Failure to thrive and appetite stimulants

PsyDr04

DS is 18 months old and was diagnosed as FTT at 4 months. He has gained weight very slowly and we are now struggling with potential weight loss. We see a feeding specialist and at his last weigh in he lost 1.5 oz since his first weigh in there. He also had a stomach bug this week and when we took him to the hospital because we could not get in with the pedi, he only weighed 20.5 lbs. Obviously I expected some weight loss with the stomach bug, but we have struggled with getting DS to eat for some time now. He has never been a great eater, but even before the stomach bug hit, he ate very little.

DH thinks we should talk to the feeding specialist/pedi about using an appetite stimulant, but I have recently read that while they can be effective short term, any weight gained on them is usually lost once the stimulant is stopped.

Does anyone have any experience using an appetite stimulant for their LO or support/advice on dealing with FTT in general? My husband and I are both constantly stressed and anxious, which does not help with the situation.

 

TIA.

PsyDr04

Yes, we have tried and continue to try all the tricks. We have only met with the feeding specialist twice. So far she has not identified a cause for the slow growth. We have another appointment a week from today. She said that if he hasn't gained weight (we did let her know about the stomach bug) that she might have to make some phone calls, I assume to perhaps arrange for some testing to rule out medical issues. Of additional concern is that he has not grown in height much at all since his 15 month appointment. At that time, he measured 30.75 inches and when we measured him at home the other day, he was only at 31 inches. And yes, he is VERY active.

mnb311

My heart goes out to you. My LO was not diagnosed FTT but he has always had eating issue due to severe reflux and MSPI and its always been a fight to get him to eat. Anyway we see a feeding therapist every week and its really helping.
When your LO doesn't want to eat its the most stressful thing ever, because its literally the one thing they HAVE to do.
Just out of curiosity, how do doctors conclude that a child is FTT? How is diagnosed?

tbmadeamistake

You could try all natural appetite stimulants.  Does LO like garlic?  Garlic, ginger, and a lot of other herbs/spices are stimulants.  So are things like apples. 

As someone who has had to gain weight in the past, I can offer the following hints:

Keep him warm, he'll use calories to warm up if he gets chilly

Don't offer any ice cold drinks, I'd say offer them room temp if possible, same as above.

Put butter on EVERYTHING.  It adds calories without adding weight, so he won't feel like he's being forced to eat more stuff. 

I also had to add sugar to all my drinks, but at this age I'm not sure that's appropriate.  

I hope this help! GL!

NCMichelle

Our DS hasn't gained weight or grown since his 12 month appt.  We've ruled out medical issues (through an endoscopy and allergy testing).  We've done elimination diets (he's sensitive to milk protein so that has been eliminated)...  still no weight gain.  We are currently meeting with a pediatric nutritionist.  He's been on an appetite stimulant for about 6 months - gained .25 ounces.

He has sensory processing issues - doesn't like cold or hot foods, can't get his hands dirty or sticky, etc.

Our pedi. isn't super duper concerned...  yet.  She's giving us a few more months to work with the nutritionist and OT before we consider new options.

DS is 19 lbs and 30" at 2 1/2. 

 

PsyDr04

HilarityEnsued:

Have you ruled out various food allergies or intolerances?  Silent reflux, etc?

 

I imagine this may be our next step. I have never heard of silent reflux and, to my knowledge, no one in my family or DH's family has any food allergies but it would still be important to rule this out. We are lucky in that we have a wonderful children's hospital where we live and that is where we are seeing the feeding specialist. I hope that we can minimize any invasive procedures on DS if we have to do testing. I'm really hoping he's just meant to be a little guy, at least for now. DH was very thin up through most of college and I was a string bean until I hit puberty and rounded out a bit more.

PsyDr04

HilarityEnsued:

Have you ruled out various food allergies or intolerances?  Silent reflux, etc?

 

I imagine this may be our next step. I have never heard of silent reflux and, to my knowledge, no one in my family or DH's family has any food allergies but it would still be important to rule this out. We are lucky in that we have a wonderful children's hospital where we live and that is where we are seeing the feeding specialist. I hope that we can minimize any invasive procedures on DS if we have to do testing. I'm really hoping he's just meant to be a little guy, at least for now. DH was very thin up through most of college and I was a string bean until I hit puberty and rounded out a bit more.

TiffanyBerry

Celiac disease is also a cause of FTT in infants, as - even before starting solids - gluten can pass through breastmilk.

knottie3c0525a8a3c64eaa

Appetite stimulants can backfire. I'd check for allergies first and then look for some non medicated solutions even children's Ensure or something like that.
With that said, 20 lbs is not that bad at all for an 18 month old

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

stoneycakes

My DS hasn't been diagnosed with FTT, but he has struggled with solid foods and weight gain due to being MSPI and having reflux.  I don't know if this will help you or not, but DS's OT mentioned that a lot of reflux kids tend to prefer more strongly flavored foods.  She suggested using condiments and spices to flavor things up.  I just got this piece of advice today and I made DS scrambled eggs with mild salsa for lunch.  He loved it and he ate much more than when I just give him chopped hard boiled eggs.  It has only been one meal, lol, but I'm hoping it's a trend.