Weight Loss in Babies

When a baby loses weight instead of gaining it, doctors become seriously concerned. Babies need to gain weight rapidly in order to thrive--which is why losses in weight or an inability to gain weight in a baby is called "failure to thrive." If your baby isn't gaining weight, or is losing it, there are a few things you need to know.

What is Failure to Thrive?

"Failure to thrive" describes children whose weight is greatly lower than that of most children in the child's age group. Typically, babies double their birth weight by the time they are four months old. By the time they reach one year of age, they triple their birth weight. Babies diagnosed with failure to thrive usually don't meet these milestones.

Side Effects of Low Weight Gain

Babies who fail to thrive may avoid making eye contact, be irritable, be disinterested with people and things around them and may take longer to reach important milestones like walking and talking.

Causes

Sometimes it's difficult to determine why a baby isn't gaining weight. However, there are some common causes of failure to thrive, including difficulty breastfeeding or sucking a bottle, reflux pain, chronic diarrhea, and cystic fibrosis and celiac and chronic liver disease, which affect a body's ability to absorb nutrients, resulting in no weight gain or weight loss.

Some parents unwittingly and dangerously restrict their baby's diet, thinking he needs to lose weight or follow an eating regime the parents prefer (like veganism). In addition, prematurity often affects how a baby eats, as can a cleft lip, cardiac problems and respiratory issues. Some babies also can't absorb milk proteins, or may have an infection that uses up so much of the child's energy, there's not enough left over for growth. Finally, metabolic disorders may limit a baby's ability to use calories effectively.

Diagnosis

It isn't uncommon for babies to go short periods without gaining weight. And just because your baby's percentile is low doesn't mean he has failure to thrive. Also, newborns always lose weight shortly after birth.

Nonetheless, if your baby is below the 5th percentile, has a sudden, large drop in percentile or doesn't gain any weight for three months in a row, your pediatrician should take a closer look.

While considering whether your baby has failure to thrive, your doctor will probably ask for a family history and a detailed account of your baby's feeding schedule. The doctor may also order a urine and blood test to search for underlying issues.

Treatment

If your baby is diagnosed with failure to thrive, your pediatrician should enlist the help of either a feeding clinic that specializes in babies, or a nutritionist and occupational therapist. If there is an underlying issue, other specialists, like a gastroenterologist or cardiologist, may also work with your baby.

Often one of the first treatments that is tried is using high-calorie formula or high-calorie breast milk additives. Specialists may also recommend putting the child on solids sooner than average, and feeding the baby high-calorie foods.

If therapy, high-calorie foods or other medical treatment doesn't resolve the problem, your baby may need a feeding tube surgically inserted into the stomach. After surgery, your baby will receive breast milk, formula or pureed solids through the tube. Most babies eventually learn to eat via their mouth and the feeding tube can be removed.