Infant Child

[Stacey123]

Hello - Im new here!

my son is 4mos old on friday, and we've been battling poor weight gain since he's been born.

Due to medical reasons - i did not breastfeed and he's been on formula .. we went to his 1mo appointment and he was less than what he weighed when he was born he was 6lbs 8oz, and he was 6lbs 15oz when born. So the family dr sent us straight to a specialist, who in turn put us directly inthe hospital for 2 weeks.. They ran NUMEROUS tests, and have since not been able to figure out. He's now 11lbs 8oz and he's only started putting on weight since the dr put him on rice cereal fruits and veggies. We've been in and out of the hospital the past 4 mos and have been through CRAZY tests, at first they assumed it was Cystic Fibrosis and the test came back as negative - they've been trying to do the fecal matter count(72hr test) but the hospital/lab has lost it twice, so it has not been done.

I was reading one of the "what to expect in the first year" books and was recently diagnosed with celiac myself so i was looking at the symptoms.

It said that It usually goes misdiagnosed as CF, and the symptoms are my son to a T, his picture should have been beside it. We return to the specialist next week. But, im unsure of what to do in the meantime. Hes definately A LOT happier since he's getting A LOT LESS formula.

TO put into perspective HOW MUCH he's been eating, we go througha 900mg container of formula in 6 days. He eats 8-9oz per feeding 6times a day, sometimes more!!

he's now 7oz 5 times a day, rice cereal in the morning, veggies for lunch, and fruit/cereal for supper.

Has anyone else had these experienceS?

These are my sons symptoms,

obviously eating WAAAAAAAAY to much,

Potbelly after eating (he looked like one of those ethiopian children-sorry for the analogy- after eating)

malnutrician, and poor weight gain

Sorry so long, and I hope some on could give me some insite on how to approach the doctor, its been a battle with the health system here!!

Thanks!!

[gfgypsyqueen]

I really don't know what to tell you about how to approach the doctor. But I would try to get a Celiac blood test, Celiac Gene test, and possible a biopsy.

Also, request analysis for malnutrition. If he is that hungry and eating that much while failing to thrive, odds are his body is not absorbing nutrients. You can also request a nutritionalist. Some are great and some are not. My Pediatric Gastro works very closely with a dietician. They want a 3 day food diary and poop dairy, then analyze for caloric and nutrient intake. Very interesting.

When I got diagnosed, I ate non-stop and lost weight. I couldn't keep weight on me. My blood work showed up with malnutricition. I wish I had kept copies of the tests so I could give you more info.

You might need to start your own medical log of your child. Track growth and weight gain, list foods introduced and reactions, list illnesses, etc.

Another possibility is food allergies. You are still at the point that there are several possible illnesses bothering your child. Cross them all off before settling on Celiacs. (That's just my two cents). My two yr old just went through the biopsy for Celiacs and came back inconclusive. But chronic gastritis and other things led us to pull her off all dairy, she is doing much better. She has the gene fro Celiacs, so she might get it, but right now she doesn't have it.

Good luck