgery, we tried many ways to increase her calorie intake. We mixed the formula with less water to make it 24 cal/ounce. That helped some. Then we added rice cereal to it to get it to 27 cal/ounce. That didn't work very well for us because the rice made it thicker so she didn't drink as much as without it. She got the same amount of calories but less fluid. The we tried some expensive OTC fat additive to get it to 27 cal/ounce but that didn't really help her much either. When she was about 4 months old, her ped. sent her to the hospital for several feeding-related tests, to see if she had reflux, to see how her stomach emptied, etc. They all came back normal. She is just a little skinny thing!
Good luck!
Donnita
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Post by MaggiesMom on Jun 20, 2004 22:06:34 GMT -5
There are a lot of things (medical) to check out. Having a good doctor who knows their DS is essential! Thyroid problems, celiac's disease, reflux and heart issues are the top ones I have heard mentioned in the past. I know reflux can be "silent" at times and go undetected even with some GI test series.
There is a good feedign group that may be able to help you on Yahoo groups. It's ...
feeding@yahoogroups.com
They are a great group of people. Fire some questions at them and I'm sure they can help.
We'll be praying for you.
Robin M - Maggie's mom
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Post by Deannalee on Jun 20, 2004 23:20:53 GMT -5
Justin was not putting on weight for a while, too. He has reflux disease and even with the meds wasn't putting it on. He continued to reflux his formula. We had increased him to 30 cal/oz Neosure. He did start putting weight on. However, he was also silently aspirating his G Tube feeds and in Feb they switched him to J tube feeds. He packed the weight on FAST!!! Now he is on a 20% cal reduction. They say he is obese now.....he topped out at 27 lbs at 16 mos old!!!! They joked and said he needed a Jenny Craig consult when he was in the hospital for his surgery a few weeks ago.
I would agree to check into his health history to see if he either has cardiac abnormalities, GERD, or an absorption issue. A nutritionist will also be beneficial to see where he should be now.
I have a DS growth chart. For 6 mos he falls into the 5th percentile for weight. That is the same place my now 10 yr old dtr has always been!!! The 50th percentile for weight at 6 mos is 14 lbs. I hope this helps. If they are concerned and want to get his weight up, just ask about increasing his cal/oz.
Deanna
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Post by wrblack on Jun 21, 2004 13:00:22 GMT -5
Yes, I believe your Noah is between the 5th and 25th percentiles on the Ds growth charts. My Charlie, almost 5 yrs. old, is still hanging out in that neighborhood on those charts. I don't remember exactly when Charlie hit 10 lbs., but I think he may have been a bit older than your 11 pounder when he did. Charlie is now about 32 lbs. and enjoys relatively good health most of the time. I don't know what all would be involved in making a diagnosis of "failure to thrive." But if you're concerned with Noah's slowness in packing on the pounds, then by all means discuss this with Noah's pediatrician/neonatologist. I would hope his pediatrician has been charting Noah's growth, weight, stature, and head circumference. I think the pattern, the curve, may be more important than the actual numbers. My Charlie started off at less than 2 1/2 lbs. (1130 grams), did quite a bit of catching up, then started his own curve, catching up at a more leisurely pace, with the percentile curves on those charts. I believe that's just what his pediatrician/neonatologist, Dr. Harry, wanted to see. Charlie was 10 weeks early, instead of only 7 like your Noah. There are also special growth charts for preemies just as there are special charts for Ds. Maybe what we need is the preemie with Ds chart; don't think they make them. Hope Noah is feeling better, breathing better by now. As long as he's feeding well and growing, I wouldn't stress too much about being a bit smallish for a while. Regards, Bob
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Post by momofrussell on Jun 21, 2004 13:14:11 GMT -5
Russell is 6 and has always had bad reflux. He has never had silent reflux nor aspirated though. He went through a spell from the time he was around 18 months old or so until he was over 3 yrs old that he stayed around 18 pounds. He was looking amatiated after awhile. He even lost a pound or two sometimes... Our Ped GI doc and our reg PED said that if Russell was happy, eating and ACTIVE.. not sluggish and frail, then it was ok. we did to the Pediasure for a bit, my own doing. I think it did more to my pocket book than anything. Russell refluxed so bad that the pediasure came up too.. kind of hard to gain weight when you throw it all up LOL
I agree that if your doc is plotting charts and keeping track of growth, ect... then maybe there is no cause for alarm. I can relate though. I always thought it was ODD that the docs didn't care that Russell was so puny for a good 2plus years of his life! He still is on the small side and has reflux, but not like it use to be... Russell is now around 38 lbs. He is probably thickened up more this last year than all the other years combined.
I would double ck with your docs to ease your thoughts. It never hurts to ask. There might be something else going on and maybe not. And if the docs say it's no big deal but you do... try the Pediasure or something like that.
Good luck!
a.
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Post by shellk on Jun 21, 2004 19:53:17 GMT -5
We also had a horrible time with Kourtney gaining wieght..When she was 3 and 1/2 months she had a Large VSD and multiple ASD's and PDA repaired..The thing is that she wieghed 8 pounds at birth and she turned 4 months in the hospital during the heart surgery recovery and when we brought her home she wieghed 9 pounds 3 ounces...I just had a baby boy 9 months ago and he wieghed 9 pounds and 5 ounces when he came out..Kourtney is 5 years old and is as tall as she is round..She is 40 inches tall and wieghs 40 pounds..When she was smaller and on formula for the first year we used additives..Her nurtionalist had us using corn oil, and polycose..So her formula was up to 38 calories an ounce.. Good luck to you see if they would reccomend putting him on a higher calorie formula.
Michele
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Post by Jackie on Jun 22, 2004 18:52:58 GMT -5
Are you breast feeding? The reason I ask is that my Emily who is now 24 had "failure to thrive" for the first six months. She weighed 8lbs 5oz at birth and 9lb 3oz at six months. Man she looked weird cuz she was growing in length but looked like she was coming from a starving third world country.
She had a VSD and PDA when she was born as well as Hirschprungs which necessitated a colostomy for her first two years. However, her doc, who was a neonatologist doing his fellowship on breast feeding (maternal nutrition) didnt think that any of these were contributing to her failure to gain. She was healthy and active during this time and developed right on target...but I had to drive her half way across Denver twice a week just to get her weighed. She nursed like a little pig and the doc thought she was getting enough. We were just shy of putting us both in the hospital to do some high powered stuff where they test the milk after and before each feeding for several days...cant remember just what....but it was time for her cardiac cath and after she had that she developed what they called hospital diahrreah and they had to take her totally off my milk and we gave her Isomil. One week on Isomil and she gained....a pound!!!!!!!!!!! So my mind was made up and I stopped (against my docs advice) nursing her and switched to bottles and formula...and after that she gained one lb a month. Of course now we are battling major wt gains...LOL. I dont know if the breast milk was not nutrious enough for her or what...or if her heart problem was starting to self correct...or maybe both....but she started plumping up for some reason.
Jackie mom to Emily 24
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Post by Chris on Jun 22, 2004 22:51:59 GMT -5
Sarah weighed 8 lbs 2 oz at birth and only 11 lbs 6 oz at her six month check up. She did have an AV canal defect that was repaired on her three month birthday. It took her a long time to recover from surgery. She wasn't able to nurse but I did pump. We added a 1/2 teaspoon of Neosure to an ounce of breastmilk to increase the calories. When she was about eight months old she suddenly started packing on the weight. She is now 33 months old and weighs 31 lbs. I think she is between 34 and 35 inches tall. How much weight has Noah gained since he was born? Chris
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Post by matthew'smom on Jul 5, 2004 21:15:03 GMT -5
My son Matthew also has difficulty gaining weight. He had AV canal defect which was repaired at 11 weeks and he never really picked up his bottle drinking like we had hoped after surgery. He does enjoy his solids though which we are thrilled about! Have you ever thought of seeing a nutritionist? We saw one and she suggested adding things like butter to his cereal or egg yolk to fatten him up. Also, if you make your own baby food that will increase the calories. Our pediatrician also has him on 24 calorie formula. Also keep in mind that genetics play a role-he may be taking after you or your hubby! Hope this helps!!
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Post by ALLISA on Jul 9, 2004 21:23:28 GMT -5
Hi Noah's mom... I replied to your other post, too about heart problems, so I know that he has those problems going on. I remeber the doctors always keeping an eye on Erin's weight. I know with heart defects, weight loss is a big indicator to them of heart failure. Is Noah actually losing weight ? Or just not gaining at a rate they would like ? As I said in my other post to you, we tried to speed Erin's weight gain. The nutrionalist had me buy powered formula and mix it with HALF the recommended water... thus making it very concentrated & a higher calorie count. In addition they had me add....I can't quite remember the name..... but it was a powered glucose that the pharmacy sold & again.... it was just to add calories..... on top of THAT they also wanted me to add vegetabel oil.... well she used to spit up all the time with that addition.... so I stopped it ! NO CHANGES at all should be made to Noah's diet without the doctor's say... but I wanted to let you know that there are definite ways to supplement.... have they done anything like this with Noah ? Also.... as far as his weight.... Erin never reached 10 pounds until she was slightly over a year (even with all the extra calories I was adding to her formula !!)..... so don't fret too much... he's just a little peanut !! I have seen some posts mentioning thyroid.... wich Erin does also have... but she is on medication & has followup blood work done every 3 months. You must be very busy with Noah in the hosptial & 2 little ones at home... I know what you are going through !! I've been there, too... and there is light at the end of the tunnel ! I promise, once health issues have passed... life becomes much less frantic & hectic. Keep coming here to vent in the meantime and keep us updated on Noah !! Allisa
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Post by snickers71801 on Jul 10, 2004 6:50:48 GMT -5
With Noah having heart problems, this is normal, or so the doctors told me. She was about 7 pounds when she had heart surgery at four months and now she is growing like a weed. She eats everything she can, even things she is not suppose to. I had to take away most of the snack foods, because she was eating them and only them. Now she eats alot and putting on weight pretty normally. He should start gaining weight after surgery. Good luck with that also. Hope everything goes well!!
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